| "Christine Sixteen" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Kiss | ||||
| from the album Love Gun | ||||
| Released | June 1977 (US) | |||
| Recorded | 1977 at Record Plant Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | Casablanca NB-889-AS-RE-1 (US) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Gene Simmons | |||
| Producer(s) | Eddie Kramer, Kiss | |||
| Kiss singles chronology | ||||
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"Christine Sixteen" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss. It originally appeared on their 1977 album Love Gun. Released as a single in the US in 1977, the song peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year,[1] and did well in Canada, peaking at number 22.
Written and sung by bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, the song is about an older man who is infatuated with a 16-year-old girl named Christine. The song's subject and lyrics were controversial and made some hit radio stations reluctant to put it on their playlists, while others (including WABC in the band's home town of New York, and WKBW in Buffalo) only played it after 7 PM as an album cut. The song's title was originated by bandmate Paul Stanley who was planning to write a song under the title, until Simmons beat him to it.[2] Two different time lengths are printed on the single; one at 3:13, and another at 2:52. Both versions run 3:10.
According to interviews in Guitar World, both Eddie and Alex Van Halen played on the original demos. When Kiss recorded their version of the song, Simmons said that he made Frehley copy Eddie's solo from the demo.
Cash Box said that "it's a tale of teenage lust, put to a bump and grind rock accompaniment that utilizes channel-hopping vocals."[3]
The song was sampled by Tone Lōc in his 1989 song "Funky Cold Medina". The song was covered by the Gin Blossoms on the 1994 Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved and by All on Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation. The song was also covered by punk/goth band The Nuns on their 2003 album New York Vampires.
Credited personnel
On Love Gun
- Gene Simmons – lead vocals, bass guitar, (uncredited) rhythm guitar
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Paul Stanley – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Peter Criss – drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Eddie Kramer – piano
On Jigoku-Retsuden
- Gene Simmons – lead vocals, bass guitar
- Tommy Thayer – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Paul Stanley – rhythm guitar
- Eric Singer – drums, backing vocals
- Brian Whelan – (uncredited) piano
Chart performance
References
- ↑ "AllMusic Billboard singles". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
- ↑ Leaf, David and Ken Sharp. KISS: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0-446-53073-5
- ↑ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. July 16, 1977. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
- ↑ [Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002]
- ↑ "Top 100 1977-08-27". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
- ↑ "Top 200 Singles of '77 – Volume 28, No. 11, December 31 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
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