“Oww!”
The eight studio album by KISS opens with a proper howl by frontman Paul Stanley as he launches into Is That You?. It might not set the tone for the entire album, but it certainly sets the tone for that track.
Unmasked from 1980 is a lighter and more polished album from KISS than normal. More accurately, the album has several examples of KISS doing power pop – a style that several other bands like Cheap Trick, Foreigner, and The Raspberries were dabbling in at the time. Unmasked is more diverse than many give it credit for, featuring said power pop next to melodic hard rock numbers, disco rock, introspective rock anthems, and ballads. It is diverse, overall melodic, and easily likeable. It is a great album with a lot of clever arrangements, interesting vocal harmonies, and powerful choruses. But is it KISS music?
Is That You? is in and of itself a classic KISS song at its roots. It has something that the previous album totally lacked: it oozes attitude and a cool, classic Stanley strut. The song itself is filled with irresistible hooks and delicious riffs from start to finish. It has an incredible vocal bridge after the guitar solo, which in itself is crisp and melodic. It has been given a sonic approach befitting the overall sound of the album, but that suits this song well and certainly does not take anything away from it.
It also is important to remember that KISS was never a heavy metal band. The band might have tried to be one for a few albums in the 1980s, but especially on their first three albums (and throughout the 1970s) they were always more of a hard-edged rock’n’roll band with roots in the 1960s. A lot of that is still present on Unmasked.
What might have been missing was the aspect of danger. They used to be the band fronted by The Demon – a blood-spitting, fire-blowing Gene Simmons. They were referred to as the Knights In Satan’s Service and cast as satanic by people who listened with their eyes rather than their ears. The mix of image and notoriety gave the band an edge that was reflected in the music and made them more exciting. This was definitely toned down on albums like Dynasty and Unmasked (although not necessarily on the associated tours). They still wrote some incredible material, but it was often given a lighter treatment than before.
A bigger challenge than the lack of good material might have been that the album was made amid much turmoil. The Dynasty/Return of KISS tour that ended in December 1979 had been troubled with fractures forming within the group. Peter Criss was frustrated with his role in the band and would self-sabotage some of his performances. It was clear to all that a split was coming, but as far as the public was concerned, Peter was still in the band and would play on the new album. He would even be depicted on the album cover when it was released.
“We were not functioning as a band,” said Paul Stanley in Behind the Mask. “Peter didn’t play on Unmasked or Dynasty. By Unmasked it was clear that that wasn’t an ongoing workable situation. Certainly for the fans’ benefit you would often paint a picture that wasn’t true and at times that comes back to haunt you. People get the idea that you’re that comic version of the Beatles where four guys live in connecting houses or sleep in the same bed and do everything together. And that was absolutely never the case. Everybody didn’t do an equal share of the work and everybody didn’t have equal amounts of songs to bring to the party nor were the songs up to standard. We wanted to create something for the fans that was cheery and fit the picture they had of us, sometimes covering up people’s shortcomings. By the time of Unmasked, it was clear that [laughing] none of the tires were full, but one seemed real flat.”
Criss’ final act as a KISS member was to participate in the video shoot for Shandi, which was designed to help maintain the illusion that KISS was still the KISS that everyone expected. But after that, he was gone.
Additionally, amid changes in the band, the band’s record company was also changing hands. Casablanca was being sold to Polygram, and their friend and former label manager Neil Bogart was moving on. KISS’ business manager Howard Marks was busy renegotiating the band’s recording contract with Polygram. It would be their first singular worldwide deal, as previous deals has been split between territories. Interestingly, Peter Criss was part of the deal. Technically, he would still remain a business partner, and the band had no interest of revealing that he was no longer an active member. At least not during the contract negotiations.
Anton Fig was the actual performer on the entire Unmasked album, as he had been on the Dynasty record the previous year and on Ace Frehley’s KISS solo album the year before that. He was quickly becoming the band’s established go-to drummer, and was even considered as the band’s new permanent drummer for a short while, although in the end that role would go to Eric Carr, who joined after the album was released and before they did any live shows.
Fig was part of the preproduction rehearsals, which were held at Brit Row – a rehearsal place in Queens, New York. It was there that the band and KISS producer Vini Poncia worked out the arrangements and selected the material that ended up on the album.
“I remember rehearsing for Unmasked,” Fig said in Behind the Mask. “The rehearsals were largely like they were writing the songs and rearranging them. They weren’t rehearsals for me to get to know them. They were pretty much working out the tunes as well.”
Is That You? would have been among the songs the band considered and worked out at the time. The song fits the band so well stylistically that it is remarkable that they didn’t write it themselves. For the third consecutive studio album in a row, the band included a song written outside of the band. Is That You? is written by Gerard McMahon (currently recording under the moniker G Tom Mac). And it’s a song about a dominatrix.
McMahon’s musical history stretched back into the 1970s, having been pretty active on the music scene throughout the decade, including being the keyboard player on Jimmy Ibbotson’s Nitty Gritty Ibbotson solo album in 1977.
Is That You? was one of several songs written in 1979, when McMahon’s manager was looking for a producer and considered the current KISS producer Vini Poncia a possibility. As a result, Poncia heard several McMahon demos, and liked Is That You? enough to take it to KISS for consideration. The band, particularly Stanley, loved the song and decided to use it on the album.
The song describes a random encounter with a leather-clad, gorgeous-looking dominatrix who offered to take the song’s protagonist to his room and give him a good thrashing. This was a self-experienced event by McMahon.
In the book Behind the Music, he said “I was inspired to write the song late one night on a Midwest tour, in the hotel bar in Duluth, Minnesota. After the gig, I was sitting at the bar, drinking a whiskey, and this girl came up to me, dressed in black leather with handcuffs at her waist and a whip in her back pocket!” He contemplated the adventurous night that could lay ahead, and decided he’d rather write about the lewd lady than take her up on her thrashing offer. “I headed back to my room and wrote the lyric and music for Is That You? after my interesting meeting with the dominatrix.”
Cat’s droolin’ on the bar stool
Shake your hips and crack your whips
Cheap seventeen and trashed out
You went too far, been a bitch you areYour reputation’s in the bathroom
It’s on the wall and down the hall
I hear you’re cheatin’ with my teacher
After school, tell me what you do?When you know
You always get the boys you like
Play nice then stick them with your knife
Take off your insecure disguiseIs that you, crawlin’ up my stairs?
Is that you?
(Is that you, crawlin’ up my stairs?)
Is that you, lookin’ half way dead?
When asked about this encounter in a Songfacts interview, he laughed and confirmed “Yes, writing about it was less painful! Is That You? was inspired initially by a rather attractive “dom” girl. She had the idea I’d be into that sort of thing… Not! But, it got me some inspiration. […] I think she was upset that my innocent face passed on her, but I’m sure she got over it with another roll-through-towner! Maybe Pete Townsend or Gene Simmons!”
McMahon has said he is eternally grateful to have this song recorded by KISS, and muses that the process was formative for his songwriting career. “The song was definitely a songwriting-defining hour that I could have built a career around, but I chose not to use it for my own first album and let Kiss have it, instead. I was more into going the route of edgier, eclectic, and more challenging writing for myself.”
The song was brought to the band’s attention by producer Vini Poncia as the band were considering what material they had for the album. In the book Den sista Dynastin by Linnaeus/Bergdahl, he said “When most of the material was ready, we listened through what we had and felt we were missing a certain type of song. I knew Gerard was a good songwriter, and thought Is That You? sounded like a Paul Stanley song. I thought it would contribute that missing something to the album. I contacted Gerard, told him I was working on a new KISS album, and that I felt Is That You? should work for them. I then played it for Paul to see if he wanted to record it or rework it together with Gerard. Or write something new with him. I left every door open, but Paul liked Is That You? exactly as it was. If Paul hadn’t thought it was a good idea, KISS would have never recorded it. Believe me!”
Paul Stanley was asked about the song that opens Unmasked by the Melbourne-based Australian radio channel 3XY, and was keen to give its original writer a plug. He said, “When we heard Is That You? it sounded like a KISS song. When we gave it a test in rehearsal, it sounded so natural that we decided to include it on the album. It is written by a friend in Los Angeles, Gerard McMahon, who is a sharp songwriter. He will probably release his own album within the end of the year.”
Poncia added, “It’s not like I said, ‘you have to do this song.’ They did it because Paul liked it. It was the type of song that Paul could have written himself. He did nothing that he didn’t think was a good idea. Of course he respected my opinion. He listened to me, but the decision was always completely his own.”
A few tweaks would be done to the song before KISS recorded it. Lyrically, “Act your age, get back in your cage” was changed to ”Act your age, get off your stage.” McMahon’s demo also has a full third verse which was totally omitted: “Don’t like drivin’ to the high school / Just for kicks, you crazy chick / I oughta cross you out of my black book / You’re out of line, in your own case.” This shortened KISS’ version to 3:55, whereas the original demo clocked in at 4:23.
Write on the mirror with your lipstick
Much too vain, got scattered brains
You used me just enough to get off
Act your age, get off your stage
The band’s previous emphasis on hard rock is still very much suggested in this song, even though the main emphasis is placed on hooks and harmonies. The mentioned “Oww!” in the beginning kicks it off with a certain vibe that is retained throughout. The riffs are pumping, being more slinky and cool than heavy. Anton Fig contributes several great drum fills. Stanley’s pre-chorus vocals nearly veer into falsetto, which is a style he would use a lot more on the next album (Music From) The Elder. In this song, it still feels natural and gives the song a cool lift. The song has a natural strut, a snarl, and a bratty attitude that I’m not sure any other songs on the album has.
Paul Stanley would handle the lead guitars on Is That You?, as he would for a number of songs on the album. He explained to the Australian radio station 3XY that this was a natural progression: “I play the solo on five of the eleven songs on Unmasked, which was cool. Earlier that would automatically fall to Ace, but now we’re taking turns. Whoever was the most comfortable with the song would play the solo.”
Musically, the song adds some interesting arrangements. After the guitar solo, there is a section with a vocal arrangement centred around the bridge of the song, with several voices singing variations of the “You always get the boys you like”-section ahead of a final chorus section which is repeated until the song fades out. Sections like that shows a band stretching and experimenting, and is one of many examples on the album on how they focused more on vocal arrangements than they had previously.
Anton Fig’s girlfriend Holly Knight also ended up adding a contribution. She was also a musician, playing keyboards in the band Spider alongside Fig. Spider shared their management with KISS so they would bump into each other from time to time. That is exactly what happened one evening sometime spring 1980, as Knight was hanging around the corridors of the Record Plant just waiting for a friend. This led to a chance encounter with Gene Simmons who promptly asked her “Hi Holly, don’t you play keyboards?” Shortly after, she found herself in the studio with a free lease to add keyboard parts to several songs on Unmasked. Amongst other things, she can be heard hammering down the straight eights in the choruses of Is That You?. She would be well compensated for her work, but be uncredited on the album sleeve – just like any other guest musician who ever contributed to a KISS album.
Vini Poncia noted it as a bit unusual that Gene and Paul gave Holly Knight the space that they did. In Den siste Dynastin by Linnaeus/Bergdahl, he said “They created their own songs and did them their own way, but at this point most other bands had started testing new things here and there, using outside musicians to get a new and different vibe. Rock bands in general started using more keyboards around this time. The entire musical landscape was changing with bands like Foreigner and Van Halen. It was the current vibe. It wasn’t a big thing for us to test the waters with keyboards. Although it wasn’t planned that way it worked really well, as Holly is a good musician with a good feel for rock’n’roll. And as she is also a songwriter, she knew instinctively what the song needed.”
When KISS was done recording the track, Vini Poncia reached out to songwriter Gerard McMahon to let him know they had done his song justice. “One of the great experiences in my songwriting career is having one of my first covers done by KISS,” McMahon said in Behind the Mask. “I remember coming home from a gig one night and on my answering machine was a message from Vini Poncia saying, ‘Check this shit out!’ It was a recording of KISS performing Is That You?.”
The band had seen a lot of success with the previous album Dynasty, and especially the hit single I Was Made For Lovin’ You. The new label was expecting this to continue, and the band also wanted to repeat the success of the previous year – i.e., make an album that would be popular across a wide audience segment that also contained a new big international hit.
This did not work in America, where the band was majorly falling out of fashion at the time. The cracks had begun to show with the previous year’s disco-tinged hit, and it may have gotten to the point where it didn’t matter what they put out at the time. A power pop-inspired album was certainly not what the band’s home audience wanted. The question is if a heavy metal album would have fared better. History shows that the band’s fortunes were not turned – somewhat – until they took off their make-up in 1983.
Unmasked was released on 20 May 1980, and it was hardly a total failure, selling enough to warrant gold status. This was still a step down compared to the previous album, at a time when they had hoped to build on the previous success, not see fortunes dwindling. The album reached #35 on the Billboard 200, which was low for KISS. It was their worst charting album since their second album Hotter Than Hell from 1974.
Abroad, though, things were very different. The album was extremely popular across Europe and Australia, even spawning hit singles. It went all the way to #1 in Norway and New Zealand, #3 in Australia and Austria, #4 in Germany, and was a Top 20 album at least in Holland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Canada, and Japan.
Shandi was released as a single on 1 June 1980, and managed to give the band a hit single in several markets, going all the way to #1 in Argentina, #4 in Norway, #6 in New Zealand, #10 in Australia, Austria, and Switzerland, and within Top 40 in most other places in Europe.
Looking at where business were good, the band decided to forego a full US tour, and focused their album campaign on Europe and Australia/New Zealand. The tour did brisk business with a lot of media and audience interest.
When KISS arrived in Australia they were welcomed like conquering heroes, with masses of people nearly causing pandemonium during their public appearances. For the month they were there, KISS were everywhere. They were the primary news story in every city, with the hysteria they inspired surpassing the levels of Beatlemania when The Beatles visited in June 1964.
Even before KISS arrived in Australia, and all throughout their month-long stay in Australia and New Zealand, the press coverage and fan reaction was nearly unfathomable. Every hotel was mobbed for days, and there were sniper photographers in every building across from wherever the band stayed, hoping to get the ultimate prize shot of a band member without their trademark make-up. Newspapers counted down the days to various KISS shows and appearances. TV News were full of stories. TV shows were fighting to be the ones that the band would visit or make a recorded appearance for. Young people in KISS make-up seemed to make up most of the population. This was a far cry from the lack of interest in America. Incredibly, KISS seemed to forget their warm welcome down under as soon as they left – they would not return to Australia until 1995.
Is That You? was not one of the core singles released from the album, but given the success of their European and Aussie tours in October and November 1980, the record company rush-released that song as a single in Holland (with some minor European distribution of that edition) and Australia to coincide with the band’s visit there. The song didn’t impact the charts. In Australia the single was only on sale for a few short weeks around the time of the band’s visit, and was deleted shortly after the band had left, making it one of the rarest KISS singles.
The single did collide a bit with Tomorrow, which was released on 1 November 1980 as the third single from Unmasked. That one was no hit either. It is noteworthy that this may be one of the few singles ever released by a major rock band that has never been performed live. Not as much as a lone lip-sync on TV. Go figure.
As soon as the touring for Unmasked was done, the album was tucked away by its creators, its songs rarely considered for live use again (Shandi has usually been performed in Australia, and to a much rarer extent on a few select occasions in Europe). Especially Stanley is well known for judging things in terms of their success and general acceptance. The interesting thing is that Unmasked actually had a lot of success, but maybe not in the territory where it mattered the most to him. The lack of success in the band’s home country clearly hurt, and was enough to make both Stanley and Simmons distance themselves from the album ever since. Unfortunately, this can also create distance to the significant amount of people who embraced the album and saw that time in KISStory as something special – especially if this is the only time the band came to one’s country during their initial make-up run.
Ace Frehley has ended up as the lone band member who stands by the album and even offers some defence for it. In 1996, when Goldmine invited the newly reunited original line-up of KISS to rate their back catalogue, Ace gave Unmasked 3,5 stars out of five. Simmons gave it two, whereas Stanley even felt generous in only giving it one tiny star, with crass comments about how the album started out as “sounding much ballsier” which contradicts comments made by Vini Poncia that the band, and Stanley in particular, was very clear as to the direction of the songs from the start.
In Behind the Mask, producer Vini Poncia rhetorically asks “Why did we do poppier songs on Unmasked? Well, those were the kind of songs that Paul was writing. It wasn’t my idea to come in and change anything. They were taking advantage of my pop sensibilities in those areas and I was taking advantage of certain songwriting talents that Paul and Gene had in those areas. Paul and Gene have never done anything that they didn’t want to do. They wanted to find out if they could work in that pop area and be effective.”
In the book Den sista Dynastin by Linnaeus/Bergdahl, Poncia adds: “You have to understand that Paul’s presence was huge on Unmasked. When it came to any decisions, he had final word. I could say, ‘I love that song take’, but if he felt he could do better we would roll that tape again. Paul knew exactly how he felt about things. […] When Paul listens to the album now he says it should have had some more attitude. Sure, in the rearview mirror, if we did the album today we would likely have done it differently, but at the time everybody were completely set on making the album sound precisely as it does. We never really quarrelled in the studio. We had a unified goal, and that was to try to create hits.”
Ace Frehley has resisted going along with the negative narrative about Unmasked, usually speaking warmly about the album. While he is happy with his own songs (for good reason), Is That You? amongst others have also been singled out for praise. When he guested Eddie Trunk’s radio show in the early 2000s, he called Unmasked the most misunderstood KISS album.
Frehley certainly has every reason to be proud of his efforts. He shines on Unmasked, being the one to give the album several solid hard-edged rock moments. His guitar playing is melodic with every tone singing with loud and clear resonance. Stanley is also very good on the album, showing off his remarkable talent for creating catchy, anthemic choruses. Gene might have been the bravest of them all, taking a step back from his demon persona to show real growth as a vocalist and songwriter, but this might not have been welcome. A lot of the audience wanted The Demon – not Gene Simmons – if they even managed to separate between the two. Simmons had started that separation on his 1978 KISS solo album and would continue in some way on the following albums.
Things would go from bad to worse in America. The next KISS album would alienate fans even further as they released the conceptual (Music From) The Elder in 1981. At that point, even international fans started wondering what was going on. But that is another story…
Sources:
“The KISS Album Focus, Volume I” by Julian Gill (2002)
“Behind the Mask – the Official Authorized Biography” by David Leaf and Ken Sharp (2003)
”Den sista Dynastin” by Carl Linnaeus and Alex Bergdahl (2022)
Songfacts interview with Gerard McMahon (2016)
Facebook Comments