“Great songwriting”: the country song that blew Gene Simmons away
For a band with such a shocking image, there’s something universal about the appeal of Kiss. A cursory glance at their whole shtick can make you think that they are a simple act of shock-rock pageantry. They are, after all, the band with the demonic bassist spitting out blood, with the pyrotechnics hitting every seven seconds and the drummer who’s also a cat for some reason. Yet few bands have united people the way they do.
Perhaps it’s down to everyone loving a spectacle. For over a decade, one-half of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has shown that the mainstream public can get down to the adventures of a talking tree and a surly, gun-toting raccoon if they’re given a reason to care. Stands to reason that a band made up of those similarly high-concept characters would fill arenas all over the world.
Yet no other band like Kiss has ever really risen to their level of popularity. Sure, there’s Iron Maiden and Rammstein who fill stadiums with their theatrical takes on heavy metal. More recently, Ghost have graduated to filling arenas all over the world, and Sleep Token are taking songs into the mainstream singles charts—uncharted territory for a heavy metal band since the days of Limp Bizkit.
However, those are all classic bands with a big enough cult to infringe on the mainstream. Kiss were the mainstream in their heyday and remained that level of concern for decades. For me, it comes down to the songs. For all their fearsome image, Kiss’s music is as welcoming, accessible and fun as any Beach Boys song but with a slight kick to it, like Slade for goths, or Cheap Trick on Dragula, or Bay City Rollers produced by Hammer Horror…you get the picture.
How does the music of Kiss bring people together?
Even if the theatrics aren’t to your taste, the songwriting on offer with Kiss’ music is completely undeniable. ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’, ‘Strutter’, ‘Black Diamond’, you name it, are all pop songs as good as any you’ll hear on any Billboard Hot 100 list from the past century. This makes sense when looking at a list bassist Gene Simmons curated for Goldmine, which shows that his taste in music isn’t limited to genre or style. For him, it all comes back to the songwriting.
Case in point is how much he rhapsodises about a record one might not assume he has much time for by looking at the man, especially in his ‘Demon; get-up. Taking pride of place on his list is the greatest hits by certified country and western legend Patsy Cline, and Simmons has this to say about his love for the record: “Her music hit me like a truck running you over, and the more I read about her, the more fascinated I became.”
He even shows the depth of his songwriting knowledge, saying, “The classic songs, like ‘Yesterday’ or ‘Michelle’ or even the Charlie Chaplin-written song ‘Smile’, start off with the name of the song. Same thing with ‘Crazy’, and that is the sign of great, not just good, but great songwriting.”
Yes, words like this may seem strange coming from a man who spends his office hours flying around stadiums dressed as a Fantastic Four villain. However, looks can be deceiving, and he ends with wise words we can all learn from, “You can’t appreciate music without really appreciating music. Yes, Jeff Beck’s riffs and guitar playing, the bombast of Led Zeppelin, but you can’t leave Patsy Cline over on the side.”
Truer words have never been spoken, Gene.
