SIX DEGREES OF KISS: JUICE NEWTON

Chris Czynszak I accept your challenge and will connect Juice Newton to KISS in six steps or less.

Judy Kay "Juice" Newton is a five time Grammy winner and that is absolutely meaningless. How am I going to connect the queen of hearts to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Juice Newton's 1981 album Juice, 1983 album Quiet Lies, 1984 album Can't Wait All Night and 1985 album Old Flame were all produced by Richard Landis.

2. Richard Landis also produced the second album by Canada's own Red Rider, an album called As Far As Siam that came out in 1981.

3. Red Rider are most famous for the song "Lunatic Fringe" from As Far As Siam and also singer Tom Cochrane had a big hit in 1991 with a horrible song called "Life is a Highway" but I also discovered that Red Rider's 1980 debut album Don't Fight It was produced by Michael James Jackson.

4. And Michael James Jackson produced the Creatures of the Night and Lick It Up albums for KISS.

And there you have it. KISSmas in July is complete. I hope you enjoyed Six Degrees of KISS. And for all of the challenges that I didn't get to, there are only 31 days in July! But I did get to some of them:

Melissa Manchester seemed difficult until I discovered that her 1975 album Melissa was produced by Vini Poncia. Waylon Jennings seemed difficult until I discovered he recorded a song called "Out Among The Stars" which was written by Adam Mitchell. Frank Sinatra recorded a duet with Liza Minelli, who was at one time managed by Gene Simmons. Little Feat's second album Sailin' Shoes was produced by Ted Templeman, that links us to Van Halen and Gene Simmons produced their 1976 demo. 

How am I going to connect the Pet Shop Boys to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. A power metal band called Gamma Ray recorded a cover version of the Pet Shop Boys song "It's a Sin." 

2. The main guy behind Gamma Ray is Kai Hansen who was originally in Helloween.

3. Helloween released a cover version of my personal favorite KISS song "I Stole Your Love." Helloween's version of the song appears on the 1995 "Sole Survivor" single.

Red Hot Chili Peppers was reasonably tough but luckily for me at on point a guy named D.H. Peligro played drums with the band and he was in Dead Kennedys. Faith No More released a cover version of the Dead Kennedys song "Let's Lynch The Landlord" and Faith No More were on the Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack with KISS. 

In the end it seems like almost anyone could be connected to KISS in six steps or less, even Kevin Bacon. 

I mean, look at the Footloose soundtrack. There's a Bonnie Tyler song, "Holding Out For a Hero," and Bonnie covered "Hide Your Heart." And what about "Almost Paradise?" That's Mike Reno from Loverboy and Ann Wilson from Heart. Mike Reno can be connected to KISS in multiple ways. Bruce Fairbairn produced the first three Loverboy albums and he also produced Sucko Circus. Also the guitar player from Loverboy Paul Dean recorded the song "Sword and Stone" for his 1989 solo album Hard Core and "Sword and Stone" was written by Paul Stanley, Desmond Child, and Bruce Kulick. As for Heart their 1985 self-titled comeback album was produced by Ron Nevison who produced Crazy Nights and that Heart album includes co-writes by Jim Vallance and Holly Knight. Two words for you Gene: Kiss Bacon.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: BRETT FAVRE

AAron Camaro I accept your challenge and will connect Brett Favre to KISS in six steps or less.

Brett Favre's name if read phonetically should clearly be pronounced either Fov-Ree or Fov-Ray but for some reason it is pronounced "FARV" as if the V and R were inverted. Brett Favre set numerous NFL records including throwing for more than 700,000 yards, more than 500 touchdowns, more than 300 interceptions, and more than 6000 completions; and also for retiring 17 times. How am I going to connect Mr. Gooder Than Grits to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Brett Favre has a surprise cameo in the Farrelly Brothers' 1998 smash hit comedy There's Something About Mary. 

2. Singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman also appears in There's Something About Mary performing original songs throughout the film which provide a sort of interstitial narrative.

3. Jonathan Richman was originally the frontman of a legendary Boston band called The Modern Lovers along with future Talking Head Jerry Harrison.

4. The first song on Jerry Harrison's 1990 solo album Walk On Water, a song called "Flying Under Radar," was co-written and co-produced by former Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter non-albino sideman Dan Hartman.

5. The guitar player in Dan Hartman's band for his 1978 album Instant Replay was a guy named Vincent Cusano.

6. A few years after working with Dan Hartman Vincent Cusano would become Vinnie Vincent, replacing Ace Frehley in KISS.

And there you have it.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: THE BEATLES

David Haltom I accept your challenge and will connect The Beatles to KISS in six steps or less.

The Beatles were a rock band from Liverpool who had some success in the sixties. 

How will I connect the Fab Four to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. The lead guitar player in The Beatles was a bloke named George Harrison.

2. George Harrison had a number one hit in 1987 with his Jeff Lynne produced single "Got My Mind Set On You."

3. Weird Al Yankovic recorded a parody of "Got My Mind Set On You" called "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long" for his 1988 album Even Worse.

4. Weird Al Yankovic's 1985 album Dare To Be Stupid was produced by Rick Derringer.

5. Rick Derringer contributed an uncredited guitar solo to "Exciter," the opening song from the 1983 KISS album Lick It Up.

And there you have it.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN

Timmy K. Kramp I accept your challenge and will connect Ned's Atomic Dustbin to KISS in six steps or less.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin were a British alternative rock band with two bass players. Their 1991 debut album God Fodder is well worth seeking out.

But how am I going to connect them to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Ned's Atomic Dustbin's second album Are You Normal from 1992 was produced by Andy Wallace.

2. Andy Wallace also produced the 1992 breakthrough album for Henry Rollins' post-Black Flag combo Rollins Band called The End of Silence.

3. For a 1987 EP the Rollins Band covered the song "Do It" from the 1971 album Never Never Land by British heavy rock band Pink Fairies.

4. Twink, the drummer in Pink Fairies, had previously been in a psychedelic rock band called Tomorrow with future Yes guitarist Steve Howe.

5. After leaving Yes Steve Howe helped form the band Asia, whose first three albums were produced by Mike Stone.

6. Mike Stone engineered Peter Criss' KISS solo album, mixed Paul Stanley's KISS solo album, and also co-produced the 1979 debut album by New England with Paul Stanley.

And there you have it.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: TOM JONES

David Lawrence I accept your challenge and will connect Tom Jones to KISS in six steps or less.

Tom Jones is an iconic Welshman who had guest spots on Fantasy Island and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and cameos in The Jerky Boys: The Movie and Mars Attacks. He is currently one of the four "coaches" on the UK version of The Voice. How am I going to connect this singing legend to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. In 2005 Tom Jones undertook a ten city tour of Australia with Aussie superstar John Farnham which resulted in a CD/DVD release called John Farnham and Tom Jones - Together In Concert.

2. The soundtrack to the 1984 B-movie Savage Streets (which starred The Exorcist alum Linda Blair) was never officially released but some promotional copies did make their way into circulation. The soundtrack included five songs performed by John Farnham, one of which was called "Nothing's Gonna Stand In Our Way."

3. That same song "Nothing's Gonna Stand In Our Way" (which was written by Randy Bishop, Wayne Nelson, and Farnham) was recorded by a band called Spectre General for the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack in 1986. Spectre General was actually Canadian metal band Kick Axe going by a more family friendly name for the purposes of the soundtrack.

4. The Transformers: The Movie soundtrack also included two songs by Florida AOR legend Stan Bush, "The Touch" and "Dare."

5. Not only was Stan Bush's recording of "The Touch" for that soundtrack produced by Richie Wise, who co-produced the first two KISS albums, but Stan Bush has also co-written two songs with Paul Stanley, "If We Ever" and "I Was Wrong" which appeared on his albums The Child Within and Higher Than Angels.

6. Paul Stanley currently portrays the character of "The Starchild" in KISS.

And there you have it.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: TINY TIM

Patrick Johnson I accept your challenge and will connect Tiny Tim to KISS in six steps or less.

Herbert Khaury aka Tiny Tim somehow became a sixties icon and in December of 1969 an astonishing 40 million people watched him marry "Miss Vicki" on The Tonight Show. They divorced eight years later. How am I going to connect this famous weirdo to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Tiny Tim's 1968 debut album God Bless Tiny Tim includes a ukelele version of a song called "Livin in the Sunlight, Lovin In The Moonlight" which was written by Al Sherman and Al Lewis.

2. Al Sherman and Al Lewis also wrote the song "He's So Unusual" which was covered by Cyndi Lauper and inspired the title of her 1983 debut solo album She's So Unusual.

3. Before going solo Cyndi Lauper was the singer in an NYC band called Blue Angel. 

4. Blue Angel were signed to Polydor Records and released a self-titled album in 1980 which included a song called "I'm Gonna Be Strong." 

5. "I'm Gonna Be Strong" was written by the very successful husband and wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.

6. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil also wrote the song "Too Many Mondays" which was recorded by the band Wicked Lester featuring Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons later of KISS.

And there you have it.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: LENA

Derek Francis I accept your challenge and will connect Lena to KISS in six steps or less.

Lena (full name Lena Meyer-Landrut) is a German pop star who set an all time chart record in Germany by debuting with three songs in the top five in the singles chart. How am I going to connect her to KISS in six steps or less? Like this: 

1. Lena won the Eurovision song contest for Germany in 2010 with the song "Satellite" which was written by American songwriter Julie Frost.

2. Julie Frost is one of nine YES NINE co-writers on the Beyonce single "Countdown" which "dropped" in October of 2011.

3. One of the I SHIT YOU NOT 22 producers YES THAT'S TWENTY-TWO PRODUCERS credited on Beyonce's 2008 album I Am Sasha Fierce is Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins.

4. Rodney Jerkins produced the Britney Spears version of "I Love Rock n' Roll" which appeared on her 2001 album Britney (Rodney was one of ONLY 10 yes only ten producers credited on that album).

When asked by Rolling Stone why she chose (yeah sure, she chose) to cover "I Love Rock n' Roll" Britney had this to say:

"I just love the song. I love Pat Benatar, and I just think she's amazing. It's like she's a rock 'n' roll chick and she's just having a good time and it's a very empowering song."

5. Of course "I Love Rock n' Roll" was never a Pat Benatar song. It was originally written and recorded in 1975 by the glam rock band Arrows. Only two people wrote it, Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker, and they were actually in the band, in other words they wrote and performed their own material. Imagine that.

Joan Jett had a number one hit with the song in the US in 1982 and before going solo Joan Jett was in an L.A. band called The Runaways who were managed by an "eccentric" named Kim Fowley.

6. Kim Fowley has co-writing credits on the songs "King of the Night Time World" and "Do You Love Me" from the KISS album Destroyer.

And there you have it.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: GENESIS

Chris Leatherman I accept your challenge and will connect Genesis to KISS in six steps or less.

Genesis were at one time an innovative progressive rock band. They sure evolved over time! It's just a shame, that's all. How am I going to connect these non-dancing invisible touchers to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Peter and Phil sure were huge in the eighties but Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford managed to ferret out some chart success for himself with his side project Mike + The Mechanics.

2. One member of Mike + The Mechanics was journeyman singer and musician Paul Carrack. Paul had a top ten hit in 1974 with his band Ace with a song called "How Long" and he also sang lead on the Squeeze hit "Tempted" in 1981. 

It has always annoyed the hell out of me that Squeeze's best known song in the US was the only Squeeze song Carrack sang (he was only in the band for that one album). Here are a couple far superior Squeeze songs:

3. In between having hits with Ace and Squeeze Paul Carrack played with legendary Scottish rocker Frankie Miller.

4. Frankie Miller's 1978 album Double Trouble, (from which Carrack co-wrote half the songs) was produced by THE Jack Douglas.

5. Jack Douglas produced the first two albums by a kick-ass New Jersey rock band called Starz.

6. In the seventies Starz were managed by Bill Aucoin, who also happened to be managing a band called KISS.

And there you have it.

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: THE DOORS

Ken Mills I accept your challenge and will connect The Doors to KISS in six steps or less.

The Doors are, in my opinion, one of the most overrated bands in history. How will I connect them to KISS in six steps or less? Like this: 

1. After The Doors Ray Manzarek was in a band called Nite City. Nite City released two albums, Nite City in 1977 and Golden Days Diamond Nights in 1978.

2. The guitar player and singer in Nite City was a dude named Paul Warren.

3. After Nite City broke up Paul Warren formed a power pop band he called Paul Warren & Explorer. They were quite popular on the sunset strip and released an album on RSO Records in 1980 called One of the Kids which was produced by Peter Coleman.

Now here's the thing, Peter Coleman also produced records for Pat Benatar and Holly Knight's band Spider, both of which I have already used as links. So let's see where else Peter Coleman might take us.

4. In 1984 Peter Coleman produced the self-titled album by a Baltimore band called The Ravyns.

5. The Ravyns are best known for the song "Raised on the Radio" which appeared on the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack. That soundtrack also included a song called "The Look In Your Eyes" by Gerard McMahon.

6. Gerard McMahon wrote "Is That You," the first song on the 1980 KISS album Unmasked.

And there you have it.