"Deuce" is a song by the American hard rock bandKiss, written by bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons. The song appeared on Kiss' eponymous 1974 debut album. In addition to being one of the band's most popular and most-covered songs, "Deuce" is a traditional concert opener. The song has appeared on many Kiss live and compilation albums.
Background
According to Gene Simmons, he simply copied the bassline of the Rolling Stones' "Bitch" and played it more or less backwards. "I wrote 'Deuce' on the bass," he said, "so the guitars ended up shadowing the bass line or variations of it in different octaves". The entire song was written nearly linearly; the riff came first, then the bridge, then finally the chorus. While uncredited, Paul Stanley provided the lightly phased intro riff, inspired by the Raspberries' "Go All the Way". "It's an integral part of the song," he observed, "but should I get credit for that? I don't think so". "Deuce" also has special significance for Ace Frehley, as it was the first song he ever played with Kiss. "When I auditioned for Kiss", recalled Frehley, "they said, 'We're going to play you a song for you to listen to, and then try playing along — it's in the key of 'A'. They played as a three-piece. I thought, 'That's easy enough,' so I got up and wailed for four minutes playing lead work over it". Frehley has also stated that Deuce is his favorite Kiss song Gene Simmons stated in reference to the song: "Lyrically, I had no idea what I was talking about. Sometimes stuff means a lot, sometimes it means nothing". On July 28, 2009, a live version was released in the Kiss 01 track pack for Rock Band 2.
Live performances
The song was performed during the first Kiss tours, mostly as the opener. It was dropped from the setlist for the Rock and Roll Over Tour and was not performed regularly in the USA until the Hot in the Shade Tour in 1990. After 1976, it was not played again until a show in Evansville, Indiana in January 1978. It was played in some one-off shows in the USA in 1988 as well as the European Crazy Nights Tour in 1988. Simmons has said that during the band's first tours, after they did the usual setlist and encore, they did not have any more songs to play so they played "Deuce" again.
Appearances
"Deuce" has appeared on the following Kiss albums:
A tribute nod to the "worth a deuce" lyric and signature guitar riff is briefly featured on the 1976 single "Muff Divin'" by Indiana punk band The Gizmos.
