10/21/2011
KISS KRUISE GEAR IN KOL'S KISS SHOP NOW!
Kiss News
10/20/2011
KISS AND FAN MOSAICS TEAM UP TO MAKE KISSTORY
10/20/2011
CNN'S "KISS, INC:" THE BAND AND THE BRAND
10/20/2011
KISS KRUISE DAY 3: START PLANNING FOR 2012
10/19/2011
INSIDE CNN'S "KISS INC."
By Scott Zamost and Poppy Harlow
LOS ANGELES (CNNMoney) -- ("KISS Inc." airs on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 8 and 11 pm ET as part of a CNN Presents hour.)
"My favorite piece of merchandising is me."
Gene Simmons, the co-founder of KISS, is taking us on a tour of his home office.
It's not so much an office, but a gigantic display of everything KISS, the band that started in 1973 and has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
We're here to see many of the 3,000 items that KISS has licensed, from the coffin sitting locked on the floor, to the colorful condoms hanging on the wall.
"Everything begins with an idea," Simmons says. "How about when I was growing up, I used to eat M&Ms. And M&Ms, which are now in Wal-Mart, have our faces on them."
Inside the Simmons' mansion, with the panoramic panoply of merchandise, it's hard to figure out where to start.
The merchandise almost amounts to sensory overload: KISS footballs. Barbecue sauce. Teddy bears. Potato heads. Action figures. A flip cam.
"We have sold over 10 million KISS shirts in the last 15 years," says Dell Furano, president of Live Nation Merchandising, which licenses KISS merchandise. "A lot of these are just different variations of shirts. We have shirts for animals, shirts for newborns, we have shirts for toddlers, we have vintage shirts. And it all fits into the KISS show, the KISS experience. And if you go to a KISS concert now, it's remarkable. You see multi generations. A lot of it just comes from Paul and Gene, and what they've created."
In the last 15 years, KISS has sold more than a half billion dollars in merchandise all through Live Nation Merchandise, Furano tells CNN.
"Our only rule has been there's no rules," KISS co-founder Paul Stanley says during an interview at his home. "We make the rules. That's hard for some people to accept, but that's been the key to our success. That we don't listen to the status quo, and that we don't listen to what other people are doing. We trust our own judgment. We live by it, live by the sword, die by the sword. We have gotten poked a few times, but we've been victorious."
Victorious enough that KISS has its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.By Scott Zamost and Poppy Harlow
LOS ANGELES (CNNMoney) -- ("KISS Inc." airs on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 8 and 11 pm ET as part of a CNN Presents hour.)
"My favorite piece of merchandising is me."
Gene Simmons, the co-founder of KISS, is taking us on a tour of his home office.
It's not so much an office, but a gigantic display of everything KISS, the band that started in 1973 and has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
We're here to see many of the 3,000 items that KISS has licensed, from the coffin sitting locked on the floor, to the colorful condoms hanging on the wall.
"Everything begins with an idea," Simmons says. "How about when I was growing up, I used to eat M&Ms. And M&Ms, which are now in Wal-Mart, have our faces on them."
Inside the Simmons' mansion, with the panoramic panoply of merchandise, it's hard to figure out where to start.
The merchandise almost amounts to sensory overload: KISS footballs. Barbecue sauce. Teddy bears. Potato heads. Action figures. A flip cam.
"We have sold over 10 million KISS shirts in the last 15 years," says Dell Furano, president of Live Nation Merchandising, which licenses KISS merchandise. "A lot of these are just different variations of shirts. We have shirts for animals, shirts for newborns, we have shirts for toddlers, we have vintage shirts. And it all fits into the KISS show, the KISS experience. And if you go to a KISS concert now, it's remarkable. You see multi generations. A lot of it just comes from Paul and Gene, and what they've created."
In the last 15 years, KISS has sold more than a half billion dollars in merchandise all through Live Nation Merchandise, Furano tells CNN.
"Our only rule has been there's no rules," KISS co-founder Paul Stanley says during an interview at his home. "We make the rules. That's hard for some people to accept, but that's been the key to our success. That we don't listen to the status quo, and that we don't listen to what other people are doing. We trust our own judgment. We live by it, live by the sword, die by the sword. We have gotten poked a few times, but we've been victorious."
Victorious enough that KISS has its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Marketing expert Pete Krainik, who founded The CMO Club for chief marketing officers around the country, sums up the KISS formula for success.
"Like any brand, it's an emotional connection with the consumer, your fans," Krainik says. "They have that connection; they also have the ability because of not having drug problems. Gene doesn't drink, they're a little edgy, parents can take the kids to the concert and say, 'Here's my chance to be edgy with my kid, but I also feel good about it.'"
"Our crowd is so diverse, I mean everybody comes to a KISS show," says guitarist Tommy Thayer. "It's like the circus is coming to town, and everybody wants to go out, and it's a must-see and everybody has to check it out."
In July, Thayer and the band headed on the private KISS jet to Oshkosh, Wis., to perform before more than 27,000 fans. It was part of a summer tour and KISS was the final act of a three-day festival, a barren space transformed into a field of rock 'n' roll dreams.
"When you play a smaller market or a place that doesn't get as many shows, when you come there it has an effect for them as opposed to let's say Los Angeles or New York where everybody's like, 'Oh they were here last year," band member Eric Singer says. "They're very appreciative when you go to a secondary market or smaller parts of the world."
Doc McGhee, the band's long-time manager, says in a show where only KISS performs, they would rake in $600,000 to $700,000 in merchandise sales, more than three times the amount in festivals like Oshkosh where many bands perform.
He says he will delay a show to accommodate sales.
"What we do is, we watch the booths to see if they're packed," McGhee says. "And then they stand there and they get 40 deep, but as soon as the band hits one note, they're gone. And you lose 20, 30, $40,000 in merchandise sales. So, I'll hold the show."
Upcoming deals include a partnership with Hello Kitty, an expanded line to include KISS cremation urns for humans and pets, KISS slot machines, KISS online virtual games, a KISS-themed glow-in-the-dark mini golf course in Las Vegas and a new Archie Comics series. In addition, a new album called "Monster" is scheduled to be released next fall, accompanied by an overseas concert tour.
While there's no telling how much KISS is really worth, Simmons says he believes the KISS brand is worth between $1 billion and $5 billion dollars.
In the end, whether it's the merchandise, or the music, Simmons and Stanley are unwavering about protecting the brand.
"We've made no compromises to anyone," Simmons says. "We're stubborn, we're mule-headed. We've completely ignored fashion and fads and marched to the beat of our own drummer, if you will. For 38 years, we've defied the odds, we've buried all the critics in our backyard. They're now gone. And we have persevered, and grown bigger than ever. By some estimates, KISS are the four most recognized faces on planet Earth. I'll prove it to you. Do you know what the king of Sweden looks like? That's funny, because everybody in Sweden knows what KISS looks like."
"We've always done it our way, and that's what made for our success and will live beyond us," says Stanley. "When we're long gone, I will be incredibly honored to know that KISS continued."
LOS ANGELES (CNNMoney) -- ("KISS Inc." airs on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 8 and 11 pm ET as part of a CNN Presents hour.)
"My favorite piece of merchandising is me."
Gene Simmons, the co-founder of KISS, is taking us on a tour of his home office.
It's not so much an office, but a gigantic display of everything KISS, the band that started in 1973 and has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
We're here to see many of the 3,000 items that KISS has licensed, from the coffin sitting locked on the floor, to the colorful condoms hanging on the wall.
"Everything begins with an idea," Simmons says. "How about when I was growing up, I used to eat M&Ms. And M&Ms, which are now in Wal-Mart, have our faces on them."
Inside the Simmons' mansion, with the panoramic panoply of merchandise, it's hard to figure out where to start.
The merchandise almost amounts to sensory overload: KISS footballs. Barbecue sauce. Teddy bears. Potato heads. Action figures. A flip cam.
"We have sold over 10 million KISS shirts in the last 15 years," says Dell Furano, president of Live Nation Merchandising, which licenses KISS merchandise. "A lot of these are just different variations of shirts. We have shirts for animals, shirts for newborns, we have shirts for toddlers, we have vintage shirts. And it all fits into the KISS show, the KISS experience. And if you go to a KISS concert now, it's remarkable. You see multi generations. A lot of it just comes from Paul and Gene, and what they've created."
In the last 15 years, KISS has sold more than a half billion dollars in merchandise all through Live Nation Merchandise, Furano tells CNN.
"Our only rule has been there's no rules," KISS co-founder Paul Stanley says during an interview at his home. "We make the rules. That's hard for some people to accept, but that's been the key to our success. That we don't listen to the status quo, and that we don't listen to what other people are doing. We trust our own judgment. We live by it, live by the sword, die by the sword. We have gotten poked a few times, but we've been victorious."
Victorious enough that KISS has its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.By Scott Zamost and Poppy Harlow
LOS ANGELES (CNNMoney) -- ("KISS Inc." airs on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 8 and 11 pm ET as part of a CNN Presents hour.)
"My favorite piece of merchandising is me."
Gene Simmons, the co-founder of KISS, is taking us on a tour of his home office.
It's not so much an office, but a gigantic display of everything KISS, the band that started in 1973 and has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
We're here to see many of the 3,000 items that KISS has licensed, from the coffin sitting locked on the floor, to the colorful condoms hanging on the wall.
"Everything begins with an idea," Simmons says. "How about when I was growing up, I used to eat M&Ms. And M&Ms, which are now in Wal-Mart, have our faces on them."
Inside the Simmons' mansion, with the panoramic panoply of merchandise, it's hard to figure out where to start.
The merchandise almost amounts to sensory overload: KISS footballs. Barbecue sauce. Teddy bears. Potato heads. Action figures. A flip cam.
"We have sold over 10 million KISS shirts in the last 15 years," says Dell Furano, president of Live Nation Merchandising, which licenses KISS merchandise. "A lot of these are just different variations of shirts. We have shirts for animals, shirts for newborns, we have shirts for toddlers, we have vintage shirts. And it all fits into the KISS show, the KISS experience. And if you go to a KISS concert now, it's remarkable. You see multi generations. A lot of it just comes from Paul and Gene, and what they've created."
In the last 15 years, KISS has sold more than a half billion dollars in merchandise all through Live Nation Merchandise, Furano tells CNN.
"Our only rule has been there's no rules," KISS co-founder Paul Stanley says during an interview at his home. "We make the rules. That's hard for some people to accept, but that's been the key to our success. That we don't listen to the status quo, and that we don't listen to what other people are doing. We trust our own judgment. We live by it, live by the sword, die by the sword. We have gotten poked a few times, but we've been victorious."
Victorious enough that KISS has its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Marketing expert Pete Krainik, who founded The CMO Club for chief marketing officers around the country, sums up the KISS formula for success.
"Like any brand, it's an emotional connection with the consumer, your fans," Krainik says. "They have that connection; they also have the ability because of not having drug problems. Gene doesn't drink, they're a little edgy, parents can take the kids to the concert and say, 'Here's my chance to be edgy with my kid, but I also feel good about it.'"
"Our crowd is so diverse, I mean everybody comes to a KISS show," says guitarist Tommy Thayer. "It's like the circus is coming to town, and everybody wants to go out, and it's a must-see and everybody has to check it out."
In July, Thayer and the band headed on the private KISS jet to Oshkosh, Wis., to perform before more than 27,000 fans. It was part of a summer tour and KISS was the final act of a three-day festival, a barren space transformed into a field of rock 'n' roll dreams.
"When you play a smaller market or a place that doesn't get as many shows, when you come there it has an effect for them as opposed to let's say Los Angeles or New York where everybody's like, 'Oh they were here last year," band member Eric Singer says. "They're very appreciative when you go to a secondary market or smaller parts of the world."
Doc McGhee, the band's long-time manager, says in a show where only KISS performs, they would rake in $600,000 to $700,000 in merchandise sales, more than three times the amount in festivals like Oshkosh where many bands perform.
He says he will delay a show to accommodate sales.
"What we do is, we watch the booths to see if they're packed," McGhee says. "And then they stand there and they get 40 deep, but as soon as the band hits one note, they're gone. And you lose 20, 30, $40,000 in merchandise sales. So, I'll hold the show."
Upcoming deals include a partnership with Hello Kitty, an expanded line to include KISS cremation urns for humans and pets, KISS slot machines, KISS online virtual games, a KISS-themed glow-in-the-dark mini golf course in Las Vegas and a new Archie Comics series. In addition, a new album called "Monster" is scheduled to be released next fall, accompanied by an overseas concert tour.
While there's no telling how much KISS is really worth, Simmons says he believes the KISS brand is worth between $1 billion and $5 billion dollars.
In the end, whether it's the merchandise, or the music, Simmons and Stanley are unwavering about protecting the brand.
"We've made no compromises to anyone," Simmons says. "We're stubborn, we're mule-headed. We've completely ignored fashion and fads and marched to the beat of our own drummer, if you will. For 38 years, we've defied the odds, we've buried all the critics in our backyard. They're now gone. And we have persevered, and grown bigger than ever. By some estimates, KISS are the four most recognized faces on planet Earth. I'll prove it to you. Do you know what the king of Sweden looks like? That's funny, because everybody in Sweden knows what KISS looks like."
"We've always done it our way, and that's what made for our success and will live beyond us," says Stanley. "When we're long gone, I will be incredibly honored to know that KISS continued."
10/19/2011
KISS KRUISE BAND/FAN PHOTOS NOW ONLINE!
10/19/2011
KISS ON THE HIGH SEAS
NASSAU, Bahamas--At first glance the thought of a Kiss cruise is tongue-in-cheek.
But when the first Kiss Kruise launched Friday from Miami, Fla. it was all business: rocking and rolling all night, wearing black and white face paint, and of course sticking your tounge out just like the wet carpet of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.
Its like I'm with 2,000 venus fly traps.
The four-day cruise, which concludes Monday has been so successful, it wouldn't be surprising to see it become an annual affair.
More than 2,000 people are on board the rugged Carnival Destiny (sounds like a stripper) representing 26 countries, according to a spokesperson for Sixthman, the Atlanta, Ga.-based promoter who has been designing musical themed cruises since 2001. I have met people from Brooklyn, N.Y., Scotland, Sweden, Colombia and Southern France.
What's not to like about a French Kiss fan?
Sixthman has partnered with Kid Rock, Lyle Lovett, John Mayer and even John Prine.
But there's been nothing like this with Kiss.
Just the Sunday itinerary includes a "Tattoo Social Hour," "Kiss Army Happy Hour," and a quarters drinking game hosted by metal band (and Kiss opening act) Skid Row.
You won't meet a guitarist with fangs named Nikki Sinn on a Lyle Lovett cruise. Friday night I had dinner with a guy and a girl who front Princess, a Lita Ford inspired glam band in Finland. It took them 22 hours to get to Miami.
Black shorts and white legs? Plenty aboard.
Kiss performed electric shows with make-up as they featured '70s rarities Friday and Saturday in the ship's Palladium theater. They also played an engaging 90-minute outdoor greatest hits unplugged set without makeup Friday as the ship left Miami.
They are something to see in the Caribbean sun.NASSAU, Bahamas--At first glance the thought of a Kiss cruise is tongue-in-cheek.
But when the first Kiss Kruise launched Friday from Miami, Fla. it was all business: rocking and rolling all night, wearing black and white face paint, and of course sticking your tounge out just like the wet carpet of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.
Its like I'm with 2,000 venus fly traps.
The four-day cruise, which concludes Monday has been so successful, it wouldn't be surprising to see it become an annual affair.
More than 2,000 people are on board the rugged Carnival Destiny (sounds like a stripper) representing 26 countries, according to a spokesperson for Sixthman, the Atlanta, Ga.-based promoter who has been designing musical themed cruises since 2001. I have met people from Brooklyn, N.Y., Scotland, Sweden, Colombia and Southern France.
What's not to like about a French Kiss fan?
Sixthman has partnered with Kid Rock, Lyle Lovett, John Mayer and even John Prine.
But there's been nothing like this with Kiss.
Just the Sunday itinerary includes a "Tattoo Social Hour," "Kiss Army Happy Hour," and a quarters drinking game hosted by metal band (and Kiss opening act) Skid Row.
You won't meet a guitarist with fangs named Nikki Sinn on a Lyle Lovett cruise. Friday night I had dinner with a guy and a girl who front Princess, a Lita Ford inspired glam band in Finland. It took them 22 hours to get to Miami.
Black shorts and white legs? Plenty aboard.
Kiss performed electric shows with make-up as they featured '70s rarities Friday and Saturday in the ship's Palladium theater. They also played an engaging 90-minute outdoor greatest hits unplugged set without makeup Friday as the ship left Miami.
They are something to see in the Caribbean sun.
The newly married Simmons had his bride Shannon Tweed on board and she watched the unplugged concert with fans before moving to a side soundboard at the end of the set, where Kiss wound down with its anthem "Rock n' Roll All Nite."
Sitting on a barstool behind big shades, Simmons smiled and showed off his gold wedding ring before the band launched into a rhythm and blues tinged version of "Do You Love Me?"
During a post-concert question and answer session with the Kiss Army (and now Navy) Simmons said, "With all honesty, any girl who would wait for an asshole like me for 28 years (their dating period} and give me two beautiful children is special. In all seriousness I love Shannon."
They have a 22-year-old son named Nick and an 18-year old daughter named Sophie.
Although the band is not making itself available to media on the ship, Kiss was generous in answering fan queries.
Simmons said a Kiss cartoon (or Kartoon?) series is in the works and should surface in the next six months on the Hasbro channel. Guitarist Tommy "The Spaceman" Thayer is working on a four-CD Kiss box set retrospective. People are still dying for those custom made Kiss coffins, which Simmons and Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley plugged.
So naturally Simmons hinted the Kiss legacy could be passed down to another generation.
"Everybody on this stage has talent in the family," he said. "In fact at our wedding Nick (his son) sang (the Doors} 'Roadhouse Blues' and tore the house down with his solo. And you'll see it October 18th on A&E."
One thoughtful fan request was for the band to come up with a wish list of countries they have yet to visit. Stanley answered,. "Definitely China. We would play Israel but Gene would get drafted." The audience laughed.
Simmons was born as Chaim Weitz in Haifa, Israel.
Once known as "The Demon," Simmons was as mellow as a Bahama breeze. He admitted that of all four Kiss members, it takes him the longest time to apply his make up: two hours.
Another fan asked Kiss to pick a band they would have cruised with back in the day. Drummer Erik Singer chose Led Zeppelin.
Simmons picked The Electric Prunes.
There were no questions about Michael Jackson. Kiss was axed from the recent Jackson tribute concert because of Simmons' comments on Jackson's legal problems.
The band has pretty much been sequestered to a top level of the 11-story ship. On Thursday night Singer ventured out to the blackjack table in the casino and on Friday afternoon a pasty Stanley waved to fans from the balcony of his cabin as they tendered back the ship from a day trip to Half Moon Cay, about 90 miles from Nassau.
It was on this shore excursion where I met a Kiss fan who worked at a Nissan plant outside of Asheville, N.C. He followed his girl friend to Asheville and saved his money for a year so he could go on the Kiss Kruise.
I told him how beautiful Asheville is.
"Really really great pot," he told me.
During the grass root press conference someone asked Simmons to pick the toughest gig he has played with Kiss---"The olympics (Closing of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah), the Super Bowl (1999 in Miami) or the Symphony (a Feb. 2003 gig with the 70-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia.)"
"This sounds cornball but it is an honor to get in front of you," said Simmons, who formed Kiss with Stanley in 1973 from the shell of the Jersey band Wicked Lester. "You give us the time of day. There are no tough gigs. " Simmons and Stanley promised a big she-bang for the group's 40th anniversary celebration.
Simmons, 62, has gone Sammy Davis, Jr.. The star of the A&E hit "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" even told a wacky joke:
"God is sitting on his throne. There's a knock on the door and it magically opens. There's Ghandi. God says. 'Who are you and what do you believe in?' Ghandi says, 'I believe in helping the poor.' There's another knock on the door and it magically opens. There's Mother Teresa. God says, 'Who are you and what do you believe in?' Mother Teresa says, 'I believe in compassion,' God says, come on over here to my right. Another knock on the door and it magically opens. It's Gene Simmons.
God says, "Who are you and what do you believe in?'
Simmons dropped his voice and said, "I believe you're sitting in my seat'."
During the unplugged set and before drummer Singer took the vocals on a gnarly version of "Black Diamond," Stanley told the audience, "This is a first for us and actually better than I thought. We got to do this again next year."
But when the first Kiss Kruise launched Friday from Miami, Fla. it was all business: rocking and rolling all night, wearing black and white face paint, and of course sticking your tounge out just like the wet carpet of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.
Its like I'm with 2,000 venus fly traps.
The four-day cruise, which concludes Monday has been so successful, it wouldn't be surprising to see it become an annual affair.
More than 2,000 people are on board the rugged Carnival Destiny (sounds like a stripper) representing 26 countries, according to a spokesperson for Sixthman, the Atlanta, Ga.-based promoter who has been designing musical themed cruises since 2001. I have met people from Brooklyn, N.Y., Scotland, Sweden, Colombia and Southern France.
What's not to like about a French Kiss fan?
Sixthman has partnered with Kid Rock, Lyle Lovett, John Mayer and even John Prine.
But there's been nothing like this with Kiss.
Just the Sunday itinerary includes a "Tattoo Social Hour," "Kiss Army Happy Hour," and a quarters drinking game hosted by metal band (and Kiss opening act) Skid Row.
You won't meet a guitarist with fangs named Nikki Sinn on a Lyle Lovett cruise. Friday night I had dinner with a guy and a girl who front Princess, a Lita Ford inspired glam band in Finland. It took them 22 hours to get to Miami.
Black shorts and white legs? Plenty aboard.
Kiss performed electric shows with make-up as they featured '70s rarities Friday and Saturday in the ship's Palladium theater. They also played an engaging 90-minute outdoor greatest hits unplugged set without makeup Friday as the ship left Miami.
They are something to see in the Caribbean sun.NASSAU, Bahamas--At first glance the thought of a Kiss cruise is tongue-in-cheek.
But when the first Kiss Kruise launched Friday from Miami, Fla. it was all business: rocking and rolling all night, wearing black and white face paint, and of course sticking your tounge out just like the wet carpet of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.
Its like I'm with 2,000 venus fly traps.
The four-day cruise, which concludes Monday has been so successful, it wouldn't be surprising to see it become an annual affair.
More than 2,000 people are on board the rugged Carnival Destiny (sounds like a stripper) representing 26 countries, according to a spokesperson for Sixthman, the Atlanta, Ga.-based promoter who has been designing musical themed cruises since 2001. I have met people from Brooklyn, N.Y., Scotland, Sweden, Colombia and Southern France.
What's not to like about a French Kiss fan?
Sixthman has partnered with Kid Rock, Lyle Lovett, John Mayer and even John Prine.
But there's been nothing like this with Kiss.
Just the Sunday itinerary includes a "Tattoo Social Hour," "Kiss Army Happy Hour," and a quarters drinking game hosted by metal band (and Kiss opening act) Skid Row.
You won't meet a guitarist with fangs named Nikki Sinn on a Lyle Lovett cruise. Friday night I had dinner with a guy and a girl who front Princess, a Lita Ford inspired glam band in Finland. It took them 22 hours to get to Miami.
Black shorts and white legs? Plenty aboard.
Kiss performed electric shows with make-up as they featured '70s rarities Friday and Saturday in the ship's Palladium theater. They also played an engaging 90-minute outdoor greatest hits unplugged set without makeup Friday as the ship left Miami.
They are something to see in the Caribbean sun.
The newly married Simmons had his bride Shannon Tweed on board and she watched the unplugged concert with fans before moving to a side soundboard at the end of the set, where Kiss wound down with its anthem "Rock n' Roll All Nite."
Sitting on a barstool behind big shades, Simmons smiled and showed off his gold wedding ring before the band launched into a rhythm and blues tinged version of "Do You Love Me?"
During a post-concert question and answer session with the Kiss Army (and now Navy) Simmons said, "With all honesty, any girl who would wait for an asshole like me for 28 years (their dating period} and give me two beautiful children is special. In all seriousness I love Shannon."
They have a 22-year-old son named Nick and an 18-year old daughter named Sophie.
Although the band is not making itself available to media on the ship, Kiss was generous in answering fan queries.
Simmons said a Kiss cartoon (or Kartoon?) series is in the works and should surface in the next six months on the Hasbro channel. Guitarist Tommy "The Spaceman" Thayer is working on a four-CD Kiss box set retrospective. People are still dying for those custom made Kiss coffins, which Simmons and Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley plugged.
So naturally Simmons hinted the Kiss legacy could be passed down to another generation.
"Everybody on this stage has talent in the family," he said. "In fact at our wedding Nick (his son) sang (the Doors} 'Roadhouse Blues' and tore the house down with his solo. And you'll see it October 18th on A&E."
One thoughtful fan request was for the band to come up with a wish list of countries they have yet to visit. Stanley answered,. "Definitely China. We would play Israel but Gene would get drafted." The audience laughed.
Simmons was born as Chaim Weitz in Haifa, Israel.
Once known as "The Demon," Simmons was as mellow as a Bahama breeze. He admitted that of all four Kiss members, it takes him the longest time to apply his make up: two hours.
Another fan asked Kiss to pick a band they would have cruised with back in the day. Drummer Erik Singer chose Led Zeppelin.
Simmons picked The Electric Prunes.
There were no questions about Michael Jackson. Kiss was axed from the recent Jackson tribute concert because of Simmons' comments on Jackson's legal problems.
The band has pretty much been sequestered to a top level of the 11-story ship. On Thursday night Singer ventured out to the blackjack table in the casino and on Friday afternoon a pasty Stanley waved to fans from the balcony of his cabin as they tendered back the ship from a day trip to Half Moon Cay, about 90 miles from Nassau.
It was on this shore excursion where I met a Kiss fan who worked at a Nissan plant outside of Asheville, N.C. He followed his girl friend to Asheville and saved his money for a year so he could go on the Kiss Kruise.
I told him how beautiful Asheville is.
"Really really great pot," he told me.
During the grass root press conference someone asked Simmons to pick the toughest gig he has played with Kiss---"The olympics (Closing of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah), the Super Bowl (1999 in Miami) or the Symphony (a Feb. 2003 gig with the 70-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia.)"
"This sounds cornball but it is an honor to get in front of you," said Simmons, who formed Kiss with Stanley in 1973 from the shell of the Jersey band Wicked Lester. "You give us the time of day. There are no tough gigs. " Simmons and Stanley promised a big she-bang for the group's 40th anniversary celebration.
Simmons, 62, has gone Sammy Davis, Jr.. The star of the A&E hit "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" even told a wacky joke:
"God is sitting on his throne. There's a knock on the door and it magically opens. There's Ghandi. God says. 'Who are you and what do you believe in?' Ghandi says, 'I believe in helping the poor.' There's another knock on the door and it magically opens. There's Mother Teresa. God says, 'Who are you and what do you believe in?' Mother Teresa says, 'I believe in compassion,' God says, come on over here to my right. Another knock on the door and it magically opens. It's Gene Simmons.
God says, "Who are you and what do you believe in?'
Simmons dropped his voice and said, "I believe you're sitting in my seat'."
During the unplugged set and before drummer Singer took the vocals on a gnarly version of "Black Diamond," Stanley told the audience, "This is a first for us and actually better than I thought. We got to do this again next year."
10/18/2011
KISS KRUISE 2011 COVER STORY
10/18/2011
GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS WEDDING TONIGHT
10/18/2011
TOMMY AT THE BRIDGE OF THE KRUISE
