Songfacts®:

• Mötley Crüe's "Kickstart My Heart" may be the most famous song inspired by the near death of a band member, but it's not the first. Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley was nearly electrocuted at a concert in Lakeland Florida on December 12, 1976 when he touched the metal railing of their improperly grounded set and a surge of electricity went through his body. Frehley fell to the floor unconscious, but was able to complete the show when he came to, even though he had no feeling his hands. After someone suggested he write a song about the incident, he came up with "Shock Me."
• Frehley's near-electrocution may have been the inspiration for this song, but his lyric is really a stack of metaphors relating electrical terms to sex:
  
  "My insulation's gone, girl you make me overload"
  "Baby, I'm down to the bare wire"
  
  In our interview with Ace Frehley, we brought this up and the guitarist replied: "Isn't every Kiss song about sex? What Kiss song isn't about sex? Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll."
• Frehley, the original guitarist with Kiss, had written or co-written some songs for the band ("Cold Gin," "Flaming Youth"), but "Shock Me" was the first song in which he sang lead. It became a showcase song for him at Kiss concerts.
• Even AC/DC, the most electric of rock bands, never did a whole song relating that theme with sex. Their song "High Voltage" is about rock and roll.