Sean Delaney

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Prentice John "Sean" Delaney Jr. (born January 8, 1945 in Tempe , Arizona , † April 13, 2003 in Utah ) was an American musician , producer , road manager and music writer , who was best known for his work with Kiss , which began as early as the early 1970s and continued into the early 1980s. Due to his close relationship with the group (he was the co-author of several songs and is considered to be the inventor of large parts of the stage choreography of Kiss) he is considered to be the fifth member of many people and fans close to the band.

Career

Sean Delaney was the son of Dorothy Johnson Delaney and Prentice John Delany and had a brother, Leon, and a sister, Dorre Delaney Nichols. He attended Pleasant Grove High School in Cranbury, New Jersey , where he learned to play the piccolo , flute , oboe , bassoon and saxophone, among other things . After graduation, he volunteered for service in the US Army . He enlisted in the 101st Airborne Division and completed his basic training at Fort Benning , Georgia . He later enlisted for military music service in the Division's Marching Band in Fort Campbell , Kentucky , where he played oboe.

After his military service, he first moved to his parents, who had moved to Utah, and learned the trade of hairdresser , then he moved to San Francisco. From there he traveled through the United States , mostly hitchhiking . After visiting his sister, who now lived in Maine , he hitchhiked to New York City and rented a room at the YMCA .

Delaney earned his first living as a waiter in the East Village . By the late 1960s he had already made a name for himself as a singer for various formations in the area. One of these groups, Sean Delaney and Trust, got a record deal with Elektra Records ; another group Delaney was involved in, "Natural Justice", was brought to Columbia Records by Clive Davis and was also signed to.

Delaney later started a company called the Music Department. His partner was Howard Marks, who would later belong to the financial management company Glickman / Marks, which ran the finances of Kiss. Delaney's close relationship with Kiss' future manager Bill Aucoin (they lived together from 1969 to 1980) led to his early involvement with the band. Through Aucoin, there was also a friendship with the later Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart .

"The Hottest Band in the Land"

Sean Delaney himself stated that he had convinced Aucoin to watch Kiss' appearance at the Hotel Diplomat: Gene (Simmons) had sent us a good-sounding press release and a press kit. He listed all the places where they had played and there were also "reviews" of their performances. Everything was fake. I remember laughing and saying to Bill, "If you've gone this far to get our attention, let's go and see them." And so we did. The event took place on August 10, 1973.

After that first time, the band held a private gig to which Delaney, Bogart, Aucoin and Joyce Biawitz were invited. Delaney found the performance simply terrible.

During his time with Kiss, Delaney was mostly active behind the scenes. He worked partly as a choreographer , partly as a roadie , then again as a driver. In the early stages of the band, he literally trained them, teaching them how the members should move around the stage with makeup and costumes and which movements would produce the best effects in the audience. Some of these actions are still part of Kiss' performances today. He also contributed with ideas and suggestions for the design of the respective costumes and stage decorations.

As the band became more successful from 1976 onwards, Delaney got a more significant role in Aucoin's management company Rock Steady and at the same time the opportunity to produce records for newer groups, such as Billy Squier's first band Piper (1977), which was also managed by Aucoin. His best-known work was the production of Gene Simmons ' 1978 solo album. Delaney co-wrote Living In Sin ; at the same time he produced Peter Criss ' solo album and wrote Rock Me, Baby and I Can't Stop the Rain with him . This is noteworthy because the Kiss members strictly isolated themselves from each other during the production of their solo albums, which were recorded at the same time. In the same year he and the band produced the first "Best Of" record for Kiss, Double Platinum , which contained a re-recording of the Kiss classic Strutter , which was now called Strutter '78 and was aimed at the booming disco market.

Delaney ended his collaboration with Kiss in late 1979, and in later interviews he regularly emphasized that he had only worked with the original band.

Songwriting with Kiss

In 1976 and 1977 Delaney co-wrote several Kiss titles:

  • Take Me (Stanley / Delaney; Rock and Roll Over )
  • Mr. Speed (Stanley / Delaney; Rock and Roll Over )
  • Makin 'Love (Stanley / Delaney; Rock and Roll Over )
  • All American Man (Stanley / Delaney; Alive II )
  • Rocket Ride (Frehley / Delaney; Alive II )

Delaney says he also worked on the songs Love Gun , I Want You and Rock Bottom without this being mentioned anywhere.

According to KISS

solo

In January 1979, Delaney released the album Highway , which contained eight self-written tracks and the Smokey-Robinson cover You Beat Me to the Punch . The album is dedicated to "Gui" (= Bill Aucoin) and the four original members of Kiss. Allen Schwartzberg was used as the drummer, Luther Vandross has a guest appearance. The title Spotlights (And Lonely Nights) was originally intended to appear on Peter Criss' solo album in 1978.

Skatt Bros.

After the album, Delaney formed a band called Skatt Bros. The group consisted of Sean Delaney on keyboards, Pieter Sweval on bass (he was a member of the Aucoin group Starz ), Richard Martin-Ross on guitar, David Andez (guitar) , as well as Richie Fontana and Craig Krampf on drums. Delaney knew Fontana from the time he had produced Piper's album. Piper supported Kiss on their Love Gun Tour in the US in 1977 .

Skatt Bros. released two albums: Strange Spirits (Casablanca Records, 1979), which promoted an apparently Village People- inspired video of the song Life At The Outpost , and its single, Walk the Night , numbered 9th on Billboard Dance in 1980 Music / Club Play Singles reached. The second album, Rico And The Ravens (Mercury, 1981), was only released in Australia because the group was more popular there than in their home country. The Scatt Bros. also released a "sledgehammer cover" of Elvis Presley's title Don't Be Cruel as a single (Casablanca NB-2258) before the group split up in 1981.

Songwriting

Delaney worked as a songwriter for Grace Slick , among others , for whom he wrote the title song for their album Dreams , and for Toby Beau , for whose debut album he contributed Watching The World go by . Fallen Angel and Sing it, Shout it were created for Starz .

Hell box

Delaney had been busy writing his life story since the late 1990s. In interviews he repeatedly stated that he had played a bigger role in Kiss than had become publicly known. For example, he named several song titles for which he claimed co-authorship, but which he had not been awarded. He announced several times that he would publish his biography and thus shed light on the darkness. He wanted to use the help of a reporter who should check the facts named by Delaney.

When Delaney died in 2003, he left 118 pages of material that was edited by journalist Bryan J. Kinnaird, who had promised Delaney while he was alive that he would publish the material. Kinnaird released Hell Box in 2004 on XLibris.

death

Sean Delaney died on April 13, 2003. As a diabetic , he had previously suffered several heart attacks. Lydia Criss and Bill Aucoin attended his funeral. Delaney is buried in Orem City Cemetery in the city of Orem in a communal grave with his sister, who died in 2000. At the foot of the tombstone the names of their children are engraved under his sister's name, and under Sean Delaney's name are the names of the four founding members of Kiss: Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sean Delaney's Hellbox ; Bryan J. Kinnaird, Xlibris Books, USA, 2004; ISBN 1-4134-5136-5
  2. ↑ Salt Lake Tribune, April 17, 2003
  3. ↑ a b c Sean Delaney Speaks! . KISS Asylum. January 6, 1998. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  4. ↑ Who Is Sean Delaney . KISSaholics # 16. April 21, 1996. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  5. ^ Kiss and Sell - The Making of a Supergroup ; CK Lendt, Billboard Books, 1997, 38
  6. ↑ No Regrets ; Ace Frehley & Joe Layden, MTV Books, 2011; ISBN 978-1451613940
  7. ↑ Chart info on allmusic.com
  8. ↑ Richie Fontana: Biography, Part 2
  9. ↑ Hell Box by Sean Delaney and Bryan J. Kinnaird, Xlibris, 2004, ISBN 978-1413451368
  10. ↑ Information about the tomb (with pictures) on findagrave.com
personal data
SURNAME Delaney, Sean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Delaney, Prentice John Jr. (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician, producer, road manager and music writer
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Tempe , Arizona
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 2003
Place of death Utah