"Little Caesar" is a song by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

hard rock 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 ...

, featured on their 1989 album ''

Hot in the Shade ''Hot in the Shade'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1989. It is the first Kiss studio album since 1981's '' Music From "The Elder"'' to feature lead vocals from someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmon ...

''. It is the lone original song that drummer

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known as Eric Carr, was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 until his death in 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer afte ...

sang lead on during his tenure with Kiss (although he did sing lead on a remake of " Beth" on Kiss's ''

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits ''Smashes, Thrashes & Hits'' is a compilation album by the American hard rock band Kiss. It was the fourth hits album overall but the second hits album released by the band in the United States ('' Killers'' and '' Chikara'' were not released the ...

'' album the year before). The song was written by Carr,

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 ...

and Adam Mitchell.

Background

Carr submitted three songs to Kiss bassist Gene Simmons for selection for the then upcoming album, and according to Carr in 1990: Simmons actually loved the last song and suggested that Carr should make a complete demo of it. Carr and Kiss guitarist

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (; born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist best known as a former guitarist of the band Kiss (band), Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union (band), Union with John Corabi from 19972002, Blackjack (American ba ...

went to the studio and completed a full recording, assuming all instrumental duties; Simmons and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley only provided backing vocals in the recording. The track was originally titled "Ain't That Peculiar" (a version that is featured on 2001's '' The Box Set'') and featured lyrics from the

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

song of the same name until Carr and Simmons wrote a new set of lyrics together using the title "Little Caesar", which is what Simmons called Carr when he was acting like a tough guy.

Live performance

"Little Caesar" was played live once by Kiss on the first night of their

Hot in the Shade Tour The Hot in the Shade Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Hot in the Shade''. Background Following the Crazy Nights World Tour, Stanley had embarked on a solo club tour in 1989 while th ...

, on April 26, 1990, at the

Country Club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...

in Reseda.

Reception

In Greg Prato's

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review of ''

'', which he gave the album two out of a possible five stars, he stated that "Little Caesar" is one of the album's few bright spots".Prato, Greg
''Hot in the Shade'' review
Allmusic. Retrieved December 10, 2011.

Personnel

* Drums, bass and lead vocals:

* Lead and rhythm guitars:

* Background vocals: Eric Carr,

and

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 ...

References

{{authority control Kiss (band) songs 1989 songs Songs written by Eric Carr Songs written by Gene Simmons Songs written by Adam Mitchell (songwriter)