Ace Frehley will be forever celebrated for his years with Kiss, the iconic group he cofounded in the 1970s with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss.
But Frehley — who died on October 16 at the age of 74 from injuries after a fall at home — will also be remembered for his signature solo hit: “New York Groove,” released in 1978.
That was the year all four Kiss members issued solo albums. But only Ace scored a top 20 hit, when “New York Groove” reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was especially appropriate, since the electric guitarist was a Bronx-born native of the Big Apple.
Since then, “New York Groove” has remained popular in the New York area, where it’s become the Mets signature tune, played at home games to celebrate a win.
But as Ace explained, he had one regret about the song: He didn’t write it.
“A lot of people think I wrote ‘New York Groove,’” he told Louder in an interview published October 6. “It’s not a myth that I’ve perpetuated, but that’s the way it is.
“I wish I would’ve wrote the song, though. I would’ve made a lot more cash out of it,” he said with a laugh.
The foot-stomping three-chord tune was actually written by Russ Ballard, the British songwriter behind hits like Rainbow’s 1979 hit “Since You Been Gone” and “God Gave Rock and Roll to You,” originally recorded by Argent in 1973 and covered by Kiss, no less, in 1991 as "God Gave Rock '’N' Roll to You II," with modified lyrics.
Ballard told Louder he wrote the song while en route to New York City for the first time.
“While I was sitting on the plane, I got out a pen and paper and started thinking of the phrase ‘back in the New York groove,’” he said. “That’d be a good title for a song, I reckoned; the whole idea of someone going back to New York and singing about the experience.”
The tune was originally cut by the London-based glam-rock band Hello in 1975 and became a number nine hit in the U.K.
Strangely, Frehley had no recollection of hearing Hello’s version.
“Or maybe I have and I just can’t remember,” he told Louder. “Can you send me an MP3 of it?”
Freely said “New York Groove” became forever associated with him after “we realized we needed a more commercial song for inclusion on my solo record.”
“To be honest, I actually didn't want to record this song,” he told Guitar Player last year. “Eddie Kramer my producer, introduced me to it. He kept saying to me, ‘Ace, you’ve got to record this song,’ and I kept saying, ‘I don't think it has anything to do with any of the other songs.’
To be honest, I actually didn't want to record this song. Eddie Kramer my producer, kept saying to me, ‘Ace, you’ve got to record this song.’’
— Ace Frehley
“But once we had finished recording a lot of the album in Connecticut, we went down to Manhattan to do the overdubs and vocals, and once we got down there, he finally talked me into doing it.”
He cut the track at Plaza Sound Studios above Radio City Music Hall on 51st Street, giving him a memorable view of the hall’s Rockettes dancers to go with the session.
“It was kinda cool because the Rockettes used to sun themselves on the roof,” he recalled to Louder. “These beautiful, semi-naked girls were constantly walking into the studio and checking out what was going on. So that was quite a nice recording environment.”
Ace also remembered that, on this particular session, he used his sunburst ‘59 Gibson Les Paul, one of the guitars he, unfortunately, parted ways with.
“I bought it in a guitar store, and it was really faded, but it was a great guitar,” he told Guitar Player. “Gibson actually ended up putting out a copy of it several years ago. They got ahold of a guy that owned it and did a version that was aged and a regular version too.”
Considering that Ace often stood in Simmons and Stanley’s creative shadow, it was a point of pride that he was the only Kiss member to have a solo hit. “I'm starting to come out of my shell and I'm going to get stronger,” he told People in 1980, noting that the song’s success gave him some clout in the group.
Despite that, he didn’t gloat over his achievement.
“It didn’t feel like I was getting one over on the other guys in Kiss,” he remarked to Louder. “It’s just something that happened. I was lucky that it came out as good as it did.
“I never really listened to the other three solo records, although I did put Gene’s on once. When I heard his version of ‘When You Wish Upon a Star,’ I had to pull it off the turntable, ha-ha-hargh!” The tune was originally a children’s favorite from the Disney animated film Pinocchio, but in Simmons’ hands it became a cringe-inducing oddity.
While “New York Groove” remains one of Ballard’s best-known tunes, he remains a little mystified by its success.
“I guess it surprised me because it’s so incredibly simple,” he says. “They say a good song will always sell. And there’s a lot of truth in that.”
