"Calling Dr. Love" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

, originally released on their 1976 album ''

Rock and Roll Over ''Rock and Roll Over'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on November 11, 1976, by Casablanca Records. It was recorded at the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York. The album contains the songs " Hard Luck Woman" and " Ca ...

''. A live version of the song was included on ''

Alive II ''Alive II'' is the second live album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on October 14, 1977, by Casablanca Records. The band had released three albums (''Destroyer'', '' Rock and Roll Over'', and '' Love Gun'') since the previous live ...

'', released in 1977. Since then, "Calling Dr. Love" has appeared on numerous Kiss compilation albums. In 2003, it appeared on Kiss's fifth live album, '' Kiss Symphony: Alive IV''. "Calling Dr. Love" was also featured in the setlist of the

Alive 35 World Tour The Alive 35 World Tour was a 2008–2009 concert tour by Kiss to celebrate their 35th anniversary. It was the band's first major tour since the Rock the Nation World Tour in 2004. On the tour, Kiss played in Europe for the first time since the ...

in 2008. The Canadian 8-track tape version of the song is extended by about 55 seconds, with a smoothly edited-in repeat of the guitar solo.

Background

It was written by bassist

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

, who sings lead vocals on the song, at a

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...

in Evansville, Indiana. The song's title came from Simmons' recollection of

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

film ''

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in dark suits, who question, interrogate, harass, and threaten unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have ...

'', which contained a hospital intercom announcement, "Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard."

Critical reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "a hard-driving rhythm line and straightforward vocals combine with Simmons' distinct style to make a top 40 and FM playlist addition." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a " rocker...in a

Humble Pie Humble Pie are an English Rock music, rock band formed by Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. They are known as one of the first Supergroup (music), supergroups of the late 1960s and enjoyed success in the early 1970s ...

vein." ''American Songwriter'' placed the song at number 8 on their "Top 10 KISS Essentials … KISSentials?" list and called it "simply irresistible" with "over-the-top production, and

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

clichés."

Charts

The song was the second single released from the album, and the band's fourth US Top 20 single, reaching #16 in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''. In Canada, the song reached number two, and is ranked as the 54th biggest Canadian hit of 1977.

Weekly charts

Year-end Charts

Personnel

– lead vocals, bass *

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

– rhythm guitar *

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is an American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and an occasional vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established th ...

– drums, backing vocals *

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

– lead guitar, additional guitar, backing vocals

Covers

*In 1994, the song was recorded and re-arranged by the one-off supergroup Shandi's Addiction (vocalist

Maynard James Keenan Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, philanthropist, record producer, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool (band), Tool, A Perfe ...

, guitarist

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...

, bassist

Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Gould was born on April 24, 1963, in Los Angeles, and he is of Scottish and Hungarian desce ...

, and drummer

Brad Wilk Bradley Joseph Wilk (born September 5, 1968) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine (1991–2000, 2007–2011, 2019–2024), Audioslave (2001–2007, 2017), and Prophets of Rage (201 ...

) as part of the Kiss tribute album '' Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved''. *In 1996, the

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrom ...

band

The Electric Hellfire Club The Electric Hellfire Club is an American industrial rock band mixing elements of glam metal, techno, gothic rock, and psychedelia. The band's lyrics contain tongue-in-cheek references to sin, violence, sex, devil worship and similar theme ...

covered the song on their album ''Calling Dr. Luv'', renaming the album and song to reflect the name of their keyboardist ''The Rev. Dr. Luv'' who had recently died, which the album was dedicated to. *The

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Hullabaloo covered the song for the Kiss

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

'' Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation''.

Popular culture

*In the film ''

Detroit Rock City "Detroit Rock City" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss, released on their 1976 album ''Destroyer''. The song was written by Paul Stanley and producer Bob Ezrin. Background "Detroit Rock City" began with a guitar part by Paul Stanle ...

'', which revolves around Kiss fans, once a character is asked his name after foiling a robbery, he replies "They call me Dr. Love". The song is also played in the film itself. *The song was released as downloadable content in the

music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

''. *The song is mentioned - albeit briefly - in '' The Wastelands'', the third installment of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's epic '' The Dark Tower''. *The song was used in a 2009 commercial for the cherry-flavored

Dr. Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. Dr Pepper was created in the 1880s by the American pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper in th ...

. It features Gene Simmons, referred to as "Dr. Love," on a couch with several women, in front of a large electric Kiss logo which flashes while he says that the new product has a "''kiss'' of cherry." His son

Nick Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...

enters and scolds him for over-emphasizing the word "kiss." The ad ends with Simmons saying "trust me, I'm a doctor!" A variant of this ad aired during

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...

. *"Calling Dr. Love" was featured in the film ''

Magic Mike ''Magic Mike'' is a 2012 American independent comedy-drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey. The plot revolves around Adam, a 19-year-old ...

''.

References

{{authority control 1976 songs 1977 singles Kiss (band) songs Casablanca Records singles Songs written by Gene Simmons American pop rock songs