Sean Delaney

Prentice John Delaney Jr. (January 8, 1945 – April 13, 2003), better known as Sean Delaney, was an American musician, producer, road manager and songwriter, best known for his work with the rock band KISS from the early 1970s until the early 1980s. He is largely credited with developing their choreography onstage, and co-wrote many songs with Paul Stanley, including "Mr. Speed", "Makin' Love", and "Take Me" from the 1976 album Rock and Roll Over, and "All American Man" from the studio side of the 1977 album Alive II.

He also co-wrote the song "Rocket Ride" with Ace Frehley for Alive II and the song remained a staple of Frehley's live set throughout his solo career. It was also used as the title of Frehley's 2008 tour. Delaney simultaneously produced and co-wrote songs for Gene Simmons' and Peter Criss' 1978 self-titled solo albums. He co-wrote songs with each original member of Kiss and is often referred to by fans and those close to the band as "the fifth member of KISS."

Early life Born and raised in Tempe, Arizona, his family moved all around the country. His father, after whom he was named, built a little league field in Cranbury, New Jersey that was named Delaney Field. He attended Pleasant Grove High School. He joined the 101st Airborne and left for the east coast by the late 1960s. Delaney had established himself as the lead singer of several unsuccessful groups in the New York City area. One such group, "Sean Delaney and Trust" signed a recording contract with Elektra Records. Another, a group called "Natural Juice," was signed with Columbia Records after being discovered by Clive Davis. Delaney later formed a company, the "Music Department" with future Kiss management Glickman/Marks associate Howard Marks. Delaney's close relationship with Kiss manager Bill Aucoin (the two were a couple, 1969–80) indubitably played a huge part in the early development of the band, as well as his association with Neil Bogart long before Kiss or Casablanca Records were created.

KISS According to Delaney, it was he who persuaded Bill Aucoin to go and see the band at the Hotel Diplomat:

Gene had sent us a phony press release and press packet. Listing all the places they had been playing and 'Reviews' of their performances. All were bogus. I remember laughing and telling Bill, 'If they have gone to this extent to get our attention, let's go see them.' And we did.

For most of Delaney's tenure with Kiss, he acted in various capacities behind the scenes while the band was on tour. Part choreographer, part roadie and part driver would have been an accurate description for Delaney's job before Kiss became widely commercially successful. In the early days, he coached the band as to how to move onstage with the makeup and costumes on, including several signature moves (such as the swaying guitar moves at the end of "Deuce") that have been a staple of the live set for over 40 years. After the band became a worldwide success, he was afforded several opportunities to produce up-and-coming bands, including Billy Squier's first band Piper in 1977, but perhaps his most well known production credit is for Gene Simmons' 1978 self-titled solo album. He also produced Kiss' first greatest hits compilation Double Platinum, also released in 1978, which included a brand-new version of the Kiss classic "Strutter," dubbed "Strutter '78".

Songwriting with KISS He was also given the opportunity in 1976 and 1977 to co-write several songs with members of the band, who were now far too busy to keep up with songwriting at the clip they had previously been used to. As mentioned before, the full list of the songs he contributed to the group were:

"Take Me" (Stanley/Delaney) from the album Rock and Roll Over. "Mr. Speed" (Stanley/Delaney) from the album Rock and Roll Over. "Makin' Love" (Stanley/Delaney) from the album Rock and Roll Over. "All American Man" (Stanley/Delaney) from the album Alive II. "Rocket Ride" (Frehley/Delaney) from the album Alive II.

Delaney has also claimed to have co-written the Kiss songs "Love Gun", "I Want You" and "Rock Bottom", although without receiving credit. cover of Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel" (Casablanca NB-2258), backed with "Dancin' For the Man," as a single before disbanding in 1981.

Other artists Delaney worked with artists other than Kiss as the 1970s progressed, notably acts managed by Bill Aucoin. He co-wrote "(She's Just A) Fallen Angel" and "Monkey Business" on the self titled debut album from Starz, which was produced by Jack Douglas. This band included Peter Sweval on bass (previously with Looking Glass), with whom Delaney would work in the Skatt Brothers "Sing It, Shout It" appeared on Starz's second album Violation.

Delaney co-produced Piper's second album, Can't Wait (A&M Records SP-4654) with Chris Kimsey. Released in 1977 Piper was a band that included Billy Squier. The band included Richie Fontana who later became the drummer in the Skatt Bros.

Delaney produced the self-titled RCA debut album for Toby Beau (also in the Aucoin Management stable) which resulted in the hit single "My Angel Baby". Released in May 1978, Delaney also co-wrote "Broken Down Cowboy," "California," "Moonshine," "Wink Of An Eye," and "Bulldog" for the album.

Delaney's song "Dreams" was recorded by Jefferson Airplane vocalist Grace Slick as the title track of her 1980 album. The recording featured Ron Frangipane who had composed the sinister intro to the song "Radioactive" on Gene Simmons' 1978 solo album.

In 1984, Delaney spent a brief time with The Nylons, a Canadian a cappella group. He was their front-of-house sound engineer while they were touring their self-titled debut album.

In the early 2000s Delaney managed the English country act, Smith & Jackson, he met them while they were on the "Country Thunder USA Tour" in 2002 after the tour Delaney moved to Sunderland in the northeast of England and wrote numerous songs with the pair and assisted in the recordings of their album Rivertown, on R.G.F Records. The Jackson half of the act was Paul Jackson, a one-time vocalist with original Def Leppard guitarist Pete Willis' band Roadhouse. Delaney's death impacted the band who had to start from scratch in their search for a recording deal. The band split shortly after Delaney's death. A while after Sean's untimely death, Bill Aucoin flew Paul Jackson to Nashville to meet and work with multi-hit songwriter KOSTAS. They remain good friends and songwriting partners to this day.

Death Delaney died on April 13, 2003. A diabetic, Delaney had suffered a series of strokes before his death. Lydia Criss and Bill Aucoin were among those who attended his funeral. Delaney died in Utah and is buried in the city of Orem. On the bottom of the tombstone read the names of Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter.

Delaney started working on his biography in 1997 and initially titled it "SeanSStory." By 1998 Delaney had changed the title to "Sean Delaney, The Fifth KISS." He suggested that he brought in an investigative reporter to conduct comparative interviews with the cast of characters in the early years to validate his stories. By December 2001, Delaney had essentially completed work on the book and was in active discussions for publication. By 2002 the title had been changed to "Sean Delaney's Hell Box." What was eventually published posthumously was a sparse 118-page work, which was Delaney's work completed by Bryan J. Kinnaird. It was vanity published via Xlibris in 2004.