"Domino" is a song by the American hard rock bandKiss, released on the band's sixteenth studio albumRevenge in 1992. The song was written by the band's bassist Gene Simmons, and it borrows parts from the song "Nasty Nasty", which Simmons had co-written and produced in 1986 with the band Black 'n Blue. The song was released as a single in 1992, with the album's instrumental "Carr Jam 1981" as a B-side. Despite being performed on only two tours and MTV Unplugged appearance, "Domino" has appeared on several of the band's albums.
Background
, the sole writer of the song, admitted he was trying to copy the song "Deuce" with "Domino", although the song borrows much more from the song "Nasty Nasty", song by the band Black 'n Blue which Simmons worked with before. "Nasty Nasty" was written by Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Jaime St. James, while "Domino" is credited to Simmons only. Simmons said about the creation of the song: "This song started out with a bass lick, much as 'Deuce' did. Once I had the meter down, I started writing rhyming words, but without a melody – so it was almost a rap. Then I talked the song through with the lick, and the melody just came naturally. The melody that came to me was the bass lick, so I just shadowed my melody with the lick on guitar." The song was demoed by Simmons and band Silent Rage, who Simmons had signed to his label $immons Records. The demo version differs from the studio version in verses, as the verse in the demo is "Here's an introduction, her name is Domino / Never had confession, if you really wanna know / Ain't the virgin Mary, love her, I confess / Got my hesitations, she kisses like the kiss of death / Loves lots of money, back's against the wall / Calls me 'Sugar Daddy', 'cause she knows she's got me by the balls." and in the studio version the verse goes "My my, ow, yeah! / Never had confession, never had a home / Never had no worry, until I met Domino / Ain't the virgin Mary, love her I confess / Got my hesitations, 'cause she kisses like the kiss of death / Loves lots of money, back's against the wall / Calls me 'Sugar Daddy', she knows she's got me by the balls." The key of the solo was changed by Bob Ezrin so that "It feels like it's got more energy." Simmons also played the rhythm guitaron the track. "Domino" was released as the third single off the Revenge album in 1992. The song only managed to chart on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, reaching number 26.
Live performances
"Domino" was played only on the Revenge Tour and Kiss My Ass Tour. It was also performed on the MTV Unplugged appearance. Because of the original line-up reunion, all post-70s songs were excluded from the set-list. As years went by, some post-70s songs returned to the set-list, although "Domino" wasn't one of them.
Music video
A music video was directed by Paul Rachman and shows Simmons driving around Hollywood eating fast-food while the other band members are in studio playing. The video was, like other videos from Revenge, ignored by MTV in favor of grunge bands. The video features Paul Stanley playing a Gene Simmons Punisher bass.
