In some ways, you could say that Tonight You Belong to Me represents the beginning of what I call the cheese in Paul's voice, and in his songwriting. Aside from the fact that I consider this song to be one of his best, I really think there couldn't possibly be more schmaltz, pathos, or cheese in the verses. But hey, if you want to get to the sweet fruit, you have to bite through the indigestible shell first, don't you? Ok. Then we better get started, but I warn you, it remains only with the shell in this case. I imagine Paul standing in front of the woman from the song we're talking about here. Of course, with one hand on his heart and the other gesticulating like a suffering poet trying to explain himself, and really hitting the shit out of it. After all, this lady is supposed to be his for the night, no matter how things look for both of them during the day. That would make him pretty much the nemesis of any married man, or at least of any man in a relationship.
2.5 out of 5 cheese points.
Just press play and let this cheese fly around your ears:
Tonight You Belong to Me (1978)
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Let's move on to defendant number two. Also a fan favorite and coincidentally yet again not one of his worst songs, which I learned to appreciate quite late: A Million to One. The reason for the delayed appreciation? The cheese, the schmaltz and the over-the-top pathos in the verses. That comes along in this case with some extra Bayyy-beah's in the form of fistfuls of gluey sugar-honey syrup drops poured viscously on top of the cheese. I tell you, no matter how good it is with the health of the listener of these lines, after that one would be better served with a proper dose of insulin. But that is by no means the only thing they have in common. If the verses of these two songs were to visit the same club separately, you can bet they would be permanently confused with each other. You don't believe that? Listen to it yourself!
3 out of 5 cheese points.
Just press cheese and let the play fly around your ears:
A Million to One (1983)
youtube
Paul and the Cheese Drama Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5.
paul stanley’s ex girlfriends include but are not limited to:
*lydia’s cousin
*shannon tweed’s sister, tracy tweed (after her breakup with, wait for it, diana ross’ brother-- and, of course, diana is one of gene’s exes)
*cher’s sister, georganne lapierre (dated her while gene was dating cher)
bobby mcadams, kiss’ former hairstylist (1974- circa 1980 or 1981), used to cut gordon gebert’s hair and has known gordon since he [gordon] was 12. (later co-authored kiss and tell with him.)
bobby states that he worked for ace again as his personal assistant in the mid-2000′s (on ace’s invitation), and ace never, ever mentioned kiss and tell that entire time. (neither did jeanette.) ace did, however, ask him about wendy moore’s book. bobby assured him that he came out of that book “smelling like roses.” i doubt if ace believed him.
the number of kiss/kiss-adjacent people (not including relatives, e.g. paul’s sister, ace and peter’s siblings) who knew og kiss pre-kiss (what a mouthful) currently above ground continues to dwindle, but those include but hopefully aren’t limited to:
*lydia criss (peter’s first wife)
*jeanette frehley (ace’s wife)
*bruce kulick (older brother bob kulick was buddies with paul and gene-- actually went to yeshiva with gene-- and, had it not been for ace, would have probably gotten the lead guitarist gig in kiss; bob later became a ghost/session musician for kiss off and on)
*bobby mcadams (first employee on kiss’ payroll)
my criteria for “pre-kiss” is basically “knew the band (not just individual members) before it got a name,” in order, basically, to keep from having to count the various people in wicked lester, molimo, and chelsea, as well as all of gene’s high school/college buddies. gene actually had a lot of friends in those days.
R.I.P. Frankie Banali (1951-2020), Bob Kulick (1950-2020)
Don’t Kill the Thrill sat on the shelf for over 20 years before seeing the light of day in 2016, long after anyone remembered a thing about Blackthorne, including its own members: Afterlife hadn’t caught anyone’s attention, and for the most part anyone listening saw it as just a thing Graham Bonnet, Bob Kulick and Frankie Banali did one time. But that long-unreleased second Blackthorne album had its moments, with “Twist the Blade” being a surprisingly spry and kickass metal rager. Banali’s drumming was steady and purposeful, but Kulick rarely roared like this in his session work, even with Kiss, and Bonnet’s vocals were similarly focused and intense in a way that nobody expected from the often aimless singer. Again, nobody cared about Blackthorne the first time around, and the sudden random appearance of a second album wasn’t going to draw out much from anybody, not even Bonnet. But “Twist the Blade” was nonetheless a ripping banger that for a brief moment caught the attention of those who bothered.
Tonight You Belong To Me and Sure Know Something. Sure Know Something and Tonight You Belong To Me. I like those two songs, even a lot, one more than the other, and yet I never really found the inspiration to write something about the similarities between the two. And today is no different. I can't really say why, maybe it's because the same words have been said about them so often, and maybe it's a disguised defiance reaction of mine that prevents me from translating the magic of this music into the usual inanities. But somehow I have the impression that I have to finally get this over with, because otherwise it will continue to haunt me in the future. And yet I sit here today and face Tonight You Belong to Me and Sure Know Something, the two songs where this one has this other piece of the other in it somehow. But listen to the two tracks a little more closely anyway dear folks.
On the one hand (1) we have the second segment of the epic opening riff on the electric guitar of Tonight You Belong to Me, which can also be found in the chorus of Sure Know Someting (the Suuure knooow something, Suuure knooow something's), which everyone is always talking about. I think Paul even mentioned this somewhere at a Konvention in '95.
Well, and secondly (2), if you wanted to, you could compare the two segments of the epic opening riff mentioned above directly with the first bars and the bass intro of Sure Know Something. That wouldn't hurt, and you'd also quickly realize that these two also fit like a glove, if I may say so.
So I have now done my duty. From now on, I'll only write what I want.
Just press the Play button. You don't have to worry about anything except the numbering, I've already taken care of everything else: