By Liz Raftery/People.com
FacebookTweetYou can't always believe what you see on reality TV. Case in point: KISS bassist Gene Simmons finally proposed to longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed.
Turns out, the proposal scene in Tuesday night's finale of A&E's reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels was taped "several months ago," a source confirmed, and it's been a rocky road for the pair ever since.
Simmons, 61, and Tweed, 54, were vacationing in Belize when he proclaimed, "you're the only friend I've got. You're the only one I love ... and you're the only one I ever will love," before getting down on one knee.
It remains to be seen whether Tweed will be saying "I do" and sticking with it. She did, however, tell PEOPLE in a recent interview that she had moved out of their home and that there was a "slim chance" of them getting back together. "You're seeing this happy family," Tweed said, "but in my heart, I am dying."
The couple, who once described themselves as happily unmarried, have been together for 28 years and have two grown children Nick, 22, and Sophie, 18.
This season of Family Jewels has documented their troubles and family therapy sessions stemming from Simmons's claim that he has slept with thousands of women. Last month, during a promotional tour, Tweed slammed Simmons for his infidelities and said their relationship had "pretty much unraveled."
"I need some sort of commitment," Tweed told PEOPLE, reiterating that their relationship is over if Simmons's behavior continues. "Something has to give."
On Monday, Tweed Tweeted that the proposal was "the most shocking moment" of her life.
KISS MASK WEBZINE Celebrates 40 Years of KISS. Est. 1987
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' Finale Ratings Winner
According to A&E, the sixth season finale of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels was a ratings smash with 3 million viewers tuning in to watching Gene proposing to Shannon in the cliffhanger. But you won't have to wait too long.
New episodes of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels will return on Tuesday, September 6 at 10pm (EST) on A&E where we will find out Shannon's answer.
New episodes of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels will return on Tuesday, September 6 at 10pm (EST) on A&E where we will find out Shannon's answer.
Ace Frehley Schedules "No Regrets" Book Signing Appearence
According to publishers Simon & Schuster, Ace will be appearing at Barnes & Noble in New York City (555 5th Avenue at 46th Street) for a book signing on November 3 at noon.
Paul Stanley to Headline Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp at Playboy Mansion
Rock ‘n' Roll Fantasy Camp Announces Paul Stanley of KISS at the Playboy Mansion/Celebrate Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp's 14th Anniversary with over 20 Rockers
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 28, 2011
It's a double fantasy as Rock ‘n' Roll Fantasy Camp (http://www.rockcamp.com/ ), the ultimate music-making experience that brings people together with their inner rock star, is back with a new star-studded destination camp. From November 10-13, fantasy meets fantasy when Paul Stanley, the co-founder and front man of rock's most iconic band KISS, is the headliner for a special Hollywood camp at the legendary Playboy Mansion in Hollywood, CA. Also joining this camp will be Nils Lofgren, legendary guitarist for Neil Young and member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, Lita Ford and 20 other rockers.
In addition, season two of Rock ‘n' Roll Fantasy Camp, the reality TV show produced by Mark Burnett and David Fishof, will begin airing on August 20, 2011 for five weeks — but this is no ordinary reality TV show. Rock ‘n' Roll Fantasy Camp is a real camp where musicians of all ages and skill levels jam, write, record and perform live on stage at a major concert venue with iconic rock stars.
“It's a great thing, it's a way for me to say thank you to a lot of people, but, nobody should think that this is just a joy for those people, and that they're getting the thrill,” said Stanley, rock icon and, for 35 years, the unmistakable voice of the kings of bombast, KISS. “For me to get up and play with people who have that exuberance and energy, it's really a gift to me as much as to anybody else.”
Read more: http://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/11/07/p1810576/rock-n-roll-fantasy-camp-announces-paul-stanley-of-kiss-at-the-playboy-#ixzz1TOoxqDhO
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 28, 2011
It's a double fantasy as Rock ‘n' Roll Fantasy Camp (http://www.rockcamp.com/ ), the ultimate music-making experience that brings people together with their inner rock star, is back with a new star-studded destination camp. From November 10-13, fantasy meets fantasy when Paul Stanley, the co-founder and front man of rock's most iconic band KISS, is the headliner for a special Hollywood camp at the legendary Playboy Mansion in Hollywood, CA. Also joining this camp will be Nils Lofgren, legendary guitarist for Neil Young and member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, Lita Ford and 20 other rockers.
In addition, season two of Rock ‘n' Roll Fantasy Camp, the reality TV show produced by Mark Burnett and David Fishof, will begin airing on August 20, 2011 for five weeks — but this is no ordinary reality TV show. Rock ‘n' Roll Fantasy Camp is a real camp where musicians of all ages and skill levels jam, write, record and perform live on stage at a major concert venue with iconic rock stars.
“It's a great thing, it's a way for me to say thank you to a lot of people, but, nobody should think that this is just a joy for those people, and that they're getting the thrill,” said Stanley, rock icon and, for 35 years, the unmistakable voice of the kings of bombast, KISS. “For me to get up and play with people who have that exuberance and energy, it's really a gift to me as much as to anybody else.”
Read more: http://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/11/07/p1810576/rock-n-roll-fantasy-camp-announces-paul-stanley-of-kiss-at-the-playboy-#ixzz1TOoxqDhO
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
KISStory: KISS Performs as a Trio July 27, 2007
KISS PERFORMS AS A TRIO - JULY 27, 2007
Kissonline.com
During the soundcheck for KISS' Soboba show in San Jacinto, Paul Stanley experienced a cardiac event that required medical intervention. Paramedics treated Paul and advised that he would be putting his life at risk if he performed during the show. Paul insisted that Gene, Tommy and Eric carry on and perform the show without him. "Don't let the fans down!"
KISS Manager Doc McGhee took the stage to announce to the crowd that Paul was unable to perform but that Gene wanted to speak with the fans. Gene then took the stage, asking the audience if they wanted the rest of the band to perform. The crowd cheered, and the show went on.
Gene announced that the concert was a tribute to "the greatest voice in Rock and Roll - Rock God Paul Stanley!" With Paul en route to the hospital - Gene, Tommy and Eric played a 14-song set, even inviting fans onstage to help sing "Christine Sixteen." It was the last stop on KISS' "Hit and Run" tour that became an extraordinary chapter in KISStory.
Paul's message to fans, posted the next day:
During sound check yesterday, my heart spontaneously jumped to 190 plus beats per minute where it stayed for over an hour necessitating paramedics to start an IV and give me a shot to momentarily stop my heart and get it into a normal pattern. Not knowing if this episode was life threatening made it even more exhausting. After consulting with both the paramedics and a cardiologist at Cedar Sinai, they confirmed my worst fear. They said that I would put myself at risk if I tried to do the show.
I'm very proud of Gene, Tommy and Eric for carrying on without me. I apologize to anyone I disappointed and I'll make it up to you when I see you again.
- Paul
Kissonline.com
During the soundcheck for KISS' Soboba show in San Jacinto, Paul Stanley experienced a cardiac event that required medical intervention. Paramedics treated Paul and advised that he would be putting his life at risk if he performed during the show. Paul insisted that Gene, Tommy and Eric carry on and perform the show without him. "Don't let the fans down!"
KISS Manager Doc McGhee took the stage to announce to the crowd that Paul was unable to perform but that Gene wanted to speak with the fans. Gene then took the stage, asking the audience if they wanted the rest of the band to perform. The crowd cheered, and the show went on.
Gene announced that the concert was a tribute to "the greatest voice in Rock and Roll - Rock God Paul Stanley!" With Paul en route to the hospital - Gene, Tommy and Eric played a 14-song set, even inviting fans onstage to help sing "Christine Sixteen." It was the last stop on KISS' "Hit and Run" tour that became an extraordinary chapter in KISStory.
Paul's message to fans, posted the next day:
During sound check yesterday, my heart spontaneously jumped to 190 plus beats per minute where it stayed for over an hour necessitating paramedics to start an IV and give me a shot to momentarily stop my heart and get it into a normal pattern. Not knowing if this episode was life threatening made it even more exhausting. After consulting with both the paramedics and a cardiologist at Cedar Sinai, they confirmed my worst fear. They said that I would put myself at risk if I tried to do the show.
I'm very proud of Gene, Tommy and Eric for carrying on without me. I apologize to anyone I disappointed and I'll make it up to you when I see you again.
- Paul
Kiss at Casino Rama
Posted by Chris Alexander Jul 27, 2011/Fangoria.com
As many Fango readers know already, your editor is indeed a card-carrying member of the Kiss army (literally; the card is in my wallet, in front of my driver’s license). I have been a serious fan since I was a little boy, borrowing Kiss records from the library, eventually saving up my allowance to get my first slab of vinyl—which was, oddly, THE ELDER (because of this, I still have warm ties to that controversial, commercially DOA 1981 rock opera…in fact, it might be my favorite in the catalog).
I bought as much Kiss krap as I could find—I had posters, flags, hats, shirts. I would draw pictures of Gene Simmons (as I’ve said before, especially in the cover feature in FANGORIA #298, Simmons’ Demon persona was my first monster) and wished I was Paul Stanley. I loved the mythical otherworldliness of the band—the visual aesthetics which were part garish, full-color, sexed-up Hammer horror movie and part Barnum & Bailey circus. I loved the music, which was screechy, fast, dirty, sometimes epic (THE ELDER, again), anthemic and full of a kind of lunatic energy. Coupled with a love of monsters, comic books and science fiction, this love for Kiss would put me on the path—for better or worse—that I’m on today, and—especially considering I’ve since passed all this passion on to my kids—I cannot see this enthusiasm ever ebbing.
So perhaps I’m biased when reporting on a Kiss concert. Blinded a bit by love. But who cares? Here I sit in a hotel room in Ontario’s Casino Rama, a monolithic entertainment center two hours outside of Toronto in the semi-rural community of Orillia, the day after watching Gene and Paul and succeeding Catman Eric Singer and Spaceman Tommy Thayer blow shit up. The Rama stop is part of Kiss’ relatively brief “Lost Cities” tour, which sees the band hitting off-the-beaten-path arenas across Canada and the U.S. for what is, in essence, likely a warmup for a bigger tour that will launch later in support of their impending new studio album, a follow-up to 2009’s ultrasuccessful SONIC BOOM.
Casino Rama looks like a kind of First Nations spaceship; it’s angular, labyrinthine and larger than life. This is the second time I’ve seen the band rock this unusual venue, and it’s such a strange place to see them, really. And I mean that in a good way. You drop into any big-city arena to see Kiss and it’s what it’s supposed to be, a deluxe rock-and-roll show. Here at Rama, as you step away from the clinking carnival hypnotism of money-sucking electric bandits and step into the compact 5,000 seat-auditorium, it feels like you’re literally on another planet, completely self-contained and somewhat surreal.
After a brief backstage visit and getting a photo snapped with the band, myself, my wife Carrie and Fango writer Kelly Stewart trickled inside to see the sold-out show—my fourth in two years, I might add—and when the Kiss curtain dropped and that drone began and that scream came over the PA: “Allllllll righhhhht Casino Rama…yoooooou wanted the best! Youuuuuu got the best! The hottest band in the world, Kiss!”—as it always does—I felt like that 8-year-old kid again. Coming days after the headline horrors of senseless mass murder in Norway, and the endless assorted ills that choke us daily, this was certainly the balm needed to distract.
And that’s the real beauty of Kiss. Whether you adore their shtick or abhor it, Kiss exists to do one thing: entertain. After owning the planet in the mid-1970s, enduring internal turmoil, lineup changes, revolving trends in commercial hard rock, unmasking, breakups, putting the makeup back on and then more internal turmoil, the band as it stands now is a tight, taut, well-oiled machine designed to tear you apart. Someone said to me once that before you die, you have to see two things: the Grand Canyon and a Kiss show. And it’s true.
Read the rest here at Fangoria
As many Fango readers know already, your editor is indeed a card-carrying member of the Kiss army (literally; the card is in my wallet, in front of my driver’s license). I have been a serious fan since I was a little boy, borrowing Kiss records from the library, eventually saving up my allowance to get my first slab of vinyl—which was, oddly, THE ELDER (because of this, I still have warm ties to that controversial, commercially DOA 1981 rock opera…in fact, it might be my favorite in the catalog).
I bought as much Kiss krap as I could find—I had posters, flags, hats, shirts. I would draw pictures of Gene Simmons (as I’ve said before, especially in the cover feature in FANGORIA #298, Simmons’ Demon persona was my first monster) and wished I was Paul Stanley. I loved the mythical otherworldliness of the band—the visual aesthetics which were part garish, full-color, sexed-up Hammer horror movie and part Barnum & Bailey circus. I loved the music, which was screechy, fast, dirty, sometimes epic (THE ELDER, again), anthemic and full of a kind of lunatic energy. Coupled with a love of monsters, comic books and science fiction, this love for Kiss would put me on the path—for better or worse—that I’m on today, and—especially considering I’ve since passed all this passion on to my kids—I cannot see this enthusiasm ever ebbing.
So perhaps I’m biased when reporting on a Kiss concert. Blinded a bit by love. But who cares? Here I sit in a hotel room in Ontario’s Casino Rama, a monolithic entertainment center two hours outside of Toronto in the semi-rural community of Orillia, the day after watching Gene and Paul and succeeding Catman Eric Singer and Spaceman Tommy Thayer blow shit up. The Rama stop is part of Kiss’ relatively brief “Lost Cities” tour, which sees the band hitting off-the-beaten-path arenas across Canada and the U.S. for what is, in essence, likely a warmup for a bigger tour that will launch later in support of their impending new studio album, a follow-up to 2009’s ultrasuccessful SONIC BOOM.
Casino Rama looks like a kind of First Nations spaceship; it’s angular, labyrinthine and larger than life. This is the second time I’ve seen the band rock this unusual venue, and it’s such a strange place to see them, really. And I mean that in a good way. You drop into any big-city arena to see Kiss and it’s what it’s supposed to be, a deluxe rock-and-roll show. Here at Rama, as you step away from the clinking carnival hypnotism of money-sucking electric bandits and step into the compact 5,000 seat-auditorium, it feels like you’re literally on another planet, completely self-contained and somewhat surreal.
After a brief backstage visit and getting a photo snapped with the band, myself, my wife Carrie and Fango writer Kelly Stewart trickled inside to see the sold-out show—my fourth in two years, I might add—and when the Kiss curtain dropped and that drone began and that scream came over the PA: “Allllllll righhhhht Casino Rama…yoooooou wanted the best! Youuuuuu got the best! The hottest band in the world, Kiss!”—as it always does—I felt like that 8-year-old kid again. Coming days after the headline horrors of senseless mass murder in Norway, and the endless assorted ills that choke us daily, this was certainly the balm needed to distract.
And that’s the real beauty of Kiss. Whether you adore their shtick or abhor it, Kiss exists to do one thing: entertain. After owning the planet in the mid-1970s, enduring internal turmoil, lineup changes, revolving trends in commercial hard rock, unmasking, breakups, putting the makeup back on and then more internal turmoil, the band as it stands now is a tight, taut, well-oiled machine designed to tear you apart. Someone said to me once that before you die, you have to see two things: the Grand Canyon and a Kiss show. And it’s true.
Read the rest here at Fangoria
Will Shannon Tweed say 'Yes' to Gene Simmons' Proposal?
GSFJ:BELIZE IT OR NOT
In the sixth season finale of GENE SIMMONS FAMLY JEWELS (which aired last night on A&E), Gene proposed to Shannon Tweed during their trip to Belize this past May. Gene who has stated that he would NEVER marry has finally poped the question.
Will Shannon say yes? We seem to think the answer is obvious. But, we'll have to wait and see!
**Click http://bcove.me/gsluilgq at A&E TV to view the entire episode last night.
In the sixth season finale of GENE SIMMONS FAMLY JEWELS (which aired last night on A&E), Gene proposed to Shannon Tweed during their trip to Belize this past May. Gene who has stated that he would NEVER marry has finally poped the question.
Will Shannon say yes? We seem to think the answer is obvious. But, we'll have to wait and see!
**Click http://bcove.me/gsluilgq at A&E TV to view the entire episode last night.
ACE FREHLEY "No Regrets" Release Date & Cover Revealed
Ace Frehley is known worldwide as the legendary original lead guitarist for the seminal rock band KISS and respected as a solo artist who has influenced generations of guitar players. KISS is known for its wild make-up, spectacular costumes, and theatrical live shows (not to mention their music)! Frehley will delve into his life as a kid growing up in the Bronx, his ups-and-downs and influences which catapulted him into a life of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, and reveal what is was like to be one of the founding members of one of the most influential bands in the world.
In its nearly four-decade existence, KISS has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, ranking among the top-selling rock-and-roll bands of all time. The KISS Army remains vast and devoted, buying merchandise and concert tickets at sellout shows that continue around the globe. Now, Ace Frehley, long regarded as the most approachable and likeable member of the band, opens up about his unbelievable exploits as one of the founding members of KISS.
It all started in January of 1973, when this self-taught musician and Bronx native spotted an advertisement in the Village Voice posted by Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Gene Simmons: "Guitarist wanted with flash and balls." Frehley, figuring he had both, answered the ad, and the rest was history.
Within a few years, KISS was playing spectacular live shows to sold-out stadiums all over the world, decked out in their iconic costumes and makeup. The band was raking in millions of dollars on tours, albums, and merchandise, and the rabid KISS Army numbered in the six figures. Frehley, known as "The Spaceman," had transformed from a scrappy, music-obsessed kid to one of the most famous and revered guitarists of his era, hailed by critics and adored by fans. No Regrets goes behind the make-up, the money, the women, and the partying. Frehley recounts his battles with drug addiction and his brushes with death, sets the record straight about his complicated relationships with Simmons and Paul Stanley, and describes his evolution as a musician -- all with his characteristic humor and honesty. Without a doubt, No Regrets is a must-have for every KISS fan.
Ace Frehley said "I think Sinatra said it best...'regrets I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.'"
Jennifer Bergstrom, Vice President, Editor-in-Chief of Gallery Books, said "NO REGRETS is sure to be the next must-read rock-and-roll memoir."
KISS Live at Casino Rama, Ontario
KISS live at Casino Rama in Orilla, Ontario. Fan filmed video of the entire stage. The band plays their second to their last show of the Lost Cities Tour 2011 tonight at the Colosseum at Caesars in Windsor, Ontario.
DETROIT ROCK CITY
DETROIT ROCK CITY
Ace Frehley Live Dates, Book & Merchandise News
ACE FREHLEY DATES & MERCHANDISE OFFERS:
August 12, 2011: Park City, UT, London School of Guitar (Note: GuitarWorkshop)
August 13, 2011: Three Forks, MT, Rockin' the Rivers Festival
August 17, 2011: Hamburg, NY, Erie County Fair
August 27, 2011: Auburn, MI, DET Energy Center (with Alice Cooper)
December 3, 2011: Pontins Prestatyn, North Wales Hard Rock Hell Festival
Ace's book, NO REGRETS, will be released on November 1, 2011
Amazon is taking pre-orders HERE for $15.95
Ace Merchandise Discounts:
GET THE GREATEST & LATEST FROM ACE FOR ONLY $15!
Both the Anomaly CD and the Behind The Player DVD together for only $15!
http://acefrehleycd-dvd.viinyl.com/
There is also more merchandise here:
https://tinmanmerchandising.com/AceFrehley/
and
http://www.acefrehley.com/store/
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
KISS Live in Montreal
Fan filmed video of KISS at Montreal's MTL Festival July 24, 2011. KISS played before 50,000 fans.
LICK IT UP
I LOVE IT LOUD
LICK IT UP
I LOVE IT LOUD
KISS army ready to invade Rama
Guitarist Tommy Thayer says there's no end in sight for the Kiss phenomenon.
By JIM BARBER, QMI Agency
For nearly 40 years, Kiss has been one of the planet's most recognizable, popular and successful rock bands.
And it seems like that isn't going to be ending any time soon.
For the past three years, the band has performed more than 250 shows, in three dozen nations around the world, to an audience that is arguably getting younger and younger.
As part of a short mid-summer tour, Kiss, comprising original members Gene Simmons, 61, and Paul Stanley, 59, along with longtime drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer, will be shaking the foundations of Casino Rama outside Orillia, on Tuesday and then take to the stage at Caesar's Windsor the following evening.
Thayer, who has been working with the band in a background capacity since the early 1990s, and joined the band as a full-fledged member in 2002, told QMI Agency about what a ride it's been for the veteran rockers over the past number of years.
"It's been a whirlwind, and it keeps going because it's been going so well that we keep on adding shows here and there. This run we're on now is only about five or six weeks, but a lot of the shows are up in Canada, which has always been one of the greatest places for us to play. Some of the biggest turnouts, almost ever, have been at some of our Canadian shows. There's a lot of great fans there," Thayer said from Los Angeles, where the band had taken a short break from touring to do some work on their next album.
The band's previous album, Sonic Boom, was the first studio album for Kiss in more than a decade, and the first with Thayer.
It was a smash hit, in an era when record sales have been in decline thanks to the advent of downloading. On the strength of the singles Modern Day Deliliah and Say Yeah, the Sonic Boom world tour has, essentially never stopped. Thayer said all of the band members, but particularly stalwarts Simmons and Stanley, were very pleased with the album, and were heartened by the critical acclaim it received, as well as the overwhelming fan support.
Like their as-yet-untitled forthcoming album, Sonic Boom was recorded 'old-school', much like Kiss' first three albums — Kiss, Hotter than Hell and Dressed to Kill — in the early 1970s.
"We were super proud of how we wrote and recorded that album, and the way it sounded. From top to bottom, we were 100% happy with how it turned out. The whole design of it was something that we were going to do just between the four band members. We did all the writing and recording, we didn't get influenced, or have outside input on song selections or anything like that. We did it almost like a new band starting up would," Thayer explained.
"It reminded me of that feeling of going back to when you first got into a band, where you're in your garage or someone's basement, and you're writing songs and recording them. There was no real agenda with Sonic Boom. We wanted to keep it simple, and not over-think it."
Thayer said eight songs have been recorded for the new album, and there are still four or five more to go.
"This new record has the same approach, but I think we've even upped the ante as far as the writing, and I think we're just more comfortable now. We're coming up with even cooler ideas. And even the recording process is kind of a throwback. In the studio, everybody is playing together, it's not just building tracks up one instrument at a time. We all played together, and we recorded on analog tape ... to get the real straight-ahead rock sound," he said.
Read the rest here with TOMMY THAYER
By JIM BARBER, QMI Agency
For nearly 40 years, Kiss has been one of the planet's most recognizable, popular and successful rock bands.
And it seems like that isn't going to be ending any time soon.
For the past three years, the band has performed more than 250 shows, in three dozen nations around the world, to an audience that is arguably getting younger and younger.
As part of a short mid-summer tour, Kiss, comprising original members Gene Simmons, 61, and Paul Stanley, 59, along with longtime drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer, will be shaking the foundations of Casino Rama outside Orillia, on Tuesday and then take to the stage at Caesar's Windsor the following evening.
Thayer, who has been working with the band in a background capacity since the early 1990s, and joined the band as a full-fledged member in 2002, told QMI Agency about what a ride it's been for the veteran rockers over the past number of years.
"It's been a whirlwind, and it keeps going because it's been going so well that we keep on adding shows here and there. This run we're on now is only about five or six weeks, but a lot of the shows are up in Canada, which has always been one of the greatest places for us to play. Some of the biggest turnouts, almost ever, have been at some of our Canadian shows. There's a lot of great fans there," Thayer said from Los Angeles, where the band had taken a short break from touring to do some work on their next album.
The band's previous album, Sonic Boom, was the first studio album for Kiss in more than a decade, and the first with Thayer.
It was a smash hit, in an era when record sales have been in decline thanks to the advent of downloading. On the strength of the singles Modern Day Deliliah and Say Yeah, the Sonic Boom world tour has, essentially never stopped. Thayer said all of the band members, but particularly stalwarts Simmons and Stanley, were very pleased with the album, and were heartened by the critical acclaim it received, as well as the overwhelming fan support.
Like their as-yet-untitled forthcoming album, Sonic Boom was recorded 'old-school', much like Kiss' first three albums — Kiss, Hotter than Hell and Dressed to Kill — in the early 1970s.
"We were super proud of how we wrote and recorded that album, and the way it sounded. From top to bottom, we were 100% happy with how it turned out. The whole design of it was something that we were going to do just between the four band members. We did all the writing and recording, we didn't get influenced, or have outside input on song selections or anything like that. We did it almost like a new band starting up would," Thayer explained.
"It reminded me of that feeling of going back to when you first got into a band, where you're in your garage or someone's basement, and you're writing songs and recording them. There was no real agenda with Sonic Boom. We wanted to keep it simple, and not over-think it."
Thayer said eight songs have been recorded for the new album, and there are still four or five more to go.
"This new record has the same approach, but I think we've even upped the ante as far as the writing, and I think we're just more comfortable now. We're coming up with even cooler ideas. And even the recording process is kind of a throwback. In the studio, everybody is playing together, it's not just building tracks up one instrument at a time. We all played together, and we recorded on analog tape ... to get the real straight-ahead rock sound," he said.
Read the rest here with TOMMY THAYER
Monday, July 25, 2011
KISStory: Reunited KISS Rock the Garden 1996!
It's hard to believe it's been 15 years since a reunited Gene, Ace, Peter and Paul played the first of 4 sold-out nights at New York's Madison Square Garden in grand homecoming fashion. The ALIVE/WORLDWIDE TOUR hit New York on July 25 (Thursday), 26 (Friday), 27 (Saturday) and 28 (Sunday), 1996. All four shows sold-out in a matter of minutes. The show's promoter Ron Delsener stated the ticket demand was so great, Kiss could have sold-out 7 shows but the venue was not available. Special tee-shirts were made for the MSG shows featuring the LOVE GUN artwork on the front with the New York City skyline with the dates and the caption, "I WAS THERE!" on the back. The ALIVE/WORLDWIDE Tour was the highest grossing tour of 1996 of 37 million dollars. The four New York shows attracted a total of 58,802 raging Kiss fans.
DEUCE
STRUTTER
BLACK DIAMOND
DEUCE
STRUTTER
BLACK DIAMOND
Paul Stanley to appear at Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp
antimusic.com
Vh1 announced that "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp" Season Two will feature camp councilors Duff Mckagan, Matt Sorum and Mark Hudson plus special guests Paul Stanley of KISS, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Marky Ramone of The Ramones.
The second season of the show is set to premiere Saturday, August 20 at 10 PM ET/PT. Here is the synopsis:
VH1 Classic and executive producer Mark Burnett are bringing back a new group of 'average Joes' for their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put their music skills to the ultimate test and find out if they have what it takes to be a true rock star on "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp."
Hosted by American Idol sweetheart and Vanguard recording artist Kimberly Caldwell, 15 musicians from a variety of backgrounds and cities will go through the unforgettable transformation of having to put it all on the line and find out if they have what it takes to make it in the cutthroat world of Rock 'n' Roll. Broken into three groups of five, each group of campers will create a band and be assigned a rock star camp counselor (Duff Mckagan, Matt Sorum and Mark Hudson) who will give them pointers and guidance, transforming the 9-to-5'ers into center stage front men and women.
For one week each group will have the opportunity to rehearse and learn the ropes from other special-guest rock gods who drop by including Paul Stanley of KISS, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Marky Ramone of The Ramones and more. At the end of the week, each group should have the music know-how, fresh looks and rock-star swagger to give an unforgettable performance to a group of legitimate rock stars who are acting as judges. Will they pass the test and be flocked with adoring fans or booed off the stage?
The stakes are high as the band voted best by the fans will win the opportunity musicians can only dream about – a once-in-a-lifetime performance with legendary rock star Sammy Hagar
Vh1 announced that "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp" Season Two will feature camp councilors Duff Mckagan, Matt Sorum and Mark Hudson plus special guests Paul Stanley of KISS, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Marky Ramone of The Ramones.
The second season of the show is set to premiere Saturday, August 20 at 10 PM ET/PT. Here is the synopsis:
VH1 Classic and executive producer Mark Burnett are bringing back a new group of 'average Joes' for their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put their music skills to the ultimate test and find out if they have what it takes to be a true rock star on "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp."
Hosted by American Idol sweetheart and Vanguard recording artist Kimberly Caldwell, 15 musicians from a variety of backgrounds and cities will go through the unforgettable transformation of having to put it all on the line and find out if they have what it takes to make it in the cutthroat world of Rock 'n' Roll. Broken into three groups of five, each group of campers will create a band and be assigned a rock star camp counselor (Duff Mckagan, Matt Sorum and Mark Hudson) who will give them pointers and guidance, transforming the 9-to-5'ers into center stage front men and women.
For one week each group will have the opportunity to rehearse and learn the ropes from other special-guest rock gods who drop by including Paul Stanley of KISS, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Marky Ramone of The Ramones and more. At the end of the week, each group should have the music know-how, fresh looks and rock-star swagger to give an unforgettable performance to a group of legitimate rock stars who are acting as judges. Will they pass the test and be flocked with adoring fans or booed off the stage?
The stakes are high as the band voted best by the fans will win the opportunity musicians can only dream about – a once-in-a-lifetime performance with legendary rock star Sammy Hagar
KISS Drummer Eric Singer Featured In Exclusive BW&BK Interview
BraveWords&BloodyKnuckles
BW&BK scribe Mitch Lafon recently caught up with KISS drummer Eric Singer, discussing a variety of subjects in anticipation of the band's July 24th appearance at Heavy MTL.
Singer: "KISS has always been somewhat of a unifying and polarizing band. Just like buying a car buying a car or eating at a restaurant – you go by participation. If I don’t like something I don’t buy it. I don’t support it. You vote with your wallet, but KISS is about the show and about having a good time. Being in KISS is a lot of hard work. It’s not easy like everybody thinks. I’ve been in a lot of bands and nothing takes the amount of energy, effort and work as it does to play in KISS. I’ve seen Paul almost yawning before he goes on stage, but when the lights go down – BAM. He’s running around, jumping…What’s important is when you are on that stage. That’s when you have to give 100%..”
-- On the KISS audience: "We’ve seen how the audience has changed over the past few years. It’s now more of an all-ages show. I liken KISS to Disneyworld or Universal Studios – it’s one of these spectacle things that you’ve got to go see."
-- On Heavy MTL: "We love Montreal. It’s a beautiful city. I’m glad that we’re going back there to play the Heavy MTL festival. And we have a day off there, which is very cool."
Read the rest at BraveWords:ERIC SINGER
BW&BK scribe Mitch Lafon recently caught up with KISS drummer Eric Singer, discussing a variety of subjects in anticipation of the band's July 24th appearance at Heavy MTL.
Singer: "KISS has always been somewhat of a unifying and polarizing band. Just like buying a car buying a car or eating at a restaurant – you go by participation. If I don’t like something I don’t buy it. I don’t support it. You vote with your wallet, but KISS is about the show and about having a good time. Being in KISS is a lot of hard work. It’s not easy like everybody thinks. I’ve been in a lot of bands and nothing takes the amount of energy, effort and work as it does to play in KISS. I’ve seen Paul almost yawning before he goes on stage, but when the lights go down – BAM. He’s running around, jumping…What’s important is when you are on that stage. That’s when you have to give 100%..”
-- On the KISS audience: "We’ve seen how the audience has changed over the past few years. It’s now more of an all-ages show. I liken KISS to Disneyworld or Universal Studios – it’s one of these spectacle things that you’ve got to go see."
-- On Heavy MTL: "We love Montreal. It’s a beautiful city. I’m glad that we’re going back there to play the Heavy MTL festival. And we have a day off there, which is very cool."
Read the rest at BraveWords:ERIC SINGER
Kiss Rock Montreal!
By Mark Lepage, The Montreal Gazette
Moshed potatoes for 35,000, anyone?
Two days and nights, 39 bands, enough volume and weight to shift a tectonic plate. Knobs at 11? 12. Heavy MTL.
And when KISS followed Motorhead’s customarily essential set, setting off their own Fireworks Competition display last night, one had to admit, this is the ideal one-stop-shopping outing to stock up on a year’s worth of metal.
Sunday night, Heavy MTL got the headliner it deserved and needed – not the purest of the death metalloids, but the showbizzers who prove more than any that the “bastard child of rock’n’roll” is multigenerational. When Paul Stanley screeched “Hold up your little ones!” between Firehouse and Deuce, and many parents hoisted kids in KISS make-up, you realized KISS reminds you of the pointlessness of Broadway. This is Broadway, the hard/real way: the demon/loverman/space-case/cat costumed finery, the spectacle, and a vilified songbook that still kills anything in Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. A huge crowd, who’d shifted over after Motorhead’s irreducible Ace of Spades and Overkill to cram the left side of the park, roared at the fire-pillars, and throughout a comprehensive set that reminds even the least devoted in the audience that KISS has now been an entry point to rock’n’roll for 40 (!) years of wasted youth.
Moshed potatoes for 35,000, anyone?
Two days and nights, 39 bands, enough volume and weight to shift a tectonic plate. Knobs at 11? 12. Heavy MTL.
And when KISS followed Motorhead’s customarily essential set, setting off their own Fireworks Competition display last night, one had to admit, this is the ideal one-stop-shopping outing to stock up on a year’s worth of metal.
Sunday night, Heavy MTL got the headliner it deserved and needed – not the purest of the death metalloids, but the showbizzers who prove more than any that the “bastard child of rock’n’roll” is multigenerational. When Paul Stanley screeched “Hold up your little ones!” between Firehouse and Deuce, and many parents hoisted kids in KISS make-up, you realized KISS reminds you of the pointlessness of Broadway. This is Broadway, the hard/real way: the demon/loverman/space-case/cat costumed finery, the spectacle, and a vilified songbook that still kills anything in Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. A huge crowd, who’d shifted over after Motorhead’s irreducible Ace of Spades and Overkill to cram the left side of the park, roared at the fire-pillars, and throughout a comprehensive set that reminds even the least devoted in the audience that KISS has now been an entry point to rock’n’roll for 40 (!) years of wasted youth.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Kiss Ready to Headline Montreal's MTL Festival
Kiss will headine day two of Montreal's MTL Festival on Sunday July 24, 2011. Kiss will hit the stage at 9:00 PM. Please refer to the festival website for more information and ticket sales. Other acts on the bill for the two day event are Anthrax, Motorhead and Godsmack and Disturbed.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Ace Frehley to appear at Rock And Shock Expo
Ace Frehley will be among the special guests at the Rock And Shock Expo October 14-16, 2011 in Worcester, MA. The event will be held at the DCU Center and the Palladium. For more information check out the ROCK AND SHOCK website.
Bruce Kulick and the Sin City Sinners- Video
Bruce Kulick and the Sin City Sinners live in Las Vegas, July 18, 2011.
DEUCE
UNHOLY
DEUCE
UNHOLY
Archie joins the Kiss Army!
Archie-Kiss Series Starts November
BigShinyRobot.com
Oh yeah, this is definitely news-worthy. KISS, the incredibly iconic rock group is returning to comics. While both IDW and Archie have the license to make KISS books, I wanted to focus on Archie’s effort. Archie is no stranger to off the wall crossovers, famously teaming with the Punisher and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 90′s. And KISS is no stranger to the comics page, having some truly high concept stuff from Marvel in the 70′s and later on with Image in the 90′s. I’ll be honest though. When I first heard about this, my WTF meter kind of spiked. Then I read the book’s actual summary and now I am really jonesing to read this book.
Starting in November’s Archie #627, the four-part “Archie Meets KISS” story will be written by Alex Segura, who recently proved his writing chops over in Archie & Friends and it’ll be drawn by Dan Parent, who is in my opinion the best artist in Archie’s stable. The premise is this: One of Sabrina’s spells goes off wrong and a bunch of monsters invade Riverdale. This predicament brings the forces of the Archies and KISS together to rid the world of these foul creatures with the power of rock!
Don’t take my word for it though, here are some select quotes first, Gene Simmons himself.
“KISS has a comic book history that spans almost four decades…but it was time to do things better than ever before. What’s bigger than two different companies sharing the KISS license? Archie and IDW will tell two unique and in-your-face tales of KISS, and we’re thrilled to be working with them on these projects.”
Then from Archie Co-CEO Jon Goldwater:
“We’re ecstatic to team up with Gene, Paul and the entire KISS Army for this project. KISS is such a huge part of Americana and that goes hand-in-hand with Archie and friends. We’re honored and excited to help bring KISS back to comics in a huge way.
And while IDW hasn’t really announced their part yet Chief Creative Office at IDW, Chris Ryall had this to say:
“IDW’s KISS series will kick off in a very special way in 2012. “Having done comics with Gene Simmons for a number of years already, I’m ecstatic to now be involved fully with the ‘hottest band in the world. We’ve found a very unique way to launch our KISS comics, and have big plans for the series that we’ll be revealing soon. I look forward to bringing KISS back to comics in a huge way!”
“I think this is the first time two comic publishers have shared a license at the same time, and I’m happy that setting this precedent are Archie and IDW. We both have very different audiences and distribution methods to reach our unique audiences, as well as both of us reaching traditional comics fans, too. We’ll be able to reach all ages of the KISS Army in ways never before equaled. We’re both ready to rock and roll (all night).”
Well said, now, I wonder what we have to do to convince Archie to print the comics with authentic KISS blood?
BigShinyRobot.com
Oh yeah, this is definitely news-worthy. KISS, the incredibly iconic rock group is returning to comics. While both IDW and Archie have the license to make KISS books, I wanted to focus on Archie’s effort. Archie is no stranger to off the wall crossovers, famously teaming with the Punisher and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 90′s. And KISS is no stranger to the comics page, having some truly high concept stuff from Marvel in the 70′s and later on with Image in the 90′s. I’ll be honest though. When I first heard about this, my WTF meter kind of spiked. Then I read the book’s actual summary and now I am really jonesing to read this book.
Starting in November’s Archie #627, the four-part “Archie Meets KISS” story will be written by Alex Segura, who recently proved his writing chops over in Archie & Friends and it’ll be drawn by Dan Parent, who is in my opinion the best artist in Archie’s stable. The premise is this: One of Sabrina’s spells goes off wrong and a bunch of monsters invade Riverdale. This predicament brings the forces of the Archies and KISS together to rid the world of these foul creatures with the power of rock!
Don’t take my word for it though, here are some select quotes first, Gene Simmons himself.
“KISS has a comic book history that spans almost four decades…but it was time to do things better than ever before. What’s bigger than two different companies sharing the KISS license? Archie and IDW will tell two unique and in-your-face tales of KISS, and we’re thrilled to be working with them on these projects.”
Then from Archie Co-CEO Jon Goldwater:
“We’re ecstatic to team up with Gene, Paul and the entire KISS Army for this project. KISS is such a huge part of Americana and that goes hand-in-hand with Archie and friends. We’re honored and excited to help bring KISS back to comics in a huge way.
And while IDW hasn’t really announced their part yet Chief Creative Office at IDW, Chris Ryall had this to say:
“IDW’s KISS series will kick off in a very special way in 2012. “Having done comics with Gene Simmons for a number of years already, I’m ecstatic to now be involved fully with the ‘hottest band in the world. We’ve found a very unique way to launch our KISS comics, and have big plans for the series that we’ll be revealing soon. I look forward to bringing KISS back to comics in a huge way!”
“I think this is the first time two comic publishers have shared a license at the same time, and I’m happy that setting this precedent are Archie and IDW. We both have very different audiences and distribution methods to reach our unique audiences, as well as both of us reaching traditional comics fans, too. We’ll be able to reach all ages of the KISS Army in ways never before equaled. We’re both ready to rock and roll (all night).”
Well said, now, I wonder what we have to do to convince Archie to print the comics with authentic KISS blood?
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Kiss: Soundcheck & Backstage Footage
via Kissonline
Kiss soundcheck "Shock Me" in Springfield, IL., July 18, 2011. Tommy is in full make-up and costume for a pre-show photo shoot.
Kiss exiting the stage from the crew's standpoint at the Manchester, New Hampshire show, July 12, 2011.
Kiss soundcheck "Shock Me" in Springfield, IL., July 18, 2011. Tommy is in full make-up and costume for a pre-show photo shoot.
Kiss exiting the stage from the crew's standpoint at the Manchester, New Hampshire show, July 12, 2011.
Musician, reality TV star Gene Simmons to appear at B.C. Lions game
VANCOUVER - The B.C. Lions are hoping some star appeal will help them earn their first win of the CFL season.
Canadian Free Press
Gene Simmons, the long-time bassist with the rock band KISS and star of his own reality television series, will perform the ceremonial pre-game coin toss Friday (7/22) night when the Lions face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Empire Stadium.
The Lions (0-3) are one of two CFL teams still in search of their first win. The other is the Saskatchewan Roughriders (0-3).
Hamilton (1-2) is coming off a 33-3 home victory over Saskatchewan on Saturday.
Canadian Free Press
Gene Simmons, the long-time bassist with the rock band KISS and star of his own reality television series, will perform the ceremonial pre-game coin toss Friday (7/22) night when the Lions face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Empire Stadium.
The Lions (0-3) are one of two CFL teams still in search of their first win. The other is the Saskatchewan Roughriders (0-3).
Hamilton (1-2) is coming off a 33-3 home victory over Saskatchewan on Saturday.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
PodKISSt #47: The Voice of “Alive II” Speaks! Eddie Balandas!
PodKISSt is coming at you for July 2011 with a fantastic new interview you won’t hear anywhere else! Ken and Mike got a chance to chat with the great Eddie Balandas. Eddie is known to the KISS Army as the booming voice you hear at the start of “Alive II,” and he was kind enough to share his insights from life on the road with KISS at the height of their 1970′s stardom! Plus you’ll hear details on an exciting new PodKISSt contest brought to courtesy of Man Raze (a hard rock trio from London featuring Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Simon Laffy of Girl, and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols). The winner gets a kick-ass Ace Frehley poster and a coveted place in the hallowed halls of PodKISSt! So don’t delay… it ain’t a crime to be good to yourself!
Check it out HERE!
Eddie will appear at the Chicago Kiss Expo Oct 9th 2011!
Check it out HERE!
Eddie will appear at the Chicago Kiss Expo Oct 9th 2011!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Longtime Kiss fans passionate for years
By BRIAN MACKEY (brian.mackey@sj-r.com)
The State Journal Register
You always remember your first time.
For Mike Austin, it was in St. Louis at the old Checkerdome.
“I had to sneak out of the house and lie to the parents to get to go,” he said. “I had to catch a ride with other people who had tickets.”
He was 14. It was the autumn of ’79. It was Kiss.
“After I saw them once, that was all it took,” he said.
Austin, who was living in Pawnee at the time, saw his first Springfield Kiss show in 1983.
He saw the band three times on that tour. Then he began seeing them more. A lot more.
He has driven up to eight hours to see Kiss.
Louisville. Peoria. Moline. Rockford. St. Louis. Chicago. Indianapolis.
And, of course, Springfield. Austin will be there at 7:30 p.m. Monday, when Kiss returns to the Prairie Capital Convention Center for the first time in nearly two decades.
“The July show will be my 63rd Kiss show,” Austin said.
Kiss inspires a remarkable degree of loyalty among its fans.
‘Family members’
The group, best known for hard-rock anthems like “Rock and Roll All Nite,” first performed in Springfield on Dec. 30, 1974, at the Illinois State Armory.
The band was less than two years old. Tickets cost $5 in advance, $6 at the door.
There were fairly regular appearances throughout the 1980s, but the band hasn’t been here since 1992. Yet they keep coming.
Can anything make a show really special when you’ve already seen it 62 times?
“People ask me, ‘Is it the same every time you go?’” Austin said.
From tour to tour, sometimes the songs change, or the costumes or the set. But things don’t vary much on a given tour. There will be makeup. There will be explosions.
“But it’s one of those things that I just don’t get tired of,” Austin said. “They’ve been in my life as long as family members.”
By the group’s Nov. 24, 1992, concert at the PCCC, the group had shed its makeup. But it was still working to put on a ridiculous show.
“We have a history and I want to see us live up to it,” founding member Paul Stanley told The State Journal-Register at the time. “We’ve set off more bombs in this show than anything we’ve ever done. Great lasers, too. Two hours a night. We’ll do loads of stuff from (1975’s) ‘Kiss Alive!’ right up to the latest stuff.”
To some, Kiss is the ultimate rock band.
“I’ve seen them 36 times,” Randy Bounds said. “This will be 37.”
Like Austin, that tally includes all the Springfield performances except the 1974 Armory show.
Bounds, 42, is the controller at E.L. Pruitt Co. in Springfield. His older cousins turned him on to the band.
“I saw them on ‘The Paul Lynde Halloween Special’ and ‘Midnight Special’ and that was it. They’ve been my favorite ever since,” Bounds said.
He has 474 Kiss songs on his iPod.
“A lot of people don’t give them credit for the music, but the music’s good,” he said. The band members have been nice when he’s met them, and they put on the kind of show they would want to see.
“It’s not just a bunch of guys in blue jeans coming out and singing,” he said. “It’s theatrics and the show — you get the best of both worlds.”
Austin is serious about the music, too. His parents bought him his first Kiss album at the old JR’s Music in White Oaks Mall.
He still has his copy of “Alive!” and says he buys new Kiss albums the day they come out — and he still prefers hard copies to digital downloads.
“All of my vinyls I’ve had through the years, I’ve gotten rid of all of them unless they were autographed — or unless they were Kiss vinyls,” he said.
Part of the machine
Kiss has sold millions of copies of its singles, albums and videos, but it’s much more than the weight of its platinum and gold discography.
Mark Kessler, co-owner of Recycled Records, sums up the group’s enduring popularity in two words: “marketing genius.”
The vintage vinyl/used furniture/you-want-it-we-got-it shop at 625 E. Adams St. has a wide range of Kiss products, old and new.
There’s a Starchild Christmas ornament from 2010 and an FM radio from 1998. There are toy cars and a mid-1990s concert program. And there’s a lot of vinyl.
You want an autographed copy of Ace Frehley’s ’78 solo album? A Japanese version of 1981’s “Music from ‘The Elder’” with gatefold cover? A red vinyl pressing of 1994’s “Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved” featuring a cover of “Rock and Roll All Nite” by Toad the Wet Sprocket? Got it, got it, got it.
Kessler recently sold a black terrycloth bathrobe with an embroidered Kiss logo. He even has a bottle of Kiss This, a “dealcoholized” wine, 1997 vintage, bottle No. 2,290 out of 60,000. That’ll set you back $100.
But all that pales in comparison to the showpiece item of Kiss memorabilia at Younger Than Yesterday in Peoria: a working, vintage Kiss pinball machine.
Owner Craig Moore said customers ask about the price several times a day.
“Not for sale,” he tells them. He’s owned several such machines over the years. Two were lost in fires. Others were sold. The one he still has was his first.
“Ten, 20 years ago, if somebody came in and offered me five grand for it, it’d be gone,” he said. “I don’t need the five grand to let go of it.”
“It’s just cool,” Moore said. “The band still exists and there’s all this mythology about Kiss, and Gene Simmons is still out there doing his best to continually reconstruct the mythology.”
All the merchandise in the world doesn’t do any good if you’re not selling something people want. Beyond the music and behind the merch, Kiss is just a band — and a brand — people can get behind.
For Simmons, the co-founder and frontman, it’s all been part of a lifelong ambition.
“Fame and riches are fine, but one can have both and still have no power,” he wrote in his autobiography, “Kiss and Make-up.” “Power is something I craved from the time I first set foot in America. I was made fun of because I couldn’t speak English, or because I was Jewish, but it really came down to not having power.”
Read The Rest HERE!
The State Journal Register
You always remember your first time.
For Mike Austin, it was in St. Louis at the old Checkerdome.
“I had to sneak out of the house and lie to the parents to get to go,” he said. “I had to catch a ride with other people who had tickets.”
He was 14. It was the autumn of ’79. It was Kiss.
“After I saw them once, that was all it took,” he said.
Austin, who was living in Pawnee at the time, saw his first Springfield Kiss show in 1983.
He saw the band three times on that tour. Then he began seeing them more. A lot more.
He has driven up to eight hours to see Kiss.
Louisville. Peoria. Moline. Rockford. St. Louis. Chicago. Indianapolis.
And, of course, Springfield. Austin will be there at 7:30 p.m. Monday, when Kiss returns to the Prairie Capital Convention Center for the first time in nearly two decades.
“The July show will be my 63rd Kiss show,” Austin said.
Kiss inspires a remarkable degree of loyalty among its fans.
‘Family members’
The group, best known for hard-rock anthems like “Rock and Roll All Nite,” first performed in Springfield on Dec. 30, 1974, at the Illinois State Armory.
The band was less than two years old. Tickets cost $5 in advance, $6 at the door.
There were fairly regular appearances throughout the 1980s, but the band hasn’t been here since 1992. Yet they keep coming.
Can anything make a show really special when you’ve already seen it 62 times?
“People ask me, ‘Is it the same every time you go?’” Austin said.
From tour to tour, sometimes the songs change, or the costumes or the set. But things don’t vary much on a given tour. There will be makeup. There will be explosions.
“But it’s one of those things that I just don’t get tired of,” Austin said. “They’ve been in my life as long as family members.”
By the group’s Nov. 24, 1992, concert at the PCCC, the group had shed its makeup. But it was still working to put on a ridiculous show.
“We have a history and I want to see us live up to it,” founding member Paul Stanley told The State Journal-Register at the time. “We’ve set off more bombs in this show than anything we’ve ever done. Great lasers, too. Two hours a night. We’ll do loads of stuff from (1975’s) ‘Kiss Alive!’ right up to the latest stuff.”
To some, Kiss is the ultimate rock band.
“I’ve seen them 36 times,” Randy Bounds said. “This will be 37.”
Like Austin, that tally includes all the Springfield performances except the 1974 Armory show.
Bounds, 42, is the controller at E.L. Pruitt Co. in Springfield. His older cousins turned him on to the band.
“I saw them on ‘The Paul Lynde Halloween Special’ and ‘Midnight Special’ and that was it. They’ve been my favorite ever since,” Bounds said.
He has 474 Kiss songs on his iPod.
“A lot of people don’t give them credit for the music, but the music’s good,” he said. The band members have been nice when he’s met them, and they put on the kind of show they would want to see.
“It’s not just a bunch of guys in blue jeans coming out and singing,” he said. “It’s theatrics and the show — you get the best of both worlds.”
Austin is serious about the music, too. His parents bought him his first Kiss album at the old JR’s Music in White Oaks Mall.
He still has his copy of “Alive!” and says he buys new Kiss albums the day they come out — and he still prefers hard copies to digital downloads.
“All of my vinyls I’ve had through the years, I’ve gotten rid of all of them unless they were autographed — or unless they were Kiss vinyls,” he said.
Part of the machine
Kiss has sold millions of copies of its singles, albums and videos, but it’s much more than the weight of its platinum and gold discography.
Mark Kessler, co-owner of Recycled Records, sums up the group’s enduring popularity in two words: “marketing genius.”
The vintage vinyl/used furniture/you-want-it-we-got-it shop at 625 E. Adams St. has a wide range of Kiss products, old and new.
There’s a Starchild Christmas ornament from 2010 and an FM radio from 1998. There are toy cars and a mid-1990s concert program. And there’s a lot of vinyl.
You want an autographed copy of Ace Frehley’s ’78 solo album? A Japanese version of 1981’s “Music from ‘The Elder’” with gatefold cover? A red vinyl pressing of 1994’s “Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved” featuring a cover of “Rock and Roll All Nite” by Toad the Wet Sprocket? Got it, got it, got it.
Kessler recently sold a black terrycloth bathrobe with an embroidered Kiss logo. He even has a bottle of Kiss This, a “dealcoholized” wine, 1997 vintage, bottle No. 2,290 out of 60,000. That’ll set you back $100.
But all that pales in comparison to the showpiece item of Kiss memorabilia at Younger Than Yesterday in Peoria: a working, vintage Kiss pinball machine.
Owner Craig Moore said customers ask about the price several times a day.
“Not for sale,” he tells them. He’s owned several such machines over the years. Two were lost in fires. Others were sold. The one he still has was his first.
“Ten, 20 years ago, if somebody came in and offered me five grand for it, it’d be gone,” he said. “I don’t need the five grand to let go of it.”
“It’s just cool,” Moore said. “The band still exists and there’s all this mythology about Kiss, and Gene Simmons is still out there doing his best to continually reconstruct the mythology.”
All the merchandise in the world doesn’t do any good if you’re not selling something people want. Beyond the music and behind the merch, Kiss is just a band — and a brand — people can get behind.
For Simmons, the co-founder and frontman, it’s all been part of a lifelong ambition.
“Fame and riches are fine, but one can have both and still have no power,” he wrote in his autobiography, “Kiss and Make-up.” “Power is something I craved from the time I first set foot in America. I was made fun of because I couldn’t speak English, or because I was Jewish, but it really came down to not having power.”
Read The Rest HERE!
Kiss Rock Massive Crowd at Rock USA
Kiss rocked the ROCK USA Festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (7/16/11) over the weekend. Springfield, Illinois is on the roster for tonight.
DEUCE
ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
MODERN DAY DELILAH
FIREHOUSE
DEUCE
ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
MODERN DAY DELILAH
FIREHOUSE
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Kiss brings bombast and familiarity to Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center
By Dustin Schoof
The Express-Times The Express-Times
Kiss band members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer perform Wednesday night at Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pa.
Hard rock legends Kiss kicked off the first concert at the recently re-opened and revamped Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Center in style on Wednesday night; with more pyrotechnics, bombast and fireworks than a Fourth of July celebration.
The makeup-clad quartet opened with "Modern Day Delilah," the first single off their 2009 studio album "Sonic Boom," following it up with a one-two punch of "Cold Gin" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll." The latter allowed bassist/singer Gene Simmons, wagging his famous and fully extended tongue in the air, to flex his muscles for a brief rhythmic solo.
The classic Kiss stage presentation has not changed much since the band's mid-1970s heyday. However, age proved to be a factor working against the group.
Singer/rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley's high-pitched yelp strained to hit many of the notes he once belted out with ease, most notably on "Firehouse."Stanley later surprised the crowd by playing the opening riff to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" before the rest of the band joined him on stage for raucous rendition of "Black Diamond."
The band managed to hit their familiar marks throughout the night, such as Simmons' fire-breathing stunt during the final notes of "Firehouse." Later, Simmons, engulfed in dense fog and fully immersed in his "Demon" persona, spat fake blood before thumping the intro to "God of Thunder."
Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, who replaced original Spaceman Ace Frehley in 2002, mimicked many of Frehley's classic solos and stage mannerisms to a "T." Thayer also took over lead vocals on "Shock Me," breaking out Frehley's famous rocket-guitar trick, which drew roaring applause from the crowd -- although it was surreal to see someone else on stage in Frehley's Spaceman regalia playing the licks and singing the songs that made him a guitar icon.
Drummer Eric Singer, decked out in the Catman get-up made famous by original Kiss drummer Peter Criss, demonstrated impressive skills behind the kit; twirling his drumsticks while pounding out intense fills with precision timing and execution.
In typical Kiss fashion, those in attendance were given plenty of bang for their buck, though at times it seemed as if the band was simply going through the motions. They offered little if no surprise in the way of song choices. Following a spin through "Detroit Rock City," the group returned on stage for a four-song encore of "Beth" (with Singer on lead vocals), "Lick It Up," "Shout It Out Loud" and, of course, "Rock and Roll All Nite."
But Kiss has always been about the spectacle of the live concert experience. And that is exactly what they gave members of the Kiss Army who showed up to express their appreciation for their rock 'n' roll heroes.
"Modern Day Delilah"
"Cold Gin"
"Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll"
"Firehouse"
"Say Yeah"
"Deuce"
"Do You Love Me"
"Calling Dr. Love"
"Shock Me"
"I Love It Loud"
"Love Gun"
"God of Thunder"
"Black Diamond"
"Detroit Rock City"
Encore break
"Beth" (acoustic)
"Lick It Up"
"Shout It Out Loud"
"Rock and Roll All Nite"
The Express-Times The Express-Times
Kiss band members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer perform Wednesday night at Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pa.
Hard rock legends Kiss kicked off the first concert at the recently re-opened and revamped Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Center in style on Wednesday night; with more pyrotechnics, bombast and fireworks than a Fourth of July celebration.
The makeup-clad quartet opened with "Modern Day Delilah," the first single off their 2009 studio album "Sonic Boom," following it up with a one-two punch of "Cold Gin" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll." The latter allowed bassist/singer Gene Simmons, wagging his famous and fully extended tongue in the air, to flex his muscles for a brief rhythmic solo.
The classic Kiss stage presentation has not changed much since the band's mid-1970s heyday. However, age proved to be a factor working against the group.
Singer/rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley's high-pitched yelp strained to hit many of the notes he once belted out with ease, most notably on "Firehouse."Stanley later surprised the crowd by playing the opening riff to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" before the rest of the band joined him on stage for raucous rendition of "Black Diamond."
The band managed to hit their familiar marks throughout the night, such as Simmons' fire-breathing stunt during the final notes of "Firehouse." Later, Simmons, engulfed in dense fog and fully immersed in his "Demon" persona, spat fake blood before thumping the intro to "God of Thunder."
Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, who replaced original Spaceman Ace Frehley in 2002, mimicked many of Frehley's classic solos and stage mannerisms to a "T." Thayer also took over lead vocals on "Shock Me," breaking out Frehley's famous rocket-guitar trick, which drew roaring applause from the crowd -- although it was surreal to see someone else on stage in Frehley's Spaceman regalia playing the licks and singing the songs that made him a guitar icon.
Drummer Eric Singer, decked out in the Catman get-up made famous by original Kiss drummer Peter Criss, demonstrated impressive skills behind the kit; twirling his drumsticks while pounding out intense fills with precision timing and execution.
In typical Kiss fashion, those in attendance were given plenty of bang for their buck, though at times it seemed as if the band was simply going through the motions. They offered little if no surprise in the way of song choices. Following a spin through "Detroit Rock City," the group returned on stage for a four-song encore of "Beth" (with Singer on lead vocals), "Lick It Up," "Shout It Out Loud" and, of course, "Rock and Roll All Nite."
But Kiss has always been about the spectacle of the live concert experience. And that is exactly what they gave members of the Kiss Army who showed up to express their appreciation for their rock 'n' roll heroes.
"Modern Day Delilah"
"Cold Gin"
"Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll"
"Firehouse"
"Say Yeah"
"Deuce"
"Do You Love Me"
"Calling Dr. Love"
"Shock Me"
"I Love It Loud"
"Love Gun"
"God of Thunder"
"Black Diamond"
"Detroit Rock City"
Encore break
"Beth" (acoustic)
"Lick It Up"
"Shout It Out Loud"
"Rock and Roll All Nite"
KISS fans rock and roll all night as Mt. Laurel reopens
By Beth Brelje
Pocono Record Writer
July 13, 2011
Memories were made and recaptured as KISS fans gathered for the first concert at Mt. Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center since 2007.
KISS has lost none of its edge. But having gained a new generation of fans, the 1970s rockers are now a family show.
Mtn. Laurel directors admit to challenges, but hope for bright futureMountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center rebornSave the date for these events in Pocono entertainment in JulySummer is a trial for Mt. LaurelMountain Laurel in Bushkill gets second chance to fulfill its promiseKISS, Larry the Cable Guy, ZZ Top at Mountain Laurel in Bushkill this summerAre you ready to rock and roll all night at Mountain Laurel Center?Mountain Laurel Center in Bushkill will reopen with KISS
Anthony Capic, 42, Jennifer Capic 40 and Sarah Capic, 13, of Raritan, N.J., drove more than an hour and a half to see Wednesday 's show.
"My dad was a KISS fan and introduced me," Sarah Capic said.
There were plenty of parents and kids at the concert, many from out of town. Steven Jones, 49, of Allentown has seen KISS 14 times. His friend Michele Hawk, 43, was seeing KISS for the first time.
“They're really good. At least, that's what Steve says,” Hawk said.
Stephanie and Bill Hetrick of Missouri planned their honeymoon at Cove Haven and were thrilled to learn KISS was going to be in the area.
“Bill crossed it (seeing KISS) off his bucket list,” Stephanie said.
Last-minute ticket sales were brisk. A short line of concert goers were still buying tickets at the door at 8:40 p.m.
Check back at PoconoRecord.com and read Thursday's Pocono Record for more on the concert.
Kiss Live in Bushkill, PA., last night:
MODERN DAY DELILAH
LOVE GUN
ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
Pocono Record Writer
July 13, 2011
Memories were made and recaptured as KISS fans gathered for the first concert at Mt. Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center since 2007.
KISS has lost none of its edge. But having gained a new generation of fans, the 1970s rockers are now a family show.
Mtn. Laurel directors admit to challenges, but hope for bright futureMountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center rebornSave the date for these events in Pocono entertainment in JulySummer is a trial for Mt. LaurelMountain Laurel in Bushkill gets second chance to fulfill its promiseKISS, Larry the Cable Guy, ZZ Top at Mountain Laurel in Bushkill this summerAre you ready to rock and roll all night at Mountain Laurel Center?Mountain Laurel Center in Bushkill will reopen with KISS
Anthony Capic, 42, Jennifer Capic 40 and Sarah Capic, 13, of Raritan, N.J., drove more than an hour and a half to see Wednesday 's show.
"My dad was a KISS fan and introduced me," Sarah Capic said.
There were plenty of parents and kids at the concert, many from out of town. Steven Jones, 49, of Allentown has seen KISS 14 times. His friend Michele Hawk, 43, was seeing KISS for the first time.
“They're really good. At least, that's what Steve says,” Hawk said.
Stephanie and Bill Hetrick of Missouri planned their honeymoon at Cove Haven and were thrilled to learn KISS was going to be in the area.
“Bill crossed it (seeing KISS) off his bucket list,” Stephanie said.
Last-minute ticket sales were brisk. A short line of concert goers were still buying tickets at the door at 8:40 p.m.
Check back at PoconoRecord.com and read Thursday's Pocono Record for more on the concert.
Kiss Live in Bushkill, PA., last night:
MODERN DAY DELILAH
LOVE GUN
ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Rare "100,000 Years" Recording Surfaces from 1976 Paris Show
The Metal Den has obtained rare concert audio of legendary rockers KISS performing the song “100,000 Years” at The Olympia Theater, Paris, France on May 22, 1976. The show came during The Alive! Tour, in support of their 1975 live album Alive!. At the time of the European leg of the tour the classic Destroyer album was already released. This recording is making its debut on YouTube
Kiss Live in Manchester, New Hampshire
Kiss played a sold-out Verizon Center in Manchester, NH., last night, July 12. Here are some fan filmed clips. Kiss play Mt. Laurel Entertianment Center in Bushkill, PA., tonight.
SHOUT IT OUT LOUD/ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
LOVE GUN
BETH
SHOUT IT OUT LOUD/ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
LOVE GUN
BETH
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Paul Stanley Talks New Kiss Tour, Album & Former Band Members
The Weekender via Classic Rock Forums
Paul Stanley talks about the new KISS tour, the next album, his former band members, Eric Carr and "KISSOLOGY IV He also shares his thoughts on his solo albums and his surprising vision on the future of KISS.
When concert venues began announcing their summer lineups earlier this year, one band that appeared on some of those lists was a pleasant surprise, particularly to its self-proclaimed "Army" of fans. KISS, which had toured throughout much of 2009-2010 and is in the midst of recording a new album, wasn't expected to be on the road this year. And yet on the road they are, including a stop at the Mt. Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, July 13.
KISS co-founder Paul Stanley, in an interview with the Weekender, says that at one point the band had conducted an online poll asking its fans where they'd like to see a show. And while it wasn't always possible for the group to get to some of those places on the 2009-2010 tours, some of the stops on this summer's road jaunt are now indeed in those regions.
"There were cities that we just didn't get to, and we felt an obligation to go there," says Stanley. "Quite a few of the cities we're hitting are not your major cities, but were cities we felt we owed a show."
Stanley says this is not the first time that KISS has briefly halted the recording of an album to return to the road. He says the band did the same thing circa 1975-76 while working on its classic "Destroyer" album. "We did 'Destroyer' in two segments," he says. "We recorded quite a bit of it and took a break. We were still touring on 'Alive' and then we went back and finished the album. Not to draw any parallels, but we have done it before."
Some KISS albums are viewed as sister-albums to one another in that they're similar in songwriting style and production. ("Rock and Roll Over" and "Love Gun," "Dynasty and Unmasked" and "Animalize" and "Asylum.") Stanley says the new KISS album, which will be released in 2012, is in some ways a continuation of 2009's "Sonic Boom," as it will be the second studio recording featuring the lineup of Stanley, bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. This time, however, he says the band is on more solid footing.
Read the rest here!
Gene Simmons to keynote entertainment confab
KISS founder, entrepreneur to speak on mobile content
Variety.com
KISS founder Gene Simmons has been named to keynote the second L.A. Mobile Entertainment Summit Sept. 20-21. Produced in association with Variety by Unicomm and the Bob Dowling Group, the event takes place at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
"We couldn't be more excited to have international entertainment legend and serial entrepreneur Gene Simmons to keynote the L.A. Mobile Entertainment Summit," said John Golicz, CEO of Unicomm. "Gene is definitely in a league of his own when it comes to creating, marketing and monetizing an international entertainment brand globally."
The rocker has branched out into licensing and new media, and recently signed on as business partner and spokesperson for Intertainment Media's Ortsbo worldwide translation platform for social media. He and his family are in production on the seventh season of A&E's "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," in addition to his activities in merchandising, movies, publishing, TV and music.
The Mobile Entertainment Summit will cover the intersection of original content, mobile platforms and digital assets across the rapidly growing mobile entertainment business, with studios, startups, brands and manufacturers participating.
Variety.com
KISS founder Gene Simmons has been named to keynote the second L.A. Mobile Entertainment Summit Sept. 20-21. Produced in association with Variety by Unicomm and the Bob Dowling Group, the event takes place at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
"We couldn't be more excited to have international entertainment legend and serial entrepreneur Gene Simmons to keynote the L.A. Mobile Entertainment Summit," said John Golicz, CEO of Unicomm. "Gene is definitely in a league of his own when it comes to creating, marketing and monetizing an international entertainment brand globally."
The rocker has branched out into licensing and new media, and recently signed on as business partner and spokesperson for Intertainment Media's Ortsbo worldwide translation platform for social media. He and his family are in production on the seventh season of A&E's "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," in addition to his activities in merchandising, movies, publishing, TV and music.
The Mobile Entertainment Summit will cover the intersection of original content, mobile platforms and digital assets across the rapidly growing mobile entertainment business, with studios, startups, brands and manufacturers participating.
Today would be Eric Carr's 61st Birthday
Today, we honor what would have been our good friend's Eric Carr's 61st Birthday. Born July 12, 1950, it's so very hard to believe we are approaching twenty years since we lost our good friend and one of the nicest rockers in the business.
Here are two of Eric's solo from the Animalize tour in Detroit 1985 captured in the Kiss home video, Animalize Live & Uncensored and his solo from the Hot In The Shade tour 1990 which featured Eric's beloved electric drum pads he incorporated into his amazing and colorful solos. We also included the clip from Detroit 1985 (Asylum tour) of Eric running up the lightning staircase where he trips and falls on the way up. We always kidded Eric about this. He had a wonderful sense of humor.
Here are two of Eric's solo from the Animalize tour in Detroit 1985 captured in the Kiss home video, Animalize Live & Uncensored and his solo from the Hot In The Shade tour 1990 which featured Eric's beloved electric drum pads he incorporated into his amazing and colorful solos. We also included the clip from Detroit 1985 (Asylum tour) of Eric running up the lightning staircase where he trips and falls on the way up. We always kidded Eric about this. He had a wonderful sense of humor.
Monday, July 11, 2011
KISSing up to Gene Simmons: The demon discusses his relationships and his band
By John J. Moser/Lehigh Valley Music
For someone who has spent most of his 38-year musical career covered in a demon costume and Kabuki makeup, Gene Simmons is exposing his innermost self an awful lot these days.
Not only is Simmons, the bassist for the rock group KISS, starring in a reality TV show chronicling his struggling relationship with longtime live-in Shannon Tweed and his coming to terms of the death of his father, but KISS is working on what will be its second studio album in two years, after an 11-year recording hiatus.
And after completing a 2 1/2-year world tour just last year, KISS is back out on a summer jaunt that brings it to Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Bushkill on July 13.
So why is rock’s God of Thunder suddenly putting himself so transparently out there in so many ways?
In a recent telephone interview from Prince George, Canada, on a stop in a tour that brings KISS to the Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Bushkill on Wednesday, Simmons spoke about the suddenly open aspects of his life and the future of his band.
Here’s a transcript of the call:
LEHIGH VALLY MUSIC: I want to talk a lot about KISS, but I have to tell you I saw the episode of your reality TV show ‘Gene Simmons Family Jewels’ in which you visited your father’s grave, and I have to tell you it was really compelling. It was very emotional stuff and I wondered how you felt about it being on TV?
GENE SIMMONS: “It was actually good for me because, you know, guys aren’t introspective. You know, we get up, we’re hungry, we eat. You don’t really confront issues that are still with you. I mean, my father ran out on us when I was about 7 and I never looked back – never went back to Israel or anything. Just do the stuff you do, get up, eat, sleep, do all that stuff. But that doesn’t mean it’s not in there and it was good to confront that.”
Read the rest HERE!
For someone who has spent most of his 38-year musical career covered in a demon costume and Kabuki makeup, Gene Simmons is exposing his innermost self an awful lot these days.
Not only is Simmons, the bassist for the rock group KISS, starring in a reality TV show chronicling his struggling relationship with longtime live-in Shannon Tweed and his coming to terms of the death of his father, but KISS is working on what will be its second studio album in two years, after an 11-year recording hiatus.
And after completing a 2 1/2-year world tour just last year, KISS is back out on a summer jaunt that brings it to Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Bushkill on July 13.
So why is rock’s God of Thunder suddenly putting himself so transparently out there in so many ways?
In a recent telephone interview from Prince George, Canada, on a stop in a tour that brings KISS to the Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Bushkill on Wednesday, Simmons spoke about the suddenly open aspects of his life and the future of his band.
Here’s a transcript of the call:
LEHIGH VALLY MUSIC: I want to talk a lot about KISS, but I have to tell you I saw the episode of your reality TV show ‘Gene Simmons Family Jewels’ in which you visited your father’s grave, and I have to tell you it was really compelling. It was very emotional stuff and I wondered how you felt about it being on TV?
GENE SIMMONS: “It was actually good for me because, you know, guys aren’t introspective. You know, we get up, we’re hungry, we eat. You don’t really confront issues that are still with you. I mean, my father ran out on us when I was about 7 and I never looked back – never went back to Israel or anything. Just do the stuff you do, get up, eat, sleep, do all that stuff. But that doesn’t mean it’s not in there and it was good to confront that.”
Read the rest HERE!
New Kiss Album to be Heavy, More Riff-Oriented
Gibson.com
KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer says the band’s next album is shaping up as more “riff-oriented” and slightly heavier than 2009’s Sonic Boom. Speaking to Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania’s The Express-Times, Thayer also revealed that Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company have already cut eight songs for the forthcoming disc.
"It's going phenomenally," said Thayer. "We've been in the studio for several weeks. This is definitely some of the best stuff KISS has ever recorded."
Thayer, who still considers himself the “new guy” in the band, went on to say the album will mark another step in KISS’s effort to recapture their vintage sound. “The idea [with Sonic Boom] was to create a classic KISS record going back to the roots of the early records, and really try and capture that vibe,” he said. “I think we did and then some. On this record, we're taking that to the next step."
The yet-to-be-titled album is tentatively slated for release in early 2012. KISS is currently in the middle of a North American summer tour.
KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer says the band’s next album is shaping up as more “riff-oriented” and slightly heavier than 2009’s Sonic Boom. Speaking to Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania’s The Express-Times, Thayer also revealed that Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company have already cut eight songs for the forthcoming disc.
"It's going phenomenally," said Thayer. "We've been in the studio for several weeks. This is definitely some of the best stuff KISS has ever recorded."
Thayer, who still considers himself the “new guy” in the band, went on to say the album will mark another step in KISS’s effort to recapture their vintage sound. “The idea [with Sonic Boom] was to create a classic KISS record going back to the roots of the early records, and really try and capture that vibe,” he said. “I think we did and then some. On this record, we're taking that to the next step."
The yet-to-be-titled album is tentatively slated for release in early 2012. KISS is currently in the middle of a North American summer tour.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Great Moments in KISStory: "C'mon And Love Me" Single Released
The single "C'mon And Love Me" (with the B-side Peter Criss' "Getaway") from Dressed To Kill was released on this day, July 10, 1975. A promo video, which Casablanca Records and Bill Aucoin were true pioneers of creating promotional videos, was released and aired on late night music shows such as the Midnight Special and Burt Sugarman's Rock Concert.
Enjoy the promo clip!
Enjoy the promo clip!
Kiss Video Montage from Newfoundland Last Night
Kiss at the sold-out Centenial Park, Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland show last night July 9, 2011.
Uploaded by XeroedOut.
Uploaded by XeroedOut.
Tommy Thayer Interviewed
Tommy Thayer Discusses the New Album, Replacing Ace Frehley and Inaugural Kiss Kruise
Tommy Thayer says he is still considered the "new guy" in Kiss — despite having worked with the band for more than two decades.
By Dustin Schoof/Lehigh Valley Express Times
"I've been so much involved with Kiss and (singer/guitarist) Paul (Stanley) and (singer/bassist) Gene (Simmons) so many years, we're talking 25 years, there's a repertoire there already. For me to start as the new lead guitarist was actually a kind of natural, easy transition because we knew each other so well," Thayer says over the phone. "It wasn't like there was a learning curve there."
Before replacing founding member Ace Frehley as the band's lead guitarist in 2002, Thayer co-wrote two songs for Kiss' 1989 studio album, "Hot in the Shade." He continued to work with the band behind-the-scenes until getting the go ahead to don the Spaceman regalia after Frehley's departure, although the decision was met with backlash by some longtime Kiss fans.
But Thayer isn't concerned with criticism. He says he's just doing his best to make the Spaceman character his own.
"The biggest step was replacing one of the great guitar players of our time who has influenced so many people. Those are big shoes to fill," Thayer says. "The biggest challenge walking into that situation and succeeding was that good things take time. Getting in there and trying to fill the role he played and play the parts as well or even try and do it better ... it slowly becomes a little more me and just being the Spaceman, it's been quite a process. There have been so many amazing fans who have been so supportive and honest about letting me know I'm doing a great job and to keep it up."
Kiss is currently on the final leg of their "Hottest Show on Earth Tour," before they return to the studio to complete their follow-up to 2009's "Sonic Boom." The group performs Wednesday night at Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pa.
"The band is good. The last several years, the last two or three years, we've been on fire out there," Thayer says.
Thayer says the songs on the next album, which he says should be in stores by early 2012, will be "more riff-oriented" and will be slightly heavier than those on "Sonic Boom."
Read the rest HERE!
Tommy Thayer says he is still considered the "new guy" in Kiss — despite having worked with the band for more than two decades.
By Dustin Schoof/Lehigh Valley Express Times
"I've been so much involved with Kiss and (singer/guitarist) Paul (Stanley) and (singer/bassist) Gene (Simmons) so many years, we're talking 25 years, there's a repertoire there already. For me to start as the new lead guitarist was actually a kind of natural, easy transition because we knew each other so well," Thayer says over the phone. "It wasn't like there was a learning curve there."
Before replacing founding member Ace Frehley as the band's lead guitarist in 2002, Thayer co-wrote two songs for Kiss' 1989 studio album, "Hot in the Shade." He continued to work with the band behind-the-scenes until getting the go ahead to don the Spaceman regalia after Frehley's departure, although the decision was met with backlash by some longtime Kiss fans.
But Thayer isn't concerned with criticism. He says he's just doing his best to make the Spaceman character his own.
"The biggest step was replacing one of the great guitar players of our time who has influenced so many people. Those are big shoes to fill," Thayer says. "The biggest challenge walking into that situation and succeeding was that good things take time. Getting in there and trying to fill the role he played and play the parts as well or even try and do it better ... it slowly becomes a little more me and just being the Spaceman, it's been quite a process. There have been so many amazing fans who have been so supportive and honest about letting me know I'm doing a great job and to keep it up."
Kiss is currently on the final leg of their "Hottest Show on Earth Tour," before they return to the studio to complete their follow-up to 2009's "Sonic Boom." The group performs Wednesday night at Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pa.
"The band is good. The last several years, the last two or three years, we've been on fire out there," Thayer says.
Thayer says the songs on the next album, which he says should be in stores by early 2012, will be "more riff-oriented" and will be slightly heavier than those on "Sonic Boom."
Read the rest HERE!
Vinnie Vincent Plans to Re-Record "All Systems Go"
Vinnie has announced plans that he will re-record the classic second Vinnie Vincent Invasion album "All Systems Go." Vinnie has stated that he hated the original release through Chrysalis Records.
Vinnie Vincent has posted this:
I am posting this factual account of events pertaining to VVI in order to correct Wikipedia's false rendition.
After quitting KISS following the LIU tour, Vinnie Vincent recorded and produced a song demo containing the songs "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" "Shoot U Full of Love" and "No Substitute." Vincent played guitars and bass on all the tracks and Myron Grumbacker played drums. Vincent heard a demo of Robert Fleishman and knew he found the perfect vocalist for his music. Robert was asked to sing on the three song demo Vinnie had recorded. Fleischman and Vincent's chemistry was unmatched.
Chrysalis Records New York heard the demo and called Vincent in LA. With Vincent's demo blaring in the background, Chrysalis asked Vincent to fly to New York immediately stating they were anxious to sign Vincent as a solo artist. After months of negotiating, an eight album 4 million deal was born. The common misconception was that a "band" was signed to the label, however, it was Vincent who was signed exclusively to Chrysalis as a "solo artist" off the power of his demo.
Vincent began recording and the end result was "VINNIE VINCENT INVASION." A virtual powerhouse of great songs, in your face over the top guitar, great layered intricate harmonies and piercing vocals, VINNIE VINCENT INVASION exploded onto rock radio and became the fastest selling debut album in the history of Chrysalis Records. The name "VINNIE VINCENT INVASION" was actually the name of the solo album which Vincent evolved into a band name.
However, despite Vincent's enormous efforts to fit Robert into his contract, Chrysalis, failing to know a good thing when they saw it, destroyed the chemistry, letting Fleischman go unrewarded forcing him to resign. Vincent, disheartened, was forced under duress to tour in support of his explosive "Vinnie Vincent Invasion" with a replacement singer who Vincent felt was woefully substandard to the quality which Vincent had not only strived for in his music, evidenced by the first Vinnie Vincent Invasion album.
Watching the quality of his music sinking, Vincent began losing interest in the teeny bopper image that began replacing his original heavy metal vision. Vincent nonetheless moved ahead in order to try and make it work, despite his loss of heart. Vincent began writing songs for the "All Systems Go" album the follow up to VINNIE VINCENT INVASION.
Once the recording sessions were underway, it became painfully evident the production, sound and lead vocals were simply poor, lackluster and pale in comparison to Vinnie's first VINNIE VINCENT INVASION. Vincent knew he should have aborted the entire project, which included the "All Systems Go" recording sessions, fired all the salaried employees, and regrouped with Fleischman, following the same recording paths of his original demos, with Vinnie on Guitars and bass, but it was too late.
"All Systems Go" was released to Vinnie's dismay. With a dramatic change in Chrysalis management, Vincent was saddled with a situation he had no belief in. Vincent made the conscious decision in 1988 to disband the "group" after his disenchantment with "All Systems Go" and with Chrysalis's new management decision to pander to the "music fad." In late 1988 Vincent, refused to extend Chrysalis the contractual option for a third VINNIE VINCENT INVASION record when Chrysalis accidentally breached their option deadline to renew Vincent's contract in late September 1989.
Chrysalis's contract with Vincent had a leaving member clause and option on the salaried employees Vincent used as band mates. Left without Vinnie Vincent under contract, and attempting to capitalize on Vinnie Vincent and Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Chrysalis picked up the option on two remaining employees. The rumors that Vincent was kicked out of his own band was baseless internet gossip, rumor and hearsay, having absolutely no basis in fact.
In 1991, British heavy metal magazine "Kerrang" voted the first "VINNIE VINCENT INVASION" album #100 of the 100 best heavy metal albums of ALL TIME. The VINNIE VINCENT INVASION is now a Youtube favorite, whose Vinnie Vincent Compositons include, "Boyz Are Gonna Rock", "Shoot U Full Of Love" "Animal" "Love Kills" "Ashes To Ashes" and many others which are now becoming discovered by a new generation of fans.
In 1996 Vincent resurfaced to release a demo EP called "EUPHORIA" reuniting with original VVI vocalist Robert Fleischman and recorded the unreleased album "Guitars From Hell." Vincent has plans to re-record the "ALL SYSTEMS GO" album the way it should have been recorded with the Vincent production, inclusive of all guitars, bass and vocals which would bring back the ferocious over the top sound of the first VINNIE VINCENT INVASION album, with Robert Fleishman on vocals.
Vinnie Vincent has posted this:
I am posting this factual account of events pertaining to VVI in order to correct Wikipedia's false rendition.
After quitting KISS following the LIU tour, Vinnie Vincent recorded and produced a song demo containing the songs "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" "Shoot U Full of Love" and "No Substitute." Vincent played guitars and bass on all the tracks and Myron Grumbacker played drums. Vincent heard a demo of Robert Fleishman and knew he found the perfect vocalist for his music. Robert was asked to sing on the three song demo Vinnie had recorded. Fleischman and Vincent's chemistry was unmatched.
Chrysalis Records New York heard the demo and called Vincent in LA. With Vincent's demo blaring in the background, Chrysalis asked Vincent to fly to New York immediately stating they were anxious to sign Vincent as a solo artist. After months of negotiating, an eight album 4 million deal was born. The common misconception was that a "band" was signed to the label, however, it was Vincent who was signed exclusively to Chrysalis as a "solo artist" off the power of his demo.
Vincent began recording and the end result was "VINNIE VINCENT INVASION." A virtual powerhouse of great songs, in your face over the top guitar, great layered intricate harmonies and piercing vocals, VINNIE VINCENT INVASION exploded onto rock radio and became the fastest selling debut album in the history of Chrysalis Records. The name "VINNIE VINCENT INVASION" was actually the name of the solo album which Vincent evolved into a band name.
However, despite Vincent's enormous efforts to fit Robert into his contract, Chrysalis, failing to know a good thing when they saw it, destroyed the chemistry, letting Fleischman go unrewarded forcing him to resign. Vincent, disheartened, was forced under duress to tour in support of his explosive "Vinnie Vincent Invasion" with a replacement singer who Vincent felt was woefully substandard to the quality which Vincent had not only strived for in his music, evidenced by the first Vinnie Vincent Invasion album.
Watching the quality of his music sinking, Vincent began losing interest in the teeny bopper image that began replacing his original heavy metal vision. Vincent nonetheless moved ahead in order to try and make it work, despite his loss of heart. Vincent began writing songs for the "All Systems Go" album the follow up to VINNIE VINCENT INVASION.
Once the recording sessions were underway, it became painfully evident the production, sound and lead vocals were simply poor, lackluster and pale in comparison to Vinnie's first VINNIE VINCENT INVASION. Vincent knew he should have aborted the entire project, which included the "All Systems Go" recording sessions, fired all the salaried employees, and regrouped with Fleischman, following the same recording paths of his original demos, with Vinnie on Guitars and bass, but it was too late.
"All Systems Go" was released to Vinnie's dismay. With a dramatic change in Chrysalis management, Vincent was saddled with a situation he had no belief in. Vincent made the conscious decision in 1988 to disband the "group" after his disenchantment with "All Systems Go" and with Chrysalis's new management decision to pander to the "music fad." In late 1988 Vincent, refused to extend Chrysalis the contractual option for a third VINNIE VINCENT INVASION record when Chrysalis accidentally breached their option deadline to renew Vincent's contract in late September 1989.
Chrysalis's contract with Vincent had a leaving member clause and option on the salaried employees Vincent used as band mates. Left without Vinnie Vincent under contract, and attempting to capitalize on Vinnie Vincent and Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Chrysalis picked up the option on two remaining employees. The rumors that Vincent was kicked out of his own band was baseless internet gossip, rumor and hearsay, having absolutely no basis in fact.
In 1991, British heavy metal magazine "Kerrang" voted the first "VINNIE VINCENT INVASION" album #100 of the 100 best heavy metal albums of ALL TIME. The VINNIE VINCENT INVASION is now a Youtube favorite, whose Vinnie Vincent Compositons include, "Boyz Are Gonna Rock", "Shoot U Full Of Love" "Animal" "Love Kills" "Ashes To Ashes" and many others which are now becoming discovered by a new generation of fans.
In 1996 Vincent resurfaced to release a demo EP called "EUPHORIA" reuniting with original VVI vocalist Robert Fleischman and recorded the unreleased album "Guitars From Hell." Vincent has plans to re-record the "ALL SYSTEMS GO" album the way it should have been recorded with the Vincent production, inclusive of all guitars, bass and vocals which would bring back the ferocious over the top sound of the first VINNIE VINCENT INVASION album, with Robert Fleishman on vocals.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Bill Aucoin: One Year Later
Kiss manager and friend to me, Bill Aucoin passed away one year ago on June 28, 2010.
No one can ever replace the genius of this man with a great heart and sense of humor. He is missed greatly.
From Bill's Wikipedia Page:
William "Bill" Aucoin (29 December 1943 – 28 June 2010, Aventura) was an American band manager.
Born in 1943, Aucoin attended Northeastern University and graduated with a degree in film. He worked at WGBH in Boston during his college years and after. Aucoin later worked at Teletape Productions as a cinematographer.
Bill Aucoin, Peter Criss, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Joyce, Neil BogartCredited with discovering Kiss, Aucoin managed the group for nearly a decade. He quit in 1982 citing creative and directional differences, but later worked with the band on various DVD projects.
Aucoin originally produced a television show called "Supermarket Sweep" in the early (pre-1973) 1970s.
(And also a Music show called "Flipside"- Kiss Mask Webzine)
Aucoin had re-entered the management business with his company, Aucoin Globe Entertainment, at the time of his death of surgical complications from prostate cancer. He is survived by partner Roman Fernandez, and two sisters, Betty Britton and Janet Bankowski.
No one can ever replace the genius of this man with a great heart and sense of humor. He is missed greatly.
From Bill's Wikipedia Page:
William "Bill" Aucoin (29 December 1943 – 28 June 2010, Aventura) was an American band manager.
Born in 1943, Aucoin attended Northeastern University and graduated with a degree in film. He worked at WGBH in Boston during his college years and after. Aucoin later worked at Teletape Productions as a cinematographer.
Bill Aucoin, Peter Criss, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Joyce, Neil BogartCredited with discovering Kiss, Aucoin managed the group for nearly a decade. He quit in 1982 citing creative and directional differences, but later worked with the band on various DVD projects.
Aucoin originally produced a television show called "Supermarket Sweep" in the early (pre-1973) 1970s.
(And also a Music show called "Flipside"- Kiss Mask Webzine)
Aucoin had re-entered the management business with his company, Aucoin Globe Entertainment, at the time of his death of surgical complications from prostate cancer. He is survived by partner Roman Fernandez, and two sisters, Betty Britton and Janet Bankowski.
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