Background
Paul Stanley wrote the song while he attended Manhattan High School of Music and Art in New York. He said he was inspired by The Move's song "Fire Brigade". The tracks are similar in their choruses ("Get the fire brigade" and "Get the firehouse") and background sound effects. Kiss played the song during its early Wicked Lester period and often afterwards as well.
"Firehouse" was one of the first numbers that Kiss performed on its earliest national appearances, including ABC's Dick Clark's In Concert on February 19 (the show aired on March 29). Other songs performed on the show were "Nothin' to Lose" and "Black Diamond". The band also played the song on The Mike Douglas Show on April 29. That broadcast included Gene Simmons' first televised interview.
"Firehouse" is associated with Gene Simmons' fire breathing antics during concerts. One of many incidents occurred on December 31, 1973 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York when the band was opening for Blue Öyster Cult. Gene Simmons' hair caught fire for the first of many times.
In November 1972, Kiss, then performing as a Stanley-Simmons-Criss trio, played "Firehouse" along with "Strutter" and "Deuce" to Epic Records' A&R director Don Ellis. The showcase was intended to secure a record deal for the group. During the performance of "Firehouse", the band started ringing a bell. Stanley, enacting a fire-fighting scenario, then retrieved a red pail and threw it at an alarmed Ellis, who thought there was a real fire taking place. As Ellis was leaving, Peter Criss' drunk brother also vomited on his foot. Ellis later said that it was the worst performance he had ever heard.
Read more about this topic: Firehouse (Kiss Song)
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