The hilarious 1975 Rush song about partying with the legendary Kiss
Rush have always had a tongue-in-cheek attitude when it came to their songwriting. There’s a Rush classic that references the time they used to party on tour with none other than the iconic rock band Kiss, entitled ‘I Think I’m Goin’ Bald’.
Geddy Lee once opened up on the song. He said, “We were touring a lot with Kiss in those days, and they had a song called ‘Goin’ Blind’. So we were taking the piss out of that title by just coming up with this. Pratt [a nickname for Neil Peart] came up with this line, ‘I think I’m going bald,’ because Alex [Lifeson] is always worried about losing his hair, even when he was not losing his hair. So he would try all kinds of ingredients to put on his scalp.”
The song quickly took on a life of its own as a light-hearted jab, blending inside jokes with a broader reflection on ageing that felt deliberately premature. Rather than aiming for the grand, conceptual storytelling they were often known for, Rush leaned into absurdity, using humour as a way to undercut their own seriousness.
That approach highlighted an often-overlooked side of the band’s identity. While Rush built a reputation for intricate musicianship and philosophical themes, tracks like ‘I Think I’m Goin’ Bald’ revealed their willingness to poke fun at themselves, balancing technical ambition with a self-aware sense of playfulness.
The track arrived on Rush’s 1975 album Caress of Steel. ‘I Think I’m Goin’ Bald’ is widely believed to have never been played live by Rush, although there are few records of setlists during the Down The Tubes tour (when Caress of Steel) was released, so there is a slight chance it may have been played then.
Lee added, “I think it just got Neil thinking about ageing, even though we weren’t ageing yet and had no right to talk about that kind of stuff yet. It would be much more appropriate now. And it just became a kind of funny song; even though the song is not funny, in terms of sentiment, it kind of is, and the music is really goofy. A lot of people mistake us for being deadly serious, but some of our songs are just plain goofy.”
Yet ‘Goin’ Blind’ wasn’t the only song that Rush wrote with Kiss in mind. Their tune, ‘The Spirit of Radio’, examined the fickle nature of the music industry when many bands just wanted to cash in on their audience by offering them a never-ending stream of merchandise.
Rush referred to these bands as a “salesman band”. Despite going on tour with Kiss and having one hell of a time with them, Rush felt that Kiss were ultimately a “salesman band” too, what with the costumes, the figurines, not to mention the Kiss Koffins that one could be buried in upon death. Evidently, the two iconic bands had differing opinions on what a band should be.
Discussing the antics that used to occur when Kiss and Rush played together, Alex Lifeson once noted that the two bands engaged in a massive pie fight during the summer tour of 1975. Very mature indeed.
