"Kiss Kiss Kiss" is a song by Japanese singer Yoko Ono. It was originally released on Double Fantasy, her joint album with John Lennon, as well as on the B-side of his "(Just Like) Starting Over" single. The disco and new wave-influenced song features Ono gasping heavily and appearing to reach orgasm.
| "Kiss Kiss Kiss" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Yoko Ono | ||||
| from the album Double Fantasy | ||||
| A-side | "(Just Like) Starting Over" | |||
| Released | 24 October 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:42 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Yoko Ono | |||
| Producer(s) | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jack Douglas | |||
| Yoko Ono singles chronology | ||||
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| "Kiss Kiss Kiss" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Yoko Ono | ||||
| Released | 2002 | |||
| Genre | Rock, dance | |||
| Length | 2:41 | |||
| Label | Parlophone Records (original Geffen) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Yoko Ono | |||
| Producer(s) | Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Jack Douglas | |||
| Yoko Ono singles chronology | ||||
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| "Kiss Kiss Kiss" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Yoko Ono and Peaches | ||||
| Released | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Rock, dance | |||
| Length | 3:18 | |||
| Label | Parlophone Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Yoko Ono | |||
| Producer(s) | Peaches | |||
| Yoko Ono singles chronology | ||||
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| Peaches singles chronology | ||||
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In 2002, following the success of "Open Your Box", the track was remixed by Superchumbo[2] and released as a single. It reached #20 on the US dance charts.
In 2005, Detroit group The Dirtbombs included their cover of "Kiss, Kiss, Kiss" on their album If You Don't Already Have a Look. Most recently, the track was remixed by Peaches for the Yes, I'm a Witch album.[3]
Composition edit
According to Beatle biographer John Blaney, "Kiss Kiss Kiss" combines elements of adult-oriented rock with avant-garde.[4] According to music lecturers Ben Urish and Ken Bielen, the song has punk rock elements along with martial drum rolls.[5] Blaney regards it as being "more musically and lyrically adventurous" than "(Just Like) Starting Over."[4]
Urish and Bielen describe the lyrics as having "an erotic tone," pointing explicitly to a line that includes the phrases "touch me" and "shaking inside."[5] In the second half of the song, Ono's provides a spoken word voice-over that leads to the orgasmic climax by repeating the words "faster" and "harder" in Japanese, interspersed with groans and cries that Ono biographer Jerry Hopkins describes as "blatantly sexual."[5][6] As she does this, Urish and Bielen describe Lennon's "screeching" guitar playing as "[urging] her on."[5]
In Lennon and Ono's joint 1980 interview with Playboy, Ono said:
- John is saying in his song [Starting Over], OK, we had the energy in the Sixties, in the Seventies we separated, but let's start over in the Eighties. He's reaching out to me, the woman. Reaching out after all that's happened, over the battlefield of dead families, is more difficult this time around. On the other side of the record is my song, "Kiss Kiss Kiss," which is the other side of the same question. There is the sound of a woman coming to a climax on it, and she is crying out to be held, to be touched. It will be controversial, because people still feel it's less natural to hear the sounds of a woman's lovemaking than, say, the sound of a Concorde, killing the atmosphere and polluting nature. Altogether, both sides are a prayer to change the Eighties.[7]
Although Ono described the song as being about liberation and being courageous enough to show vulnerability, she felt embarrassed when she tried recording the simulated orgasm vocals in front of the male recording engineers.[4] She stated that "I started to do it and then I suddenly looked and all those engineers were all looking, and I thought, I can't do that, you know? So I said, well, turn off all the lights and put a screen around me, and I did it that way."[4][6]
Music critic Johnny Rogan stated that the song "offered proof of Yoko's commercial and contemporary sound, with Andy Newmark's drums prominent in the mix and the vocal surprisingly pleasant and in tune.[8] Iowa City Press-Citizen critic Curt Seifert described "Kiss Kiss Kiss" as a "rather disposable [example] of the fatuity of [Ono's] past experimentations with so-called "avant garde" music.[9] Atlanta Constitution critic Bill King regarded "Kiss Kiss Kiss" as the best of Ono's songs on Double Fantasy.[10] Miami Herald critic Bill Ashton described the song as "a sort of rock dance number that sounds a lot like the warblings of Lene Lovich."[11] In 2013 Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci rated it as Ono's 2nd best song of all time.[12]
Recording edit
"Kiss Kiss Kiss" was first recorded at The Hit Factory in New York City on 8 August 1980. Ono was dissatisfied with the performance and the song was re-recorded on 26 August 1980.[13]
Track listing edit
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Superchumbo's Twisted Kiss)
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Superchumbo's Twisted Touch)
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Superchumbo's Single Edit)[14]
Official Versions edit
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Album Version) - 2:41
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Stripped Down Version) - 2:45 (from Double Fantasy - Stripped Down)
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Superchumbo's Single Edit) - 3:48 (later included on Open Your Box)
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Superchumbo's Twisted Kiss) - 7:03
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Superchumbo's Twisted Touch) - 8:31
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (featuring Peaches) - 3:18 (from Yes I'm a Witch)
Personnel edit
- Yoko Ono – vocals, handclaps, direction
- John Lennon – guitar, percussion
- Earl Slick, Hugh McCracken – guitar
- Tony Levin – bass guitar
- George Small – keyboards
- Arthur Jenkins – percussion, handclaps
- Andy Newmark – drums
References edit
- ^ Segretto, Mike (2022). "1980". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. p. 380. ISBN 9781493064601.
- ^ Ono* - Kiss Kiss Kiss (Vinyl) at Discogs
- ^ Ono* with Peaches / with Blow Up* - Kiss Kiss Kiss / Everyman Everywoman (Vinyl) at Discogs
- ^ a b c d Blaney, John (2007). Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work. Jawbone Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-906002-02-2.
- ^ a b c d Urish, Ben; Bielen, Ken (2007). The Words and Music of John Lennon. Praeger. pp. 75–76. ISBN 9780275991807.
- ^ a b Hopkins, Jerry (1986). Yoko Ono. Macmillan. p. 214. ISBN 0025539507.
- ^ John-lennon.com
- ^ Rogan, Johnny (1997). The Complete Guide to the Music of John Lennon. Omnibus Press. p. 114. ISBN 0711955999.
- ^ Seifert, Curt (December 13, 1980). "A Last Word from John and Yoko's "Double Fantasy"". Iowa City Press-Citizen. p. 12D. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ King, Bill (December 10, 1980). "'Double Fantasy' Frustrating, Interesting Album". Atlanta Constitution. p. 11-A. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Ashton, Bill (November 23, 1980). "John and Yoko Sing Their Love". Miami Herald. pp. 1L, 9L. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Gallucci, Michael (18 February 2013). "Top 10 Yoko Ono Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ Madinger, Chip; Raile, Scott (2015). LENNONOLOGY Strange Days Indeed - A Scrapbook Of Madness. Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books, LLC. pp. 520, 522. ISBN 978-1-63110-175-5.
- ^ "ONO – Kiss Kiss Kiss (2009, 320 KBPS, File)". Discogs.