On 2. April 1978, Kiss released its first greatest hits album, “Double Platinum”. Many of the songs on “Double Platinum” were remixed and differed from their original versions: in the case of “Strutter,” it was re-recorded with a slight disco beat and dubbed “Strutter ’78.” Other songs (“Hard Luck Woman,” “Detroit Rock City”) had sections completely removed, while the beginning of “Black Diamond” was repeated at the end, fading out at the start of the first verse and giving the song a “wrap around” feel.
The Japanese single release of “Strutter ’78” includes a different version to that on the album: faster and shorter, with an altered guitar solo, plus a more prominent hi-hat (cymbal) sound throughout.ion to that on the album: faster and shorter, with an altered guitar solo, plus a more prominent hi-hat (cymbal) sound throughout.
The original vinyl release, in a gatefold sleeve, had an embossed, silver-foiled sleeve, with the band members in bas-relief inside. The album was packaged with a printed “Platinum Award” thanking the Kiss Army for making the band a “Double Platinum Success”. Later reissues would retain the gatefold sleeve but replaced the logo with a printed, red-type version and the band members were now represented inside by photos rather than the base illustrations. When the album was remastered for CD in the US in 1997, it mimicked the original vinyl.
Ace Frehley about “Strutter ’78”:
“I thought it was kind of a silly thing to do because I don’t think the new version was that different. It was just extended solos and what-not. And as far as the DOUBLE PLATINUM record, Sean Delaney and Mike Stone, they did a lot of re-mixing of songs and we weren’t there at the time and I think it could have been done better.”
