Paul Stanley: guitar
Ace Frehley: guitar
Gene Simmons: bass
Eric Carr: drums

Produced by Michael James Jackson, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. 

Recorded by Dave Wittman at The Record Plant, Los Angeles.  Drums recorded by Nikos Bolas at Record One, Los Angeles.  Mixed by Bob Clearmountain at The Power Station, New York.

In 1979 Bryan Adams' manager Bruce Allen asked me to write a song for BTO, a group he managed (they'd changed their name from "Bachman Turner Overdrive" to "BTO" when Randy Bachman left in 1977).

I came up with a couple of song ideas including "Rock 'n Roll Hell", which I loosely based on the tempo and chord structure of Randy's song "Takin' Care Of Business".

BTO liked "Rock 'n Roll Hell" and included it on their 1979 album, "Rock ‘n Roll Nights", which I produced.

Fast-forward a few years to the summer of 1982.  Bryan Adams and I got a call from producer Michael James Jackson, asking if we'd be interested in writing a song for KISS. To be honest I've never been a huge KISS fan, but it was early in our writing career and KISS were selling a lot more records than we were, so it seemed like a good idea.

Bryan and I wrote two songs for KISS: a new one called "War Machine", and a re-worked version of BTO's "Rock 'n Roll Hell", with a new lyric and a slower, heavier feel.

Not long afterwards we received an unexpected telephone call from Gene Simmons!

Gene said he loved both our tracks, and KISS were definitely interested in recording them. There was just one problem. "Rock 'n Roll Hell" needed an extra verse!

Adams and I were in the same room, on separate phones. We looked at each other and shook our heads. The song was finished. Why on earth would Gene want us to write another verse?

We told Gene how we felt about it.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line and then Gene spoke, very slowly and firmly: "You don't understand", he said. "The song needs an extra verse. And I'm going to write it".

Suddenly it dawned on us. Gene was trying to tell us, in not-too-subtle terms, that KISS wouldn't record our song unless his name appeared as a co-writer. The choice was obvious: we could share songwriting credit (and royalties) on an album that would probably sell 10 million copies, or we could have no songs on the album at all.

In the end Gene did write a verse, which appears in the song.  And to his credit, he only requested a modest share of the royalties. Regardless, the experience left us with an empty feeling.

Twenty-five years later I'm not bitter, I'm simply philosophical about the experience.  The truth is, when it came to negotiation and intimidation, Gene Simmons was much more skilled than we were!