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"Rock and Roll All Nite" is a song by KISS, originally released on their 1975 album Dressed to Kill. It was released as the A-side of their fifth single, with the album track "Getaway." The studio version of the song peaked at #68 on the Billboard singles chart, besting the band's previous charting single, "Kissin' Time" (#83). A subsequent live version released as a single in October 1975 reached #12, the first of six Top 20 songs for KISS in the 1970s."The Complete KISS Singles Chart Action, 1974-". The KISSFAQ. Retrieved July 13, 2006. Since then, it has become KISS's most identifiable song, and has served as one of the group's closing concert numbers in almost every concert since 1976.Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. Billboard Books, 2002. ISBN 0823083225Prato, Greg. "Rock and Roll All Nite". All Music Guide. Retrieved July 17, 2006.
"Rock and Roll All Nite" was written by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons while KISS was still in Los Angeles, as part of their Hotter Than Hell tour. The tour ended early (February 1975), when Casablanca Records founder and president Neil Bogart ordered KISS to return to the studio to record a followup to Hotter Than Hell, which had stalled on the charts and failed to meet Casablanca's sales expectations. One of Bogart's instructions to the band was to compose an anthem, something he felt the band needed.Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. Billboard Books, 2002. ISBN 0823083225Gill, Julian. The KISS Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition). Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1413485472
Stanley wrote the chorus, and Simmons wrote the verses, borrowing parts of a song he had previously written, entitled "Drive Me Wild." The song was one of two the group recorded toward the end of the Hotter Than Hell tour, prior to returning to Electric Lady Studios for the proper Dressed to Kill recording sessions.Gill, Julian. The KISS Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition). Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1413485472 For the choruses, the band and Bogart brought in a large group of outside contributors to sing and clap, including members of the KISS road crew, studio musicians, and Peter Criss's wife Lydia. Some of the road crew used their jacket zippers to create sound.Leaf, David and Ken Sharp. KISS: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0446530735Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. Billboard Books, 2002. ISBN 0823083225
While "Rock and Roll All Nite" would eventually become a fixture in KISS's live performances, it was not inserted into the band's setlist immediately. Nor did it immediately replace "Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll" as the closing number.Gill, Julian. The KISS Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition). Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1413485472
The chorus of the Alive! version of the song is played at the beginning of "Detroit Rock City," from 1976's Destroyer.
Appearances
"Rock and Roll All Nite" has appeared on the following KISS albums:
- Dressed to Kill – Original studio version
- Alive! – Live version
- Double Platinum – Studio version
- Killers – Live version
- Smashes, Thrashes & Hits – Remixed studio version
- Alive III – Live version
- KISS Unplugged – Acoustic live version
- You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! – Live version
- Greatest KISS – Live version
- The Box Set – Studio version
- The Very Best of KISS – Live version
- Alive IV – Live version with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
- The Millennium Collection – Live version
- Gold – Live version
- KISS Chronicles – Studio version
Sample
Notes and references
"Rock and Roll All Nite"