#8 - "It's All About The Gimmick" - Gimmick Bands and Novelty Songs

The 70's was not the first decade to have a gimmick band or a novelty song, but it saw an explosion in gimmick bands and they had major success. Those of you that know me, know my love for KISS and there is probably no "gimmick" band that has had more success than KISS...But there were a few before them and there were a few after them. #8 is dedicated to the bands and songs that were about more than just the music:


Bands:

Alice Cooper - While The Alice Cooper band actually started in the late 60's, it wasn't until 1971 that they recorded their first hit - "I'm Eighteen".  Alice was known for several on-stage gimmicks, including walking out with a python, being electrocuted by electric chair on stage and being beheaded by guillotine.  Alice also wore eye makeup and was an early influence for KISS.  Alice Cooper had a string of hits in the 70's, which also included "School's Out", "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "Billion Dollar Babies".  Lead singer Vincent Funier eventually went onto adopt the name Alice Cooper as his own and became a solo act by the mid-seventies.  Alice Cooper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 and still continues to tour as of 2015.


Alice Cooper - I Love The Dead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j19AthwJ9bU

KISS - Perhaps no band defined 70's gimmick like KISS.  Formed in 1973, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley took what Alice Cooper had started and turned it to eleven.  With their kabuki style makeup, platform shoes, outrageous costumes, smoking guitars, levitating drum kits and fire and blood, they were every parents nightmare.  Their first three studio albums were poor selling and the band was headed toward financial ruin.  All of that changed, in what seemed like overnight, with the release of KISS Alive!  Released in September of 1975, this double-album exploded the band into superstars.  The album has sold over 500,000 copies in the US and is one of the top-selling live albums of all time.  In a time before cell phones and the internet, the band famously hid their true identities for 10 years until "unmasking" in 1983.  The band has gone through several personnel changes in its 40+ years, but no lineup has captured the magic the way the original lineup did.  The bands two founders, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, are the only two members that have been with the band from the beginning.  The original band reunited in 1995 as part of the MTV Unplugged series, and eventually put the makeup back on and had a successful reunion tour that began in 1996.  Eventually Ace Frehley and Peter Criss left the band again, but KISS still continues to tour in full makeup and costumes.  KISS was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.


KISS - 100,000 Years


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_UAu5WbRp4

Village People - The Village People (see #10 - the birth and death of disco) is an American Disco band that had major hits in the mid to late 70's.  They were comprised of six men depicting several different "macho" stereotypes.  Victor Willis (The Cop), Felipe Rose (Native American), Alex Briley (The Soldier), David Hodo (Construction Worker), Randy Jones (Cowboy) and Glenn Hughes (Biker/Leatherman) had a string of hits in the 70's, including "In The Navy", "Macho Man" and "YMCA".  A version of The Village People still tours as of 2015.


Village People - Macho Man


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO43p2Wqc08


Other gimmick bands of the 70's include:


The New York Dolls
David Bowie
T. Rex
Devo


Novelty Songs

Steve Martin - King Tut - Steve Martin had gained star status with his appearances on Saturday Night Live and his "Wild and Crazy" stand-up act.  In 1978, he released the single "King Tut" after the craze of the King Tut traveling exhibit that traveled the US from 1976 to 1979.  He debuted the single on Saturday Night Live during the April 22, 1978 showing.  The single went on to sell over a million copies and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.


Steve Martin - King Tut


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgTPH5y1-ZI

Rick Dees - Disco Duck - Rick Dees, a radio disc jockey (DJ) wrote and performed this song.  As a testament to just how crazy the 70's were for music, the track actually reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week, the week of October 16th, 1976.  Rick Dees went on to become a famous DJ and went on to host "Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown"


Rick Dees - Disco Duck


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgPgavmY99U

Hot Butter - Popcorn - Popcorn is an instrumental that was originally released in 1969 by Gershon Kingsley, but was later re-recorded and released in 1972 by Hot Butter.  The "synth-pop" instrumental reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 hits and reached #4 on the US Billboard Easy Listening chart.


Hot Butter - Popcorn


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBYjZTdrJlA

Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting - Released in 1974, Kung Fu Fighting was a song about martial arts by Carl Douglas.  The song reached number one on the US Hot 100 and the US Hot Soul lists and reached #3 on the Hot Disco singles.  It also won the Grammy in 1974 for Best Selling Single.  That song sold faster than kicks of lightning.


Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUkGIsKvn0


Other 70's Novelty songs to check out:


Ray Stevens - The Streak
Jerry Reed - When You're Hot, You're Hot
Harry Nilsson - Coconut


Stay tuned for #7 on our countdown....