Kiss (band)
Kiss | |
|---|---|
| File:1kiss1998.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1973–-present |
| Members | Paul Stanley Gene Simmons Tommy Thayer Eric Singer |
KISS is an American glam rock/hard rock band formed in New York City in 1973. The group has performed and recorded continuously since their formation. Co-founders Gene Simmons (bass) and Paul Stanley (guitar) have been the two constant members throughout the band's history. KISS is known particularly for their use of face-paint, elaborate costumes, and over-the-top stage shows riddled with pyrotechnics.
Early years
KISS traces its roots to Wicked Lester, a New York-based rock and roll band led by co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Simmons (born Chaim Witz in Haifa, Israel on August 25, 1949) and Stanley (born Stanley Harvey Eisen in Queens, NY on January 20, 1952) fired the other members of Wicked Lester in 1972 after Epic Records rejected an album recorded by the group.
In late 1972, Simmons spotted an ad in “Rolling Stone” placed by Peter Criss, a drummer looking for an “original group doing soft & hard music.” Criss (born Peter Criscuola on December 20, 1945 in Brooklyn, NY) auditioned for and joined Wicked Lester, now a trio. In January 1973 the group added lead guitarist Paul “Ace” Frehley (born April 27, 1951 in Bronx, NY). That month, the Wicked Lester name was dropped and the band became KISS. Stanley is credited with coming up with the name while Frehley designed the original version of the now-famous KISS logo incorporating the Nazi SS insignia for shock value (even though the band was predominantly Jewish).
The first KISS performance was on January 30, 1973, for an audience of three at the Popcorn Club (renamed Coventry shortly afterwards) in Queens. In June of that year, the band recorded a five-song demo tape with producer Eddie Kramer, which eventually wound up in the hands of former teen pop singer and Buddah Records executive Neil Bogart.
After a handful of showcase concerts in the summer of 1973, former TV director Bill Aucoin offered to become the band’s manager. With the help of their new manager, Bill Aucoin, KISS became the first act signed to Bogart's new label, Emerald City Records (which was quickly renamed to Casablanca Records). The band entered Bell Sound Studios in New York City on October 10, 1973 to begin recording their first album. On December 31 the band had their official industry premier at the Academy of Music in New York City. It was at this concert that Simmons set his hair (coated in hairspray) ablaze while performing his inaugural firebreathing stunt.
KISS's first national tour started on February 5, 1974 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. The band’s self-titled debut album, KISS, was released on February 18. The cover showed the group in full makeup, with a style visually reminiscent of the Beatles' With the Beatles album. Peaking on the charts at #87, the album was a modest success and featured a group of songs that would become staples of the band’s live act - "Strutter," "Deuce," "Cold Gin," and "Black Diamond."
Casablanca and KISS promoted the album heavily throughout the spring and summer of 1974. On February 19, the band performed "Nothin' to Lose," "Firehouse" and "Black Diamond" for what would become their first national television appearance, on ABC's Dick Clark's In Concert (aired March 29). On April 29, the band performed "Firehouse" on The Mike Douglas Show, a broadcast which also included Gene Simmons' first televised interview.
The band flew to Los Angeles in August to begin recording their second album, Hotter Than Hell, which was released in on October 22, 1974. The only single, "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll," failed to chart and the album stalled at #100.
Success
In 1975, having achieved recognition, but no big hit single, Casablanca Records head Neil Bogart stepped in to produce their next album, trading in the live garage-band sound of Hotter Than Hell for the more crisply produced Dressed To Kill, released in March 1975. The album included two important songs in the group's career; "C'Mon And Love Me," their first big radio hit, and "Rock And Roll All Nite".
While Dressed To Kill sold better than the previous two KISS studio releases, it was still the excessive live performances for which KISS was known. Popular performance gimmicks were: Gene spitting "blood" (primarily yogurt and food coloring), Gene "breathing fire" (spitting flammable liquid at a torch), Ace soloing his guitar as it burst into flames (light and fog machine inside), Peter's elevating drum riser that emitted sparks, Paul's Who-style guitar smashing, and ostentatious pyrotechnics throughout. KISS attempted to express the excitement felt at such a show with their next album, delivered in September 1975, Alive!, primarily recorded in Detroit's Cobo Arena. The album would go on to achieve Quadruple Platinum status, and spawned KISS's first top 40 single, the live version of "Rock And Roll All Nite".
Following this success, KISS partnered with producer Bob Ezrin. The result was Destroyer (released March 1976), KISS' most commercially successful studio album, including the hits "Beth", "Flaming Youth" and "Shout It Out Loud." The cover, painted by renowned artist Ken Kelly (who also was commissioned for the Love Gun album artwork), has also been used on countless T-shirts, posters and other paraphenelia. Many of the songs from Destroyer remain KISS concert staples to this day.
In October 1976, KISS made an appearance on the The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, lip-synching "Detroit Rock City," "Beth" and "King of the Night Time World". For many teenagers, this was their first exposure to KISS's dramatic appearance. The show was co-produced by KISS manager Bill Aucoin. In addition to the three songs, KISS was the subject of a brief comedic "interview" conducted by Paul Lynde himself.
A 1977 Gallup poll named KISS the most popular band in America. In Japan, KISS broke attendance records previously held by The Beatles. KISS hysteria was in full effect. The group had two comic books released by Marvel, pinball machines, Mego dolls, "KISS Your Face Makeup" kits, Halloween masks, board games, and many other pieces of memorabilia. The group was never seen in public without wearing their makeup and their popularity was growing by leaps and bounds; the membership of the KISS Army, the band's fan club, was now in the six figures. Two more studio albums continued to fuel the KISS fire (November 1976's Rock and Roll Over and June 1977's smash hit Love Gun) before KISS released the sequel to Alive! in November 1977, titled Alive II which in addition to the three live sides contained a fourth side of new studio recordings. The first of many KISS greatest hits compilations, titled Double Platinum, was issued in April 1978 which included many remixed versions of their hits, non-hits, and "Strutter '78", a newly recorded version of the classic track from their first LP.
Going solo
KISS's popularity was at its peak, and nearly so were member tensions. In September 1978, all four members released solo albums simultaneously. Although all four records showcased the band members' very different musical influences (ranging from Criss' cover of Bobby Lewis' hit "Tossin and Turnin" to Simmons's eerily deadpan remake of "When You Wish Upon a Star" from the Walt Disney 1940 cartoon "Pinocchio"), Frehley's album was the most successful, spawning the only radio hit found on any of the records, Russ Ballard's composition "New York Groove", becoming a top 20 radio chart hit. Stanley's was said to be the most "Kiss-like" among the releases, and received more favorable reviews for that reason. Despite all of these albums making it into the Top 50 of the Billboard Album Chart, the massive preorder for these albums was soon followed by a just as enormous attempt to sell them back to the record company, followed by the subsequent discounting of these albums once sales had (very quickly) peaked. Kiss solo albums were the first Kiss albums to be seen in the "bargain bins" of many record stores of the time, and it was to be the first clear harbinger of KISS' waning popularity.
One month later, an NBC-TV movie produced by Hanna-Barbera hit the airwaves, titled KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. The film was proposed to the band as a cross between A Hard Day's Night and Star Wars, though the final results fell far short of these expectations. Reviews were dreadful, even though the movie was one of the highest-rated TV movies of the year, and saw theatrical release outside the U.S. in 1979, under the title Attack of the Phantoms. Later interviews with band members would have them talk about their movie making experience with a mix of humorous embarrassment and regret as to the finished product, which was reportedly filmed completely out of proper frame by the cinematographer, resulting in much of what was supposed to be on screen missing from the final product.
The first KISS album of new material in two years, Dynasty, released in May 1979, continued their streak of platinum albums. The album contained what would become the biggest single in the history of the band, the worldwide smash "I Was Made For Lovin' You." The song, which combined elements of the KISS sound with disco, was a top ten hit throughout the world (although stateside, it only managed number 11) and stands as the most covered KISS song ever. This album, as well as the follow-up Unmasked, were recorded using ghost drummer Anton Fig (later of the Late Night with David Letterman band) at the request of producer Vini Poncia, who felt Criss's drumming skills were not up to par with what he wanted. The only contribution made by Criss to the album was his track "Dirty Livin'". The tour for Dynasty in 1979 saw once sold-out arenas being replaced with half to three-fourths filled venues, and even a two night homecoming in July 1979 at New York's Madison Square Garden did not see the usual full houses, leaving the New York Daily News to wonder aloud if this was to be "The Last Monster Mash." Although audiences were for the most part enthusiastic as ever, reviews of these shows were mixed, with visible tensions within the band taking their toll on the quality of the music. However, it was hardly noticed by KISS's new fan base, very much younger than previous audiences had been, with many pre-adolescent children in KISS makeup with their mothers and fathers (sometimes wearing the makeup themselves!) in tow at most concerts. KISS did little to dissuade this new fan base, donning colorful costumes that reupped their comic-book image for these younger fans. But the problems and disagreements within the band persisted and worsened.
Drummer Peter Criss, not happy with the change in the group's fan base as well as wrestling with his own feelings about the band's current direction, (not to mention his increasing substance abuse issues), left the band shortly after the May 1980 release of Unmasked. Criss does appear illustrated on the cover and also made an appearance in the music video for the song "Shandi", but did not contribute in any way to the recording of the album. Despite a slick, contemporary pop sound, Unmasked had the dubious distinction of being the first KISS album since Dressed to Kill to fail to go platinum. The tour to support Unmasked never reached the United States (save for a one-off show at New York's now defunct Palladium Theatre to showcase their new drummer Eric Carr). KISS's 1980 tour of Australia was one of the biggest in the band's history, as they played to sold-out crowds and enjoyed enormous popularity amongst the fans there.
For their next album, the band approached producer Bob Ezrin for a concept album, November 1981's Music From "The Elder", their first album recorded with Carr. It failed to go gold, and couldn't climb past number 75 on the charts.
Reaction to The Elder was harsh. The album contained medieval horns, strings, harps, synthesizers, and Gregorian Chant-style vocalizing. The album was presented as a soundtrack to a film that didn't exist, making it difficult (if not impossible) to follow the storyline. Although the band presented a mystical, prog-rock sound on the LP, their appearance took on an incongruous "new wave" look, with short and spiky hairdos, and simplified black-spandex costumes.
Ace Frehley, who had balked at the creation of this album from the start, did not actively participate in the album's creation. He "mailed in" his only contributions, the songs "Escape From The Island", and "Dark Light". KISS rarely performed any of the music from this album in their subsequent concerts.
Four leftover songs from a planned "heavier" album were combined with classic KISS material from the 1970s for the June 1982 release KISS Killers, a compilation album released outside the United States. (The signature lightning bolt "S" designs were changed to standard "S" for this release to alleviate the criticism from Germany and its neighbors. This was the first and last time that the cover art was altered this way, although KISS had altered its onstage logo lights for some time in deference to this controversy.)
Kiss soon made major changes to its business dealings, severing ties with their manager of nine years, Bill Aucoin, and cutting back on their unwieldy organizational tree. By this time, however, Ace Frehley had already decided to leave the band, but Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley wished to keep up appearances by including him in the original cover art of their next album, although Frehley did not play a note on it. Similarly to Criss, Frehley does appear in the music video for the song "I Love It Loud," despite not having played on the track. This album was October 1982's superior Creatures of the Night, the hardest album the band had released up to that point. Guitarists that had been called in to replace Frehley included Steve Farris, Bob Kulick (brother of soon-to-be permanent member Bruce Kulick) and Vincent Cusano, who would soon be known as Vinnie Vincent. Featuring tracks (believe it or not) co-written by Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams and his writing partner Jim Vallance, Creatures of the Night fared better than Music From the Elder, yet it couldn't make it past number 45 on the charts. Unfortunately, the day after shooting the video for the song "I Love It Loud," Ace Frehley officially left the band and was replaced permanently by Vinnie Vincent in 1982 in time for the "10th Anniversary" tour. Vincent's hurriedly developed identity was that of an Egyptian ankh, although he would not need this persona for very long as it would turn out. While this tour didn't fare as well as others did in the United States, the band did go on to play for the largest crowds of their career, up to 137,000 fans in Brazil in June 1983. This series of shows would be the last KISS would perform in makeup until June 28, 1996.
Unmasking
Sensing it was time for a change, KISS shocked the music world by appearing without their makeup live on MTV. The publicity worked, as the September 1983 album Lick It Up became their first Gold record in four years. However, Vinnie Vincent was fired after Lick It Up and was replaced by Mark St. John. Animalize, released in September 1984, was just as successful, and the group had clearly recaptured their niche. "Heaven's on Fire" and "Thrills in the Night" became huge MTV hits, and the band continued to be a solid concert draw. St. John, however, was soon taken ill with Reiter's syndrome and left the band shortly into the 1984 Animalize tour. Bruce Kulick became KISS's new lead guitarist, and would remain with the group for the next 12 years.
For the rest of the 1980s, KISS turned out a series of best-selling albums (September 1985's Asylum, September 1987's Crazy Nights, the November 1988 compilation Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (which in addition to remixes of all of the selected tracks this compilation also featured Carr re-recording the lead vocal to "Beth," the signature song of his predecessor Criss), and the critically acclaimed November 1989 release Hot in the Shade), culminating in the early 1990 hit ballad "Forever," co-written by Michael Bolton, which was their biggest single since "I Was Made For Lovin' You."
However, during this makeup-free era, KISS found themselves struggling against the new guard of rock bands that sprouted up during the 1980s. Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, among others, outperformed KISS in terms of album and concert sales. For instance, Bon Jovi's 1986 Slippery When Wet and Guns N' Roses' 1987 Appetite For Destruction, have long since attained album sales over 10 million. KISS released Crazy Nights in 1987, attaining a comparatively modest one-times Platinum ranking. They remained a headlining act, but not often with the notoriety and success of the previously mentioned bands.
KISS was scheduled to record a new album with their old producer, Bob Ezrin, in 1990 when Eric Carr became severely ill with cancer. The drummer passed away on November 24, 1991 at the age of 41. Devastated, KISS continued and replaced him with former Black Sabbath drummer Eric Singer and recorded the highly praised Revenge (May 1992), their first album since 1989. The album was a Top Ten hit and went gold. KISS "tuned up" for a major tour with many small club dates throughout the United States, where they supported Revenge and were able to be seen in intimate settings for the first time since their inception. KISS followed Revenge with the release of Alive III, in May 1993. In June 1994, the band issued KISS My Ass, a compilation album featuring popular artists of the era putting their own spin on KISS classics. The result was an eclectic mix of sounds, ranging from Lenny Kravitz putting a funky stamp on "Deuce" (with Stevie Wonder on harmonica), a ska version of "Detroit Rock City" by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, to Garth Brooks' take on "Hard Luck Woman", with KISS themselves as his backup band. European copies of the album include a bonus track, Die Ärzte performing "Unholy" sung in German.
In 1995, the band embarked on a unique and well-received "Worldwide KISS Convention Tour." The conventions were all-day events, featuring displays of vintage KISS stage outfits, instruments, and memorabilia, performances by KISS cover bands, and of course featured dealers selling KISS merchandise from every stage of the band's career up to that time. Of most interest to attendees, KISS themselves appeared live and in person, conducting question and answer sessions, autograph signings, and a two-hour unplugged set comprised mostly of spontaneous fan requests. On the first U.S. date, June 17, 1995, former drummer Peter Criss appeared onstage with KISS to sing on "Hard Luck Woman" and on "Nothin' to Lose."
On August 9, 1995, KISS joined the long line of musicians to perform on MTV Unplugged. The band contacted former members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley and invited them to participate in the event. Both Peter and Ace joined KISS onstage for several songs at the end of the set. In the weeks following the Unplugged concert, the band returned to the studio for the first time in three years to record Carnival of Souls. The album was completed, but its release was delayed for two years.
Fan reaction to Criss and Frehley at the Unplugged show was so positive that, in 1996, the original lineup of KISS -- featuring Simmons, Stanley, Frehley, and Criss -- reunited to perform the "KISS Alive/Worldwide" tour, complete with their notorious makeup and special effects. This would be the first tour featuring all four original KISS members since 1979.
Reunion
The buzz surrounding the reunion of all four original band members started in typical grandiose KISS fashion. On February 28, 1996, the late Tupac Shakur introduced the original KISS - clad in full makeup and stage outfits - to a rousing ovation at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards. Two months later on April 16, the band held a press conference aboard the USS Intrepid in New York, where they announced their plans for world domination. The conference, emceed by Conan O'Brien, was simulcast to 58 countries. On June 28, the "KISS Alive/Worldwide" tour kicked off at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, in front of a sold-out crowd of 39,867 fans.
In September 1998 the reunited group issued Psycho Circus. Despite the appearance as the first album with the original lineup since 1977's Love Gun, once again the contributions of Frehley and Criss are minimal. While the images of Frehley and Criss are featured prominently on the album, most of the lead guitar work was later revealed to be performed by guitarists Tommy Thayer and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. Most drum duties were handled by session musician Kevin Valentine. The ensuing tour in support of Psycho Circus was a success, and the Psycho Circus album debuted in the top three of the Billboard Album chart. The album's title track nabbed a Grammy nomination. The tour itself was historic for being the first to ever incorporate 3-D visuals into a stage show. August 13, 1999 saw the nationwide premiere of a KISS-themed motion picture titled Detroit Rock City. The movie was set in 1978, focusing on four teenagers (featuring Edward Furlong) willing to do anything to score tickets for a sold-out KISS show in Detroit. The film's premiere was preceded two days earlier by KISS receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The quartet announced in the spring of 2000 that they would be launching a U.S. Farewell tour in the summer, which became one of the year's top concert draws.
But on the eve of a Japanese and Australian tour in early 2001, Peter Criss suddenly left the band once again, supposedly discontent with his salary. Taking his place was previous KISS drummer Eric Singer, who in a controversial move among longtime fans, donned Criss' cat-man makeup (since Simmons and Stanley own both Frehley and Criss' makeup designs, there was no threat of a lawsuit) as the farewell tour continued. With the band scheduled to call it a day supposedly by late 2001, a mammoth career-encompassing Box Set was set for later in the year, while the summer saw perhaps the most over-the-top piece of KISS merchandise yet -- the "KISS Kasket."
The group was relatively quiet through the rest of the year, but 2002 started with a bang as Gene Simmons turned in an entertaining and controversial interview on NPR where he criticized the organization and berated host Terry Gross with sexual comments and condescending answers. He was promoting his autobiography at the time, which also caused dissent in the KISS camp because of the inflammatory remarks made towards Ace Frehley. Frehley was quite angry at the situation, leading to his no-showing of an American Bandstand anniversary show.
New era
With KISS's Farewell Tour never reaching an official conclusion, the group launched a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith in 2003. The tour was a financial success (earning more than US$60 million in 2003). Peter Criss had rejoined the band earlier in the year, but Ace Frehley refused to continue playing with KISS. He was replaced by former Black N' Blue guitarist Tommy Thayer, who had previously assumed the Space Ace persona for the American Bandstand Anniversary show. Shortly after the arrival of Thayer, the band recorded Alive IV with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra while in Australia.
Simmons and Stanley did not renew Peter's contract when it expired in March 2004. Criss, on his website, claims he was told curtly by Paul on the phone that "the bands needs some new blood." Eric Singer took his place once again.
KISS toured with Poison in 2004 in what was billed as the "Rock the Nation 2004 World Tour." The tour ended in August with a show in Mexico City. In June 2004, Gene Simmons released Asshole, his first solo album since 1978. He can also be seen currently in the VH1 reality series "Gene Simmons Rock School" where Simmons plays a real life Jack Black from the School of Rock movie, taking British private middle school children and creating a rock band in the shape of his own image. Paul Stanley has been involved in the theatre in Toronto, Canada, where he had played the role of the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Phantom of the Opera" back in 1999, and is currently expected to release a solo album and embark on a supporting tour.
In December 2005 the band released Rock the Nation, a double-DVD documentary of the 2004 tour. Paul Stanley's increasing hip troubles are noticeable in the video: he rarely jumps or runs, and spends most of the show simply standing at his microphone. The set list is weighted toward songs that aren't often in their live repertoire: "Makin' Love", "She", "Tears are Falling", "Got to Choose", "Love her all I can", "I Want You", "War Machine", and in a bonus segment, the first commercially-released live electric version of "Going Blind". The live footage is interspersed with footage of dressing room makeup sessions, backstage rehearsals (including a partial run-through of "I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock and Roll", soundchecks, photo sessions, and even KISS going bowling.
The long-standing feuds between members and the abrupt shifts in style and lineup have frustrated and tested the group's core of fans, who still seemingly remain loyal. Gene Simmons, in his book Sex Money Kiss, states that KISS will continue to exist in one form or another in the future, even if that means without even Paul or himself.
Discography and filmography
| (1973-1980) | |
|---|---|
| (1980-1982) | |
| (1982-1983) | |
| (1984) | |
| (1984-1991) | |
| (1991-1996) | |
| (1996-2001) | |
| (2001) | |
| (2002-2003) | |
| (2004-present) |
Recommended reading
- KISS: Behind the Mask — David Leaf & Ken Sharp
- KISSTORY - Jeff Kitts
- KISS And Make-Up - Gene Simmons
- KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History - Curt Gooch & Jeff Suhs
- The KISS Album Focus - Julian Gill
- KISS: The Real Story - Peggy Tomarkin
- KISS and Sell - C. K. Lendt
- Black Diamond and Black Diamond 2 - Dale Sherman
- KISS The Early Years - Waring Abbott with Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley
Important KISS dates
External links
- kissonline.com Official Website
- KISS Asylum - unofficial news since 1995
- GeneSimmons.com
- TommyThayer.com
- Eric-Singer.com
- PeterCriss.net
- Snopes Urban Legend Page on KISS
- Snopes Urban Legend Page on Gene Simmons' Tongue
- KISSFAQ
- Kiss Lyrics
- http://graphikdesigns.free.fr/paul-stanley-guitars.html
- http://www.kissfreaks.com/images/fans/KISS2c.jpg
- KISShistory.net
