Paul Stanley on the song Kiss wrote while “drunk on success”
There was no way to argue that Kiss was one of the biggest bands in the world during the late 1970s. The shock rockers had scored hit singles and albums during the middle part of the decade and translated that directly into a massive merchandising bonanza. Action figures, comic books, makeup kits, vanity solo albums and television movies were all produced. Not all of them were successful, but there was no doubt that Kiss had earned all that windfall.
By the late 1970s, things were starting to come apart for the band. Drug addictions and personal differences put a strain on the relationships in the group. Peter Criss’ car accident kept him away from the recording of 1979’s Dynasty, and a notable change in pop culture had left Kiss on the outside looking in. To try and salvage their popularity, Paul Stanley teamed up with songwriter Desmond Child to craft the disco track ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’.
“‘I Was Made For Loving You’ came out of a time when the band was a bit lost: we’d reached a point where we had kinda forgotten why we were Kiss and why we loved doing what we did,” Stanley admitted to Classic Rock in 2021. “We were all, in some ways, drunk on success: there were sycophantic friends around, there were drugs, there was alcohol, there was every kind of vice that fame brings with it.”
Not only was ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ one of the first instances of Kiss bringing in professional outside songwriters, but the track was also largely seen as an abandonment of the group’s hard rock style. To hardcore fans and detractors, the disco-infused track was an obvious ploy for mainstream success. In the years since, Stanley tried to shift the song’s origin story to one of taking the piss out of disco music.
“At the time, I think we had maybe lost some of our rock edge and were a bit more concerned about getting peer acceptance, and that’s always a poisoned idea because you should never forsake the people who love you for ones who don’t,” Stanley claimed. “It was written at a time when I was hanging out at Studio 54, and I was thinking ‘Gee, I could write one of these songs.'”
“All the songs at Studio 54 seemed to be about ‘tonight’ – about having a good time in the present rather than thinking about the future – and so I went home, set the drum machine to 126 beats per minute, and got to work,” Stanley added.
Despite its somewhat notorious reputation, ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ did accomplish what Stanley originally set out to do. Peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ would be the final top 40 hit for Kiss until their 1989 power ballad ‘Forever’. Stanley wound up having mixed feelings about the track’s success, even though it continued to appear in the band’s live sets.
“Like many of the songs on Dynasty, it didn’t particularly sound the way I had hoped, but nonetheless, it was a great song, and a huge worldwide hit,” Stanley said. “But if it’s not to everyone’s taste, I understand.”
Check out ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ down below.
