WCSX Classic Cuts : Detroit Rock City
WCSX Classic Cuts
KISS: “Detroit Rock City”
The Hook: Ace played the guitar solo, but he didn’t come up with it.
Album: Destroyer
Year: 1976
Writers: Paul Stanley and Bob Ezrin
Stats: Although released as a single, it didn’t chart. The single was later flipped, with the B-side “Beth” becoming the A-side. “Beth” would become KISS’s highest-charting single ever, peaking at number-seven on the Billboard Hot 100. “Detroit Rock City,” however, did end up at number-six on VH1’s list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
Background: Paul Stanley and Bob Ezrin’s song about a fan who was killed in a car crash on his way to his first KISS concert was adapted from an earlier unrecorded number titled “Acrobat.” Ace Frehley says that though he did play the guitar solo on “Detroit Rock City,” the band’s producer deserves recognition for his contribution to it.
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley on his guitar solo for “Detroit Rock City.” OC:…Bob did. :19
“I have to give credit where credit is due, Bob Ezrin wrote that guitar solo. That was his idea. He played the melody on piano and I figured it out. And then he taught Paul the harmony part and Paul played the harmony part. And that’s just a classic solo, but, y’know, I didn’t write it, Bob did.”
