This past Friday, KISS frontman Paul Stanley‘s side project Soul Station released its debut album, Now and Then, which features nine covers of classic Motown and Philly soul tunes, plus five new original songs celebrating the genre.
Stanley tells ABC Audio that when it came to choosing covers for the album, he picked “songs that made people feel close to each other, that couples felt were part of bonding them,” with a focus on material with crooned or falsetto vocals.
He adds, “There’s a different kind of masculinity that comes from being vulnerable, and those were the songs that I think were more engaging emotionally for me.”
Among the covers is a version of the chart-topping 1971 Temptations hit “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me).”
Stanley reveals that he received a huge compliment from Otis Williams, the last surviving original Temptations member, who told him, “I listened to your version of ‘Just My Imagination’ over and over. You guys do it as well as we did.”
As for the decision to include original songs on the album, Paul explains, “As we were recording, I started to think, ‘Well, we should have a new song that kind of bridges the gap to the present. And I wrote ‘Save Me (from You),’ and [it] came out pretty damn good…[A]nd I said, ‘Wow…I think I’ll write another one.’ And that was the succession of it.”
Asked whether he worried that KISS fans might not embrace the project, Stanley says, “No. I didn’t do it with the idea of making converts…I’m doing this because I love it. Most of the time in my life, whenever I do something I love, it finds people who also love what I’m doing.”
Here’s the Now and Then track list:
“Could It Be I’m Falling In Love”
“I Do”
“I, Oh I”
“Ooo Baby Baby”
“O-O-H Child”
“Save Me (From You)”
“Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”
“Whenever You’re Ready (I’m Here)”
“The Tracks of My Tears”
“Let’s Stay Together”
“La-La – Means I Love You”
“Lorelei”
“You Are Everything”
“Baby I Need Your Loving”
By Matt Friedlander
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