Apparently, Germany still loves the ’70s, as one of their top-rated TV shows, RTL’s Chart Show, has chosen the song “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” from the 1979 KISS album Dynasty*, as the #1 party hit of all time. (The single made it to #2 on the German pop singles chart back in 1979.)

Although the song was a huge hit for the kabuki make-up wearing shock rock band, whose on-stage antics of breathing fire, spitting blood, and shooting rockets from their guitars often eclipsed their catchy, yet hard-rocking music, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” also alienated KISS’ long-time rock concert arena fans, as it was the band’s first foray into “disco.” While it was considered a “disco” hit, with its pumping bassline and catchy beat suitable for playing at the heavily frequented roller discos of the ’70s, it might be a stretch to call it a “party hit.” But, hey, the Germans obviously like to party to it, as it beat out the likes of Rihanna, The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, JLo, and Kei$ha to make it to the top of the list of 50 songs.

Aside from KISS’ disco tune topping the heap amongst many of today’s pop artists (and German artists I’ve never heard of), AC/DC‘s “Highway To Hell” – also from 1979 – somehow landed the #29 slot. (Wikipedia states that the song got to #30 on the German music charts.) I find this extremely intriguing, because although you can expect to hear “Highway To Hell” if say you came to a party I was throwing, I cannot fathom how this heavy rock song with its controversial lyrics made it onto this Top Party Hits (all of time!) list. Please, I need a German person to explain this to me, I’m baffled.

Chart Show’s list has LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” (2011) in second, Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” (2009) in third, Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop The Music” (2007) in fourth, and Gossip’s “Heavy Cross” in fifth. You can view the full list over at RTL. Interestingly, no David Hasselhoff.

The bulk of the tunes chosen are from the last three decades, but there are a few from the 70s and 80s, and even Chubby Checker’s “Let’s Twist Again/The Twist” from 1962 made it in at #33. Singer/Bassist Gene Simmons, who co-founded KISS and wrote or co-wrote half the band’s material over the past five decades, is a great fan of Checker; on his reality TV show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Simmons revealed that in his youth he won a “Twist” contest, and even demonstrated his talents on the show by doing the popular hip-swiveling dance.

So, grab your roller skates, crank up “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” and get ready to party with the Germans like it’s 1979!

Video: KISS – I Was Made For Lovin’ You

*Dynasty is currently on sale in MP3 format for only $5 through the end of this month as part of Amazon’s $5 MP3 album deal, which has 2,000 albums on sale, including several from KISS. (Here’s the main KISS page; some are MP3 albums for $5, others are CDs for $4.99).

[RTL via Blabbermouth]