Writers: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley
Producers: Neil Bogart and Kiss
Recorded: February 1975 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City
Released: March 1975
| Players: | Paul Stanley — vocals, guitar Gene Simmons — bass, vocals Ace Frehley — guitar Peter Criss — drums |
| Album: | Dressed To Kill (Casablanca, 1975) |
Though released first on Kiss's third album, Dressed To Kill, it was the performance of “Rock And Roll All Nite” from the Alive! album that became the group's first major hit, reaching Number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The studio version had also been released as a single but only peaked at Number 68.
Singer-guitarist Paul Stanley said “Rock And Roll All Nite” was inspired by a meeting with Casablanca Records chief Neil Bogart, “where he explained to us the need for an anthem, a word that was not usually associated with rock-and-roll. He explained the need for a song that our fans could rally behind, that defined who we were as a band.”
Stanley and singer-bassist Gene Simmons came up with that anthem by combining two bits each had written — Stanley's “I want to rock and roll all night and party every day” chorus with a Simmons song called “Drive Me Wild.” As Stanley recalled, “By using my chorus and his verse, we came up with what is arguably and will remain the most important part of Kisstory.”
Simmons said the song was inspired by the British band Slade, particularly its hit “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” — “Their stuff just floored me with its simplicity and guitars.”
Dressed To Kill was Kiss's most successful album to that point, reaching Number 32 on the Billboard 200 and earning a gold record. Alive!, however, soared to Number Nine and sold more than a million copies.
