A couple weeks ago we talked through the Kiss 7″ Single for “Beth”. I know, I know…the Kiss Review Series will never die as I’ll always keep finding stuff to show off. Now, I found another one of their singles and this one is from their 1977 album ‘Love Gun’. It is “Christine Sixteen” and the song features Gene Simmons on the lead vocals. As far as chart success, it went all the way to #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not bad!

I say not bad because of the subject matter of the song, a lot of stations wouldn’t play it or would only play it after 7pm as if that made it any better. The basis of the song is about an older man infatuated with a girl of the tender age of 16. That wouldn’t fly at all today, but back then, it wasn’t terrible or unforgivable, merely frowned upon I would say based on the fact it still sold like hotcakes. Imagine the chart position if all the stations played it any time of day.

My version is the standard U.S. version, with no picture sleeve. It has the standard Casablanca/Filmworks sleeve which is pretty basic. The B-Side of the song might actually be better than the A-Side is it is Ace Frehley’s song “Shock Me”. More on that later. First let’s discuss the A-Side.

A-SIDE:

The first single off the album ‘Love Gun’ was “Christine Sixteen”.    As I said earlier, it was sung by Gene Simmons and it has a very cool piano riff in the song which was done by Eddie Kramer that is almost a honky tonk style.  It is a fun, upbeat track and a favorite of mine for Gene.  A cool, fun fact about the song, the demo was done with Gene and two unknown artist at the time by the name of Eddie and Alex Van Halen.  They also did the demo for “Got Love For Sale” and you can hear those demos on Gene Simmons ‘The Vault”. And back in 1989, Tone Loc sampled if for “Funky Cold Medina”.

B-SIDE:

The B-Side is “Shock Me”. I love this song as it is Ace finally on lead vocals and quite possibly my favorite Ace song.  The song is based off an incident that is well documented where Ace touched an ungrounded metal railing and had the life shocked out of him.  No, he didn’t die, but he was thrown back a little.  He continued the show with no feeling in his hand and I believe the show was December 12, 1976, at the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida.  Ace having little confidence wanted Gene to sing and Gene, thankfully, talked Ace in to singing.  Ace finally agreed and actually recorded the song lying down on the floor.  I hope that method has changed. The song is utterly brilliant and the guitar work is some of Ace’s best. In fact, he does all the guitar work on this one, both lead and rhythm.  This defines Ace Frehley in my book!!

And there you have it. The goal is to get as many Kiss singles as I can and I will show them when I find them. Thanks for stopping by and if you want to catch the other Kiss items in the Kiss Review Series, there are a few below as you can see.

The Kiss Review Series:

1. Wicked Lester and the Progeny Demo Sessions (Bootleg)
2. Kiss – Kiss (1974)
3. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell (1974)
4. Kiss – Dressed to Kill (1975)
5. Kiss – Alive! (1975)
6. Kiss – Destroyer (1976)
7. Kiss – “Flaming Youth” 45 Promo Single – Bonus Edition (1976)
8. Kiss – “Beth” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1976)
9. Kiss – Special Kiss Album For Their Summer Tour (1976)
10. Kiss – The Originals (1976)
11. Kiss – Rock & Roll Over (1976)
12. Kiss – Love Gun (1977)
13. Kiss – “Christine Sixteen” – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition (1977)
14. Kiss – Alive II (1977)
15. Kiss – Double Platinum (1978)
16. Kiss – Paul Stanley (1978)
17. Kiss – Gene Simmons (1978)
18. Kiss – Peter Criss (1978)
19. Kiss – Ace Frehley (1978)
20. Kiss – Best of Solo Albums (1978)
21. Kiss – Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park Movie (1978)
22. Kiss – Dynasty (1979)
23. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (1979) – 12″ & 7″ Singles (Bonus Edition)
24. Kiss – Unmasked (1980)
25. Peter Criss – Out of Control (1980)
26. Kiss – Music From The Elder (1981)
27. Kiss – Killers (1982)
28. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1982)
29. Kiss – Lick It Up (1983)
30. Kiss – Animalize (1984)
31. Wendy O. Williams – WOW (1984) (Bonus Edition)
32. Kiss – Animalize Live Uncensored (1985)
33. Kiss – Asylum (1985)
34. Kiss – “Tears Are Falling” 7″ Single (Bonus Edition) (1985)
35. Kiss – Creatures of the Night (1985 Re-Issue)
36. Vinnie Vincent Invasion – Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986)
37. Black N’ Blue – Nasty Nasty (1986)
38. Ace Frehley – Frehley’s Comet (1987)
39. Kiss – Exposed VHS (1987)
40. Kiss – Crazy Nights (1987)
41. Kiss – “Crazy Crazy Nights” – 12″ Single (Bonus Edition)
42. Kiss – “Reason To Live” – 12″ Picture Disc (Bonus Edition)
43. Kiss – Chikara (1988)
44. Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (1988)
45. Kiss – Hot In The Shade (1989)
46. Kiss – “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II” (1991) – 12″ Picture Disc
47. Kiss – Revenge (1992)
48. Kiss – Alive III (1993)
49. Kiss – Konfidential VHS (1993)
50. Kiss – Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved (1994)
51. Kiss – MTV Unplugged (1996)
52. Kiss – You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! (1996)
53. Kiss – Greatest Kiss (1997)
54. Kiss – Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
55. Kiss – Psycho Circus (1998)
56. Kiss – The Second Coming Documentary (1998)
57. Eric Carr – Rockology (1999)
58. Mark St. John – Mark St. John Project (1999)
59. Eric Singer Project – ESP (1999)
60. Bruce Kulick – Audiodog (2001)
61. Kiss – Kiss Symphony: Alive IV (2003)
62. Gene Simmons – Asshole (2004)
63. Kiss – Rock the Nation Live! DVD (2005)
64. Kiss – Alive! The Millennium Concert (2006)
65. Paul Stanley – Live to Win (2006)
66. Kiss – Kissology: Volumes 1 to 3 (2006-2007)
67. Kiss – Jigoku-Retsuden (2008)
68. Kiss – Sonic Boom (2009)
69. Kiss – Monster (2012)
70. Kiss – The Casablanca Singles 1973-1982 (2012)
71. Kiss – Kiss 40 (2014)
72. Kiss – Kiss Rocks Vegas (2016)
73. Kiss – Kissworld: The Best of Kiss (2017)
74. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (2021)
75. Kiss – Off the Soundboard: Live in Virginia Beach July 24, 2004 (2022)
76. Kiss – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First (2021)