New York Groove
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"New York Groove" is a song written by English musician and producer Russ Ballard. The song was covered by rock band Hello in 1975 and later by Ace Frehley (formerly of Kiss) for his 1978 solo album. Frehley's version is the best-known version of the song.


Hello version

British glam rock band Hello first recorded the song in 1975, for their debut album, '' Keeps Us Off the Streets''. The song was a number nine hit in the UK, and subsequently reached number seven in Germany.


Ace Frehley version

Ace Frehley, best known as the lead guitarist of Kiss, recorded "New York Groove" for his first solo album, '' Ace Frehley'', released in 1978; the album was released concurrently with solo albums from the other three Kiss members: Peter Criss,
Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...
and Paul Stanley. Frehley originally "scoffed" at the idea of the remake, but co-producer Eddie Kramer persisted. It was released as a single and the song made it to No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100,''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - by far the highest-charting single from any of the four solo albums. Frehley once told ''Rolling Stone'' magazine that his unique take on the song was inspired by his experience with hookers in New York City's Times Square in the 1970s. "New York Groove" was performed on Kiss's tours of 1979 and 1980, and became a staple of Frehley's shows during his solo tours in the 1980s and 90s, and again during the Reunion Tour when he rejoined Kiss in 1996. A live version of the song can be found on the Japanese version of the 1996 Kiss album ''
You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! ''You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!!'' is a live compilation album released by American hard rock band Kiss. The album was issued to coincide with the group's 1996–97 Alive/Worldwide Tour. All of the songs on the album are live versions, ...
'' (and the U.S. vinyl version) recorded in Sydney, Australia in 1980, which would also make it one of the few live recordings released by the group to feature longtime drummer
Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known professionally as Eric Carr, was an American musician who was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 to 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer after ...
.


Personnel on Ace Frehley version

* Ace Frehley – all guitars, bass, lead vocals *
Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ba ...
– drums, percussion * David Lasley, Don Yowell and Susan Collins – backing vocals * Bobby McAdams – power mouth (talk box)


Chart history


Weekly charts


Year-end charts

;Hello original ;Ace Frehley cover


Other versions

"New York Groove" is the opening track on the 2012 Andy Scott's Sweet album ''New York Connection''. This version fuses
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
and Alicia Keys' song " Empire State of Mind" (another ode to New York city), into the chorus.


Soundtrack appearances

The Ace Frehley recording appears in the following films: * '' Idle Hands'' (1999) * ''
Los Enchiladas! ''Los Enchiladas!'' is a 1999 film written, directed by and starring stand-up comedian Mitch Hedberg. The film was shot and set in Minnesota. Content The film is loosely based on Hedberg's life growing up in Minnesota and his experience working ...
'' (1999) * ''
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints ''A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints'' is a 2006 American drama film based on a 2001 memoir of the same name by author, director, and musician Dito Montiel, which describes his youth in Astoria, New York during the 1980s. Montiel wrote and directed ...
'' (2006) * The documentary '' Inside Job'' (2010) * '' Top Cat: The Movie'' (2011) * '' Blood Ties'' (2013) * '' Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop'' (2015) * ''
Weiner Weiner is a surname or, in fact, the spelling of two different surnames originating in German and the closely related Yiddish language. In German, the name is pronounced , of which the rare English pronunciation is a close approximation.http ...
'' (2016) * ''
American Animals ''American Animals'' is a 2018 heist film written and directed by Bart Layton. Starring Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, and Ann Dowd, it follows four college friends who plan a heist of their library. It tells the story ...
'' (2018) "New York Groove" has also been used on television: * It was played at the end of the 10th episode of season 4 of the TV show '' Entourage''. *The Ace Frehley recording was played in the 12th episode of season 3 of the TV show '' Californication''. * It was the opening theme for the first two seasons of the American cable television reality series ''
NY Ink ''NY Ink'' is an American reality documentary television series that debuted June 2, 2011 on TLC. TLC renewed the series for a second season in August 2011, also noting that the series' first season averaged 1.3 million viewers per episode. Film ...
''. * It has been played on USA Network in a promo for the series ''
White Collar White collar may refer to: * White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor ...
''. * It was played in the 8th episode of season 5 of the HBO TV show '' Girls'' as Hannah Horvath and her boyfriend Fran leave New York in an RV. * It was the opening theme for NBC's '' The Blacklist'' Season 5, Episode 1. * It was used during WWE's Wrestlemania 34 as the official promotional theme for the upcoming Wrestlemania 35. AT&T also used the Hello version of "New York Groove" in a 2012 commercial. The Hello version of "New York Groove" was also used in commercials promoting New York state's economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The original version by Hello is featured in the video game'' Grand Theft Auto IV'' on the in-game radio station Liberty Rock Radio, as well as being one of four songs to play during the end credits after the games theme played. The Ace Frehley version was among songs proposed by James Gunn for use with the '' Guardians of the Galaxy'' in '' Avengers: Infinity War''. In a deleted scene, Star-Lord and Drax argue about the song.


Other Usages

The New York Mets play "New York Groove" immediately following a victory at Citi Field. The
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
use "New York Groove" at home games after scoring a touchdown as well as Super Bowl XXXV,
Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
and
Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
. The New York Boulders use this song as their victory song as well. A sample of the song's main riff and rhythm (1975 Hello version) was used by the Argentine
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band Soda Stereo for their song "Zoom" from the album ''
Sueño Stereo ''Sueño Stereo'' (Spanish for ''Stereo Dream'') is the seventh and final studio album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo. It was released by BMG Argentina in 1995. It is considered one of the most important alternative rock records in S ...
'' in 1995. The lyrics for "Zoom" were written by Gustavo Cerati. The
Iona Gaels The Iona Gaels are the athletics teams of Iona University, in New Rochelle, New York. They compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and participate in 21 NCAA Division I programs. Varsity athletic programs Men's basketball I ...
(since 2005) and
New York City Football Club New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...
(since 2016) use "New York Groove" after winning home games. The song has been used as the background promotional music for the 2014 and 2015 TCS New York City Marathons.
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
uses the song as the title to a chapter in '' ''Wolves of the Calla'''', book V of his dark fantasy ''The Dark Tower'' series, where the characters Jake Chambers and Eddie Dean briefly return to New York City by means of magical muffinballs, and the characters also allude to the song in free indirect speech. As Jake was "drawn" into the world of the ''Dark Tower'' from the NYC of 1977, he is most likely referring to the Hello version. The film '' Golden Exits'' (2017) begins with a character singing the song. Ace Frehley performed the song live at the beginning of the
2018 NHL Winter Classic The 2018 NHL Winter Classic (officially the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic) was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2018, at Citi Field in the New York City borough of Queens. The tenth edit ...
between the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers at Citi Field in New York City. The song was played as the Sabres and Rangers took the ice.


References

{{authority control Kiss (band) songs 1975 singles 1978 singles Songs written by Russ Ballard Songs about New York City Casablanca Records singles 1975 songs