KISS’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are set to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Thursday in New York, and ahead of the honor, Stanley talked to New York Magazine about their music.
When asked which song he considers the band’s “legacy defining” tune, he said, “It’s hard not to go with ‘Rock and Roll All Nite,'” the iconic track from their 1975 album Dressed To Kill.
“That song is really the template for a lot of songs that came after it, whether ours or other people’s, because it’s an anthem,” he said. “When I started writing it, there were no ‘anthems,’ per se. Our record-company president sat us down and very fortuitously told us that we needed an anthem and we had no idea what that meant.”
The song is known for its signature lyric, “I want to rock and roll all night, and party every day.” Stanley said he always went with “I” and not “we” because “what empowers you is ‘I.'”
“Partying didn’t mean pointed hats and fly whistles. It also wasn’t a drug-fueled social event,” he said of the song’s theme. “It was getting together with people and having a great time.”
“So although it wouldn’t necessarily be my favorite song, its legacy is undeniable,” he noted. “We’ve closed our shows for 50 years with that song because it encapsulates our ethos.”
And while he said plenty of other artists have gone on to release songs with the theme of “lets get together and rock,” Stanley’s not one to stand up and take credit for influencing them.
He added, “That’s for me to know, but certainly not for me to announce. That’s too much self-aggrandizing for me.”
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