Did Bruce Springsteen copy a KISS song?

"Me in the KISS Army? Are you serious?"
"Me in the KISS Army? Are you serious?"

While a resolution to the Joe Satriani-Coldplay lawsuit possibly years away, along comes another YouTube song mash-up, and this one's a doozy: Did Bruce Springsteen copy KISS's 1979 disco hit I Was Made For Loving You when writing his new song Outlaw Pete?

That's what an Internet poster who calls himself kstreetshuffle is asking. He just slapped a mash of the two songs on YouTube. Check it out below:

Whether anybody can find a similarity to the main riff and melody of Springsteen's epic portrait of an Appalacian-born badass and KISS's dance floor stomper is bound to be the chatter of the Internet for the next coming weeks. Or months.

The Boss listening to KISS? Hmmmm

We have to say, it's hard to imagine Bruce Springsteen, who wears influences such as Dylan and Pete Seeger proudly, strutting around and air-guitaring to 30-year-old KISS jams. Call it a sign of the times, the YouTube song mash-up. Perhaps if the songwriters were as creative as the YouTubers, maybe we'd be getting something.

Even so, Gene Simmons, wasting no time basking in publicity, has already posted a response to the growing brouhaha. Check it out below:

Yes, we know that one's a joke. What do you think we are, stupid or something?

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.