"Sure Know Something" Album Description:

I know exactly why this little German 7" gets under collectors' skin. You flip past it a hundred times online, then one day you see the right sleeve - that Dynasty-era artwork framed like it means business - and suddenly you want it. Not because it's holy. Because it's specific. Germany, 1979. Casablanca/Bellaphon BF 18684. A tiny fossil from the "Dynasty" moment.

Side A: "Sure Know Something"

This one always feels like KISS trying to look you straight in the eye instead of breathing fire at you. Paul Stanley and Vini Poncia wrote it, and it moves with that late-'79 polish - tight, glossy, slightly disco-flirtatious, but still with teeth if you turn it up and stop overthinking. The funny bit: depending on which credits you trust, Paul even grabs the lead guitar part here. Ace is around, sure, but this track doesn't live or die on "scorching" heroics. It lives on that pulse and the hook that refuses to leave the room.

Side B: "Dirty Livin'"

Then you flip it and Peter Criss drags you back to the curb. "Dirty Livin'" is his (with Stan Penridge and Poncia in the writing room), and on the "Dynasty" record it's the one track where Peter actually plays drums. You can hear the difference in attitude - less glitter, more grime. It's not subtle. It doesn't try to be. It just stomps around like it paid rent.

Collector reality check

The sleeve is the whole game. Standard German picture sleeves are one thing, but the "DOUBLE-HIT SPECIAL!" cover variant is the one that makes sellers suddenly remember their mortgage. Condition is everything: ringwear, edge rub, a chewed-up corner - that's the stuff that turns a "nice find" into a shrug. Mine lives in a singles box where the clean sleeves are basically the VIP section, because I'm not letting cardboard scuffs win for free.

References