STUCK IN THE VINYL AGAIN - KIX - MIDNITE DYNAMITE

[maggot]

Good morning, morning people and welcome back to the Friday edition of Stuck In The Vinyl Again. Today we shine a spotlight on the Hagerstown, Maryland based hard rock band, KIX. The band was formed in 1976 and originally was called Shooze before changing their name to The Generators. In 1977 guitarist Brian "Damage" Forsythe, front man Steve Whiteman, and finally drummer Jimmy "Chocolate" Chalfant joined bassist Donnie Purnell and guitarist Ronnie "10/10" Younkins to become KIX. They released their self titled debut in 1981, it's follow -up Cool Kids in 1983, (which we've featured on this very page), their 3rd is 1985's Midnite Dynamite (our feature for today) and in 1988 they released the album everyone remembers, Blow My Fuse, which contained their biggest hit, the anti -suicide ballad, "Don't Close Your Eyes. We have a copy of that LP on cassette. 1991 brought us their 5th release, Hot Wire, and 1995 gave us their 6th, $how Bu$ine$$. In 1996 the band disbanded and took a 7 year hiatus reforming in 2003 and in 2014 they released their 7th and (at least as far as we know) their final album). They played their last show, September 17, 2023 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. By all accounts it was a phenomenal. We send them by spinning their third studio Midnite Dynamite. The LP was released  August 8, 1985 on the Atlantic label and produced by Beau Hill, Bill Dooley, and Keith Lentin. The album, nor it's three singles ("Midnite Dynamite", "Cold Shower", and "Scarlet Fever") charted.

"Midnite Dynamite" (Donnie Purnell, Bob Halligan Jr.) – 3:51
"Red Hot (Black & Blue)" (Purnell, Halligan Jr.) – 3:23
"Bang Bang (Balls of Fire)" (Kip Winger, Purnell, Halligan Jr.) – 4:00
"Layin' Rubber" (Purnell, Halligan Jr.) – 3:52
"Walkin' Away" (Purnell, Halligan Jr., John Palumbo) – 4:56

Side two

"Scarlet Fever" (Purnell, Halligan Jr.) – 4:20
"Cry Baby" (Purnell, Halligan Jr.) – 4:17
"Cold Shower" (Purnell, Palumbo) – 5:02
"Lie Like a Rug" (Purnell, Palumbo) – 3:41
"Sex" (Purnell, Steve Whiteman) – 3:56

Kix

Steve Whiteman – lead vocals, harmonica ("Cold Shower" and "Sex"), saxophone
Ronnie "10/10" Younkins – guitars
Brian "Damage" Forsythe – guitars
Donnie Purnell – bass, keyboards (additional keyboards on "Walkin' Away"), backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Cold Shower"
Jimmy "Chocolate" Chalfant – drums, percussion, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Cold Shower"

Additional musicians

Anton Fig – drums, percussion on "Lie Like a Rug" and "Sex"
Mike Slamer – guitars on "Walkin' Away" and "Scarlet Fever"
Beau Hill – additional keyboards and guitars (courtesy of Chrysalis Records), producer, engineer

Production

Stephen Benben, Jim Faraci – engineers
Keith Lentin – producer on "Lie Like a Rug" and "Sex"
Bill Dooley – producer and engineer on "Lie Like a Rug" and "Sex"
Ed Garcia – engineer on "Lie Like a Rug" and "Sex"
Ira McLaughlin – assistant engineer on "Lie Like a Rug" and "Sex"
George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
Bob Defrin – art direction
David Michael Kennedy – photography