Kiss News

By Jason Miller

A few years ago I struck vinyl gold while living in Dallas, TX. A friend of mine from Good Records (Chris Penn aka DJ Cee Pee), put together two boxes of hand picked metal records for me. He had just picked up several hundred used records from a Dallas college radio station as they were throwing them out and going digital. Although many of the classic albums included had some pretty good wear going on with the sleeves, the actual vinyl was in excellent condition. It was a vast selection of 70s and 80s metal; a gift from the vinyl gods above.

Back in the 70s, college radio stations would put notes on the front of each record with comments from other DJs at the station along side a description of the band. Reading these notes today can be quite entertaining as you are about to see. Here are two gems from KISS along with the original notes and comments from the DJs themselves.

KISS - The emponymous debut. When it was released on February 18, 1974, KISS had been a band for a little over a year. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons and/or Paul Stanley, as members of their pre-KISS band, Wicked Lester. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks. Photographer Joel Brodsky thought KISS were literally clowns, and wanted to place balloons behind the group for the shoot.By Jason Miller

A few years ago I struck vinyl gold while living in Dallas, TX. A friend of mine from Good Records (Chris Penn aka DJ Cee Pee), put together two boxes of hand picked metal records for me. He had just picked up several hundred used records from a Dallas college radio station as they were throwing them out and going digital. Although many of the classic albums included had some pretty good wear going on with the sleeves, the actual vinyl was in excellent condition. It was a vast selection of 70s and 80s metal; a gift from the vinyl gods above.

Back in the 70s, college radio stations would put notes on the front of each record with comments from other DJs at the station along side a description of the band. Reading these notes today can be quite entertaining as you are about to see. Here are two gems from KISS along with the original notes and comments from the DJs themselves.

KISS - The emponymous debut. When it was released on February 18, 1974, KISS had been a band for a little over a year. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons and/or Paul Stanley, as members of their pre-KISS band, Wicked Lester. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks. Photographer Joel Brodsky thought KISS were literally clowns, and wanted to place balloons behind the group for the shoot.

Here are the actual notes from the station DJs. Date first aired: 2/18/1974 (the album's release date). Special Instructions: "Play This." Comments: "Almost as good as the N.Y. Dolls (only as good as early R. Stones)." Click on the photo to enlarge and read the individual song notes.

Dressed to Kill is the third studio album from American hard rock band KISS. It is unique for having been produced by Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart, as the financial situation of the label at the time did not allow the hiring of a professional producer.While the album cover depicts KISS in business suits, the only member of the band who actually owned one was Peter Criss. The suits worn on the cover by the rest of the band were owned by manager Bill Aucoin.

Again, here are the actual notes from the stationDJs. Date First Aired: 3/30/75. (in the 70s, bands tended to make a record every year as opposed to waiting 2-5 years as is the norm today. KISS actually released Hotter Than Hell a few months prior giving them three ablums in under 2 years.)

Comments: "Another good album from one of America's better groups." You can see that another DJ from the station inserted his comment "Another good album from one of American's better "comedy" groups." This is funny stuff here folks; who would have thought that these kids were judging what would one day be one of the biggest rock bands in the world? Click the photo to see the individual notes on each song.

By Mike Devlin, Times Colonist

Gene Simmons didn't get famous by accident. The tongue-wagging, blood-spitting, fire-breathing bassist for KISS is among the world's biggest stars, in part because of his larger-than-life personality. His mantra? The bigger - and more expensive - the better.

Of late, he has been helped by Gene Simmons Family Jewels, the reality show that features Simmons and his family. It has become a huge hit, enough so that a tour featuring the cast is currently underway. Simmons and his clan will be at the View Royal Casino on Saturday (noon to 3 p.m.) for a public meet-and-greet that will most definitely be over the top.

While television has made him a celebrity, it's important to remember the role KISS has played in his life. The group is still out on the road gigging, and is playing with a voracity that hasn't ebbed in 35 years. Simmons - especially when he dons his makeup and calls himself the Demon - is a huge part of that.By Mike Devlin, Times Colonist

Gene Simmons didn't get famous by accident. The tongue-wagging, blood-spitting, fire-breathing bassist for KISS is among the world's biggest stars, in part because of his larger-than-life personality. His mantra? The bigger - and more expensive - the better.

Of late, he has been helped by Gene Simmons Family Jewels, the reality show that features Simmons and his family. It has become a huge hit, enough so that a tour featuring the cast is currently underway. Simmons and his clan will be at the View Royal Casino on Saturday (noon to 3 p.m.) for a public meet-and-greet that will most definitely be over the top.

While television has made him a celebrity, it's important to remember the role KISS has played in his life. The group is still out on the road gigging, and is playing with a voracity that hasn't ebbed in 35 years. Simmons - especially when he dons his makeup and calls himself the Demon - is a huge part of that.

Need proof? Here are 10 songs by KISS on which Simmons takes over on lead vocals.

1. Rock and Roll All Nite (1975). A by-the-book but rousing sing-along that does its business in under three minutes, Rock and Roll All Nite is perhaps KISS's finest song, if not its best-known. Taken from the band's third studio album, Dressed to Kill, the anthem benefits from a wicked lead vocal by Simmons. Rock and Roll All Nite still qualifies as the band's most fist-pumping moment, on record and in concert.

2. God of Thunder (1976). Following closely on the heels of its legendary live album, 1975's Alive!, the band issued Destroyer to keep the career momentum in motion. KISS's fourth full-length proved to be its commercial and critical breakthrough, thanks to singles Shout it Out Loud, Detroit Rock City and Beth, the band's first Top 10 hit.

The album's other notable track, God of Thunder, was written by Paul Stanley for Simmons, who has since made the song his unofficial calling card.

3. Calling Dr. Love (1976). Written by Simmons from the standpoint of a "doctor" whose specialty is satisfying persons of the female variety, Calling Dr. Love fit in perfectly with the bassist's sexual reputation at the time, which didn't hurt the song's chart chances. It wasn't the biggest hit on Rock and Roll Over (that was the Peter Criss-sung Hard Luck Woman) but it certainly lives on in infamy as one the band's most notable.

4. Christine Sixteen (1977). There are no shortage of double entendres on Love Gun, a recording whose sexual innuendo starts with the album title and worms its way through each of the 10 songs included. The band's sixth studio album features not one but two salacious songs about girls turning the corner on their teen years, though Simmons's Christine Sixteen - which was sampled heavily on rapper Tone Loc's Funky Cold Medina - is considered the better of the pair.

5. Plaster Caster (1977). Simmons was inspired to write and sing one of the best songs in the KISS catalogue by Cynthia Plaster Caster, a groupie who gained fame for making plaster casts of the genitalia of male rock stars. While there is no evidence to suggest Simmons had ever participated in a casting session, KISS remains closely associated with the practice on account of Plaster Caster.

6. Radioactive (1978). Each member of KISS released a solo album in 1978; to the surprise of no one, Simmons's charted highest, narrowly missing the Top 20. Credit that to his roster of guests (Aerosmith's Joe Perry, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, and Bob Seger among them) but also his selection of material. Radioactive, with its rolling piano, was a big departure for Simmons, though fans responded to the radical departure.

7. I Love It Loud (1982). KISS was at a crossroads during the recording of Creatures of the Night, its first without original guitarist Ace Frehley. His replacement, guitarist Vincent Cusano - a.k.a. Vinnie Vincent - turned out to be a nice fit, and is credited alongside Simmons with co-writing I Love it Loud, one of the band's most overlooked gems. I Love it Loud was the last certifiably "heavy" single from the band for nearly a decade.

8. Killer (1982). The duo of Simmons and Vinnie Vincent struck power-chord gold once more with Killer, the second single from the critically lauded but commercially unsuccessful Creatures of the Night. Another song by Simmons about the dangers of wild women, its most marked characteristic is an up-tempo beat and Vincent's inspired playing, elements of KISS which had been missing for years up to this point.

9. Domino (1993). The grunge years were tough on bands like KISS, yet through the greasy hair and cheap flannel the band adapted nicely to a harder-edged sound on 1993's Revenge, its highest-charting album since 1977's Love Gun. A big part of that was due to Domino, the bluesiest song in the KISS catalogue about a topic - women - Simmons knows too well.

10. Goin' Blind (1996). Simmons proved during the band's return-to-form MTV Unplugged performance that he could still sing. After years of cartoonish behaviour from the group, 20-year-old songs like Goin' Blind (about an old man's relationship with a much younger woman) took on new musical shape. Goin' Blind comes off splendidly here, and played a big part in the massive reunion tour that followed.

By BRIAN MACKEY

Photos: Chris Young/The State Journal-Register

Rock, blood, fire. The essential ingredients for a good time � Kiss style � were in ample supply Monday night at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.

The self-proclaimed �hottest band in the world� returned to Springfield for the first time in more than 18 years.

�Somebody was saying they thought we�d never come here,� Paul Stanley told the crowd. �Springfield, let me tell you something: we passed over Chicago to come here.�

All the trademark elements of a Kiss show were there: the black and white makeup, the elaborate costumes, the over-the-top production elements, Gene Simmons breathing fire and spitting blood.

The band played in front of one of the most insane concert sets to come through Springfield in years. It made even the biggest Illinois State Fair Grandstand show look more like a cover band headlining a beer tent with borrowed wedding DJ equipment.By BRIAN MACKEY

Photos: Chris Young/The State Journal-Register

Rock, blood, fire. The essential ingredients for a good time � Kiss style � were in ample supply Monday night at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.

The self-proclaimed �hottest band in the world� returned to Springfield for the first time in more than 18 years.

�Somebody was saying they thought we�d never come here,� Paul Stanley told the crowd of 6,238. �Springfield, let me tell you something: we passed over Chicago to come here.�

All the trademark elements of a Kiss show were there: the black and white makeup, the elaborate costumes, the over-the-top production elements, Gene Simmons breathing fire and spitting blood.

The band played in front of one of the most insane concert sets to come through Springfield in years. It made even the biggest Illinois State Fair Grandstand show look more like a cover band headlining a beer tent with borrowed wedding DJ equipment.

Near the ceiling was a pair of giant video screens flanking the classic light-up Kiss sign. Below that, a two-story wall of amps, guitar speakers, video screens and bass speakers spanned the width of the stage on either side of the drum platform.

Everywhere you looked were flashing lights � above the stage, on either side and embedded in the stage itself. Then there were the pyrotechnic effects � ranging from fireworks to fountains of flame as tall as a man in platform shoes.

When the flames would activate, the rush of heat was startling and immediate, even from my seat about 100 feet away. But it was also effective, underlining key moments like the title phrase in �Love Gun� and ending that song�s distinctive triplet beat with pulsed explosions rather than drum beats.

The band played for an hour and 55 minutes, drawing most heavily on hits from early albums �Kiss� (1974) and �Destroyer� (1976).

Set List

1. Modern Day Delilah
2. Cold Gin
3. Let Me Go, Rock �n� Roll
4. Firehouse
5. Say Yeah
6. Deuce
7. Do You Love Me?
8. Calling Dr. Love
9. Shock Me
10. I Love It Loud
11. Love Gun
12. God of Thunder
13. Black Diamond
14. Detroit Rock City

Encore
15. Beth
16. Lick It Up
17. Shout It Out Loud
18. Rock and Roll All Nite