KISS - Watchin You (First Demo 1972-73)

[mryanni035]

this is when ace was on his game..........

[pietroalive35]

yeah!

[van76]

These demos show KISS at their rawest. I like KISS when they're raw and this demo illustrates that. This version of Watching You would slay the one from Hotter Than Hell.

[KISSbestfan]

@van76 Sadly there is not much demos from Hotter Than Hell album ... Also Creatures had some great demos - unreleased ...

[SulimaKnight]

And, while all this was going on at this time, I was there, watching their rehearsals and minor recordings...You can read about some of in Ken Sharp's upcoming book "Nothing to Lose; KISS, the Early Years" due out in early 2012. It will contain some of my early exclusive photos of KISS at the Coventry and Sunshine Inn shows...Making up for all those decades of being either missed or passed over by so many KISS authors who never did their research homework properly, by bypassing this eyewitness.

[SulimaKnight]

@SulimaKnight Yes...aka Rik Fox...I was watching the band rehearse before Ace Frehley was in the band and afterwards...their loft in NYC....

[Zrinschchuck]

the description doesn't mention Ace

was it recorded before he joined the band or what?

[MetalHeart8787]

@Zrinschchuck NO it was in late 1973 so by that time Ace was in the band.

so its Ace, Ace was in the band when they First recorded.

im not sure if theres some or any recordings of them with just Gene,paul & peter.

[HALEMAIDEN]

4o\m/

[MrVeesworld]

I am loving the Alice Cooper vibe on this. It's gritty, dirty, nasty!

[davegeclipse]

SON LOS MEJORES DEL ROCK AND ROLL LARGA VIDA A KISS!!

[kuriaki71]

watchin you is awesome 

[sjdss]

THIS IS ACE!

[Sc0000tt]

lol how young do they look :P

[malawri67]

Love gun was good indeed,but Die-nasty was pure crap,except maybe for Charisma.

[funkempfang]

@malawri67 you talk bullshit man!!! its one of the best recordings! the sound is superb!!! and how about ``save your love´´ ? 2000man(cover but man, play it loud, I´ll bet you start rockin all over the place) And the fact that peter(but anton fig) is not on the drums on dynasty makes it perfect!

So just listen again to the music and sound, then you know what I mean!

[malawri67]

@funkempfang Dynasty was crappy pop from beginnig to end.Sorry to piss on your parade.Pre 77 Kiss was tha best,the sound was nastier,heavier badder and bedder!

[thafoofa]

@malawri67 Yeah for me, KISS peaked with Destroyer. R&RO and Love Gun rocked too, but I usually stick with early KISS

[kissed61]

@thafoofa Destroyer was such a letdown for me, but I agree with . R&RO and Love Gun.

[DILTZ666]

Not just peter the whole band kicks ass in life!

[bendad100]

this version is way better. they need to get this out there.

[strutter0812]

interesting how the solos on all these old demos have that wicked lester lead guitar sound. i'm glad they changed it, lol

[mykylc]

You can hear and visualize the freaking energy in that room.

[mykylc]

It amazing, the right guys, the right time, the right attitudes...regardless who was a complainer or not...it's amazing what transpired. Love the mistake at 02:08. Great stuff.

[kissforever94]

i love watchin' you

[wiggmaster66]

Man, listening to this again after so long (even though this is the demo version) puts that great smell of a red hot old Marshall head cranked up in my mind (the original smell of hard rock)! Before those crappy Master Lead Models you really had to bridge the channels to get your basic edge then crank it way up and even better, hook a few of them up in series!!

[tullynewyork]

My dream is that Mr. Money bags (Gene) remixes the WHOLE Hotter than Hell album.

[doedoe1]

Love it..... this is one of my FAVORITE KISS tunes....

[jf11111]

Paul's guitar tone is brutal and his playing is not much better.

This band just never would have made it without Ace's style of play!

That said, I love this version.

[KISSbestfan]

@xxsylwiuxx Co masz na mysli w owym zawilym poscie ;) ?

[xxsylwiuxx]

@KISSbestfan chodzi mi o to że wole tą wersje demo od nowszej wersji tej piosenki i się pytam skąd ściągnąć.. w tej nowej brakuje mi pasu szarpnięć strun gitary ;]

[1216saab]

where is this from? what album?

[Gytis69]

@1216saab Its from their second album: 'Hotter than hell'

and its a great song!

[1216saab]

@Gytis69 I know what album it is from but,this is a different version.

[sirlovemehard]

This version KICKS ASS!!! AWESOME!!!

[MrMedusaLvamp]

I always had a bigger heart for the Alive version because it's harder...but now I like this version the best...It's very Alice Cooper meets Beatles...It's got that psychotic edge that the lp version doesnt have!

[coffinshaker]

because therer were no hi-gain amps.  Most didn't even have master volumes

[SpicyTaco29]

God approves.

[Josephandalice]

Listen how clean the guitars are.

[HumblePie76]

@ImDrinkingBeer

I love this demo too. Thanks for pointing out that this is in standard tuning. That is cool! Never realized that.

[ImDrinkingBeer]

I love this demo..Almost no distortion and in standard tuning..

[MrRBeast]

I am a huge Kiss fan, saw them in 1978 on the Love Gun/Alive II, 1979 Dynasty. And many more, but this song has always been one of my favorites. For the most part Kiss never used stomp boxes, just straight 100watt JMP Marshalls.

[kwarkmetbesse]

2:50

Is that a phone ringing?

[bossalillepus]

Funny i think it is

[SgtThump]

LOL... As far as I know, phones didn't sound like that in '72. They would actually "ring." :)

[PeterCRissKISSgod]

Ace is deffinetly playing here.

[daverain37]

nice Michael Jackson scream at 2:03 Gene LMAO

[malawri67]

That song was one of the darkest the band ever recorded IMHO.I always thought that those first couple of album's production and overall low-fi sound lent the band a darker more underground vibe.

Nothing compared to later albums like Love Gun,or Dynasty.

[scockrully]

Watching You, Deuce, etc is pretty raw and almost in the Michigan vein of the late sixties, early seventies.

[sirlovemehard]

I think Parasite is the darkest or heaviest...

[GOORVY]

@malawri67 mm nee, Love Gun and Dynasty are completely different, I think Love Gun is more like Destroyer, and Dynasty of course like Unmasked, but I absolutely agree about that this first two albums are the best of KISS, Hooter Than Hell is my favorite of KISS

[mmorrison69]

@GOORVY ha ha hooter than hell! brilliant! your right though, the early stuff is really good, a serious band working hard, they shouldn't have released the later albums so quickly, Dynasty for example could have been so much better

[GOORVY]

@mmorrison69 hmm well, Paul always said that all the media were saying that KISS was going to break up, so when KISS released the solo albums the thing gone worst so inmediatly they really needed to release Dynasty, but you're right, the album really could have been much better, however the album has awesome songs like Charisma!

[mmorrison69]

@GOORVY i always thought save your love was pretty cool too, great guitar solo!

[argiemerc]

@GOORVY

I would add dressed to kill. 3 first alsbums are pure classic kiss..,no aditives.

Creatures and lick it up is the best post Ace.

BTW, wasnt Ace already in the band by 73' ? I guess this have to be prior to 73'

[GOORVY]

@argiemerc I agree!, and I think he was already in the band at that time

[argiemerc]

@malawri67 Yeah. But I think its more about the songs than the low fi sound.

[blaspherian]

@malawri67 I AGREE,ACCEPT LOVE GUN IS KINDA ROUGH AS WELL,NOT OVERLLY POLISHED

[devilhead66613]

@malawri67 Love Gun and Dynasty were good, but the first two albums were the best of their 70's era

[jdthebooster]

@malawri67 Nothing compares to the first few albums and Alive I for pure rawness and power. IMO they started to get too processed as LG and later albums came along.

[DavidVIIIcool]

no this demo was with ace produced by Eddie Kramer. If it wasn't ace here how would cold gin be in the demo?

[EILIVdrummer]

About the description: Ace?

[vaffelvei]

no ace, too early:P paul played guitar.

[EILIVdrummer]

So it was that early... great, bet Ace rules!

[shinnox]

no, cold gin is on the demo is well.

theres two guitars playing and i doubt paul dubbed the lead parts.

thats clearly ace playing

[HellhammerSS]

The Alive track of this is the best

[TechnicolorPancakes]

The intro to this reminds me of The Allman Brothers. Also, this was around the time that the Allman Brothers Band played Fillmore East in New York. I bet Gene and Paul were in that crowd

[flaphead325]

Every thing in rock n roll is about copying and inspiring other bands, even Ritchie Blackmore said it, and Led Zeppelin did it.

[HellhammerSS]

I love their first album cover, funny thing is the cover make you feel the music is going to be out of this world and very dark, but its instead its upbeat and average.

[zacandtaylorrule]

I like this. The album version is better but this is pretty cool too. Kiss Rocks!!!

[searaydrivingguy]

pretty good for the times early metal!

[oldetymeMETAL]

this has that wicked lester feel.

[lazer70]

li9ke the lack of dist

[xxxxxxrockxxxxxx]

this demo is just as good as the song!!

[RodgersRevolution]

UH this is the song..

[xxxxxxrockxxxxxx]

haha i mean the not-demo? lol

[RodgersRevolution]

Maybe you mean as good as the album version?

[xxxxxxrockxxxxxx]

Yeah! thats what i meant!!!!

[vazrocam]

RONALDO!

[wastelandsentertainm]

WHOA! No Ace! this is a long way back!

[SFFRET]

if only pauls had a little more distortion and aces a little more i know that marshall can pump the KISS tunes

[vaffelvei]

i just LOVE this version! i just love it!!!

[cadima10]

man demo versions its amazing

you can listen the band from the begin

[Wayneman117]

Listen folks,theres a video on youtube that shows photos of the band from young kids to teens to early kiss days;Does anyone have that link.Can't seem to find it again.

[Necramoniumvideo]

I have taken the video down, it's audio was removed....youtube's copyright system.

[vaffelvei]

could you upload it again with a different soundtrack?

[wastelandsentertainm]

hey, Necramoniumvideo, big fan of your channel! I Really am! Anyway, I was looking for the Lick It Up demo, the really slow one.....you have it by any chance? Also, can you repost that video with KISS as teenagers with different audio?

[Necramoniumvideo]

Dont think i got it, ask KISSbestfan if he would upload it to his kiss audio channel,that video you ask for only has been uploaded to a alternate site...it can be uploaded on youtube anymore because of the copyright system,if you want to know where it's uploaded send me a private message.

[Spazboreal]

B.A.D.A.S.S.

[snote1]

KILLER ! I love this Version... Hell Of RAW Should have kept it like this.. ACE is the Spaced ! What a Great Year for a Revolution 1973 @ 7yrs old and the Future is Bright and Full of Great Tunes ... Thx for the Soundtrack .. KISS

[Mychaels]

KISS copied this cover so it looked like the Meet the Beatles album. Quite the contrast!

[kissed61]

I actually don't mind the energy and vocal on this demo

[letiziaytito]

the spray paint in aces hair kills me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!anything to get noticed. these guys revolutionized showbiz in the music industry!!love em!

[satanhater33]

i know that steve cornell was a lead player for them while they were wicked lester maybe he was on the recording if ace wasnt? he was on the bad bad lovin (calling doctor love before it was doctor love) he did quite a few really un ace like solos on that demo, just a thought not accurate info.

[Aberracionthrash]

guys, this is a DEMO, DEEMO, from 1973, can you understand.? this is not a CD..!

[mausca61]

no ace no kiss

[toreandero2006]

I'm not even sure this is really KISS. Sounds like a bunch of drunken guys.

[BiBo240]

Thank for describing KISS

[homersimpson67]

version sounds okay but not nearly as good as the version on hotter than hell but its good for starters and is part of kisstory because its one of the first ever kiss recordings

[SFFRET]

peter kicks ass on this song

[LifeIsGood63]

@SFFRET Peter got screwed on Destroyer. He was told how to play the drums. I think that broke his spirit.

[KODIbassplayer]

Dude its paul on guitar, ace was not in the band yet i don't think. and paul is a coe founder, he was always in the band. you can hear him yell and sing at 1:56 and 2:03

[glambush2]

I think Ace had just joined when they recorded this, although the solos are a bit un-Ace like. Anyone know for sure? Vocals are great on this.

[KODIbassplayer]

ok, sorry, all members where in the band by now, but paul was in before AEC

[glambush2]

Yes you're right, Ace was definitely last to join. Does anyone have the Gene/Van Halen 'Love Gun' demos? Rock on y'all!

[ninibom10]

...more like the GOD OF VOCALS. HE JUST RULES.

[Coldacre]

recorded March 1973