As Kiss’ landmark album Destroyer reaches its 50th anniversary, The Hollywood Stars have returned to the song they originally created, releasing a newly recorded version of King Of The Night Time World with veteran producer Michael Lloyd.
by Paul Cashmere
Half a century after Kiss turned King Of The Night Time World into a staple of their classic album Destroyer, the Los Angeles band who first created the song have returned to it with a fresh recording.
The Hollywood Stars have released a newly recorded digital version of King Of The Night Time World, marking 50 years since Kiss issued Destroyer on 15 March 1976. The updated recording was produced by veteran hitmaker Michael Lloyd and is available through Rum Bar Records.
King Of The Night Time World began life in the early 1970s as a collaboration between Hollywood Stars guitarist Mark Anthony and producer Kim Fowley. At the time, The Hollywood Stars were emerging from the Los Angeles club circuit with a brand of glam rock that blended hard rock guitars, pop melodies and a theatrical attitude shaped by the Sunset Strip scene.
The band had signed to Columbia Records in 1974 and recorded the track for what was intended to be their debut album. That project, produced by Bill Szymczyk, was completed during a prolific run of sessions but never released at the time. Changes inside Columbia’s A&R department led to the entire roster of artists signed by the previous executives being dropped, leaving the Hollywood Stars album shelved.
Fowley recognised the strength of King Of The Night Time World and successfully pitched the song to Kiss, who were in the studio preparing their fourth album. The band, working with producer Bob Ezrin, reshaped the arrangement and made small songwriting adjustments with frontman Paul Stanley before recording their own version.
When Destroyer was released in March 1976 it quickly became one of Kiss’ defining albums, eventually achieving double platinum certification in the United States. Alongside songs such as Detroit Rock City, Beth and Shout It Out Loud, King Of The Night Time World helped establish the record as a cornerstone of the band’s catalogue and one of the most influential hard rock albums of the decade.
Although the Kiss version reached a global audience, the Hollywood Stars’ original recording remained largely unheard for decades. The track finally surfaced when the band’s long-lost Columbia sessions were issued in 2013 under the title Shine Like A Radio: The Great Lost 1974 Album, giving fans their first opportunity to hear the song as it had originally been recorded.
The Hollywood Stars themselves had an eventful early career. Formed in Los Angeles in late 1973 by Scott Phares and Terry Rae with the involvement of Kim Fowley, the group was conceived as a West Coast answer to the emerging glam rock movement. Their shows at venues including the Whisky A Go Go and the Starwood quickly built a reputation for energetic performances and hook-driven songs.
Despite the early attention, record industry complications and changing musical trends meant the band never achieved the commercial breakthrough many expected. After a later deal with Arista Records they released their only contemporary 1970s album, the self-titled Hollywood Stars in 1977, before disbanding the following year as punk and new wave began reshaping the rock landscape.
Interest in the band slowly returned decades later through archival releases and rediscovered recordings. The renewed attention eventually led to the Hollywood Stars reforming in 2018 with several original members returning to the stage.
During those reunion performances King Of The Night Time World quickly became one of the highlights of their live shows. The enthusiastic response from audiences encouraged vocalist and songwriter Scott Phares to consider recording a new studio version.
The opportunity arrived when producer Michael Lloyd contacted Phares in early 2024 with the idea of recording together again. Lloyd had previously produced albums for Phares’ late 1970s band Hero and has built a six-decade career that includes work with artists such as Belinda Carlisle, Barry Manilow, Donny & Marie Osmond, Shaun Cassidy and Lou Rawls. He also served as music supervisor for the hugely successful Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
“Michael Lloyd called me in early 2024,” Phares said. “He suggested we come to his studio and record a rock song. It took more than a year to line up schedules, but we finally got into the studio on March 1, 2025. Our guitarist George Keller already had the basic arrangement worked out. It was a reunion for Michael and me because he produced two albums for my band Hero in the late 1970s. It felt like no time had passed.”
The current recording features the same lineup that appeared on the Hollywood Stars’ 2024 comeback album Starstruck. That lineup includes founding members Scott Phares on vocals and Terry Rae on drums, longtime bassist Michael Rummans, and guitarists Jeff Jourard and George Keller.
The release is also accompanied by a new video filmed at Kitten Robot Studios in Los Angeles. The clip was shot by the band’s manager Loren Molinare and edited by Phares.
The new version of King Of The Night Time World marks the first new recording from the Hollywood Stars since the release of Starstruck in 2024, their first album of original material in more than four decades.
With the 50th anniversary of Destroyer approaching, the band’s return to the song provides a full-circle moment for a track that travelled from the Los Angeles club scene to one of rock’s most celebrated albums.
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