In 1975, English singer-songwriter Russ Ballard found himself immersed in the vibrant energy of New York City. Having recently departed the hard-rock band Argent, known for hits like “Hold Your Head Up,” Ballard ventured into music production. His studio work brought him back to New York after an 18-month absence, and during the flight, a potent phrase sparked in his mind: “Back in the New York groove.”
“That’d be a good title for a song, I reckoned,” Ballard once shared with Classic Rock.
Upon returning to Britain, Ballard collaborated with Hello, an emerging glam-rock band seeking fresh material. While he didn’t have a fully fleshed-out song, he arrived at their session with that compelling title and a clear musical direction. “In my brain, I wanted to make it a Bo Diddley beat,” Ballard recounted on the podcast VRP Rocks.
As Hello’s members began to improvise, even stomping their boots on a table, Ballard rapidly penned lyrics that painted a picture of an ecstatic hedonist embracing the Big Apple anew:
Here I am in the city
With a fistful of dollars
And baby, you better believe:
I’m back in the New York groove
“I just made up the tune as we went,” Ballard recalled, detailing how he crafted “New York Groove” in roughly two hours. The resulting track, relatively stripped-down with its chugging harmonica, raw guitar riff, and prominent boot-stomp beat, was released in late 1975 and became Hello’s final British Top 10 hit.
However, “New York Groove” was destined for an even broader audience and a more electrifying rendition just a few years later, when it was famously covered by one of rock’s most distinctive and enigmatic guitar heroes: Ace Frehley.
In September 1978, at the peak of Kiss’s commercial success, Frehley and his bandmates—Peter Criss, Gene Simmons, and Paul Stanley—each launched their own self-titled solo albums. Frehley’s album featured powerful, singalong riffs like “Rip It Out” and a dark, five-minute guitar instrumental titled “Fractured Mirror,” which he likened to Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells.”
Yet, it was the Side 2 opener that would deliver the Bronx-born Frehley, who recently passed away at 74 following a fall, his sole Top 20 solo single. His version of “New York Groove” was significantly louder and flashier, enriched with additional guitar riffs and backing vocals. The recording took place at Plaza Sound Studios in Midtown Manhattan, a location brimming with local charm and intriguing distractions.
“It was kinda cool because the Rockettes — the dancers who perform at Radio City — used to sun themselves on the roof,” Frehley fondly shared with Classic Rock. “The studio was right there off the stairway. These beautiful, semi-naked girls were constantly walking into the studio and checking out what was going on. So that was quite a nice recording environment.”
This invigorated take on “New York Groove” proved perfectly suited for late-70s FM radio. As established rock acts dabbled with the slick dance sounds emerging from legendary venues like Studio 54, Frehley’s anthem offered a rare blend that thrived in both clubs and concert halls. One critic lauded it as “an unconsciously titled disco-tinged number” that “totally saves the second side of the LP.”
“New York Groove” climbed to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking it as the biggest hit from any of the Kiss members’ solo records. Lyrics and sheet music for the song were even distributed in newspapers across the nation, allowing fans to sing along at home. The track signified a pivotal career moment for Frehley, who perceived his solo album, Ace Frehley—an effort he described as “surprisingly better than I expected”—as a potential path to stepping away from Kiss permanently.
“I see myself eventually on my own without the makeup and the bombs, without theatrics,” he confided to Rolling Stone that year. “I could dig getting up there with a white suit and three chick singers.”
Frehley ultimately left Kiss in 1982, dedicating subsequent years to performing “New York Groove” both as a solo artist and during reunited Kiss tours (his most recent known performance was at a concert in Providence, R.I., last month). Decades on, the disco-infused charm of “New York Groove” continues to captivate listeners. This enduring appeal was highlighted by Frehley’s 2014 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” where he performed the song with The Roots.
By then, “New York Groove” had undeniably become Frehley’s signature anthem: an everlasting narrative of an ambitious individual, a spirited soul, eager to conquer the bustling metropolis. To this day, it stands as one of the most cherished tributes to New York’s five boroughs. The New York Mets celebrate home game victories with the song, and in 2021, Frehley’s track was featured in an advertising campaign promoting New York’s economic recovery post-Covid-19 pandemic.
“I wish I would’ve wrote the song, though,” he admitted with a laugh to a journalist for Louder Sound. “I would’ve made a lot more cash out of it.”