Music: Today's Rockers-Turned-Disco Video of The Day -- Dispatches From the Golden Age of Disco Rock

An Archival Spelunk by Noah Mallin

(If the vids show up as unavailable, hit refresh in your browser -- it's just the YouTube demons getting fresh)

The late 70s and early 80s were confusing and disturbing times for many in the music industry. For some of the great titans of rock and many of the little titanettes punk, disco, and new wave were confounding forces. Some plowed ahead, others chose to dip a toe in the funky stuff and try out this thing the kids were calling "disco." Even some new bands saw the merit in a quick easy hit off disco's crystalline white powder.

Starting today I will be presenting a new video every day (or thereabouts) of a rock band trying their hand at disco. Of course I wanted to start off with a biggie so today I bring you one of the all-time disco-rock classics, "I Was Made for Loving You" by Kiss.

Kiss of course started out as glam rockers, honing a metallic sheen that by the mid 70s would prove to be a formative influence on the hair bands of the 80s like Motley Crue. In 1979 though, they found their energy diluted by a rash of solo albums and the rising disco tide. Peter Criss sat the accompanying album Dynasty out and future World's Most Dangerous Band drummer Anton Fig was on the studio drums. Their response was this classic (shown "live", with Criss):