Detroit Rock City (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Detroit Rock City

|200px
Artist = Kiss
from Album = Destroyer
Released = July 28, 1976
Format = 7"
Recorded = Record Plant Studios,
New York City: 1976
Genre = Hard rock, heavy metal
Length = 5:20
Label = Casablanca
Writer = Paul Stanley
Bob Ezrin
Producer = Bob Ezrin
Chart position =

• #87 (United States)
  • #14 (Germany)
  
  Reviews =
  Last single = "Flaming Youth" / "God of Thunder"
  (1976)
  This single = "Detroit Rock City" / "Beth"
  (1976)
  Next single = "Beth" / "Detroit Rock City"
  (1976) |

  "Detroit Rock City" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss featured on their 1976 album, "Destroyer". The song was written by Paul Stanley and Bob Ezrin and is about a real Kiss fan who was killed in a car accident on his way to a Kiss concert (in the intro you can hear a report on a car accident, narrated by Gene Simmons). The song, recorded and released as a single in 1976 [ [http://www.kissfaq.com/singles/usa/singles_usa.html KISS singles] ] , was the third single off of Kiss's album "Destroyer" and was planned to be their last in support of the album.

  As a single, it did poorly in sales and radio play (other than in Detroit), and failed to chart in the U.S. [ [http://www.kissfaq.com/charts/scharts.html KISS singles chart] ,] even though it would prove to be a fan favorite. It came as a surprise that the B-side "Beth", a ballad sung by drummer Peter Criss, wound up catching on in different markets in the United States, so the single was reissued with "Beth" as the A-side and "Detroit Rock City" as the B-side. [Sherman, Dale. "Black Diamond - The Unauthorized Biography of KISS". CG Publishing, 1997. ISBN (1-896522-35-1)]

  During the Love Gun/Alive II tour, Paul changed the lyric, "I know I'm gonna die, why?" to "I know I'm gonna die, and I don't care!" [ "KISSOLOGY: 1974 - 1978, Live in Budokan, Live in Madison Square Garden (Bonus Disc)" ]

  The song was #6 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs, ["VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs", 1-4 May 2006, "VH1" Channel, reported by [http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/103446/episode_this_list.jhtml VH1.com] ; last accessed September 10, 2006.] and is featured on the album "Heavy Metal – The First 20 Years" which was released on July 25, 2006. [ [http://www.kisskollector.com/headlines/ "Heavy Metal - The First 20 Years" album info] ]

  The song's title was used for a 1999 motion picture in which a group of teenage Kiss fans travel to Detroit to see the band in 1978.

  The Detroit Tigers use the song when the players take the field, and also on various radio and television broadcasts of games. It is also sometimes played right before the first face-off in Detroit Red Wings games.

  The song was tributed as a fictional venue - The Rock City Theater, located in Detroit, Michigan - in the music video game "Guitar Hero II". It is also featured in the video game "Rock Band", in which the master track is used - however, the first solo appears extended, and the ending ("Get up!/Everybody's gonna leave their seats/Get down!") was cut off the song [http://www.rockband.com/ It can be seen in the solo drums gameplay video.] . Kiss also played the song on an episode of Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

  Other Versions

  "Detroit Rock City" was covered by a ska-core band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones on a Kiss tribute album "". It has also been covered by Hayseed Dixie on their album "Let There Be Rockgrass". It was also covered by the retro-swing band Alien Fashion Show in 1998, producing the single "Detroit Swing City." On New Years' Eve 1999, at a concert at the Pontiac Silverdome, Metallica, Kid Rock, Sevendust and Ted Nugent collaborated on a cover [cite web|url=http://www.encycmet.com/projects/promet.shtml|title=Projects: Metallica & Others|publisher=Encyclopedia Metallica|accessdate=2007-09-02] . The power metal band HammerFall covered it on its album "Crimson Thunder" as a bonus track. Also Covered by Canadian cover band Sweet Siren. Ska punk band Less than Jake made their own recording and single entitled Gainsville Rock City. The song is their hometown anthem and makes two references towards Detroit Rock City. One of course being the title and the other is the intro which is the sound of a person entering his car and inserting his key into the ignition then starts the car. The main riff was covered by Japanese band GO!GO!7188 for their cover of "Kazari Janai no yo Namida wa" (originally by Akina Nakamori) on their cover album album, Tora no Ana 2.

  Personnel

  *Paul Stanley - lead vocals/rhythm guitar
  *Ace Frehley - lead guitar
  *Gene Simmons - bass guitar/backing vocals
  *Peter Criss - drums

  ee also

  * Detroit Rock City (film)
  * Music of Detroit
  * Detroit Metal City

  Notes