Dec 14

KISS

Greatly Appreciated

KISS
 
 
KISS  is an American hard rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.  Well known for its members’ face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970’s with their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics.  Counting the 1978 solo albums, KISS has been awarded 28 gold albums to date, the most of any American rock band.  The band has worldwide sales exceeds 100 million records, making them one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time.  Buoyed by a wave of KISS nostalgia in the 1990’s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup in 1996.  The resulting KISS Alive/Worldwide/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
The Raspberries released several albums in the early 1970’s and had a number of hits, particularly “Go All the Way”.  The band is remembered for their intelligent pop craftsmanship; and they are cited as influences by artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Stanley of KISS, Tom Petty, and Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses. 
 
(February 2010)
 
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The heavy metal band Angel was sort of the anti-KISS, dressing in all white for instance; they never made it big but had a strong following and released several albums.   
 
(October 2012)
 
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I should point out that I mostly collect the music, whereas other collectors might specialize in everything that has ever been issued by bands like the Beatles or KISS, or try to get the most valuable covers or hidden disc differences.  I have done some specializing myself now and then:  I have purchased dozens of Bob Dylan bootleg albums plus nearly all of his regular releases; and several years ago, I was buying up every Linda Ronstadt compilation album I could find, even though I already had virtually all of the music.  
 
(November 2012)
 
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For me, most heavy metal bands sound pretty much the same; I say that not with any sort of snooty, snobby air at all but instead with a wistful sort of desire – had I been 13 or 14 years old when heavy metal was at its peak, I would have lapped it up like manna.  As it is, I was well into high school when the earliest heavy metal albums like the first albums by Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple came out; and I had already graduated from college when the first KISS album was released.  I like a lot of the best heavy metal – Led Zep is so good that I hardly even think of them as a heavy metal band.  I played that first KISS live album, Alive! a lot when it first came out for instance, and Shades of Deep Purple has been a long-time favorite.  I might have had a completely different sensibility about me had I grown up a few years later. 
 
(December 2012)
 
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After releasing their second album Queens of Noise, the Runaways toured Japan in 1977 and attracted Beatlemania-level attention according to Joan Jett – their popularity in Japan among foreign bands trailed only ABBA, KISS and Led Zeppelin.  Their third album, Live in Japan documented their experiences there. 

 

(November 2013)

 

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In 1982, the Plasmatics toured as the opening act for KISS; at the conclusion of the tour, the band’s relationship with Capitol Records was frayed to the breaking point, so KISS frontman Gene Simmons approached Wendy O. Williams and Rod Swenson about recording their next album without the Plasmatics name.  The result was released as a solo album by Wendy O. Williams called W.O.W. (1984) – with the album’s name taken from Williams’ initials – though the band’s website says that W.O.W. is still regarded as a Plasmatics album.  Three members of KISS played on the album, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, with the latter credited as Reginald Van Helsing; Simmons also produced the album.  

 

(December 2013)

 

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The life of a rock band is analogous to people’s experiences with going to college.  Sometimes you don’t get out of the first semester, other times the thing dies away after a couple of years.  The average life of a successful rock band is probably the four or five years that it takes to get a degree.  And occasionally, one is able to, ahem, stay in academia for a lifetime – witness the Rolling Stones, Golden Earring, and KISS. 

 

(April 2014)

 

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In 1991, KISS remade “God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll to You” under the name “God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll to You II” for the soundtrack for the film, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.  KISS has never done anything Satanic as far as I know, although there was a rumor that their initials stand for “Knights in Satan’s Service”.  Also the S’s in the band’s logo are in the style of the Nazi SS; since they have been forbidden to be displayed in Germany since 1979, KISS’s promotional material and albums in that country have been adjusted appropriately. 

 

(November 2014)

 

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Disc Two is a concert on New Years Eve 1973 at the Academy of Music in New York City.  Also on the bill that night, according to the liner notes, are “KISS (supposedly their first gig), Teenage Lust, and Blue Öyster Cult.”  While the concert was professionally recorded by Columbia Records, this tape was made by someone in the audience, though the liner notes say:  “Although in the world of Stooges live tapes, this is certainly among the best.”  The concert is notable for including several comparatively rare post-Raw Power songs – “Rich Bitch”, “Wet My Bed”, “I Got Nothing”, and “Cock in My Pocket”.  It should be noted that all of the songs on Disc Two of Double Danger also appear on Disc One. 

 

(December 2017)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021