What’s more important, the lyrics or the feeling you get while listening to a song? For Gene Simmons, nonsense lyrics are perfectly fine if the music moves you.
The KISS frontman shared his top 10 songs on the inaugural episode of SiriusXM VOLUME‘s new show The 10 Songs I Can’t Live Without. This is the first VOLUME show to play full songs. Each week an artist or celebrity spends an hour sharing the 10 songs that mean the most to them, with no rules or formatting limits. Any genre of music is welcome, any artist big or small invited. The host is the DJ each week; it’s their show, their songs and their stories.
For Simmons, “All The Young Dudes” performed by Mott the Hoople made the list. Most people know the song as a David Bowie track, but before Bowie released it, he gave it to Mott the Hoople in an effort to save the band from breaking up. The song was a hit, and the band went on to release follow-up albums in the 1970s before disbanding in 1980.
Hear Simmons share an imagined conversation between Bowie and Mott bandleader Ian Hunter while extolling the song for giving meaning to obscure lyrics.
This might be the first time a David Bowie lyric has been mentioned alongside “Tutti Frutti” and “Hooked on a Feeling”, but that’s the beauty of 10 Songs.
If Simmons’ full list is any indication, future episodes of the show will be delightfully diverse.
“Fire” – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
“30 Days in the Hole” – Humble Pie
“Communication Breakdown” – Led Zeppelin
“Surrender” – Cheap Trick
“The Boys Are Back in Town” – Thin Lizzy
“My Hero” – Foo Fighters
“All the Young Dudes” – Mott the Hoople
“Tossin’ and Turnin’” – Bobby Lewis
“Walk on the Wild Side” – Lou Reed
“You Really Got Me” – The Kinks
Future hosts of 10 Songs include Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Chris Vos of The Record Company, Fall Out Boy, actress Alyssa Milano, musician and SiriusXM host Michael De Barres, and more.
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