Domino (Kiss song)

"Domino"
Single by Kiss
from the album Revenge
Released	1992
Format	45rpm
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	4:01
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Gene Simmons
Producer	Bob Ezrin
Kiss singles chronology
"Unholy" / "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You II" (1992) "Domino" (radio edit) / "Carr Jam 1981" (1992) "I Just Wanna" (Radio EQ) / "I Just Wanna" (1992)

"Domino" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released on the band's sixteenth studio album Revenge in 1992. The song was written by the band's bassist Gene Simmons, and it borrows parts from a song "Nasty Nasty", from the band Black 'n Blue he had worked with. The song was released as a single in 1992, with the album's instrumental "Carr Jam 1981" as a B-side. Despite being performed on only two tours and MTV Unplugged appearance, "Domino" has appeared on several of the band's albums.

Background

Gene Simmons, the sole writer of the song, admitted he was trying to copy the song "Deuce with "Domino", although the song borrows much more from the song "Nasty Nasty", song by the band Black 'n Blue which Simmons worked with before. "Nasty Nasty" was written by Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Jaime St. James, while "Domino" is credited to Simmons only. Thayer would eventually become Kiss' permanent lead guitarist, replacing Ace Frehley in 2002 and adopting the "Spaceman" look.

Simmons said about the creation of the song: "This song started out with a bass lick, much as 'Deuce' did. Once I had the meter down, I started writing rhyming words, but without a melody – so it was almost a rap. Then I talked the song through with the lick, and the melody just came naturally. The melody that came to me was the bass lick, so I just shadowed my melody with the lick on guitar."

The song was demoed by Simmons and band Silent Rage, who Simmons had signed to his label $immons Records. The demo version differs from the studio version in verses, as the verse in the demo is "Here's an introduction, her name is Domino / Never had confession, if you really wanna know / Ain't the virgin Mary, love her, I confess / Got my hesitations, she kisses like the kiss of death / Loves lots of money, back's against the wall / Calls me 'Sugar Daddy', 'cause she knows she's got me by the balls." and in the studio version the verse goes "My my, ow, yeah! / Never had confession, never had a home / Never had no worry, until I met Domino / Ain't the virgin Mary, love her I confess / Got my hesitations, 'cause she kisses like the kiss of death / Loves lots of money, back's against the wall / Calls me 'Sugar Daddy', she knows she's got me by the balls."^[1]
The key of the solo was changed by Bob Ezrin so that "It feels like it's got more energy." Simmons also played the rhythm guitar on the track.

"Domino" was released as the third single off the Revenge album in 1992. The song only managed to chart on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, reaching number 26. The song was edited for the radio, changing the "She's got me by the balls" line with "She's gotta have it all". The other radio edit has reduced track length.

Live performances

"Domino" was played only on the Revenge Tour and Kiss My Ass Tour. It was also performed on the MTV Unplugged appearance. Because of the original line-up reunion, all post-70s songs were excluded from the set-list. As years went by, some post-70s songs returned to the set-list, although "Domino" wasn't one of them.

Music video

A music video was directed by Paul Rachman and shows Simmons driving around Hollywood eating fast-food while the other band members are in studio playing. The video was, like other videos from Revenge, ignored by MTV in favor of grunge bands.

Other appearances

"Domino" has appeared on following Kiss albums:

• Revenge - studio version
• Alive III - live version
• Kiss Unplugged - live version
• The Box Set - demo version
• The Best of Kiss, Volume 3: The Millennium Collection - Alive III version
• Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 - Alive III version

Track listing

• A-side - "Domino"
• B-side - "Carr Jam 1981"

Personnel

Credited personnel

• Gene Simmons - bass guitar, lead vocals
• Paul Stanley - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Bruce Kulick - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Eric Singer - drums, backing vocals

Uncredited personnel

• Gene Simmons - rhythm guitar

Charts

Year	Nation	Chart	Position
1992	USA	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	26[2]

References

1. ^ "Domino demo info". http://www.kissfaq.com/KissFAQ-wiki/index.php?title=Revenge_Album_-_Domino. Retrieved July 4th, 2011. 
2. ^ "Billboard chart history-Kiss singles". http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Singles&model.vnuArtistId=5004&model.vnuAlbumId=66345. Retrieved July 4th, 2011.