LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 2, 2020…FORTY FIVE YEARS AGO KISS RELEASED THEIR FIRST SINGLE FROM THE ALBUM ‘DRESSED TO KILL’. GENE SIMMONS AND PAUL STANLEY CO-WROTE THIS SONG, WHICH BECAME THE GROUP’S SIGNATURE SONG. IN AN INTERVIEW, PAUL STANLEY TOLD OF THE PROCESS OF WRITING THE SONG: “Originally Gene and I would tend to help each other fill in the gaps. ‘Rock and Roll All Night’ came about because we felt we needed an anthem, a song that could be the rallying cry for all of our fans. So I went back to the hotel and came up with the chorus and the melody. Then I went down to see Gene and he came up with the verses. We used to write a lot like that. As Gene and I became better writers we became either less willing to bend on our individual ideas, or it may have been that we both figured our songs would be stronger if developed by the person who wrote them”.
WHEN THE SONG WAS ISSUED AS A SINGLE, THE SONG DID NOT STORM UP THE CHARTS. HOWEVER, A FEW MONTHS LATER, KISS RE-ISSUED THE SONG AS A LIVE TRACK IN OCTOBER OF 1975 AND THE SONG TOOK OFF. IN 2008 IT WAS NAMED AS THE 16TH GREATEST HARD ROCK SONG OF ALL-TIME BY VH1. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL LIVE VERSION FROM KISS