| "Detroit Rock City" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Kiss | ||||
| from the album Destroyer | ||||
| A-side | "Beth" | |||
| Released | July 28, 1976 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Studio | Record Plant, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
| |||
| Label | Casablanca | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Bob Ezrin | |||
| Kiss singles chronology | ||||
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"Detroit Rock City" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss, released on their 1976 album Destroyer . The song was written by Paul Stanley and producer Bob Ezrin.
"Detroit Rock City" began with a guitar part by Paul Stanley, who explained: "I had the basic riff of the song, the 'get up, get down' part, but I didn't know what the song was about except it was about Detroit." [4] [ full citation needed ]
Stanley explained the song's origin further in 2023:
"Detroit Rock City" is an interesting one, because Detroit really embraced us before any other city. We were an opening act everywhere else, but in Detroit we were a headliner. It started as a tribute to Detroit, and then it kind of took a left turn, because we played Charlotte once, and somebody coming to the arena was killed in an accident. And I thought how bizarre that somebody on their way to something so life affirming loses their life. So there's a juxtaposition in that song about singing about how great Detroit is, and actually about someone going to the show who doesn't make it. [5]
Bassist Gene Simmons played an R&B-influenced bassline, which he considered a departure from his usual style. [6]
In 2014, Paste ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest Kiss songs, [7] and in 2019, Louder Sound ranked the song number one on their list of the 40 greatest Kiss songs. [8]
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [9] | 99 |
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Anthemic hard rocker, B-side of "Beth," and later as the subject of a movie which Marshall Mathers undoubtedly snuck into for free.
Simmons wrote a bassline for the song that was influenced by R&B music — a bassline which he said was very different from most of his work. Simmons compared the bassline to Issac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft" and Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead (Theme From 'Superfly')."
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