Today is a big day in the history of my record collection: I've bought my 4000th single! Having almost reached the age of 39, this means that on average I've bought 102 singles per year. Although I ordered a few singles abroad a week ago, none of them appeared in my mailbox, so I still bought my 4000th single during a small record fair today. And it's not just any single!
After 'Unmasked', Kiss went through hard times. Peter Criss left the band, the remaining members worked with a replacement for a while and then decided to really put down their masks. They struggled with their fanbase and identity for years. In 1989, they released the album 'Hot in the shade'. This single, 'Forever', was written by Paul Stanley with Michael Bolton and features the kind of melodrama you would expect from the latter, but not from Kiss. It is a hard-edged rock ballad, which appealed to me a lot at the time. Despite the success of 'Forever', 'Hot in the Shade' became the first Kiss album to fail to reach platinum status since 'Creatures of the night' (1982). A live version appeared on 'Kiss Symphony: Alive IV' (2003).
When our grandparents went on holiday to England, my sister and I, 16 and 10 years old respectively, asked them for a souvenir in the guise of a Kiss record. We were still big fans of the group, ever since their breakthrough with 'I was made for loving you'. It was the kind of youthful excitement that is very common at that age. We were very surprised when they returned with this single, one for each of us. In Holland, 'Talk to me' had just been released, but the UK had obviously preferred to release 'What makes the world go 'round'. It was not a successful release: the single didn't make the charts. My grandparents, meanwhile, were very surprised that we were into 'these painted men'.
The second single to be taken from Kiss's album 'Unmasked' (at least, in the Netherlands), 'Talk to me' was written by Ace Frehley, who also performed lead vocals on this track. It performed even worse than 'Shandi' in the charts, because it didn't make the Dutch Top 40.
Taken from their eighth album 'Unmasked', 'Shandi' was only a small hit compared to the three singles taken from the previous album, 'Dynasty'. Written by vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley and producer Vini Poncia, the song title was inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song '4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)'.
The album 'Dynasty' was a great success for Kiss, even though fans criticised them for having gone commercial. The blend of hardrock with a more 'disco' style made a big impact on a broad audience. Until then, Kiss had focused exclusively on their hardcore black leather wearing Kiss Army. I was only nine years old when 'Dynasty' was released. I had no desire to get involved in hardrock. But I did get into these scary looking individuals because of their glammed up music and their strange looks.
The records don't show it and my memory can't recall where, but I know I got Kiss's second single from their 'Dynasty' album pretty quickly after I got I was made for lovin' you. 'Sure know something' got to number 3 in the Dutch charts in the autumn of 1979. Amazingly, it didn't reach the UK charts at all, and in France it was released as the B-side to 'Dirty Livin''. It's this French edition that's part of my record collection now. I might have bought it in Paris, because we were on holiday in that city that year. But as I said, there's no way of knowing...
When I was asked what presents I wanted to have for my ninth birthday, I immediately replied that I would like some chart singles. They were too expensive for me to buy on my weekly allowance, but there were always titles that I desired. My wish was granted, and so I got Kiss for my birthday.