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| Outside Parliament - the 1976 intake |
KISS (that's right, it's capitalised - none of yer lowercase nonsense) were always about far more than the music. It was all about the brand: KISS pinball machines, KISS Kaskets, KISS Konverses, the list goes on. For what it's worth, although I knew (and still know) plenty of folks who got off on them, I never did. Though I did go and see them; just the once; I actually went for the support band; I ended up walking out on the headliners a mere five minutes into their set. They were miming. They always mimed apparently. A poor show. A shame really as they obviously put a lot of time and energy into just looking like KISS. The video below shows Gene Simmons using his daughter as a prop and just how bloody long it takes to put the war paint on and get into the part.
Maybe if this tribute act had put as much time into securing their wigs before going on stage then the KISS kalamity that occurs 13 seconds into this video could have been averted. This is hilarious.
KISS Army - Detroit Rock City
Anyway, about that support band. Girl (for it was they) got kicked off the tour promptly after I saw them that night. Why? They opened with this: KISS' management took a dim view.
Girl - Do You Love Me? (1980)
From one of my scrapbooks
I bought their "Alive!" album when it came out in 1975. I can't defend my actions, I was young and foolish.
ReplyDeletePanic thee not, Ernie; nobody around here sits in judgement. We've all had our musical forks in the road. And anyway, it was 1975. Nuff said,
DeleteKiss were big among the heavy metal set when we were at school in the 80s. I could not see their appeal at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd therein lies the rub, Adam. They somehow bypassed glam and instead, as you say, latched on to the metal fraternity. What's most interesting, for me, in their story is when they decided to abandon the fancy dress costumes and go out as themselves. What were they thinking?.
DeleteI guess another example of the brand, but my first memory of KISS isn’t their music but house ads for their one-off comic that Marvel ran in its titles in the 1970s. I wasn’t sufficiently moved to check out either the comic or the music, though I did both with Alice Cooper. Make of that what you will!
ReplyDeleteIt's almost as if they were aware of how thin their sound was and only by hawking their branded wares could they hoodwink you into buying the albums and singles.
DeleteDuring a snowy lockdown in 87..I spent three days listening to their Double Platinum 'hits' album and became a komplete Kiss konvert.
ReplyDeleteAs Kartoon, Karikature New York bands go - they're head and shoulders above most others - and not just cos of the platforms.
The albums are mostly filler, but there are killer kuts in the kollection. Check out Dinosaur Jr doing Goin' Blind or Lenny Kravitz take on Deuce.
If you haven't dug in in - Paul Stanley's biog is one of the best I've read - he's a huge .Rock Anglophile and was the right age at the right time to see Humble Pie, The Who and Slade touring the States
Even Mrs M finished the book ! One of only two rock biographies she's ever completed (the other being Rod's)
Cheers, Brother Mondo! I might just take a punt on Stanley's memoirs. Yep, I reckon they had three or four good tunes that could hold their own - after that it was all a bit Spinal Tap.
DeleteSlade were a big influence on them, you can hear it best on tracks like Rock & Roll All Nite. I love Kiss, and my entry was the same as mondo's above, Double Platinum is still their best compilation. I think, like AC/DC you need to be exposed to them at an early age.
DeleteThanks, H. As I told Mondo offline, I listened to Double Platinum twice thru yesterday (the things I do). I reckon there's a really good six-track EP on there.
DeleteThy were big in London. And, not surprisingly, Japan. But it was game over when Phil Collen threw his lot in with Def Leppard.
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