10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single.
This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1308
KISS: Talk To Me
Of the four founding members of KISS, late guitarist Ace Frehley would seem the least pop of the bunch. Guitarist Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons were big fans of the Beatles, and also fans of power pop stalwarts the Raspberries, and those interests are evident within the flash and thunder of some of KISS's work. Drummer Peter Criss crooned the hit KISS ballad "Beth" and the Rod Stewart homage "Hard Luck Woman." Ace's style was emphatically that of a Big Rock guitarist, and maybe hooks and 45 rpm aspirations might not be the first things one would look for within the Space Ace's ouvre.
But the pop element is there, at least sometimes, and not just in his pop guitar power embellishing Simmons and Stanley on "Strutter," "Shout It Out Loud," "Rock And Roll All Nite," et al. It's certainly in evidence on the effervescent "Talk To Me," a Frehley-written and Frehley-sung track from KISS's 1980 album Unmasked.
ACE FREHLEY: Hide Your Heart
When we decided to play several tracks in memory of Ace Frehley, this track from his 1989 album Trouble Walkin' was one of the first possibilities that came to mind. Frehley was looooong outta KISS by '89, but the song was written by his former bandmate Paul Stanley (with Desmond Child and Holly Knight), and the Ace-free KISS included it on their album Hot In The Shade, also in '89. It's said that Stanley and Simmons adamantly did not want Frehley to record and release a competing version of "Hide Your Heart"--hey, dueling KISSes!--and if that's true, Frehley was equally adamant that he was going to do whatever the hell he wanted to do. I like the KISS version just fine, and I saw Gene and Paul perform it in concert (in the Hot In The Shade KISS line-up with drummer Eric Carr and guitarist Bruce Kulick), but I do like Ace's version even more.
KISS: Rock And Roll All Nite [live]
The Greatest Record Ever Made!
BALLZY TOMORROW: Five Personalities
My big project this year was Big Stir Records' various-artists blockbuster Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. As I began the process of recruiting acts and matching them with appropriate songs written by Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse the Flashcubes, I was immediately certain that I wanted rockin' pop wunderkind (und wonderboy) Robbie Rist specifically to sing one of my many favorite 'Cubes songs, "Five Personalities." Under his nom de bop Ballzy Tomorrow, our Robbie rose to that task. The members of the Flashcubes now prefer his version over their own!
Robbie's also a KISS fan, so it was a deliberate choice to include his "Five Personalities" in the same set as our Greatest Record Ever Made! spin of the live "Rock And Roll All Nite." You wanted the best. You GOT the best! And as Robbie's podcast The Spoon approaches its 600th episode, the GREM! spot in our next show will be a li'l something by another '70s rock act Robbie's mentioned on The Spoon a time or several. All right, all right, all right, all right....
KEN SHARP: Rock Show
Our long-time pal Ken Sharp is a writer and musician, the driving force behind Think Like A Key Music's superb new compilation Play On: A Raspberries Tribute, and quite possibly the biggest KISS fan I know. For his 2018 album Beauty In The Backseat, Ken enlisted none other than Ace Frehley hisself as guest guitarist on opening track "Rock Show." Impressive! And I tell ya, it was a match made in Cobo Hall. We know some people who know some people, man. Well done, Ken!
ACE FREHLEY: New York Groove
In 1978, the business of KISS was sufficiently huge to hatch an audacious plan for a simultaneous release of a quartet of solo albums. It probably wasn't a good idea at all, but it sure seemed impressive, right? I can't remember anything at all about the Peter Criss album (beyond thinking that I would never remember anything about it, and thinking that even when I was listening to it). Paul Stanley included the absolutely dynamic, Raspberries-influenced "Wouldn't You Like To Know Me," and Gene Simmons gave us a simply wonderful gem called "See You Tonite," which would have been worthy of Big Star. Gene also had a minor hit (# 47) with a song called "Radioactive."
But of the four, only Ace Frehley produced a genuine hit single, a cover of the British group Hello's 1975 UK hit "New York Groove." Ace's version said hello to the # 13 spot on Billboard's Hot 100, making it the fifth highest-charting single in the KISS canon (behind "Beth" [# 7], "Forever" [# 8 in 1989], "I Was Made For Loving You" [# 11], and the live "Rock And Roll All Nite" [# 12]). Guess whoever called him "Ace" was onto something.
We've been serving up tricky treats from Big Stir Records' epic Halloween compilation Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies for as long as Rutles guitarist Stig O'Hara has been dead--for ages, honestly--and there's for damned sure no need to stop as All Hallows Eve approaches. This week's show included two more debut spins from this horrific-in-a-GOOD-way set, with sparkle*jets u.k.'s righteously boppin' novelty tune "Eyeball Eater (From Outer Space)" and Dolph Chaney Featuring The Speed Of Sound's atmospheric "Zombie Century." And even as we chill, thrill, and haunt our way past October 31st, we'll have another track from Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies on our next show.
BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist
Syracuse's gift to Halloween, and to all seasons, courtesy of the best vampire ever. And like "Rock And Roll All Nite," it's also The Greatest Record Ever Made! Happy Halloween from This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl.
KISS: Shout It Out Loud [live]
And it wouldn't be Halloween without KISS. Godspeed, Ace
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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.
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