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Okay, Mix Six fans, if you’re also a reader of the Pop Politico posts you’ll know that I’m not a gun advocate when it comes to home defense.  But that doesn’t mean that I can’t “cross the aisle,” light up a big Cuban cigar, throw some meat on the BBQ, and celebrate Guns! Guns! Guns!  So here we go with a mix that’ll make you want to either shoot some guns in happiness, or run for cover!  Also included are some memorable movie clips for some .44 caliber fun.

“Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” Nancy Sinatra

Sure you probably remember this from the Kill Bill Vol. 1, but how many versions have you heard with Terminator dialogue mashed in to the intro?  You’re welcome. (more…)

Robert: In my best Paul Stanley impression, minus the made-in-Brooklyn falsetto: “Ya know something, people, we have been given a gift. More specifically, you have been given a gift — the gift of this attached MP3!”

Classic Kiss is back! Ace and Peter are back! The makeup and costumes are back! … Unfortunately, the melodies aren’t, at least not on this song. I like a lot of Kiss’s tracks from the ’70s, and 1982’s “I Love It Loud” is great, but “Psycho Circus” is forgettable. Didn’t the Psycho Circus album bomb? And is it still Kiss’s most recent studio album? Gee, I hope Paul and Gene have found a way to make money aside from album sales. Good luck, fellas. You can do it. I just know you can.

Jeff: I want to rock and roll all night — and party every day. I do not, however, want to hear this song ever again.

Beau: The line between Kiss and Spinal Tap, never designed to be a full-scale wall in the first place, has never seemed so blurry.

Darren: Crikey, somebody got a sweet deal on a green-screen room. Also, just taking a swing in the dark, did Desmond Child cowrite this? If not, he was certainly there in spirit. Paul Stanley and Child in the same room, each taking their stab at the lyrics, could actually create a cheese-flavored cliche vortex the likes of which Chester Cheetah has never seen.

Ken: I’m not a Kiss fan. They made a total of one song that I really like (”Tears Are Falling”). That said, I have to say … no, I don’t like this, either. The video has flashes of humor, though.

Will: “Psycho Circus” was the title track to the band’s reunion album — trumpeted as the first featuring all four original members in two decades — and it was everything you possibly could’ve hoped for. It sounded like old-school KISS, offering a catchy chorus and plenty of rock goodness, and it was the perfect concert opener, with Paul bidding you “welcome to the show.” And, hey, I saw the band on their reunion tour, and it fucking rocked. (Paul’s best patter for the evening: “Hey, everybody, it’s Wednesday night … but let’s pretend it’s Friday night! All right!”)

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I’ve been watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels on and off since the series began, and for some reason, there was a bit of a marathon session last week. All the KISS merchandise shown in Simmons’s office on the show got me thinking about the amount of cash I laid down at the register for KISS stuff when I was but a boy. In sixth grade, KISS was a band that I worshipped, and my friends worshipped them too. We used to paint our faces (probably like millions of KISS fans), play air guitar to KISS records, and generally act like idiotic fanboys. And when not doing these things, it seemed like all we talked about was KISS. I wanted to play bass because of Gene Simmons, but my parents didn’t have enough money to pay for lessons. I used to mow lawns in my neighborhood to get money to buy the occasional KISS LP (Alive!, Destroyer, and Rock and Roll Over), posters of the band, Creem and Circus magazine (always great sources for KISS pics), and I even wanted to see them when they toured in support of the album Love Gun. Alas, my parents wouldn’t let me go.

The only one who’s more disappointed
that I couldn’t go see the Love Gun tour
in this pic was my dog. (c. 1977)

I bring all this up because even though KISS went from a rock band to a cartoonish joke to a moneymaking machine, they were, for many boys and girls growing up in the mid-’70s, the “hottest band in the land.” KISS was no joke to those of us who loved them for the makeup and the amazing stage shows. However, despite all the antics, it really was the music they made in their heyday (1974-1977) that fired up our young imaginations and fueled my preteen entry into rock music. What’s fascinating is that after all these years KISS still has the power to grab the spotlight and take us back to a time when we wanted to rock and roll all night and party ev-uh-ree day! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself there.)

For this mix, I contacted a couple of my friends who are huge KISS fans, and together we cobbled together our top six KISS songs of all time. (more…)

Although released in late 1977, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack would be impossible to ignore for much of 1978, with the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive,” as well as Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You,” all reaching #1. At several points during the first half of ‘78, the soundtrack album was selling over 1 million units a week.

Bee Gees - Stayin’ Alive
Bee Gees - Night Fever (w/ More Than a Woman) (more…)

The writer’s strike sucks.

You know it, I know it, and all but the most diehard aficionados of reality TV know it. We don’t watch TV for reality, we watch it for fantasy. Still, when you’re pop culture obsessives like we are, we can sometimes be swayed to get involved in one of these God-forsaken programs when they involve a cast of celebrities, and in the case of CMT’s new show, “Gone Country,” the premise is eye-catching as well: take six musicians from decidedly different genres and watch as they attempt to reinvent themselves as country music artists. After watching the first episode and finding it disconcertingly enjoyable, we found ourselves thinking about others in music history who’ve taken a stab at career re-creation, only to have it go horribly, horribly wrong.

Yes, while putting together our list, we snickered. A lot. And now it’s your turn.

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