“Wal-Mart Won’t Put It Out”: The Potty-Mouthed Song Title KISS’ Gene Simmons Had To Be Talked Out Of

Even someone as rebellious and headstrong as KISS bassist Gene Simmons can benefit from a second opinion, like the time that Simmons’ producer had to talk him out of putting a potty-mouth song title on the band’s 1992 record, Revenge. Fortunately, Simmons found a substitute that conveyed the same meaning while also maintaining the overall sound of the word.

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In hindsight, both song titles seem like strange choices for what the song is about. But when has Simmons not been strange to some degree?

The Title KISS’ Gene Simmons Decided Not To Include

In May 1992, KISS released their sixteenth studio album and the first record without their former drummer, Eric Carr, who died the previous year. Revenge shifted KISS away from their traditional glam rock style into something more akin to heavy metal, featuring singles “God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You II,” “Unholy,” and “Domino.” The album’s fourth track, “Spit,” was a Gene Simmons, Scott Van Zen, and Paul Stanley composition that originally had a different title until producer Bob Ezrin convinced Simmon to change it.

“I originally wrote a song called “S***,” Simmons told Ultimate Classic Rock. “Doesn’t mean s*** to me was the tagline. Bob Ezrin, who produced that record, said, ‘You can’t call a song ‘S***.’ Wal-Mart won’t put it out. So, I said, ‘How about “Spit?” Doesn’t mean spit to me. Same vibe, different word.”

Lyrically speaking, the fact that s*** and spit are so close syllabically and sonically was pretty fortuitous for Simmons. Still, we can’t help but think that either title is somewhat strange, considering the song’s subject matter. The entire song is a sexual ode to women. I want a lotta woman with a lotta love. Well, thin is in, but it’s plain to see, it don’t mean spit to me. Does the song title convey what it’s actually about? We’d argue not really. But of course, what’s done is done, and Simmons is one musician who will undoubtedly do whatever he feels like doing (with a small exception for minor word tweaks).

That’s Not The Only Song Simmons Received Pushback On

Interestingly, “Spit” wasn’t the only song that received pushback from Gene Simmons’ colleagues. The Revenge sessions included a number of co-writes, including with Warrant frontman Jani Lane, Dave “The Snake” Sabo of Skid Row, and, perhaps most surprisingly, Bob Dylan. “I’m a very linear person, and I’m delusionally fearless,” Simmons said in a 2018 interview with For Bass Players Only. “What that means in pragmatic terms is the worst thing someone can say is ‘no,’ right? So, I picked up the phone, and I’ve always wanted to write with Bob Dylan. I called his manager, a good guy. ‘Hi, can I speak with Bob? I, uh, I want to write a song with him.’”

Simmons said that in a matter of days, Dylan arrived at his home in a discreet van. The folk legend came up with the chord progression for what would later become Simmons’ “Waiting for the Morning Light.” The song never made it on Revenge, but the KISS bassist did release it on his second solo album, A**hole—perhaps a better record fit for his original title to “Spit”? The delay was likely due to the fact that the song had no lyrics after Simmons and Dylan’s co-writing session, despite Simmons’ best efforts to get Dylan to contribute the lyrics.

“I’d see him on tour, and I’d say, ‘Bob, you wanna write the song?’ And he would say, ‘No, man, you write it, Mr. KISS,’” Simmons recalled to Billboard in 2003. Dylan’s comments prove that for every good idea you need to be talked out of, á la producer Bob Ezrin telling Simmons to rename “S***,” there are just as many good ideas you need to be talked into as an artist.

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