Bob Kulick

Bob Kulick
Kulick in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Robert J. Kulick
Born	January 16, 1950
Origin	Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	May 28, 2020
Genres	Hard rock, glam rock, shock rock, heavy metal, pop rock, art rock, experimental rock, dance, jazz, disco
Occupation(s)	Producer, guitarist, musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar, bass guitar
Years active	1977–2020

Robert J. Kulick (January 16, 1950 - May 28, 2020) was an American guitarist and record producer, best known for his studio work with Kiss and for his tenure in W.A.S.P. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was the older brother of former Kiss lead guitarist Bruce Kulick.

Early career and Kiss

Kulick took a chance in late 1972 and auditioned for the lead guitar spot in a then-new band called Kiss. The band, with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss, was very impressed by his performance, but it was the glitzier Ace Frehley (who auditioned immediately after him) who was chosen to fill the spot. He later played (uncredited) on four Kiss albums: Alive II (three of the five studio tracks), Unmasked (played Lead Guitar on Naked City), Killers (all four new studio tracks), and some minimal work on Creatures of the Night. He also played on Paul Stanley's 1978 solo album and on his 1989 solo tour..

Other work

Kulick in 1986

Early in his session career, Bob Kulick played lead guitar for Lou Reed on his Coney Island Baby record. Kulick followed this up with a long-running stint in the Neverland Express, Meat Loaf's touring band, on and off for years, which led to appearances on several Meat Loaf albums, most notably on 1984's Bad Attitude. He also formed a band called Balance, with Peppy Castro (formerly of the Blues Magoos) and Doug Katsaros (multi-platinum recording arranger and Broadway conductor), which had modest chart success in the early 1980s, followed up by playing rhythm and lead guitar on Michael Bolton's 1983 self-titled album.

Bob was involved with a project called Skull, releasing one album, No Bones About It, in 1991. Bruce Kulick, his brother, who would become a member of KISS, co-wrote one song and appeared as a guest guitarist on another track. In addition, Kulick played on the W.A.S.P. albums The Crimson Idol and Still Not Black Enough. He was only involved with the studio work and never toured with W.A.S.P. or became a member of the band. In 1996 he released Murderer's Row with his band of the same name. This group included David Glen Eisley (of Giuffria and Dirty White Boy) on vocals.

Since then, Kulick served in various side projects such as Blackthorne and Observation Balloon. He also produced Motörhead's "Whiplash" (winner of the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance), produced and played guitar on the theme for WWE wrestler Triple H, and earned 11 platinum or gold records working with Kiss and Diana Ross. Kulick also composed, produced and performed "Sweet Victory" with Eisley in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Band Geeks" on Nickelodeon. The song further appears on SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Album.

Personal life

In 1983 Kulick began a long-term relationship with actress Stella Stevens.

Kulick resided in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was a regular participant in the annual "KISS Night in Las Vegas" fundraiser for music programs in Clark County schools until his death on May 28, 2020. [1]

His family is of Jewish background.

Discography

Random Blues Band

• Winchester Cathedral (1966)

Hookfoot

• Good Times A' Comin' (1972; Culick only plays on "Sweet Sweet Funky Music")

Michael Wendroff

• Southpaw (1974)
• Recorded Live (1976)
• Kiss The World Goodbye (1978)

Lou Reed

• Coney Island Baby (1975)

KISS

• Alive II (1977)
• Paul Stanley (1978)
• Unmasked (1980)
• Killers (1982)

Balance

• Balance (1981)
• In For the Count (1982)
• Equilibrium (2009)

Meat Loaf

• Live at My Father's Place (1977; promo only release)
• Live at the "Bottom Line" in N.Y.C. (1977; promo only release)
• Live at the El Mocambo, January 18, 1978 (1978; promo only release)
• Bad Attitude (1984)
• Bad Attitude Live (1985; VHS)
• Live (at Wembley) (1987)
• Bat Out of Hell: The Original Tour (2009; DVD; televised appearance on Rockpalast, 1978)

Michael Bolton

• Michael Bolton (1983)

Diana Ross

• Mirror Mirror (1981)

W.A.S.P.

• The Crimson Idol (1992)
• Still Not Black Enough (1995)

Skull

• No Bones About It (1991)

Blackthorne

• Afterlife (1993)

Murderer's Row

• Murderer's Row (1996)

Doro

• Calling the Wild (2000)

Tim Ripper Owens

• Play My Game (2010)

Solo

• Skeletons in the Closet (2017)

Tribute albums

Bob Kulick produced or co-produced, with partners Bruce Bouillet, Billy Sherwood, and currently Brett Chassen, multiple tribute and original concept albums, including:

• Stone Cold Queen: A Tribute (2001)
• One Way Street: A Tribute to Aerosmith (2002)
• Spin the Bottle: An All-Star Tribute to KISS (2004)
• Welcome to the Nightmare: An All-Star Salute to Alice Cooper (2005)
• An All-Star Tribute to Cher (2005)
• An All-Star Tribute to Shania Twain (2005)
• Numbers from the Beast: An All-Star Tribute to Iron Maiden (2005)
• Butchering the Beatles: A Headbashing Tribute (2006)
• We Wish You a Metal X-Mas and a Headbanging New Year (2008, a heavy metal Christmas album created in association with Black Ion Music, a company co-owned by Kulick and talent manager Wendy Dio) — featuring a who's who of rock and roll royalty including Bruce Kulick, Ronnie James Dio, Alice Cooper, Tommy Shaw, Lemmy Kilmister, Dave Grohl, Vinny Appice, Chuck Billy, Billy F. Gibbons
• Sin-Atra (2011) An All Star metal tribute to Frank Sinatra

External links

• "Bob Kulick Official MySpace Site"
• "Bob Kulick KISS Song Instructional Video"