“I was there with a shoulder to lean on”
HMO salutes Bob Kulick who recently passed away, aged 70. He was a veteran session musician who played with tons of great artists and was also known as a producer of star-studded tribute albums. But my main knowledge of him comes from his stint in the short-lived Blackthorne (with vocalist Graham Bonnet) and his involvement with KISS.
Bob was almost recruited to be the original KISS guitarist in 1973 before a certain Ace Frehley staggered in and snatched the job from him. But due to Ace’s rock n’ roll unreliability and wavering levels of commitment to the band, KISS occasionally invited Bob into the studio to replace Ace. Kulick was talented enough to not just mimic Frehley’s playing but also make it sound like Ace was at the top of his game!
Nowhere To Run is my favourite KISS song Bob appeared on. And one of my favourite KISS songs full stop. One of four new songs recorded for the 1982 compilation album Killers, it’s a classic example of Paul Stanley at his rocking and romantic best. The main riff and chorus is totally anthemic, the verses are heroic and impassioned and Stanley sings at the top of his range, giving his voice a cracked sound and vibrato that is just one of my favourite sounds ever. And Bob Kulick helps put the song right over the edge into absolute bliss with his lead playing. By now he was being given more freedom to play his own way but he still attacks this song like Ace would: with tasty, cool, exciting and unforgettable guitar playing.
KISS always said “you wanted the best, and you got the best”. Well, Bob was one of the best.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
Great track. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention.I even forgot about.
Sad for Bob Kulick. I also enjoyed his guitar work with Blackie Lawless on The Crimson Idol from WASP.
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Good call! I forgot he played on that.
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Nice writeup and your right, as Kulick played those Ace licks to perfection! KISS had a knack for having other dudes like Bob and Anton fill in and for a while fooling the whole fanbase for years!
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Yeah I can’t remember how long it too for me to find out who played what. I think there were songs on Killers and Unmasked that only had one member of the actual band on them! Cause Ace and Paul often played bass on their tracks instead of Gene.
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Thats right Scott. Credit to them they kept a lid on if for alot of years.
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I love this song! One of my all time favorite Paul songs. Bob was a big part of Kisstory and contributed a lot. Such a shame on his passing. Nice tribute!
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Thanks dude! He was definitely a big part, even if most people didn’t know for a while!
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I learned it many years later like most.
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It must have taken me years too but I can’t remember when/how I found out the truth!
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Yeah, I am sure I read it some where. Heck, Kiss didn’t admit a of this until the past 15-20 years.
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I can’t remember for sure, but I think I knew some of Killers wasn’t him. The tremolo abuse and stuff… sounded more modern. But Alive II I wouldn’t have guessed at the time. That just sounded like Ace to me.
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And I will still think it’s Ace as it doesn’t really matter to me…it sounded like Kiss…it was Kiss. The only thing that bums me is Psycho Circus. It was supposed to be a reunion album but Peter and Ace barely played on it. That part sucks. I can live with the rest.
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Yeah I honestly never cared. Good music is good music. If Psycho Circus was better I wouldn’t have minded but it was a missed opportunity. And the song that had the whole band was great!
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Yes it was.
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Nice post, HMO – I like that line about him being able to both mimic & make Ace sound in top form!
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One of those things that’s easy to take for granted but it’s actually quite a feat!
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Thanks for posting this. In tribute to Bob, Jen and I listened to Paul Stanley and side four of Alive II, but I completely forgot about Killers. Thanks for the reminder.
Let me tell you something people, HMO deserves a round of applause let’s go!
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Ah oooh yeah! 😂
I really enjoyed spinning Killers again. I’m gonna give the Paul Stanley and Blackthorne stuff a listen too.
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I never bought Blackthorne, it looked soooo low budget though it was just about the only CD in the “metal” section at Sunrise at the time.
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They did an acoustic performance in TV here that was so cheesy funny… but then the song got totally stuck in my head too. Not listened to it much since though so I’m gonna have a revisit. I like Bonnet much more now that I did then so I’m intrigued.
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I wonder if that acoustic performance is on Youtube… though I’m scared to look….
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I don’t think that particular one is but there is a similar one from another country… if you dare?!
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The Crimson Idol by W.A.S.P. is another good Kulick outing.
Alive II was on my playlist.
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That’s the second mention of Crimson Idol. I’ll need to give it a spin… been a while.
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Too many ballads and drum fills, but some great stuff in between.
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I guess it’d slipped my mind about the recent loss of Bob Kulick. Great guitarist, nice guy when I had an opportunity to cross paths with him years ago. Such a sad loss. Great review here; a very fitting tribute to the man.
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Thank you! That’s cool you got to meet him.
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