Gene Simmons revealed the backstory to Kiss’ 1976 classic, “Shout Out Loud.” While promoting the 45th anniversary editions of Destroyer, Simmons recalled to band biographer Ken Sharp how the song took shape: “I came in with the title, because in (Gene Simmons’ and Paul Stanley’s early-’70s band) Wicked Lester we used to do a Hollies song called ‘I Wanna Shout.’ I came up with: (Singing) ‘Shout it, shout it, shout it out loud.’ I always thought the idea was bigger than what they were trying to say with it, with the lyric implying: ‘We have a secret, but don’t tell people we have a relationship.'”
Simmons went on to say, “I always thought just like that commercial on TV, that it was just ‘Shout It.’ When you’ve got something you want to shout it out to the world and it doesn’t matter what it is. (Producer) Bob (Ezrin) and Paul kept saying: ‘Shout what?’ I said: ‘Who cares!’ Whether it’s national fervor or my team’s better. . . it’s a team rally.”