Kiss News

Check out these great ‪KISS‬ Tattoos spotted today at the Grand Opening Celebration of Rock & Brews in Buena Park.

The KISS Army Rocks!

KISS (Rock And Roll Hall of Fame), now celebrating its 40th anniversary, has earned more Gold Album Record Awards than any American band in the history of The Recording Industry Association of America�s (RIAA's) Gold & Platinum Awards certifications.  In the last 41 years, KISS has earned 30 Gold albums (26 KISS albums + 4 Solo Albums that were all released simultaneously -- a feat never before achieved by any band.) KISS has 14 Platinum albums, with three albums being multi-Platinum.

�Congratulations to KISS � the new Gold standard for albums by American bands,� said Cary Sherman, Chairman & CEO, RIAA.  �What an extraordinary achievement for an enduring band.  Forty years later and the band is still rocking.  Congratulations to KISS on their Gold album milestone and continued success."
 
KISS remains one of the most influential bands in the history of rock and roll.  Decades of record-breaking tours around the globe have included high-profile appearances at Super Bowl XXXIII, the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Rockin' The Corps concert dedicated to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, special guest appearance on the 2009 American Idol finale that boasted 30 million viewers and a 2010 Dr. Pepper Super Bowl commercial and advertising campaign in support of their Hottest Show On Earth tour. 
 
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, with longtime members guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, are stronger than ever with a legacy that continues to grow, generation after generation. Their last album, Monster, proved that they are still at the top of their game with impressive sales and topping the charts worldwide debuting at No. 3 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 best-selling albums chart and Top 10 in twenty other countries. The unparalleled devotion and loyalty of the KISS Army to the "Hottest Band in the World" is a striking testament to the band's unbreakable bond with its fans.
 
KISS is currently celebrating two other major milestones, their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April of 2014, as well as the band�s 40th Anniversary.  KISS 40, an album celebrating 40 years of Rock �N Roll is available now.
 

Anniversary brings tribute concert and events to site of 1975 history-making show

Ross Boissoneau / Northern Express

When your high school football team is wound too tight to meet expectations, there�s only one thing to do: invite the baddest band on the planet to town and hope they can loosen things up.

Forty years later, Cadillac is reliving the epic day Kiss visited their city. No, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and crew won�t be there � the band has gotten way too big and will be touring in Australia at the time � but Cadillac will have the next best thing: an afternoon concert by Kiss tribute band Mr. Speed, deemed the best of its kind by none other than Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer.

Profits from the Oct. 10 homecoming concert will benefit the Cadillac Viking Athletics Boosters and Cadillac Band Boosters. There will also be tours and showcases, including a display of the key to the city presented to Kiss back in �75, among other homecoming highlights. Mr. Speed will also kick off the homecoming dance for current Cadillac students.

So how did this all happen? Rewind to 1973, when the Cadillac Vikings football team went undefeated, ending the season 9-0 (before there were high school playoffs). The following year, the school and town expected great things, but the team was cracking under the pressure, losing its first two games.

Cadillac�s coaches decided to loosen things up with some radical rock �n� roll. Assistant football coach Jim Neff had just the thing.

�I said, �Dave [head coach Dave Brines], I�ve got just this perfect band. Kiss is an up and coming rock band. I think the kids will like them.��

The coaches began playing the music for the team before practice and games. �We�d get the record player from the library,� said Neff. For away games, the team would take a portable 8-track player on the bus.

The band�s bombastic music seemed to work, sparking the team to victory. The Vikings finished the year without another loss. Moreover, the Vikings gained some highprofile fans. Neff contacted the band�s management and one day the phone rang.

�I got a call from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley telling us how excited they were and said to keep them updated,� he said.

Neff did, and he wasn�t done there. The team continued to use the music in 1975 and then, noticing a vacancy on the band�s touring schedule when the group was in Michigan, Neff contacted Kiss management. Together, they hatched a plan.

�I said, �would it be possible for them to come up and sign some autographs?� Their manager said, �What if we come up and bring the whole show?� That�s how it came about.�

Cadillac attorney Bill Barnett was a junior that year and a member of the football team. He and another JV player had gone with Neff the year before to a Kiss concert in Flint.

�That concert changed my life. I got into music and became a rock �n� roll lover,� he said.

Barnett became a musician himself. He even performed the Kiss hit �Beth� with Mr. Speed during a previous showcase in Cadillac.

�I don�t know if I�ll be doing that this time around,� said Barnett.

It was also a turning point for Kiss. Just days after their show in Cadillac, the group released the album Alive!, culled from concerts in Detroit, Cleveland, Iowa and New Jersey, which captured the energy of their shows. The one-two punch of the publicity from the trip to Small Town USA and a supercharged live recording helped fuel the band becoming a household name and eventually being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Until that point, the group was just a costumed curiosity.

�We were all thinking they�d just be around for a couple years,� said Mike Moriarty.

Moriarty was a sophomore in 1975 and his brother Dan was a junior. The two were among the hundreds of students � and townspeople � who turned out Oct. 9 to welcome the band as conquering heroes. Both the band and onlookers, including the Moriarty brothers, were in complete Kiss makeup.

�I�d never heard of Kiss before the kids came home all painted up. I said, �What�s going on here? It�s a little early for Halloween,�� said Mike�s father, Dr. Tom Moriarty, with a laugh. �It was the talk of the town for the next week or so.�

Actually, the story has gone on much longer than that. It�s part of Kiss history and there are even videos on YouTube celebrating the event, complete with recollections by Neff, Brines, Simmons, Stanley and others.

Today, Neff says he still gets calls from Kiss fans around the world. With the 40th anniversary on tap, he�s parlaying that interest into the weekend event he hopes will make the story bigger than ever.

While that October 1975 concert was the only time the band played in the region, it wasn�t the only time scheduled. About a month after the Cadillac show, Kiss was set to perform in Traverse City at the Glacier Dome. Mike Moriarty and a friend went to the show, but Kiss never made it to the stage.

Halfway through the set by opening act Styx, the electricity went out. When it became apparent the show wouldn�t be happening, Moriarty told his buddy they�d better get out before the restless crowd got out of hand. Moriarty eventually did get to see the band again, on its 25th anniversary reunion tour at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

They weren�t the only ones who were disappointed. Neff was in the company of Simmons, Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss when the lights went out.

�I was backstage with them. Styx blew a transformer,� he said.

There are no such worries this time around. Mr. Speed performed in Cadillac without a hitch in 2009 and Neff expects nothing but a great time.

Neff said the 40th anniversary has caused a spike in interest, but it�s always been there. �Not a month goes by that I haven�t been contacted about it,� he said.

Mr. Speed performs at 2pm on Oct. 10 at Cadillac High School. All tickets are general admission, but VIP ticket packages ($50) allow advance admittance. For tickets and information visit KissCadillac.com or purchase at the Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau.

Lyndsey Parker / Yahoo Music

 When it comes to the members of stadium-rockers/blood-spitters/facepaint-slatherers/unabashed merch-peddlers KISS, the adjective �authentic� doesn�t immediately spring to mind. And most people probably wouldn�t peg anyone in KISS as an aficionado of the golden age of Motown and Philly soul. But KISS�s Paul Stanley was a changed man � a man unmasked, or a man with nothing to lose, if you will � when he debuted his labor-of-love, note-for-note R&B cover band at Los Angeles�s 500-capacity Roxy club Friday night� with KISS�s longtime drummer Eric Singer playing behind him, and Gene Simmons and Bruce Kulick observing from the audience.

Taking the stage in a simple suit jacket, vest, and jeans with his crack 10-piece ensemble, Paul Stanley�s Soul Station, the 63-year-old rock legend � a man usually known for his wildly mouthy rock �n� roll banter � spent much of his between-song stage time pining for the soulful music of his youth. �There was a time not too long ago when you�d turn on the radio and you�d hear songs written by real songwriters, sung by real singers, played by real musicians,� he sighed at the start of the show. �These songs mean a lot of us� These songs were built to last� These songs weren�t written with a computer!�

It all could have seemed like the grumblings of some grumpy old man, a sort of rock �n� roll Andy Rooney, if Stanley hadn�t been so damn cheerful � and so utterly earnest. This was not some novelty act or a lark. Stanley�s respect and love for this material was admirably evident, whether he was doling out history lessons on Gamble & Huff, Stax/Volt, and Holland-Dozier-Holland or, in an uncharacteristically ego-free moment, letting gifted backup singer Crystal Starr handle wailing lead vocals on the Jackson 5�s �I Want You Back� (one of the set�s highlights) while he held back and simply rattled a tambourine.

�We�ve got great, great singers. I would be nothing without these singers,� Stanley admitted, referring to Starr and her fellow dynamite backup belters, Ayana Layli and Nelson Beato. �This feels like family. This feels really special� I am so thrilled and so humbled to be making this music with these people.�

As for when Stanley took the lead on '60s and '70s soul classics like the Temptations� �Just My Imagination,� Smokey Robinson�s �Tracks of My Tears,� or Al Green�s �Let�s Stay Together,� his vocals were disappointingly low in the mix and sometimes drowned out by the more robust Starr/Layli/Beato. (Someone needed to crank up the volume on his old-fashioned chrome microphone!) However, his falsetto soul croon was still surprisingly legitimate. And the fact that Soul Station stayed faithful to the songs� original arrangements � no show-offy metal guitar licks, no fussy arena drum solos, nothing reminiscent of Stanley�s famous main band � proved how much this music means to him.

In fact, Stanley�s enthusiasm was so infectious � straight through to the encore of �O-o-h Child,� a song he said he picked because of its message of optimism and hope � that not a single KISS Army member in the intimate audience ever cried out for �Love Gun� or �Detroit Rock City.� The fans were as respectful of this music as their idol was, making for a sweet night of soul celebration.

The full setlist for Paul Stanley�s Soul Station show at the Roxy was:

�Get Ready� (The Temptations)

�La-La Means I Love You� (The Delfonics)

�Just My Imagination� (The Temptations)

�Ooo Baby Baby� (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)

�Sideshow� (Blue Magic)

�You Are Everything� (The Stylistics)

�Tracks of My Tears� (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)

�Let�s Stay Together� (Al Green)

�Betcha by Golly, Wow� (The Stylistics)

�The Way You Do the Things You Do� (The Temptations)

�I Want You Back� (The Jackson 5)

�Who�s That Lady?� (The Isley Brothers)

�O-o-h Child� (The Five Stairsteps)

�This Old Heart of Mine� (The Isley Brothers)

�Could It Be I�m Falling in Love� (The Spinners)

"These songs mean a lot to us," said KISS singer of vintage favorites by Temptations, Al Green and others

By STEVE APPLEFORD / ROLLING STONE

There were no fireworks or kabuki makeup, no lightning bolts or platform heels, but Paul Stanley of Kiss found some genuine emotional power in a set of classic Sixties and Seventies R&B Friday night at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. It was the first public performance of Paul Stanley's Soul Station, and it was clearly a labor of love for the singer, way outside his usual rock comfort zone of bombast and shouting out loud. The Starchild had come to share his true love of Motown and Philly soul.

The songs were ancient hits by Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, Al Green and the Isley Brothers, and the performances painstakingly re-created the original arrangements, with only occasional nods to Stanley's other gig. "We're paying respect, with reverence, to some of the great songs," Stanley said early in his 75-minute set, dressed in shades and a tuxedo jacket, swaying in cowboy boots of fire-engine red.

"There was a time not that long ago when you would turn on the radio and you'd hear songs written by real songwriters, songs sung by real singers, played by real musicians," he explained to the whistling, cheering crowd at the 500-capacity club on the Sunset Strip. "These songs mean a lot to us. They're beautiful songs. You could sway and touch the person next to you � you could also get punched in the face. I think you're going to like this."

He began with the Temptations' "Get Ready," singing in falsetto, as he would the entire set, reaching for high notes and subtlety that would be a challenge for almost anyone not named Smokey. His vocals could have been louder in the mix here, but Stanley found his own power and confidence as the set rolled on, blending elegantly with a trio of gifted backup singers: Nelson Beato, Ayana Layli and Crystal Starr.

Here's Paul Stanley's SOUL STATION performing The Spinners - "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" at their debut performance last night.

Let us all remember the innocent victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. 14 years ago, that carnage unified this country more than ever behind the principles of individual freedoms this country was founded on. We should stand united and pledge that those whose political or religious doctrine is based on the destruction of those who do not believe as they do, must fail and fall.