Peter Criss, "You Matter to Me"

In the middle of 1978, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were on top of the world. Their band, Kiss, was the hottest touring commodity in the world; they'd lodged seven Top 40 hits in less than three years; and they were poised to break it big in other media as the worlds of TV and comic books came a-calling. They even had the marketing gimmickry and inspiration for each of the four band members to release a solo album that fall - though surely Paul and Gene expected theirs to perform best, as they were unquestionably the leaders and creative vision of the group as well as the songwriters and primary singers.

So it must have been galling to Stanley and Simmons when Ace Frehley scored the sole Top 40 hit of the lot (with the infectious "New York Groove") and Peter Criss unexpectedly turned in the best pop song. "You Matter to Me" wasn't a hit, but it holds up nicely as a period piece alongside the similar "Stumblin' In" by Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman. (My apologies, though, for that YouTube clip - it was the only one I could find of the song. Who knew there were adult men who are fans of both Peter Criss and My Little Pony?) Paul and Gene would have to content themselves with moderate sales success and eventual solo follow-ups, not to mention increasingly tight control over the group (it's not for nothing that KISS was taken by many to be an initialism for "KISS Is Stanley & Simmons").

Anyway, listen to "You Matter to Me" and tell me it isn't one of the more underrated songs of the late '70s. For sub-Chapman-&-Chinn, it works for me.