50 Years Ago: KISS Tries the Back Door With Debut Single
By Matthew Wilkening / Photo: Tom Hill, Getty Images - https://ultimateclassicrock.com
It took years for "Nothin' to Lose" to make the journey from a demo tape to the A-side of Kiss' first single, and all that work was just one small step on the band's long road to success.
Released in February 1974 as the lead single from the band's self-titled debut album, the Gene Simmons-penned song deals with persistence of a different kind. "Lyrically, 'Nothin' to Lose' is about anal sex," he explains in 2003's Kiss: Behind the Mask, before helpfully reciting the song's lyrics: "I thought about the back door / I didn't know what to say / But once I had a baby / I tried every way / She didn't want to do it / But she did anyway."
The "Nothin' to Lose" story began in late 1971, as Simmons and keyboardist Brooke Ostrander recorded an early version of the track for a demo tape. When a label promised them a record deal if they could put a band together, the duo recruited Paul Stanley and two other musicians to form a group, which eventually took the name Wicked Lester.
The "Nothin' to Lose" story began in late 1971, as Simmons and keyboardist Brooke Ostrander recorded an early version of the track for a demo tape. When a label promised them a record deal if they could put a band together, the duo recruited Paul Stanley and two other musicians to form a group, which eventually took the name Wicked Lester.
Stanley and Simmons had briefly met once before, but in Behind the Mask, Simmons admits, "I must have come off very pompous and self-righteous." Stanley doesn't dispute that account: "I hated him." But the two quickly realized they had similar tastes and determination.
Read the rest of the stroy: 50 Years Ago: Kiss Tries the Back Door With Debut Single | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss
