Gene Simmons gives KISS's 'I Was Made For Lovin' You' a tongue-lashing
Despite being one of KISS’s biggest international hits and a mainstay of their live sets, Gene Simmons has admitted he still detests performing ‘I Was Made For Lovin' You’ with a passion.
Released almost four decades ago in May 1979, ‘I Was Made For Lovin' You’ saw KISS dip their platform heels into disco territory, and it went on to hit number one in various countries and shift 1million units in the US. In the UK, however, it failed to dent the Top 40.
In a new video interview with the US OK! Magazine, Gene was asked to name a KISS song that he initially didn’t like that ended up becoming a hit.
Singling out ‘I Was Made For Lovin' You’, Gene said: "Well, Paul Stanley comes in and he says, 'Did you write any songs?' I go, 'Oh, yeah. I've got one called 'Almost Human'.' 'Yeah? How does it go?' (sings) “I'm almost human. I can't help feelin' strange.” 'Yeah, that's cool. That's a Gene song.'
“'How about you, Paul?' He goes, 'I've got one. It goes 'Tonight.'' "Ooooh. That's cool. What's the next line?' 'I'm gonna give it all to you.' 'Oh, yeah. I know what 'it' means. I know exactly what you mean.' 'In the darkness.' (claps) 'Love that!' 'There something I wanna do.' 'Yeah, I know what that 'something' is. Wow! That's a cool song.’ ‘Okay, what's my part?' (sings) “Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.” 'You're killing me. Really? I'm gonna sing like my grandmother?' (sings) 'Do, do, do…'
“I hate playing that song to this day. Stadiums full of people jump up and down like biblical locusts and stuff. They go nuts with tattoos and grills on… 'Ahhhh!' They're all jumping up and down, and I'm going, 'Do, do, do, do, do, do… Kill me now.' Still, still to this day I hate that song."
Asked by interviewer Casey Madden whether the song has grown on him at all, Gene responded: "Well, how about you sing that song? You're a girl. I wanna sing guy stuff."
Elsewhere in the chat, which you can watch below, Gene explained that it takes two hours to apply his The Demon makeup before each show and revealed where KISS got their inspiration from for their on-stage guises.
KISS will commence their farewell, multi-year End of the Road World Tour in 2019.
Paul Stanley says of the swansong trek: "This is gonna be our last tour. It will be the most explosive, biggest show we've ever done. People who love us, come see us. If you've never seen us, this is the time. This will be the show."