W.O.W.

In 1982, Kiss asked for Wendy and the Plasmatics to appear as a Special Guest on their tour. By the end of the tour with Kiss it was clear that, although the formal notice that Capitol Records didn't come for another for six months, the relationship with Capitol was done. Gene Simmons approached Wendy and Rod about producing the next Wendy O. Williams album. So as to avoid any wasted time in legal issues with Capitol Records, it was decided not to use the Plasmatics name on the record at all and was simply called W.O.W., the initials for Wendy O. Williams. Gene Simmons felt it would give him the freedom he wanted to add more new players to the album.

Wes Beech remained to play rhythm and lead and T.C.Tolliver, the drummer on Coup d'Etat, remained to play on the new album. Gene Simmons would play bass under the pseudonym of "Reginald Van Helsing", the only other new player on the album was lead guitarist Michael Ray to solve the technical challenges that had been a problem for several albums and had come to a head with the more complex music of Coup D'Etat. Gene also pulled in the talents of Ace Frehley, who hadn't played with Kiss since leaving the band years before, Paul Stanley, and then-current Kiss drummer Eric Carr did one song as guests. The record was released through Passport/JEM.

Gene Simmons himself co-writes five tracks (which also carry the names of Plasmatics bassist Junior Romanelli and lead guitarist Richie Stotts, who aren't actually on the album).

1 Track listing
2 Miscellnea
3 Reception
4 References

[edit] Track listing

I Love Sex (And Rock and Roll)
It's My Life
Priestess
Thief in the Night
Opus in Cm7
Ready to Rock
Bump 'N' Grind
Legends Never Die
Ain't None of Your Business

[edit] Miscellnea

Wendy lost her trademark Mohawk during this album, opting instead to keep it more simple.
This is the first time Gene Simmons ever played outside of Kiss, playing bass under the pseudonym "Reginald Van Helsing"
The main riff of "Legends Never Die" was originally from an unused song on Kiss' own Creatures of the Night album.
Despite being called Wendy's solo debut, the bands official biography from their website states that the lack of a Plasmatics title is only superficial and is still an official Plasmatics album

[edit] Reception

The reception to the album was heavily mixed, and remains so to this day.

Review copies were sent out to the various media outlets. Malcolm Dome, a reviewer for Kerrang! magazine, had picked the WOW album as his album of the year.

Fans received it fairly poorly; It was seen as a departure from the sound that made the Plasmatics great, and more of a Kiss album than a Wendy album, largely because of the inclusion of nearly all the members of Kiss, and Gene Simmons' writing some of the songs.

One reviewer went on to state, "In some ways, Williams' first solo venture amounts to a watered-down echo of the Plasmatics' own bid for mainstream success, Coup d'Etat (1982), minus the latter record's radical political bent. That's not surprising, with the ever-career-conscious Simmons manning the producer's chair. Despite his best efforts, however, Williams would stay a quintessential cult artist. While not a remarkable record, WOW offers a convincing enough glimpse of the stardom that should have been hers all along." ^[1]

Wendy later received a Grammy nomination as "Best Female Rock Vocalist of the Year".