02/18/2010
Kiss News
02/18/2010
KISS NOMINATED FOR GOLDEN GODS AWARD
02/17/2010
TEST
02/17/2010
ERIC SINGER'S MUSICIAN'S FRIEND INTERVIEW
02/17/2010
KISS IS EVERYWHERE!
02/16/2010
KISS Tattoo
02/16/2010
KISS FEATURE IN Q MAGAZINE
The March 2010 issue of Britain's Q magazine has a feature on Casablanca Records' early years, which features some great vintage photos of the band, as well as quotes from the band on what it was like to work for the label. Here's an excerpt:
_____________
Disco Inferno: Casablanca Records
by Ben Mitchell
Founded by Neil Bogart in 1973 after eight years in the music business, with money provided by Warner Brothers, Casablanca signed their first act, KISS. The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1974.
Gene Simmons: It was a really strange time when the businessmen were not in charge of record companies. Crazy and wild people were in charge of record companies. Neil Bogart was crazy and wild. We wore more makeup than most clowns, higher heels than most women, and more leather than you normally find in an S&M bar. Neil was honest enough to admit that he didn't get us, but he gambled on our passion.
Paul Stanley: After Neil signed us, we spent a year or so opening for anybody who would let us. Every time we walked out onstage, if people weren't outright laughing, they were hitting one another in the ribs and snickering. But when we played, they went crazy. What we lacked in musicianship we made up for in conviction.The March 2010 issue of Britain's Q magazine has a feature on Casablanca Records' early years, which features some great vintage photos of the band, as well as quotes from the band on what it was like to work for the label. Here's an excerpt:
_____________
Disco Inferno: Casablanca Records
by Ben Mitchell
Founded by Neil Bogart in 1973 after eight years in the music business, with money provided by Warner Brothers, Casablanca signed their first act, KISS. The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1974.
Gene Simmons: It was a really strange time when the businessmen were not in charge of record companies. Crazy and wild people were in charge of record companies. Neil Bogart was crazy and wild. We wore more makeup than most clowns, higher heels than most women, and more leather than you normally find in an S&M bar. Neil was honest enough to admit that he didn't get us, but he gambled on our passion.
Paul Stanley: After Neil signed us, we spent a year or so opening for anybody who would let us. Every time we walked out onstage, if people weren't outright laughing, they were hitting one another in the ribs and snickering. But when we played, they went crazy. What we lacked in musicianship we made up for in conviction.
Larry Harris (Co-founder, Casablanca): The music business now is not even a ghost of the same animal that it was then. Record companies don't stick with an artist more than five minutes if they don't see success immediately. We stuck with KISS for four albums before they broke. The whole mindset is different.
Warners did not share Neil Bogart's belief in KISS, so Bogart made arrangements to pay back the $750,000 he owed them, and by the end of 1974 Casablanca had become an independent label. The following year KISS had their first hit record, reaching number nine with 1975's double live album KISS Alive!
Larry Harris: The success of Alive! came as a major surprise to us. It caught us totally unaware.
Gene Simmons: Almost overnight we went from being a working band to national superstars.
Despite appearances to the contrary, Casablanca had been struggling financially until multinational corporation PolyGram bought half of the operation for $15 million in 1977.
Gene Simmons: We went from recording for a label where we had a personal relationship with the president to recording for a large entity called PolyGram with an enormous staff. We felt lost.
Bill Aucoin: We made an incredible deal with PolyGram for KISS. From that point of view, it was good for KISS.
_____________
Disco Inferno: Casablanca Records
by Ben Mitchell
Founded by Neil Bogart in 1973 after eight years in the music business, with money provided by Warner Brothers, Casablanca signed their first act, KISS. The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1974.
Gene Simmons: It was a really strange time when the businessmen were not in charge of record companies. Crazy and wild people were in charge of record companies. Neil Bogart was crazy and wild. We wore more makeup than most clowns, higher heels than most women, and more leather than you normally find in an S&M bar. Neil was honest enough to admit that he didn't get us, but he gambled on our passion.
Paul Stanley: After Neil signed us, we spent a year or so opening for anybody who would let us. Every time we walked out onstage, if people weren't outright laughing, they were hitting one another in the ribs and snickering. But when we played, they went crazy. What we lacked in musicianship we made up for in conviction.The March 2010 issue of Britain's Q magazine has a feature on Casablanca Records' early years, which features some great vintage photos of the band, as well as quotes from the band on what it was like to work for the label. Here's an excerpt:
_____________
Disco Inferno: Casablanca Records
by Ben Mitchell
Founded by Neil Bogart in 1973 after eight years in the music business, with money provided by Warner Brothers, Casablanca signed their first act, KISS. The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1974.
Gene Simmons: It was a really strange time when the businessmen were not in charge of record companies. Crazy and wild people were in charge of record companies. Neil Bogart was crazy and wild. We wore more makeup than most clowns, higher heels than most women, and more leather than you normally find in an S&M bar. Neil was honest enough to admit that he didn't get us, but he gambled on our passion.
Paul Stanley: After Neil signed us, we spent a year or so opening for anybody who would let us. Every time we walked out onstage, if people weren't outright laughing, they were hitting one another in the ribs and snickering. But when we played, they went crazy. What we lacked in musicianship we made up for in conviction.
Larry Harris (Co-founder, Casablanca): The music business now is not even a ghost of the same animal that it was then. Record companies don't stick with an artist more than five minutes if they don't see success immediately. We stuck with KISS for four albums before they broke. The whole mindset is different.
Warners did not share Neil Bogart's belief in KISS, so Bogart made arrangements to pay back the $750,000 he owed them, and by the end of 1974 Casablanca had become an independent label. The following year KISS had their first hit record, reaching number nine with 1975's double live album KISS Alive!
Larry Harris: The success of Alive! came as a major surprise to us. It caught us totally unaware.
Gene Simmons: Almost overnight we went from being a working band to national superstars.
Despite appearances to the contrary, Casablanca had been struggling financially until multinational corporation PolyGram bought half of the operation for $15 million in 1977.
Gene Simmons: We went from recording for a label where we had a personal relationship with the president to recording for a large entity called PolyGram with an enormous staff. We felt lost.
Bill Aucoin: We made an incredible deal with PolyGram for KISS. From that point of view, it was good for KISS.
02/16/2010
KISS IS EVERYWHERE!
02/15/2010
Record receipt 1977
02/15/2010
KISS ON EXTREME MAKEOVER THIS SUNDAY
The KISS episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is scheduled to air this Sunday, February 21 at 8 pm (EST) .
In the spirit of the KISS Army, when the ABC hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" told legendary rockers KISS about a family of needy KISS fans in Gainesville, Florida, who started a home-based, non-profit music school while their own home is falling down around them, the band heeded the call and launched the offense during their Tulsa stop on their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour.
Tobin and Jill Wagstaff, a couple with four children, operate Studio Percussion, Inc., a school that currently serves about 200 people, half of which receive financial aid or a full scholarship. The non-profit school can only afford to pay Tobin, 29, a salary, so Jill, 32, must also work as a pre-school teacher to help pay the bills. Their utter devotion to their family, school, and community leaves little time and resources to tend to their home that is in dire need of repair. The floors and rooftops are completely rotting away and the electrical system throughout the house is faulty.
In just seven days, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team leader Ty Pennington, the design team, and the Gainesville community are rebuilding their home while the show sent the family on a surprise rock and roll vacation.The KISS episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is scheduled to air this Sunday, February 21 at 8 pm (EST) .
In the spirit of the KISS Army, when the ABC hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" told legendary rockers KISS about a family of needy KISS fans in Gainesville, Florida, who started a home-based, non-profit music school while their own home is falling down around them, the band heeded the call and launched the offense during their Tulsa stop on their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour.
Tobin and Jill Wagstaff, a couple with four children, operate Studio Percussion, Inc., a school that currently serves about 200 people, half of which receive financial aid or a full scholarship. The non-profit school can only afford to pay Tobin, 29, a salary, so Jill, 32, must also work as a pre-school teacher to help pay the bills. Their utter devotion to their family, school, and community leaves little time and resources to tend to their home that is in dire need of repair. The floors and rooftops are completely rotting away and the electrical system throughout the house is faulty.
In just seven days, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team leader Ty Pennington, the design team, and the Gainesville community are rebuilding their home while the show sent the family on a surprise rock and roll vacation.
The Wagstaff Family, who are huge KISS fans, flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet the band who played at the BOK Center in Tulsa on December 8 as part of their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour in support of Sonic Boom, their first album in 11 years.
The next morning KISS and The Wagstaff Family, on behalf of Gibson and Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a non-profit music group, met at the Wilson Middle School in Tulsa to present $100,000 in instruments from Gibson to the school as well as their own school back home in Florida. Some of the students at the school in Tulsa even donned the famous KISS make up to show their support.
In the spirit of the KISS Army, when the ABC hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" told legendary rockers KISS about a family of needy KISS fans in Gainesville, Florida, who started a home-based, non-profit music school while their own home is falling down around them, the band heeded the call and launched the offense during their Tulsa stop on their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour.
Tobin and Jill Wagstaff, a couple with four children, operate Studio Percussion, Inc., a school that currently serves about 200 people, half of which receive financial aid or a full scholarship. The non-profit school can only afford to pay Tobin, 29, a salary, so Jill, 32, must also work as a pre-school teacher to help pay the bills. Their utter devotion to their family, school, and community leaves little time and resources to tend to their home that is in dire need of repair. The floors and rooftops are completely rotting away and the electrical system throughout the house is faulty.
In just seven days, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team leader Ty Pennington, the design team, and the Gainesville community are rebuilding their home while the show sent the family on a surprise rock and roll vacation.The KISS episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is scheduled to air this Sunday, February 21 at 8 pm (EST) .
In the spirit of the KISS Army, when the ABC hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" told legendary rockers KISS about a family of needy KISS fans in Gainesville, Florida, who started a home-based, non-profit music school while their own home is falling down around them, the band heeded the call and launched the offense during their Tulsa stop on their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour.
Tobin and Jill Wagstaff, a couple with four children, operate Studio Percussion, Inc., a school that currently serves about 200 people, half of which receive financial aid or a full scholarship. The non-profit school can only afford to pay Tobin, 29, a salary, so Jill, 32, must also work as a pre-school teacher to help pay the bills. Their utter devotion to their family, school, and community leaves little time and resources to tend to their home that is in dire need of repair. The floors and rooftops are completely rotting away and the electrical system throughout the house is faulty.
In just seven days, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team leader Ty Pennington, the design team, and the Gainesville community are rebuilding their home while the show sent the family on a surprise rock and roll vacation.
The Wagstaff Family, who are huge KISS fans, flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet the band who played at the BOK Center in Tulsa on December 8 as part of their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour in support of Sonic Boom, their first album in 11 years.
The next morning KISS and The Wagstaff Family, on behalf of Gibson and Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a non-profit music group, met at the Wilson Middle School in Tulsa to present $100,000 in instruments from Gibson to the school as well as their own school back home in Florida. Some of the students at the school in Tulsa even donned the famous KISS make up to show their support.
