"Thunder Kiss '65" is a song by American heavy metal band White Zombie, released in 1992 from the band's third studio album, '' La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One'' (1992). The song was released as their first official single and was later included on compilations, such as

Rob Zombie Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...

's '' Past, Present & Future'' (2003) and '' The Best of Rob Zombie'' (2006).

Background

The single was released three times as a single before it gained the attention of

Mike Judge Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for being the creator of the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present). He ...

and its video was aired on ''

Beavis and Butt-head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

'' in 1993. Actor lines are heard from the 1965

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' is a 1965 American exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer and co-written by Meyer and Jack Moran. It follows three go-go dancers who embark on a spree of kidnapping and murder in the California desert. The ...

''. The popularity of the single resulted in White Zombie's first

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination for

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...

later that year. In May 2006, the song was ranked number 32 on VH1's list, '40 Greatest Metal Songs'. A mix of the song, alongside the opening of "Closer" by

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

, was used by

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

for their weekend syndicated show from 1994–1997. The song was used to introduce Puck in the original broadcast of the 1994 season of '' The Real World: San Francisco''. The song was featured on the 2005 video game ''

Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead guitar, lead, bass guitar, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match ...

'' as a cover version performed by WaveGroup. It was also featured in the video game True Crime: New York City also released in 2005. The song was used in the 2007 movie, ''

Wild Hogs ''Wild Hogs'' is a 2007 American biker road comedy film directed by Walt Becker and starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy. It was released nationwide in the United States and Canada on March 2, 2007 to negativ ...

'', starring

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) for which he won a Golden Gl ...

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Lawrence began his career doing comedy shows, including in '' The Improv''. After his first acting role in t ...

, and

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Acade ...

Music video

The song's music video gained significant airplay on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. This helped greatly to increase the band's popularity especially after having been played during the MTV animated series ''

'' on the episode " Yogurt's Cool". The video was directed by Juliet Cuming and features the band playing the song out in a desert with dancers and monsters. According to Rob, it is the lowest budgeted music video released by the band.

Releases

First single track listing (1992) # "Thunder Kiss '65 (LP version)" – 3:54 # "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag (LP version)" – 6:21 Second single track listing (1993) # "Thunder Kiss '65 (Finger on the Trigger remix)" – 6:19 # "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag (LP version)" – 6:21 # "Black Sunshine (Indestructible "Sock It to Me" Psycho-Head mix)" – 4:58 # "Thunder Kiss '65 (The Diabolical Ramrodder remix)" – 6:17

Charts

References

{{Authority control White Zombie (band) songs 1992 debut singles 1992 songs Songs written by Rob Zombie Geffen Records singles