Thursday, July 01, 2010

Beth I hear you calling

I learnt an interesting factoid the other day.

Beth was Kiss' first US Top 10 hit. It was actually the B-Side of Detroit Rock City (or was it Shout It Out Loud?). Either way it's not a song which yells "KISS" at you. It's a ballad, a love song, it's accoustic. It's a song I absolutely love.

Like its sister Hard Luck Woman it's a song written and sung by Peter Criss, the drummer, and for me both songs are fantastic. They both pull at my heartstrings (yes, there are some there, well buried) and make me wonder how a drugged out rocker like Peter Criss could come up with such incisive lyrics.

But really the surprise is that this little song struck more of a chord with US radio listeners in the late 1970s then the real Kiss songs, the big songs. For my money Detroit Rock City and Shout It Out Loud are what Kiss are all about; the big stadium anthems which I just love singing along to in the car.

Sorry to bother you with that weird little tidbit. Just thinking out loud (as oppossed to shouting, I guess).

4 comments:

Fiona said...

Gene Simmons has a reality tv show here and he comes across as a half decent guy!
I am still getting over the trauma of winning a ticket to see KISS in 1981 (?) and not being allowed to go and then having a Year 9 kid swindle me out of the ticket!
At least I got to see David Bowie!

La Viajera Insaciable said...

Oh, man! I LOVED Beth! And Detroit Rock City. And Shout It Out Loud. But yes, Beth was my very favorite...

Big Pissy said...

"Beth" makes me kinda sad every time I hear it.

Wonder what happened to her?

deepkickgirl said...

I've seen Gene Simmons' (is it called Family Jewels?) on Foxtel. The thing about Gene is he's a good Jewish mamma's boy who grew up to be a rich arrogant rock star. He is rich and arrogant but he wears it well and he knows who he is and is comfortable with it. On someone else the same qualities would be very unlikable but somehow he manages to get away with it.


I know what you mean BP, Beth always makes me sad too. It's the reality of life (not just the rock'n'roll life).