KISS bassist and co-founder Gene Simmons made a bold assertion regarding the hierarchy of rock and roll in a recent interview with Terrie Carr for WDHAFM, declaring the superiority of British bands and detailing how they profoundly influenced the creation and structure of KISS.
Simmons didn’t mince words when comparing the output of American and British rock acts. “We loved the English version of what the Americans invented, which was rock and roll and blues, and it became rap and all that. It all started here [in the U.S.], but come on, the English gave us The Beatles and Zeppelin and stuff, and we gave them The Grateful Dead. It’s just leagues apart,” Simmons stated.
He went further, adding, “Nothing American ever rose to that level with people that play guitar. Nothing — not even close. And when you list the top — I don’t know — 10 bands of all time, they were all English or Irish. The Beatles and The Stones and the English invasion and stuff — on and on and on. Amazing songs.”
This deep admiration for “Anglophile music” directly shaped KISS‘s own songwriting approach. “And so we started writing songs like that, and not copying or anything, but within that vein. And it came easy,” Simmons explained. “Paul Stanley and I were long students of songwriting and the English bands and everything. The Kinks — oh my goodness, those early years. ‘Waterloo Sunset’ was so, so simple, stripped of even production.”
Beyond the songwriting, Simmons revealed that The Beatles provided a crucial template for KISS’s internal structure, particularly their approach to vocals and individual member prominence. He noted that while many bands had a single focal point, “The Beatles, everybody sang, everybody was a star. That was a major, major difference.”
This inspired KISS‘s own democratic vocal approach. “And so we looked at The Beatles as a template. Wouldn’t it be great if everybody sang lead?” Simmons mused. “In The Stones, it was Mick Jagger. In The Kinks, it was Ray Davies — like on and on and on. Aerosmith, it’s Steven — nobody else sings. But in KISS, everybody sings songs. And that was a thing that was appealing to us.”
This desire to create something unique, inspired by British musicality but distinct in presentation, was a core tenet of KISS‘s formation. “The thought behind those songs [on KISS’s first album] was we wanted to put together the band we never saw on stage,” Simmons reflected. He suggested that while loving the English bands, there was a certain “sameness” in their stage presentation at the time, which fueled KISS‘s drive to develop their iconic, larger-than-life personas and theatrical shows.
