In a new video interview with music journalist Joel Gausten, legendary songwriter Russ Ballard (KISS, Argent, Rainbow, Ace Frehley, Santana) talks about his forthcoming album, Songs From The Warehouse / The Hits Rewired, and highlights from his decades-long career.
Ballard has had a long association with KISS, including writing two songs recorded by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss respectively. In 1991, KISS had a hit with its version of Ballard’s 1973 song “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You” (originally recorded by his former band Argent), as “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You II” with a faster tempo and slightly changed lyrics.
“I don’t honestly know Ace’s version (of ‘In The Night’),” Ballard reveals in the interview. “He called it ‘Into the Night’, didn’t he? I think I’ve heard it before. I don’t recall ever sitting down listening to it, but I like what I’ve heard of his stuff, what he does. (His version) worked for him, because I’ve seen it a lot around; I used to get Billboard, and it was all over the place. Same with Peter Criss; I’ve never heard very much. I know he did ‘Some Kinda Hurricane’, and he did ‘Let Me Rock You’.”
“I think what KISS did with ‘God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You’ was perfect. I think the tempo is dead right, and (so was) changing the lyric. I made my first verse more spiritual, as it was ‘God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You’. I used that ‘love your friend, love your neighbor’ idea at the front, and they used the thing about getting a guitar and (doing) the whole thing as a ‘rock’ thing, and it was perfect for them. It was right for them. The tempo was absolutely spot-on. For me, our one with Argent was too slow; it was draggy and laid back … but KISS got the groove into it, and I loved that.”
The complete video interview is available below.
Russ Ballard recently shared his new single and accompanying video, “I Know There’s Something Going On,” taken from his upcoming double album Songs From The Warehouse / The Hits Rewired, out on April 25 via Frontiers Music Srl.
This release is a real treat for all rock fans: the first CD contains new songs, which show once again that the inspiration never left Russ, while the second CD includes brand new recordings of famous hits either penned or performed by him during the years.
About the new single, Ballard says: “That was a quick one. I wrote it when the first digital reverbs came out. I played around with these new sounds, took my holey guitar and that’s it. It took me an hour to write it from start to finish. Phil Collins turned it into a massive song then with his drum sound. Years later, Frida said she wished I did more songs for her. How lovely from her.”
Russ Ballard is simply one of the most renowned and gifted songwriters in pop and rock music. His music career started when he was only 14 years old and he wrote a tune, which was recorded by The Shadows, appearing on their album The Sound Of The Shadows in 1964.
During the 70’s and 80’s, his songs ruled the airwaves and the list of hits is pretty much endless. From “Since You Been Gone” (Rainbow), “God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You” (Argent and KISS), “So You Win Again” (Hot Chocolate), “New York Groove” (Hello and Ace Frehley), “You Can Do Magic” (America), “Winning” (Santana) or “I Don’t Believe In Miracles” (Colin Blunstone) – just to name a few – everyone who needed a great song knew that with Russ Ballard they could not go wrong.
Numerous records/artists were also produced by him, like Roger Daltrey, America, Elkie Brooks, Skindred or Sada Vidoo. In 1974, he started a solo career (after his stint with the band Argent in early 70’s), which had its highest momentum with the ‘S/t’ album in 1984 (which included the hit single “Voices”) and the follow up “The Fire Still Burns”.
Since then, Ballard has released 10 studio albums and is still writing and producing hits. Three songs from his 1984 and 1985 albums were featured in the TV show “Miami Vice” and were extensively played on dance floors around Europe.
Ballard expresses his excitement for the release: “It’s a buzz releasing a new album. What started as my ‘Lockdown-tapes’ during the pandemic became an album! During lockdown, my studio was a lifesaver for me, and I found new ways of writing and recording. The result gives the listeners a good insight into this time – have a listen!”
Pre-order the album here.
Tracklisting:
CD1
“Resurrection”
“Courageous”
“Journey Man”
“The One Who Breathes Me”
“The Wild”
“Charlatan”
“Soul Music”
“Sleepwalking”
“Last Man Standing”
“Make Believe World”
“The Family Way”
“Fearless”
“The Last Amen”
CD2
“Since You’ve Been Gone”
“Winning”
“God Gave Rock And Roll To You”
“Voices”
“New York Groove”
“You Can Do Magic”
“Liar”
“I Know There’s Something Going On”
“I Surrender”
” No More The Fool”
“So You Win Again”
“Free Me”
“On The Rebound”
“You Can Do Magic” video:
“Courageous” video:
“Since You’ve Been Gone” video:
“God Gave Rock And Roll To You” video:
“New York Groove” video:
(Photo – Sven Kramer)
Do you have a rock, hard rock, heavy metal website, blog, podcast, radio show, YouTube channel, Spotify playlist? BraveWords Records wants to send you music!
Submit your info: https://forms.gle/j8wygtJjnv429GzJ6
The post Songwriter RUSS BALLARD Praises KISS Rendition Of “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You” – “Perfect” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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Ballard has had a long association with KISS, including writing two songs recorded by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss respectively. In 1991, KISS had a hit with its version of Ballard’s 1973 song “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You” (originally recorded by his former band Argent), as “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You II” with a faster tempo and slightly changed lyrics.
“I don’t honestly know Ace’s version (of ‘In The Night’),” Ballard reveals in the interview. “He called it ‘Into the Night’, didn’t he? I think I’ve heard it before. I don’t recall ever sitting down listening to it, but I like what I’ve heard of his stuff, what he does. (His version) worked for him, because I’ve seen it a lot around; I used to get Billboard, and it was all over the place. Same with Peter Criss; I’ve never heard very much. I know he did ‘Some Kinda Hurricane’, and he did ‘Let Me Rock You’.”
“I think what KISS did with ‘God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You’ was perfect. I think the tempo is dead right, and (so was) changing the lyric. I made my first verse more spiritual, as it was ‘God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You’. I used that ‘love your friend, love your neighbor’ idea at the front, and they used the thing about getting a guitar and (doing) the whole thing as a ‘rock’ thing, and it was perfect for them. It was right for them. The tempo was absolutely spot-on. For me, our one with Argent was too slow; it was draggy and laid back … but KISS got the groove into it, and I loved that.”
The complete video interview is available below.
Russ Ballard recently shared his new single and accompanying video, “I Know There’s Something Going On,” taken from his upcoming double album Songs From The Warehouse / The Hits Rewired, out on April 25 via Frontiers Music Srl.
This release is a real treat for all rock fans: the first CD contains new songs, which show once again that the inspiration never left Russ, while the second CD includes brand new recordings of famous hits either penned or performed by him during the years.
About the new single, Ballard says: “That was a quick one. I wrote it when the first digital reverbs came out. I played around with these new sounds, took my holey guitar and that’s it. It took me an hour to write it from start to finish. Phil Collins turned it into a massive song then with his drum sound. Years later, Frida said she wished I did more songs for her. How lovely from her.”
Russ Ballard is simply one of the most renowned and gifted songwriters in pop and rock music. His music career started when he was only 14 years old and he wrote a tune, which was recorded by The Shadows, appearing on their album The Sound Of The Shadows in 1964.
During the 70’s and 80’s, his songs ruled the airwaves and the list of hits is pretty much endless. From “Since You Been Gone” (Rainbow), “God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You” (Argent and KISS), “So You Win Again” (Hot Chocolate), “New York Groove” (Hello and Ace Frehley), “You Can Do Magic” (America), “Winning” (Santana) or “I Don’t Believe In Miracles” (Colin Blunstone) – just to name a few – everyone who needed a great song knew that with Russ Ballard they could not go wrong.
Numerous records/artists were also produced by him, like Roger Daltrey, America, Elkie Brooks, Skindred or Sada Vidoo. In 1974, he started a solo career (after his stint with the band Argent in early 70’s), which had its highest momentum with the ‘S/t’ album in 1984 (which included the hit single “Voices”) and the follow up “The Fire Still Burns”.
Since then, Ballard has released 10 studio albums and is still writing and producing hits. Three songs from his 1984 and 1985 albums were featured in the TV show “Miami Vice” and were extensively played on dance floors around Europe.
Ballard expresses his excitement for the release: “It’s a buzz releasing a new album. What started as my ‘Lockdown-tapes’ during the pandemic became an album! During lockdown, my studio was a lifesaver for me, and I found new ways of writing and recording. The result gives the listeners a good insight into this time – have a listen!”
Pre-order the album here.
Tracklisting:
CD1
“Resurrection”
“Courageous”
“Journey Man”
“The One Who Breathes Me”
“The Wild”
“Charlatan”
“Soul Music”
“Sleepwalking”
“Last Man Standing”
“Make Believe World”
“The Family Way”
“Fearless”
“The Last Amen”
CD2
“Since You’ve Been Gone”
“Winning”
“God Gave Rock And Roll To You”
“Voices”
“New York Groove”
“You Can Do Magic”
“Liar”
“I Know There’s Something Going On”
“I Surrender”
” No More The Fool”
“So You Win Again”
“Free Me”
“On The Rebound”
“You Can Do Magic” video:
“Courageous” video:
“Since You’ve Been Gone” video:
“God Gave Rock And Roll To You” video:
“New York Groove” video:
(Photo – Sven Kramer)
Do you have a rock, hard rock, heavy metal website, blog, podcast, radio show, YouTube channel, Spotify playlist? BraveWords Records wants to send you music!
Submit your info: https://forms.gle/j8wygtJjnv429GzJ6
The post Songwriter RUSS BALLARD Praises KISS Rendition Of “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You” – “Perfect” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...