KISS was under the gun when it came time to record the band's third album, Dressed to Kill. Already two albums into their deal with Casablanca Records, the road warriors had yet to break through, despite building a rabid fan base through rigorous touring. The situation was such that label boss, Neil Bogart, stepped in to produce the album as a way to save money on recording.
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The group hadn't even planned on returning to the recording studio in February of 1975. KISS' second album, Hotter Than Hell, had just come out at the end of October 1974. Casablanca, however, needed a serious cash infusion, so Dressed to Kill was knocked out in short order: 10 new songs that clocked in at an economical running time of just 30:07.
The album's cover was shot on the corner of 23rd Street and 8th Avenue in New York, with the band clad in spiffy suits In reality, only drummer Peter Criss owned a suit. The rest of the band had to borrow suits from manager Bill Aucoin, which is why the much taller Gene Simmons is bursting out of the seams of his ensemble.
Dressed to Kill would deliver a pair of singles: "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "C'mon and Love Me." Neither did much on the charts; "Rock and Roll All Nite" would reach #68 on the Hot 100, while the follow-up wouldn't even register on the singles chart. The full-length would go on to do decent business, climbing as high as #32 on the Billboard album chart in June 1975.
KISS would launch the Dressed to Kill tour in March of 1975, landing at Detroit's Cobo Arena on April 16th of that year. It would be the band's first headlining show at the 12,000 capacity venue, which was sold out for the occasion. The show would be recorded, and serve as the basis for the group's breakout ALIVE! album. It's also where photographer Fin Costello would capture the live album's legendary back cover photo of KISS fans Bruce Redoute and Lee Neaves displaying their homemade KISS banner.
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