CHAPTER 44 - KISS My Ass & Tributes (1994)

 

Four “national” flag versions of the album were released in their respective markets: Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States.

 

44.01. Deuce

This song features the legendary Stevie Wonder on harmonica. Lenny Kravitz was making major waves in the industry at the time of his involvement in the “KISS My Ass” project, having had a very successful album, “Are You Gonna Go My Way” in 1993. Lenny’s recording of “Deuce” reached #15 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart.

 

44.02. Hard Luck Woman

KISS, acted as Garth Brook’s backing band for his recording of this song which was included on the “KISS My Ass” tribute album. They joined Garth “secredtly” in Nashville in March 1993, at Jack’s Tracks Studios, to record the song. Garth had originally considered recording “King Of The Night Time World” or “Detroit Rock City,” but Paul Stanley suggested that he perform this song instead. According to Paul, “We didn’t want to participate in our own album, but it sounded so cool, and so hip and unique that we grabbed our guitars and went to Nashville. It was very cool. We ran through the song two or three times and recorded it, and I think we captured something that’s not even on the original version. There’s a great spontaneity” (Tom Roland). This song became Garth’s first mainstream Top 40 hit.

 

Garth recalled getting roped into the project: “Paul Stanley, and Gene Simmons came back stage at The Forum in LA. So I’m back there and they say, ‘Hey man were doing a tribute album and we want you to do something.’ So I’m like uhhhhh OK, and I didn’t know what I was getting into. We caught tons of flack for doing it, got a lot of bad letters saying where you going? It ain’t going anywhere, I’m just getting to work with some guys that I admire” (PlanetGarth).

 

44.03. She

While KISS may have taken Anthrax on their first arena tour, the band had covered a fair amount of material by other bands, most notably Black Sabbath and KISS. The year before “KISS My Ass” was released Anthrax had covered “Love Her All I Can,” which featured Gene and Paul. Other songs the band covered include “Parasite” (1988 “State of Euphoria” singles B-side; Live version of the song released on “Live, The Island Years” from the “Live Noize” video) and “Watchin’ You” (originally released as a B-side on singles from the “Stomp-442” album in 1995). This cover would be produced by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and there might be no slight amount of irony that Gene had joined Anthrax, on stage in New York City on May 24, 1993, for a cover of this song.

 

44.04. Christine Sixteen

The Gin Blossoms would do their bit with the promotion of “KISS My Ass” appearing with Gene and Paul on the David Letterman Show in July 1994 to perform their cover. They also played the song in concert during the summer. Like other bands appearing on the tribute, the Gin Blossoms had recently enjoyed major industry success at the time of their involvemnt in the tribute project, though the band’s vocalist/guitarist Robin Wilson, suggested that his connection with KISS went further: He was in the audience on the photo on the rear cover of the “Alive!” Album.

 

44.05. Rock And Roll All Nite

Toad The Wet Sprocket were another band who were enjoying major success at the time they were recruited for the tribute project. Ironically, the band had been issuing “The Rock And Roll Party All Night” fanclub cassettes, featuring demo material and out-takes, since 1990, so there’s a little bit of a tie-in with the KISS title they’d cover on the tribute album. According to vocalist Glen Philips, commenting on the band’s unique interpretation of the song, “we always thought, at its core, it was a campfire song” (Billboard)!

 

44.06. Calling Dr. Love

Performed by something of a supergroup billed as Shandi’s Addiction. The “band” featured Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk (drums) and Tom Morello (guitars), Faith No More’s Billy Gould (bass), and Tool’s Maynard James Keenan (vocals). Billy would later team up with Norwegian musicians to record a cover of “Black Diamond.”

 

44.07. Goin’ Blind

Previously signed to Black Flag’s SST label, Dinosaur Jr. led the late 1980s alternative music scene injecting heavy grungy guitars into their sound. Breaking on the music scene in 1993, Dinosaur Jr. had toured with Nirvana opening for them, prior to that band scaling the heights of success and over-exposure with their “Nevermind” album.

 

44.08. Strutter

One of four Boston acts (the others being Dinosaur Jr., The Lemonheads, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones) to have been included on the tribute album. Extreme, at the time, were better known for their rock-funk rendition of “Get The Funk Out” and the acoustic “More Than Words.”

 

44.09. Plaster Caster

The Lemonhead’s version of this song would get Cynthia “Plaster Caster” to appreciate the song, though she’d hated the original. According to Cynthia, “I think Gene wrote the song to make people believe he’d been cast, and maybe, perhaps, to give me a gentle hint that he was available. I didn’t go out and buy the album immediately because I hated the idea of putting money in the pockets of a band I didn’t like. I finally broke down and bought it for my scrapbook. When I first heard it, I hated the song... I was so distressed because the lyrics weren’t true. Back then, I couldn’t hear the melody. It wasn’t until I heard the Lemonheads’ version that I realized what a kickass, wonderful melody it is. I’ve rediscovered the KISS version and I love it as much as the Lemonheads’ version...in fact, I can’t get it out of my head sometimes...it’s really a strange sensation” (Roctober #22, 1998).

 

44.10. Detroit Rock City

"Detroit Rock City" was the only mass-market single released in the United States supporting the "KISS My Ass" album. Including KISS' original recording as the B-side, the single came as a 7" green vinyl single with picture sleeve. The artwork transposed KISS' and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones distinctive logos. A US promotional CD (Mercury CDP-1324) simply features the cover version. The Bosstones filmed a promotional video for their cover with Gene Simmons making a cameo appearance. This video would also be included on the band's "Video Stew" compilation in 1997. Gene invited the band to record the song for the album, though it probably helped that they were, at the time, newly signed to Mercury/PolyGram records and were starting to gain exposure in the industry. According to Dickie, "KISS were like superheroes to me when I was ten or eleven, so when Gene Simmons asked us to contribute, to that album, it was like a strange but wonderful dream" (Yahoo! Chat with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones).

           

44.11. Black Diamond

Hayashi Yoshiki is a major Japanese star and no KISS tribute would have been complete without paying homage to Japanese bands influenced by KISS. Yoshiki gave “Black Diamond” a classical arrangement and performed it with the American Symphony Orchestra.

 

44.12. Unholy

Covered by the German band Die Artze, this song was only included on the international and US vinyl versions of the album. Die Artze included a bit of “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” in the song.

 

Other artists mentioned for inclusion on KMA…

 

44.13. Great Expectations

Since Mozart missed the deadline for getting their recording included on the "KISS My Ass" tribute album they released their song on their self-titled album (Fifth Dimension FDBM-331) in 1994.

 

Strange Ways (Megadeth)

Detroit Rock City (Metallica)

Cold Gin (Soul Asylum)

I Love It Loud (Jackyl)

War Machine (Soundgarden)

I Was Made For Lovin’ You (Madonna)

 

Watchin’ You (Stone Temple Pilots)

In May 1993 Billboard Magazine reported that the band had been working on a recording for a KISS tribute album. However, if the band did complete the recording it was not included on “KISS My Ass” or any other release. The band would be mentioned on KMA’s “MIA” list. In one interview Gene mentioned that Ozzy would have been involved in this recording…

 

(Soda Stereo)

South American band considered for inclusion on the album. It is not known what song they would have recorded.

 

Alice In Chains

Tears for Fears

Spin Doctors

Skid Row

Smashing Pumpkins

Pantera

Bel Biv Devoe

Gilby Clarke/Matt Sorum

Cypress Hill

Ugly Kid Joe

Nikki Sixx

Public Enemy

Run DMC

Babes In Toyland

Ministry

Galactic Cowboys

Tony Toni Tone

Additional bands mentioned on KMA’s “MIA” list.

 

Do You Love Me? (Die Toten Hosen)

Die Toten Hosen are a highly respected German punk band and were the first choice for “KISS My Ass.” Instead, the recording would be released in 1996 on the band’s “Bonnie & Clyde” CD-single (EastWest/Warner Music). Produced by Jon Caffery and the band.

 

(Tool)

(Green Jelly)

 

Love Gun (Nine-Inch Nails)

While Trent Reznor may have intended to participate in the "KISS My Ass" project, he never recorded anything of the prospective track for the album due to other obligations.

 

Goin' Blind (Melvins)

Goin' Blind (Dramarama)

Nearly involved on the "KISS My Ass" tribute both the Melvins and Dramarama submitted covers of "Goin' Blind." Neither was used. The Melvin's recording recording of "Goin' Blind" would turn up on their 1993 album "Houdini" (Atlantic 782532-2/4). The Dramarama cover would be released on their 1996 compilation "18 Big Ones" (Rhino 812-273516-2).

 

44.14. Love Her All I Can

Both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley appeared on Anthrax’s 2:30 cover of “Love Her All I Can” which was originally released on the band’s “Black Lodge” EP. Gene and Paul sing on the verses of the song. Anthrax are famed for covering a number of KISS songs including “Watchin’ You” (1995), “Parasite” (Live ‘91, 1994), and Parasite (1988) while also covering other big acts including Alice Cooper, the Sex Pistols, and Black Sabbath. One archival letter indicates that Gene and Paul were scheduled to record this song with Anthrax on December 22, 1992 at Eldorado Studios in North Hollywood, CA (KISS Kollector #6). The cover was produced by Dave Jerden and Anthrax.

 

44.15. Strutter (“Dial Q2”)

44.16. Rock Bottom (“Dial Q2”)

During the Japanese Tour of January 1995 KISS would record “Strutter” and “Rock Bottom” live for “KISS AID.” During the final show at Nippon Budokan Hall, “Paul announced they had set up a phone number to help the people in the Kobe area who suffered from the earthquake. When calling the number one automatically makes a donation hearing a message from Paul and a version of ‘Strutter’ recorded during the sound check for Budokan. With this KISS raised 10,000 dollars!” (Rene Barneveld, Strike #36). Both of these songs were recorded on January 30, 1995. Paul’s phone message was succinct: “Hi, this is Paul Stanley. Thanks for calling in to the phone line. You’re making a contribtion just by doing this. And obviously this is a way to help all our friends in Japan, but it’s also more importantly it’s a way for you to help your people. So, hope you enjoy the music and thanks for calling.” The 3:12 recording of “Strutter” is followed with a tacked on formal thank-you in Japanese by a woman. The cost of the call was ¥300.

 

44.17. Deuce (Australian Bonus EP “Mix”)

During February 1995, following their tour of Japan, KISS toured Australia for the first time in fifteen years. To commemorate the event PolyGram Records in Australia issued KISS’ “Alive!,” “Alive II,” and “Alive III” in special cardboard slip-cases which included a special limited edition “Australian Tour Bonus EP.” The EP included 5 songs: “Strutter” (1973 Demo), “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” “God Of Thunder,” “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II,” and “Deuce.” While it would otherwise have been nothing spectacular, some noticed that the recording of “Deuce” was different from the first album version.

 

This led some to assume that the recording was a new version by the then current lineup of Stanley, Simmons, Kulick, and Singer. Sadly, that was not actually the case. While the version is different from the first album version it is not a new recording, but simply a longer mix of that version which had originally been released on the US version of “Smashes, Thrashes, & Hits” in 1988. In many non-US markets the version of that album included “Crazy, Crazy Nights” and “Reason To Live” instead of the remixed “Deuce” leading to the misconception.

 

Television Session Notes:

Tracks 44.18-44.22 were videotaped acoustic live on July 26, 1995 at Musique Plus Studios for “Planet Rock” which is a Canadian television show in Montreal, Quebec. This session was conducted the day prior to the Montreal KISS Konvention and included an interview session in front of a small studio audience of around 40 people.

 

44.18. Comin’ Home

44.19. Goin’ Blind

44.20. Hard Luck Woman

44.21. Nothin’ To Lose

44.22. Everytime I Look At You

 

Tangent: Konventions...

The first “official” KISS Konvention was originally scheduled to take place in Osaka, Japan on January 25, 1995. While the promoter would have preferred Tokyo as a location a suitable venue and timing issues couldn’t be resolved. However, according to some sources, the record label wasn’t willing to pay for the Konvention and it was cancelled. Instead, Australia would get the honor with the Perth Konvention on February 3. For collectors, there is an Udo Artists promotional poster for the “Rock ‘N Roll Party / KISS Alive 1995” tour mentioning the “1^st Official Worldwide KISS Convention.”

 

Television Session Notes:

Tracks 44.23-44.24 were videotaped acoustic live at NBC Television Studios, New York City, New York for the “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” television show, on August 4, 1995. This appearance also included an interview session plus footage shot at the New York KISS Konvention.

 

44.23. Comin’ Home

44.24. Domino