The year was 1975, and songwriter Russ Ballard found himself captivated by the energy of New York City.
Having recently departed from the hard-rock band Argent, known for their hit “Hold Your Head Up,” Ballard was transitioning into a producing career. A studio project brought him to New York—his first visit in a year and a half. During the flight, a spark of inspiration hit him: “Back in the New York groove.”
He instantly recognized its potential. “That’d be a good title for a song, I reckoned,” Ballard shared with Classic Rock.
Back in Britain, Ballard joined forces with Hello, an emerging glam-rock act searching for fresh material. While he hadn’t fully composed a song, he arrived at their session with that irresistible title and a rhythmic blueprint. “In my brain, I wanted to make it a Bo Diddley beat,” Ballard recounted on the VRP Rocks podcast.
As Hello’s members jammed, even stomping their boots on a table for percussion, Ballard penned lyrics capturing the essence of a wide-eyed newcomer rediscovering the Big Apple:
Here I am in the city
With a fistful of dollars
And baby, you better believe:
I’m back in the New York groove
Ballard claims he “just made up the tune as we went,” assembling “New York Groove” in a mere two hours. The resulting track, relatively stripped-back with its chugging harmonica, gritty guitar riff, and a distinctive boot-stomp beat, dropped in late 1975, marking Hello’s final British Top 10 success.
Yet, “New York Groove” was destined for even greater heights and a more explosive sound. Just a few years later, it found its true rock and roll spirit through the interpretation of one of rock’s most famously “spaced-out” guitar legends: Ace Frehley.
September 1978 was a pivotal moment for Kiss, then at the peak of their commercial success. Each member—Peter Criss, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Ace Frehley—unleashed their own solo albums. Frehley’s offering showcased his signature style with heavy-riff anthems like “Rip It Out” and the haunting five-minute instrumental “Fractured Mirror,” which he likened to Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells.”
However, it was the opening track on Side 2 that would deliver Bronx-native Frehley, who recently passed away at 74 following a fall, his sole Top 20 single. His rendition of “New York Groove” was an explosive transformation: louder, flashier, packed with additional guitar riffs and powerful backing vocals. This iconic track came to life in Midtown Manhattan’s Plaza Sound Studios, a locale brimming with urban allure and diversions.
Frehley famously recalled the studio environment with a smirk: “It was kinda cool because the Rockettes — the dancers who perform at Radio City — used to sun themselves on the roof. 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 amplified version of “New York Groove” hit the airwaves at precisely the right moment for late-70s FM radio. As established rock bands flirted with the slick disco rhythms popular in places like Studio 54, Frehley’s track stood out as a rare anthem equally at home in both dance clubs and massive arenas. One critic lauded it as “an unconsciously titled disco-tinged number” that “totally saves the second side of the LP.”
Propelling to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, “New York Groove” became the highest-charting single from any of the Kiss solo albums. Its lyrics and sheet music were even printed in national newspapers, inviting fans to sing along. This track marked a significant career milestone for Frehley, who believed his album, Ace Frehley, which he called “surprisingly better than I expected,” could be his ticket to leaving 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 departed from Kiss in 1982, dedicating years to performing “New York Groove” both as a solo artist and during Kiss reunions. His most recent known performance, as per Setlist.fm, was just last month at a concert in Providence, R.I. Even decades after its debut, the irresistible, disco-infused charm of “New York Groove” continued to captivate audiences, notably during Frehley’s 2014 performance with The Roots on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
By then, “New York Groove” was undeniably Frehley’s anthem: a timeless narrative of a spirited individual, a blend of striver and sinner, ready to conquer the bustling metropolis. To this day, it stands as one of the most cherished musical tributes to New York City. The New York Mets celebrate home victories by playing the song, and in 2021, Frehley’s iconic track was prominently featured in a post-Covid-19 ad campaign to bolster New York’s economic recovery.
With a chuckle, Frehley candidly confessed to a Louder Sound journalist, “I wish I would’ve wrote the song, though. I would’ve made a lot more cash out of it.”