Remember the first time ever you heard [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Roberta Flack[/lastfm]?  What a voice!  You can actually “feel” the emotion through her words.  Roberta Flack is BACK with her first album in 8 years.  This is a collection of [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Beatles[/lastfm] covers.  You may think you already know the songs.  But, with Roberta singing, they have a TOTALLY different vibe.  The yet to be titled album is expected out in early 2012.  But, I have a sneak peek for you!  Enjoy

This song is about a badass chick. She’ll kick you in the face, give you a bloody nose, and is kind of a slut… but in a good way.

I dare you to listen to this song and not get all head bobby.

I FREAKING DOUBLE-DOG DARE YOU.

Well, just because she feeds me well
And she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel
It doesn’t mean she’s got eyes for me
She might just want my bones, you see

Sounds like the reason my husband married me. (Ba-dum! Rim shot!)

And hey, flathead, don’t you get mean
She’s the second best killer that I ever have seen
They don’t come much more sick than you
I could go on if you want me to

It’s just so wrong, so very nice
And I told you once and you killed me twice
I saw you one time at the back of the club
Chewing on glass and a ticket stub

Said I heard you kicked the boy until he bled
Then you stood and said “oh my God” until she said

Bada ba ba da da da, Bada ba ba da da da da…

Warning: Music nerd moment approaching. Excuse me while I alienate anyone not familiar with time signatures.

I LOVE MIXED METERS. Yeah. Caps lock. It’s that serious. It’s like you’re jamming along and then you’re greeted with an unexpected yet pleasant stumble. I FREAKING LOVE IT.

My love of mixed meters started when I first heard the Beatles song “We Can Work It Out“. There was no going back. Who would stick with a lame 4/4 when you could throw in a 3/4?! Or even, wait for it… a 6/8!

And these guys… OMG they throw in a 7/8 in the chorus!! A 7/8 PEOPLE! *gasps with delight* 

It’s the little things, y’all. Enjoy them.

Well, everybody knows you’re the one to call
When the girls get ugly around the back of the wall
Josephine says you got a bleeding nose
She’s taking it with her wherever she goes

Hey, flathead, don’t check me in
Well hers is a tonic and mine is a gin
They don’t come much more slick than you
I’d drive your car if you ask me to

Said the boy’s not right in the head
And he stood and got a kicking instead until she said

Bada ba ba da da da, Bada ba ba da da da da…

On top of the mixed meter and lyrics, I have to say that I also love this video. A hot pin-up girl makes everything better… and this video has THREE hot pin-up girls. What more could you ask for!?

And she said the boy’s not right in the head
Then stood and said “oh my God” until she said

Bada ba ba da da da, Bada ba ba da da da da…

Remember that double-dog dare?  Yeah, I see you over there. I WIN.

Find more artists like The Fratellis at Myspace Music.

Related articles

• The Fratellis’ Jon goes it alone (mirror.co.uk)

Sincerely,

Jerry’s search for a new car led him to the dealership where Elaine’s boyfriend David Puddy worked. As Puddy helped him, Jerry discovered that he had to hand it to Puddy–a literal hand, that is, nice and high. Elaine refused the slaphappy Puddy’s next high five, so he added a down low…which she also refused. But he hung in there.

“Slapping hands,” as Jerry told Elaine, “is the lowest form of male primal ritual.” But this isn’t maleness Puddy is upholding here–even though the high five easily says “Hey dude….” Neither, for that matter, is it femaleness–even though Puddy tried to give Elaine five too. Putting your hand in the air…like Puddy, like you care…has something for everyone.

Got a good friend who had a bad day? The high five reminds them that the best thing about a hard day’s the night. Got a love interest with whom you think you can work it out? The high five signals, “I don’t want to hold your hand just yet, but this is something.” A major life change hit you? Without a word–just a look on your face–the high five lets those around you know that you feel fine.

And if you put that hand in the air and the look on their face says they don’t care (i.e., you’re probably going to be left hanging)…let it be. If you like the person, you might add Puddy’s “You owe me five” as you walk away. If you don’t, then just walk away. The same hand that says “hello” can say “goodbye.”*

From “The Dealership”
Episode 11 , Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 9:50 (here’s another five for those interested: see 2:40 for the first “High five”; 4:05 for another Puddy “High five” followed by Jerry’s “primal ritual” commentary ; 5:30 for “High five… You owe me five”; 19:51; and 21:15 for more Jerry commentary)

*It’s unclear from the Seinfeld repertoire whether the Beatles inspired Puddy here. For all we know it was the Eagles, the Bangles, or even Peter Gabriel (“Nothing seems to please…I need contact“). We’re content to contend that this was a Puddy original.

Photo by Getty Images

[lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Stevie Wonder[/lastfm] released his single “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” on June 3, 1970. The track was released as a single from Stevie’s 1970 album “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” which also included a cover of the [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Beatles[/lastfm]‘ “We Can Work It Out.”

<hr/>

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours”
<hr/>

The track was written by Wonder along with Lee Garrett, Syreeta Wright and Stevie’s mother Lula Mae Hardaway. The track was arranged by Motown composer Paul Riser, who made the innovation of using the sitar/guitar that gives the track its signature opening.

<hr/>

“We Can Work It Out”

<hr/>

According to Wonder, the lyrics for the song were inspired by his mother, who shouted the title lyric after hearing Stevie experiment with the melody. Stevie produced the track, which later earned him his first Grammy nomination. He lost the award to Ronald Dunbar and General Johnson for their track “Patches,” which was recorded by Clarence Carter.

Oh baby, don’t you know?

War is over. If you want it to be.

During their Apple days, The Beatles took a different approach when they chose to denote single A and B-sides – representing sides by images, rather than by titles.  The side of the record containing the “whole apple” image was meant to serve as the A-side and the “halved apple” image was intended as the B-side.

In the gap between language and ideas
There is a mushroom tranquility
Like the music of paper

The air is a transparency thriving with muscle
A fishbowl swimming with cancer
While China is rising in the distance
A frottage of red clouds

A sky is cast below the lake
Where a vegetable summit inversely descends
The crayon tower swimming with B-movie nostalgia
The tent a distant snow cone to say “hello”

I’ll call this “wake up” figure a ONE-AND because it emphasizes those parts of the rhythm:

WAKE UP                                                 lit   -     tle
1    AND     2        and      3          and      4          and

Su               -                  sie,
1    and      2        and      3          and      4          and

WAKE UP![1]
1    AND     2        and      3          and      4          and

[Chart spacing set for mainpage]

The ONE-AND, an initiative-seizing gesture, is common in jazz (the proverbial “be-bop” is a ONE-AND) but rare in rock even though it offers a remarkable spring-loaded kind of kinetic energy.  As random proof I note that it occurs only twice in the twenty-seven #1 Beatles hits, namely in the title lines of “From Me To You” (on the 2 and 4 beats) and “Get Back” (just on the 4 beat).[2]  I suppose we don’t hear it much in rock because rockers are dedicated to stomping and swaying on the main beats.[3]  Their listeners aren’t generally interested in taking initiative or responsibility rhythmwise; they want a train to carry them along.

There’s an exception to this rule, however, in rockabilly, which does invoke rhythmic responsibility in the form of finger-snapping.  As a finger-snapper you’re a junior associate in hitting the beat; you get the repeating feeling of being the one to decide on it and do it, just in time!  Finger-snapping can be a compelling alternative to stomping.  See Billy Setzer do it:

On now to my main object of interest.  ONE-ANDs and finger-snapping are lurking ingredients in what I find to be the most impressively springy of all rock tracks, one that despite some resemblances doesn’t sound much at all like bebop or rockabilly or any other genre I could name:  “I’ve Seen All Good People” by Yes.

As best I can tell, the quality is produced by a tall stack of superimposed patterns.

(1) Probably the most basic reason “I’ve Seen All Good People” is springy is that like a lot of songs it’s in a swinging rhythm of one-and-uh triplets:

Dum   –    de -DUM   –      de -dum   -      de-DUM   -       de -
1    and    uh    2    and    uh    3    and    uh    4    and    uh

(2) The sung words land mostly on uhs, though, so the uhs are emphasized by the urgent lyric at the same time that they’re deemphasized for the tripping rhythm:

……………..I’ve seen          all                   good                peo -
Dum  –     DE-DUM    –     DE- dum   -       DE-DUM   -      DE -
1    and    uh    2    and    uh    3    and    uh    4    and    uh

(3) Yet another pattern is layered in by the emphases of the lead guitar part:

DA      –          DE     -     DAA     –                   DE      –     De (yadadeda)
1    and    uh    2    and    uh    3    and    uh    4    and    uh

This is a swinging version of the “Wake up!” figure, starting sometimes on 2 and sometimes on 4.  But just as the emphasis of the vocal notes ran athwart the emphasis of the basic rhythm triplets, (4) now we encounter another seeming cross-purpose when drummer Bill Bruford hits the toms at the very same points—two + uh and four + uh—with the effect not of pressing us forward but of generating suspense by widening the gap between beats (I mean the longer gap between 2-uh and 4 compared with the gap between 3 and 4) so that you feel you really need to snap your fingers to make beats 2 and 4 happen.

-               de -DUM   –   DUM    –             de   DUM   –    DUM
1    and    uh    2    and    uh    3    and    uh    4    and    uh

(5) And we should not fail to mention the forward thrust provided by conventional rhythm guitar strikes on 1, 2, 3, and 4 and aggressive on-beat bass work that makes the track indubitably rock.

In sum:  “I’ve Seen All Good People” trips along with its 1-and-uh triplets, pulls us up (DUM – DUM) in the drums, and yanks us forward with hurry-up figures in the lead guitar (DE – DAA) and vocals (DUM-DE – DE – DE -).  And altogether it’s sweetly tangled and springy, not all knotty like this analysis.

*

P.S.  While we’re on the subject of singing on the shuffle uh-, the hurry-up effect of putting emphasis on that uh- instead of on the regular beat stands out in Grand Funk Railroad’s marvelously stripped-down “Some Kind Of Wonderful,” where “kind” is sung on it:

……………………………………….She’s SOME      KIND                 of
1    and    uh    2    and    uh    3   and    uh    4    and    uh

won -     der – ful                   (Yes          she   is)
1    and    uh    2    and    uh     3   and    uh    4    and    uh

But “Some Kind Of Wonderful” is definitely a song for stomping, not finger-snapping, and can’t touch the springiness of “I’ve Seen All Good People.”

Bowie was an early adopter of the guitar string floss method

OK perhaps a tad late, but it is still just about 8th January where I am. Anyway I would like you all to join me in a quick chorus of Happy Birthday for David Robert Jones, better known as David Bowie to most of you and possibly even the Dame to longstanding NME readers. I became a Bowie fan in September 1972 after that now legendary performance of “Starman” on Top Of The Pops. Many, many people had their Bowie epiphany from this performance, understandably too, it was otherworldly and alien. Even now it is quite a striking performance, especially subtle touches, like Bowie draping his arm around Mick Ronson‘s shoulders. It might all seem quite innocuous and tame nowadays, but in 1972 it was so very far out there.

That performance was shown on a Thursday night and two days later I raided my piggy bank and purchased four Bowie albums on cassette; “Space Oddity”, “The Man Who Sold The World“, “Hunky Dory” and “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars“. After about 18 months I had worn them all out! I first saw Bowie in 1976 and have now seen him 8 times in total, although if the rumours are to be believed we may never see him in concert again. However if you’re reading this David, can we at least have another album or two?

I have another piece of very slightly related Bowie news. My good friend Nick Horslen appeared on BBC Radio Berkshire earlier this week to do an interview about his life as a business coach, small business supporter, charity volunteer and many other things. He chose a few songs to play during his slot, notably Mr Bowie’s “Heroes” alongside “Harvest For The World” from the Isley Brothers and “We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles. He interviewed really well and I would also like to thank him for the excellent shout he gave this very blog. You can still hear the interview on the BBC iPlayer for a few days at least. Click here for the link and wind it forward to around 2 hours and 4 minutes and you’ll be able to listen to Nick’s interview on BBC Radio Berkshire’s Phil Gayle Show.

Now take some time out to enjoy a couple of Bowie classics and a couple that don’t get played much. Happy 64th birthday Mr Jones!

As an occasional DJ, I’m mad about funky mashups, or remixes. One of my favorite musical mixologists is DJ Prince, winner of the the 2009 Norwegian national Pepsi Max /NRJ DJ Battle. He often takes some great music (and some shlock), and makes it sound fresh, livelier, and waaay danceable.

Did you know The Beatles could be this funky?!

Beatles vs. James Brown – James Brown Can Work It Out (DJ Prince)

Then below is another danceable mashup, “Brown Pelvis” – some kickin’ bass and bass drum over jangly guitar licks, bass, and JB mixed by DJ Steve Porter & DJ Eli Wilkie. The mix plays over video clips of James Brown vocal quips with some Elvis footage (you can barely hear Elvis, unfortunately). The Godfather of Soul meets the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Dig it right now one time with me baby. Say yeeeaaah! Thankyaverymuch.

* James Brown’s rhythm section in his prime included: Fred Thomas, Bernard Odum, or William “Bootsy” Collins on bass. Clyde Stubblefield or John “Jabo” Starks commandeered the drums. Alphonso “Country” Kellum played guitar but also bass on the famous “Sex Machine,” and on “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud.”

It’s December 20th and now we’re at day 20 of my UK Christmas Number Ones Advent Calendar posts. Behind the cardboard door today there is a real treat in store for you. We’re going back to the 60s to take a look at the only act to have had four Christmas number ones in the UK. It’s not Cliff Richard, he’s only had three, the Spice Girls also had three in a row in the 90s. But so far no one has matched the UK Christmas Number One success of this UK band. They had the UK Christmas Number One in 1963, 1964, 1965 and again in 1967. I’m sure you will not be too surprised to hear that I’m talking about the Beatles.

As a special pre-Christmas treat I will be giving you all four of their Christmas Number ones later in this post. The songs that made the Yuletide top spot for the Fab Four were; “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (1963), “I Feel Fine” (1964), “Day Tripper/ We Can Work It Out” (1965) and “Hello Goodbye” (1967). At Christmas 1963 the Beatles also held the number two spot with “She Loves You“. Their sequence was broken in 1966 by Tom Jones with “Green, Green Grass Of Home“. In Christmas 1963, 1964 and 1965 the Mop Tops stayed at the top of the charts for five weeks each year and in 1967 it was seven weeks.

“I Want To Hold Your Hand” was also the Beatles first US number one where it stayed for 7 weeks. It  was also at number four in the US on April 4th 1964 when the Beatles had the whole of the Top 5. Up until 1964 the Beatles hadn’t had massive success in the US and manager Brian Epstein suggested to John Lennon and Paul McCartney that they should write a song that would appeal in the US. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” was the result of that request. It was also the first song the band recorded using the new technology of four track recording.

The bands second UK Christmas Number One, “I Feel Fine” was their eighth UK single. In 1964 it was the first US number one in a sequence of six Beatles songs in a row. It displaced the Rolling Stones “Little Red Rooster” at the top of the UK charts, possibly preventing the Stones from achieving what would have been their only UK Christmas Number One. Apparently Paul McCartney has said that the drum sound on the song was inspired by the Ray Charles song “What I’d Say“.

The third of the Beatles UK Christmas Number Ones was a double-A  side, something the CD and download era has made pretty much redundant. The two songs remain classics, for the price of one 7 inch single you got “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out”. The songs were recorded during the ‘Rubber Soul’ sessions and were hurried along in order to provide the band with a Christmas release. Apparently Brian Epstein felt that a lack of releases or a lack of visibility would bring an end to the band’s success. When deciding which song to release John Lennon argued strongly for “Day Tripper” while the Paul, George and Ringo went for “We Can Work It Out”, hence it became the first commercial double-A side release. Noel Gallagher off of Oasis has referred to “We Can Work It Out” as the song that defines the Beatles (with the Beatles obviously being the band that defined Oasis!)

The last of the Beatles UK Christmas Number Ones, “Hello Goodbye” was at the top during Christmas 1967. It was also a US number one. The band filmed three promotional clips for the song, which were never aired in the UK at the time because of the Musicians Union embargo on miming. In an interview at the time of the songs release, Paul McCartney was quoted as saying the following when explaining the meaning of the song; “The answer to everything is simple. It’s a song about everything and nothing. If you have black you have to have white. That’s the amazing thing about life”.

So now go ahead and enjoy the five songs that make up the Beatles four UK Christmas Number Ones and at the end there is a special Beatle Christmas treat for you all! Enjoy!

Hold onto your hats. Guest blogger James Alaska has gone and written another epic… this time we swap glitterballs and loft parties for men in makeup and some serious axe work – the rock never leaves you…

____________________

Here’s a gem I’ll wager you’d have passed over in the racks of Rounder or Sister Ray. I’m guessing this is one band you never thought you’d see on the Recess Radio Show’s web pages. Well, rest assured, I’m not about to extol or excuse the absolute dross and drivel that without exception characterised everything KISS touched from 1980 onwards. I’m going to rasp the praises of an album that is most definitely the unsung treasure of their largely overlooked early years; those Alice Cooper inspired New York Dolls-esque first few forays into the world of KISS in the studio.

I first bought this album on vinyl aged 11 in 1984, from Volume records in Newcastle (a truly legendary record shop, which sadly, of course, is no longer with us). This is back in the days when Lindstrom was a still a babyfaced nipper chasing his fisher price vinyl van round the nursery, and long before anyone would ever dream of using the words ‘post’ and ‘disco’ in the same sentence. Sinclair C5’s were ‘the future’ and Cubase was the stuff of a madman’s dreams.

From first listen this album stood out as an aural delight, stuffed to the gills with great basslines, beats and truly legendary production. I recently re-discovered it after spotting another vinyl copy in the dirty crates among several thousand schlager albums whilst on a sonic mission in darkest Bavaria. I dusted it off, packed it away safe, and carried it all the way home as a gift for my good friend Mr. Rich Recess. But what of the album itself……..?

Dynasty was the band’s seventh studio album, and is most definitely the last great stand of KISS mark one – the Star Child, the Demon, the Cat Man and the Space Ace, and it really was ‘somethin’ else’ in the best and in every sense.  It was released in 1979, at a time when the band badly needed a return to their former platinum selling days, having taken a two year hiatus and a few ill advised gambles, like choosing to release four solo albums on the same day in September ‘78 (many of which ended up in the bargain bins).

Dynasty was to revive their flagging careers, hitting top ten in the U.S. billboard chart and providing the band with their biggest selling single to date in the shape of ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’. It marked a much needed return to form, and contains more than its fair share of choice cuts, that you might not have guessed were KISS had you taken the Pepsi challenge. Dynasty is also an A-1 spangly-shining example of the far reaching influence of dance music culture, Studio 54 and the gr**vy sound of America’s most darling (and later most despised) genre, having been recorded at a time when everything, it seemed, was reflected through a mirrorball.

The years 1977 – 79 saw disco come out of the black gay underground and become a worldwide phenomena. Post Saturday Night Fever, everybody wanted a slice of the honeypie, and in much the same way as had happened with psychedelia ten years earlier, A&R men were falling over themselves to sign anything featuring a cowbell or a string section which made as much as a passing reference to ‘New York’, ‘Saturday’ or ‘Nightlife’. Record companies had whole disco departments devoted to finding the next Bee Gees or Silver Convention, and for a while it seemed that the entire industry was run more or less on the disco dollar. Everyone jumped on the gravy train and ‘discofied’ hits were de rigeur, with the likes of Blondie, Queen, ELO, The Stones, Wings and Rod Stooart to name but a few, all doing their best, for better or worse, to go dance floor.

Thanks to Steve Dahl, the disgruntled Chicago rock-ist radio DJ, and his (Racist? Homophobic? shawly not….) Insane Coho Lips Anti-Disco Army, all of that came to an abrupt end one hot summer night in ’79. Dahl had previously been sacked from his rock show on Chicago’s WDAI Radio in 1978 after the station ‘went disco’.

Dahl wasn’t going to take this lying down, and being pretty pissed off at the way that rock had suddenly become yesterday’s news, he did everything he could to drive out the evil ‘fag music’. On ‘Disco Demolition Night’, July 12^th at Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox, Dahl blew up a mountain of disco records, causing a commotion in the process and making the headlines. Thousands of rock fans, invited via the airwaves, invaded the pitch chanting ‘Disco Sucks’ and making a bit of a nuisance of themselves.

This event seemed to effect a bizarre consciousness change in the American record buying public’s tastes and wallets, and has since gone down in history as ‘the Night That Disco Died’. Thereafter dance music went firmly back underground, and the painted face of the billboard charts would never look the same again. Dahl and his droogs ensured that D**co would be a very dirty word for a few decades to come, and their mantra of “Disco Sucks” would be the new ethos among A&R men and record company execs, as thousands were laid off, and those left were eager to hang onto their jobs.

This was all still to come, however, when our four native New Yorkers went into the studio to lay down Dynasty. Though it was about to have its day (at least as far as the mainstream went), in spring ’79 disco was still very much the word on everyone’s lips, and it’s all over this baby, baby.

Put the needle on the record, and you’re immediately sucked into some seriously satin covered version of 70’s rock. ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’ is the album’s opening cut, and it’s most ambitious. Ace Frehley’s guitar work is the mutt’s nuts. Paul Stanley sounds like he’s been doing the night shift in Harlem. And Vini Poncia’s production, when coupled with Gene Simmons chugging bass, gives the whole track an almost Moroder-esque tinge, as if Metal Mickey were fronting a slightly tinny Temptations covering ‘I Feel Love’. The result adds up to a track that wouldn’t sound out of place in a DJ set by Greg Wilson or S**lwax.

A few tracks in, lies the most surprising track on the album, and for me, the highlight. ‘Sure Know Somethin’ is a weird hybrid of R&B, Soul, Rock and Disco, and has a bass line that’s just crying out to be sampled (it may have already – but not to my knowledge). It’s a slow builder, sounds a little like Smokey Robinson or the Chi-Lites, and has a trick or two up its sleeve. Just when you’re least expecting, it turns from a tender ballad into a foot-stomping-fist-pumping anthem then back again, via one of the best middle eights this side of ‘We Can Work It Out’. Harmonies flail back and forth, as the flange level is turned up to 11, and the effect is quite mesmerising.

Other highlights include the four to the floor funk-a-thon, ‘Dirty Livin’ where Peter Criss turns in some great drums and vocals, and Simmon’s bass playing is, well, er, ….really good, actually. It’s worth pointing out that right across this album Gene Simmons’ bass playing is pretty damn fine. The opening cut, and ‘Dirty Livin’’ both showcase a Simmons that has more in common with Bernard Edwards than his own ‘Eeyore’ style on later KISS albums. Though it’s a hard thing to swallow, (especially if your opinions of the man happened to include the word ‘feckless’ and the phrase ‘money obsessed misogynist with the worst ‘haircut’ in rock), this record shows that Simmons could at least play the bass once upon a time.

Highlights on side two include “Save Your Love” and “Hard Times” with Frehley’s nonchalant hustler style vocals adding a right old edge to the proceedings, and loosening up the KISS sound to great effect. Indeed, it’s only when we get into Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons’ efforts ‘Magic Touch’, ‘Charisma’ and ‘X-ray Eyes’ that we begin to hear signs of the turgid , same old, same old sound that would characterise their later efforts.

Even though Dynasty was to revive KISS’s flagging careers, commercial success couldn’t mask (if you pardon the pun) the irreparable schisms which were tearing the band apart. Peter “Catman” Criss, the band’s drummer, was clearly some way through his quota of nine lives, having partied pretty hard in the preceding years, and suffering a serious car accident just before the recording sessions. By 1979 poor old Pete was allegedly so strung out on booze and ‘ludes that it was all he could manage to be the drummer in KISS, but actually playing the drums seemed to be a bit of a tall order. He would routinely slow right down or stop the beat altogether during gigs, and during the recording of Dynasty, producer Vini Poncia (whose writing credits include the Ronettes, Darlene Love, and er…..Leo Sayer) decided to use session Drummer Anton Fig on all but one of the tracks. As a result, the only number he earned his dollar for was ‘Dirty Livin’. A quick listen to the drums and vocals on this track makes you wonder whether Poncia shouldn’t have tried a just a little bit harder to get Criss in the drummer’s stool on all the other tunes. Although the Catman was a de facto member of KISS for some time to come, he was effectively redundant and didn’t play drums on any of their subsequent (crap) records.

Meanwhile, Ace ‘Space Man’ Frehley the group’s guitarist, was certainly on a planet of his own, no doubt about that, as this interview clip from the same year shows.

In Paul Stanley’s own words “Ace was notorious for his bad balance” and it looks here like he was on some dangerous combination of Special Brew and helium. Frehley’s famous “Actually I’m a plumber!” line in this clip at 8:47 has to qualify as one of the best interview quotes of all time. It’s pretty clear that at this stage in the game, KISS was divided into two distinct camps – the serious and savvy Simmons & Stanley versus the Rock ‘n’ Roll animals Frehley & Criss.

Despite providing the vocals on three of Dynasty’s cuts, singing way more down ‘n’ dirty than Simmons or Stanley could ever hope to, not to mention his top drawer axe work, Frehley wasn’t to last much longer than Criss. He contributed less and less to the band, and was finally ejected in the early 80’s, going on to a respected if not prolific or profitable solo career. Incidentally, if you ever feel like a sideways foray around the groove’s peripheries, then check out Ace’s 1978 solo album. It’s the best of the bunch, far out-shining  Simmons, Stanley and Criss’s efforts. The Album includes the excellent single ‘New York Groove’ which sounds a wee bit like Bohannon’s rhythm section with a cat-litter gargling Cheech on vocals.

So there you have it: a great album which by no means wears its influences on its sleeve, but was most definitely a sign o’ the times. After listening to it, one can’t help feeling that this is a band that had a serious case of ‘Jacksonitis’ – i.e. if they’d jacked it in roundabout 1980 then they would have left a pretty credible musical legacy. Instead, they dragged their own name right through the mud, and continue to do so to this day. Ace Frehley and Peter Criss certainly never made the kind of money as solo artists that they would have in KISS, and both battled with their own demons for a while, but they both jumped ship (or were pushed) while the going was golden and can hold their heads high. The beard strokers among you will probably never go in for this band, but if you’ve always dug the rock, then their first few albums, and in particular, Dynasty, speak for themselves. Just put it on, ‘listen without prejudice’ as our favourite ram raiding stoner would say, and open your ears to one of the finest disco infused rock albums ever to make it onto wax.