Gene Simmons defends Kiss’ move to disco with Dynasty: “Idiot! It was a home run!”
Dynasty was maligned by some fans and critics, but it sold well.
Image: Chris Walter / Getty
Gene Simmons has discussed the backlash that KISS received after releasing the track I Was Made For Lovin’ You, and their disco-tinged record Dynasty, which was a departure from their hard rock roots.
Speaking on Good Day Sacramento, Simmons was asked his thoughts on Dynasty being described as “hit or miss.” He was quick to correct, saying: “Well, when people talk about that record as hit-or-miss – it was a multi-platinum record, so that’s called a hit.”
He explained how the record being a hit was not a matter of opinion: “‘You know, I don’t like the way that guy hit that baseball, that home run that he hit.’ Idiot! It was a home run! So that’s called a home run. It doesn’t matter how you feel about it. These are semantics, but I’m not anti-semantic. You see what I did there?”
While Dynasty was a commercial success, becoming certified platinum in the US, New Zealand, Canada and the Netherlands, some fans and critics highly disliked the disco direction for the band. Rolling Stone’s David Fricke pointed out how fans would see the commercial pop direction flying in the face of the band’s edgy image: “The KISS army is going to mutiny when they hear I Was Made for Lovin’ You… They’ll demand to know why their heroes, after years of rallying the troops into battle against disco and other threatening schlock, have turned tail and joined forces with uptown popsters like producer Vini Poncia… and singer/tunesmith Desmond Child (who co-wrote the offending song with Kiss’ Paul Stanley).”
Three years ago, Simmons himself even admitted to OK! Magazine that he hates playing I Was Made For Lovin’ You because his vocal part is mostly just going ‘Doo’.