Electric Angels guitarist Ryan Roxie recently revealed how KISS allegedly stole their song title without providing any compensation. He shared his account of the incident on The Hair Metal Guru.

Roxie explained how the band worked with Bruce Kulick to record demo songs, including one that would later become controversial.

“Bruce Kulick, who’s hanging around the whole scene at that point, says, ‘Look, I’m in getting into producing. I know how what’s going on. I can hear the songs that are there. Let’s record three songs,’” Roxie said. “And then, we go in the studio. And again, those were songs that we would shop to record labels. And ultimately not get the thumbs up from any of them on the west coast.”

The guitarist described how their fortunes changed when they moved to the east coast with the same material.

“When we move to the east coast, same demos, same sort of may maybe a remix here or there, but that’s what closed the deal over on the east coast,” he continued. “But the three songs in particular were Rattlesnake Kisses. That was number one that uh ended up actually becoming the single on Atlantic Records. another song called Tiger Tiger and didn’t make the album or anything like that, but still a really great song. You can I think you can actually even find it on the Music Machine.”

Roxie then revealed the controversial incident involving the third song they recorded.

“And the third song that we recorded uh was called ‘Put the ‘EX’ in Sex’. And you know what’s coming because it just so happened about 6 months later or you know a year later KISS comes out with a song and their newest single called Let’s Put the X in Sex,” he said. “And we were like up in arms. We’re like how could you do this Bruce? Because obviously Bruce had played it for Gene and Paul and they’re like, ‘Ah good, we like this title. Let’s take it.’”

The band initially believed they would receive compensation for the similar title.

“So we’re thinking, ‘Well, you we’re going to be able to be rest easy now cuz KISS has now taken our song and we’ll be able to get some sort of credit and publishing off of it,’” Roxie explained. “And then Gene simply goes to us one time, he goes, ‘Uh, you cannot uh copyright a song title, just so you know.’ And it was like, ‘What? Wait a second.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, yeah. Think of how many songs have the word love in it, you know, or blue eyes. Think about it.’ And then we were like, oh, Gene’s done it again.”

This incident highlights the complex relationship between Electric Angels and the music industry during their brief but notable career in the early 1990s.

Wikipedia reported that Electric Angels formed from the defunct pop group Candy. The band achieved remarkable success by getting signed to Atlantic Records within just five months of relocating to New York City. The band’s rapid ascent in the music industry made their connection with Bruce Kulick particularly significant, as he served as both their manager and producer during their formative period.

The timing of events surrounding the song title controversy becomes even more intriguing when considering the band’s trajectory. Guitar World noted that Electric Angels broke up in April 1992. This coincidentally was the same month KISS hit the road in support of their Revenge album. This timing suggests that the alleged song title appropriation occurred during a critical period for both bands.

Bruce Kulick’s dual role as both Electric Angels’ mentor and KISS guitarist placed him in a unique position during this controversy. Wikipedia documented that Kulick not only managed the band but also produced their demo recordings. These recordings included the disputed song “Put the ‘EX’ in Sex.” His involvement with both parties makes the allegations particularly complex, as he would have had intimate knowledge of Electric Angels’ material while simultaneously working with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

The incident reflects broader issues within the music industry regarding intellectual property and the power dynamics between established acts and emerging artists. Gene Simmons’ response about song titles not being copyrightable, while legally accurate in most cases, underscores how established artists can leverage legal technicalities when similar creative concepts emerge from different sources.