Ace Frehley – New York Groove

I wasn’t much of a KISS fan but I like this song on the KISS solo album by Ace Frehley. It peaked at #13 on the Billboard 100 and #25 in Canada in 1978. The song was written by Russ Ballard and was a UK chart hit for an English band named Hello.

 

https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-ace-frehleys-new-york-groove

New York Groove is Ace Frehley’s very own personal anthem. The track is as synonymous with the ex-Kiss man as his silver superhero suit and smokin’ six-string.

Frehley was born and raised in the Bronx, so the Big Apple is his kinda town. And New York Groove is his kinda song – even though he didn’t actually write it. Nevertheless, when Ace barks the line ‘It’s gonna be ecstasy… this place was meant for me’ above that foot-stomping rhythm, you can sense the native pride shivering down his Spaceman spine.

“A lot of people think I wrote New York Groove. It’s not a myth that I’ve perpetuated, but that’s the way it is. I wish I would’ve wrote the song, though. I would’ve made a lot more cash out of it, ha-ha-hargh!” Frehley chuckles in his inimitable style.

New York Groove

Many years since I was here,
On the street I was passin’ my time away
To the left and to the right,
Buildings towering to the sky
It’s outta sight in the dead of night

Here I am, and in this city, with a fistful of dollars
And baby, you’d better believe

I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
Back in the New York groove, in the New York groove

In the back of my Cadillac
A wicked lady, sittin’ by my side, sayin’ ‘Where are we?’
Stop at Third and Forty-three, exit to the night
It’s gonna be ecstacy, this place was meant for me

Feels so good tonight, who cares about tomorrow
So baby, you’d better believe

I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
Back in the New York groove, in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove
I’m back, back in the New York groove

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

12 thoughts on “Ace Frehley – New York Groove”

  1. The only thing I have ever owned by or about Kiss– I loved this song and was searching through the discount bins at a department store a few years after this album was released and bought it for $1.

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      1. Marketing geniuses- their music at best is middle of the run in my opinion- nothing about it stands out- but they had a good idea and made the most out of it. Who would have predicted their success?

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      2. Middle at best… The interesting part is the marketing. They took some of what Alice Cooper and the New York Dolls did and multiplied it by a thousand… not the music though.

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      3. Yes I’d agree Alice and the Dolls were musically miles ahead of them and you are right the marketing was nothing new- they just took it to the extreme and it worked.

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    1. Yea I wasn’t and am not a huge Kiss fan…but I do see their culture impact as huge in the 70s…I like a few tracks here and there.

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