I Was Made for Lovin' You

"I Was Made for Lovin' You"
Single by Kiss
from the album Dynasty
B-side	"Hard Times"
Released	May 1979 (1979-05)
Format	7-inch single, 12-inch single
Recorded	January–March 1979
Studio	Electric Lady Studios, Record Plant Studios, New York City
Genre	Hard rock, disco
Length	4:01 (7-inch) 7:54 (12-inch) 4:30 (album)
Label	Casablanca
Songwriter(s)	Paul Stanley Vini Poncia Desmond Child
Producer(s)	Vini Poncia
Kiss singles chronology
"You Still Matter to Me" (1979) "I Was Made for Lovin' You" (1979) "Sure Know Something" (1979)
"You Still Matter to Me" (1979) "I Was Made for Lovin' You" (1979) "Sure Know Something" (1979)

"I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album Dynasty. It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album; on the B-side was "Hard Times".

History

It was the band's second Gold single, selling over 1 million copies. The single was certified Gold in the U.S. on August 16, 1979,^[1] and in Canada on August 1, 1979.^[2]

The B-side of the single is the album track "Hard Times", which was written by Ace Frehley. The song was one of the band's few singles to chart in the UK in the 1970s, though only peaking at No. 50, where a 7 min 54 sec version was released on 12" single in addition to the shorter 7" version. The song has become a permanent staple in Kiss's live performances, often differing from the original version. When Eric Carr joined the band in 1980, the song was played in a significantly faster tempo, attributed to Carr's rapid drumming skills.^[3] Since the late 1980s, the song has been played with the same tempo as the studio version, but with a more rock-oriented, less disco feel.^[4] The band's performance of the song at their 30th anniversary show in Melbourne, Australia, was accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, who wore KISS-style makeup with their tuxedos.^[5] At first Desmond Child said that, "Paul wanted to write a good disco song and I decided to help him with that. Paul started to write lyrics and chords then I played the song on the guitar and said 'OK, we'll do something to improve this and make it really a good song.'"

"I Was Made for Lovin' You" draws heavily from the disco style that was popular in late-1970s United States. Paul Stanley, who co-wrote the song with Desmond Child and Vini Poncia, has stated that it was a conscious effort on his part to prove how easy it was to write and record a hit disco song.^[6]

Although Peter Criss appears in the video and on the album cover, he did not actually play on the track. As with most of the Dynasty album, session drummer Anton Fig took the place of Criss, who had been deemed unfit to play by Poncia. There is a bootleg audio recording of the writing sessions for the song in which Stanley mentions Criss' name a couple of times, indicating he was present during the arranging of the song.^[6] Stanley plays bass guitar in addition to rhythm guitar while Frehley provided the guitar solo.

Legacy

"I Was Made For Lovin' You" was Kiss' first songwriting collaboration with Desmond Child, who would also write songs for the albums Animalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights, Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, and Hot in the Shade. It reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, but some Kiss fans dismissed it as a sell-out. Despite the backlash, the song has become a concert staple over the years, with a different arrangement that de-emphasizes the song's disco elements. While not as drastic as the 1979 "Radio Single Mix," the length of the song is edited by some eleven seconds down to 4 minutes and 16 seconds. Like the 1979 edit, the beginning measures of the song are reduced from four to two and the harmonizing following the guitar solo is halved.

The music video of "I Was Made for Lovin' You" was filmed on June 20, 1979 in the Savannah Civic Center in Savannah, Georgia. After the show was cancelled, it was decided to use the already completed stage to film two videos. A promotional video was shot featuring the song performed on the Dynasty stage set, consisting simply of the band performing the song. The music video on YouTube has more than 32 million views. It was not included in the "Kissology" DVD series.

The single reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard singles chart and No. 1 in the Canadian RPM National singles chart (the band's second chart-topping single in that country, following "Shout It Out Loud"). It further became a hit in Australia reaching No. 2 on the ARIA charts in 1979. As well, it charted in Western Europe: it became a top 20 hit in Sweden, a top 10 hit in Norway, and made it to the number 2 position in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. In the Netherlands it was a No. 1. In the UK it stalled at number 50.

Chart performance

References in other songs

Some observers felt the central riff of Bruce Springsteen's song "Outlaw Pete" from his 2009 album Working on a Dream^[35][36][37] was borrowed from "I Was Made for Lovin' You".

Personnel

On Dynasty;

• Paul Stanley - guitar, bass guitar, vocals
• Gene Simmons - backing vocals
• Ace Frehley - lead guitar

Session members

• Anton Fig - drums
• Vini Poncia – piano, backing vocals

On Sonic Boom;

• Paul Stanley - rhythm guitar, vocals
• Gene Simmons - bass guitar, backing vocal
• Tommy Thayer - lead guitar
• Eric Singer - drums, backing vocal on chorus

Session members

• Brian Whelan – piano

Notes and references

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics