Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

KF: I assume Tommy would have been around during this time as well. How about Peter Criss? Would he have been around during this stage?

MO: No, Peter wasn’t around at all during post-production. Tommy was around a lot because he was our contact. In the end, we had to get involved in the video side as well, because the video guys were sending us pictures that weren’t what we needed. They were sending us pictures with shots from Dallas and other shows like that, and we said, “No way. No way. We can’t do that. We can only use pictures that we’ve got. It won’t work.” So in the end we took a big hand in how the video was put together as well. That’s why we get such a big credit, if you watch the DVD, we come straight away after the band and Doc. In the end, we had to get involved in the vision as well. Because music is king and that’s the thing that we had to keep putting across to the video people that video is very, very important and vision is very much part of a KISS show when you go to see it, very much part of the spectacular, but in the end the music has to be king. The vision has to follow the music. Again, we know what the KISS Army is like and their fan base, and there’s no band in the world that treats their fans better than KISS. There is just not. The just really are so conscious of their fan base.

KF: I want to go back to Peter. Given he was struggling with carpal tunnel at the time, how do you rate his performance on the album?

MO: Well, I rate his performance really well. Because he was soft hitting, there was a bit of enhancement on the drum sound to get a bit more power into it. But it was his playing, I just had to use his good hits and when you had a really good hit, I would use that snare Continue reading →

Lyndsey Parker | And The Winner is…

Forty years ago this week, on January 30, 1973, the band formerly known as Wicked Lester played its first gig under its new name. To three people. In a long-forgotten venue in Queens called the Popcorn Club (later renamed the Coventry). Why is this notable, you ask? Well, because that was the first official concert by a not-so-little band called KISS. And four decades, 100 million in album sales, multiple lineup changes, thousands of pieces of mass-produced merchandise, and countless gallons of facepaint later, KISS (or at least founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley) are still rocking and rolling all nite and partying ev-er-y day.

While the group’s characters–Paul Stanley’s Starchild, Peter Criss’s Catman, Ace Frehley’s Spaceman, and Gene Simmons’s Demon–weren’t yet fully formed when KISS took the stage that fateful night in Queens (their legendary platform-footed characters would make their true debut 10 days later, at the Daisy club in Amityville, New York), the KISS guys already knew that they wanted to put their own, much more macho spin on the early 1970s’ prevailing glam-rock style.

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KissFAQ
Photos: wireimage.com

Paul Stanley and wife Erin Sutton were among the attendees at the Voice Health Institute’s Raise Your Voice Benefit on Jan. 24 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Other notables in attendance included Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton and Steven Tyler, the Who’s Roger Daltrey, and Lionel Richie, and actors Mel Gibson and Kate Hudson, among others.

On the red carpet, Stanley and Tyler exchanged pleasantries. Last October, the two frontmen engaged in a verbal joust.

Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

KissFAQ has conducted an interview Australia-based producer/engineer Mark Opitz regarding his role as the producer/chief mixer on KISS’ 2003 project “KISS Symphony.”

In the first of a two-part interview, Opitz discusses the challenges of capturing KISS alongside a symphony orchestra, some of the technical demands inherent to the project, the project’s post-production schedule, and working with KISS’ Tommy Thayer and conductor David Campbell, among other topics.

The following are excerpts from Opitz’s interview with KissFAQ’s Tim McPhate:

KissFAQ: Mark, let’s start with the obvious question. How did you come to be involved with KISS on “KISS Symphony”?

Mark Opitz: Doc McGhee, the manager, asked a friend of mine, Michael Gudinski in Australia, for the names of three people he thought could get involved. And at this stage it was only [at] the mix level. Michael Gudinski said there was only one [person], and it was me. But once I got involved and I started to speak to a few people, I realized it was a lot bigger. I was living in Sydney at the time, so I flew myself and two of my crew down to oversee the operation of the recording aspect of the whole thing.

KF: Mark, live albums present a multitude of challenges. And even then, “KISS Symphony” isn’t your typical live album. What were the main challenges in capturing KISS alongside a symphony orchestra?

MO: The challenges were the fact that KISS are a very active band onstage, and not only active in the way they play but in the audio aspect. I mean you have things like Paul flying off the stage to the middle of the audience at one point. You have Peter Criss going 50 feet up in the air on a drum riser. And not only that, you have massive fireworks going off all the time. Those present a lot of challenges, not just for me but for David Campbell, in particular, when he can’t see the drummer. It’s very hard to keep time as an orchestra, Continue reading →

Cassius Morris | COTN

For their 40th anniversary, COTN host, Cassius Morris, does a 7 minute spoken word piece on why he has such a passion for KISS. This is a raw, commercial free salute to the hottest band in the world. 

Mia Gray

German model Mia Gray does a photo shoot as a tribute to Paul Stanley. See Mia on her Facebook page.

Michael Brandvold

Michael Brandvold

PeterCriss.net

If you’d like an official autographed copy of Peter Criss’s Book MAKEUP TO BREAKUP, and are worried about it’s authenticity, worry no more! Peter’s management has arranged to have KISSmuseum.com be the official seller of the signed copies. The link comes directly from Peter Criss’s official website, so you know it is the real deal. Many people were unable to travel to his many book signings he did at the end of 2012, so now here’s your chance!

The link from Peter’s website, (second box down), is HERE.
The direct link to the KISSmuseum.com page is HERE.

Limited numbers are available!

Cassius Morris

Steven Hyden | Grantland

Submitted by Neil Gido

“I am a fan of Middle America. Remember, it was mass culture that created rock ‘n’ roll. Our tastes happen to coincide with theirs.” —Gene Simmons, 1977, in Rolling Stone

The video begins — the 17-minute-and-18-second version that’s posted on YouTube, anyway — with a medium close-up of a carnival barker carnival-barking at a group of gawkers outside of a freak show. The tape is blurry but the metaphor is clear to the point of obviousness. And yet Edwin Newman, the unflappable veteran reporter carved out of hickory and tweed who has been dispatched by NBC News to get to the bottom of this evening’s investigation, isn’t afraid to underline it several times. He alludes to P.T. Barnum and the suckers who are born every 60 seconds. He warns against a “vast machinery of hype” threatening to sucker the suckers of today — which in the video is 1977 — into mindless oblivion. Even by the murderously lax standards of the network-news hatchet job, Edwin Newman has dispensed with all subtleties. He is out to bust balls.

Hype is this newsman’s primary concern. Hype is the subject of his special report, helpfully titled Land of Hype & Glory. Suddenly, the setting shifts to a rock concert, and we meet Newman’s Exhibit A. “These four men have been performing for four years. In that time they’ve been responsible for selling records worth $30 million,” he intones grimly. “By some accounts, they are the favorite rock group of American teenagers. Their name, for no reason immediately apparent, is Kiss.”

Kiss is playing “Black Diamond,” the final song on the band’s self-titled 1974 debut. “Black Diamond” is sung primarily by drummer Peter Criss, the Catman, but the Catman is the one member who is not in view. Instead, we see Gene Simmons stomp from stage right to stage left like Frankenstein doing the funky-chicken. We whizz by Ace Frehley playing a guitar solo with his Gibson held at a mathematically precise 45-degree angle. We venture to the outskirts of Paul Stanley’s black forest of mossy chest hair.

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Michael Brandvold

Ashley Baylen | Shalom Life

Frank Frazella

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ producer, Scott Steindorff, has partnered up with KISS musician and business mogul, Gene Simmons, for a re-imagined version of ‘Icarus’.

According to Variety, the sci-fi version of the ancient tale of ‘Icarus’ does not have a confirmed logline, “other than it is centered on two characters, one the hunter and the other hunted”.

‘Icarus’, a concept created by Simmons, will be loosely based on the character in Greek mythology. Icarus is the son of Daedalus, who makes wings out of wax and feathers to escape from Crete, only to drown after ignoring instructions to avoid flying close to the sun.

Steindorff is currently working on ‘Jane Got a Gun’ with Natalie Portman and Michael Fassbender and ‘The Master and Margarita’.

Steindorff is producing through his Scott Pictures banner.

KISSmuseum.com

The new KISS Sonic Boom Action figures will be released soon – slated for the 3rd week of January, this month! The KISS Museum is now taking pre-orders and will ship out on the release date, (exact day is yet to be determined – we will update all info on the website when it becomes available).

As with the two recent KISS Figure releases, these highly articulated and detailed figures come in both 8 inch and 12 inch variations.

Reserve your set today – the first orders placed will be the first to ship!

KISS SONIC BOOM FIGURES available at KISSmuseum.com

Melissa Ruggieri | Atlanta Music Scene

In case you thought there was one industry that KISS hadn’t cornered, well, keep looking.

Last fall, the band’s new slot machines debuted at the Borgata in New Jersey and have now made their way into the Las Vegas casinos.

This isn’t the first time the quartet has been immortalized with their own row of reels, but the visuals and multimedia elements that accompany this latest incarnation are impressive – and no doubt the timing of their release was to coincide with the band’s robust new album, “Monster.”

Since I had zero luck when I first played the game in Jersey in November, never experiencing the all-important bonus round that truly shows a slot’s entertainment value, I was wary of feeding the beast more money at the Venetian in Las Vegas last week.

But, I’m glad I did, as this machine was much more accommodating, frequently rolling into Continue reading →

From: Jeff

It was my 50th b-day surprise party throw by my wife and my partner in crime, my son ‘lil jeff. My son had designed the cake and his friend at Gencarelles bakery in Wayne NJ made it for me – what a blast! Been a kiss fan since day 1 and will be till the last breath!!!!

Brenda Gazzar | Pasadena Star-News

Keith Birmingham

ARCADIA – When it comes to KISS frontman Gene Simmons’ new role at Santa Anita Park, mystery and ambiguity may well be his trump cards.

Although the savvy businessman has clearly been tapped by The Stronach Group to help promote Santa Anita and its other racetracks nationwide, Simmons coyly remarks that he doesn’t have a formal title – and speaks in grandiose but vague terms about his plans.

“I don’t like titles but I move mountains,” Simmons, donning a black-pin-striped blazer, red handkerchief and his signature black leather pants, said recently from Santa Anita Park.

“Do you want to find out in July what you’re getting for Christmas?” he said behind his big, dark sunglasses at the racetrack’s executive offices. “Let’s just say that 80 percent of the year, this track is empty. There’s nothing going on. That’s changing from today. … We’re going to make magic here. Santa Anita may as well be called Magic Land.”

When asked if the racetrack could host KISS concerts in the future, he replied “yes.”

“Keep going. You have 80 percent of the year to fill – so make it up,” he said.

Stippers?

No. But nightclubs, shopping and lifestyle attractions are real possibilities, he said.

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Nathan Rabin | A.V. Club

Gene Simmons is the preeminent villain of Kiss mythology. He isn’t just notoriously selfish and leering in a realm where those qualities are ubiquitous; the man pretty much embodies rock-’n’-roll greed and lust. The great Jon Wurster does a devastating impersonation of Simmons on The Best Show and Best Show Gems in part because he doesn’t have to exaggerate much to make Simmons seem hilariously self-serving and mercenary. In Peter Criss’ Makeup To Break-Up, which I just wrote about for this column, Simmons is certainly the bad guy, a cold-hearted, money-grubbing bastard who ran the band like a dictatorship during the boom years and treated drummer Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley like disposable employees during their lucrative comeback tours, all despite the original vision to have Kiss be like The Beatles—four individual superstars with strong personas in one band. (While plenty of bands emulate the Beatles, note that none of them ever envision themselves as being composed of “four Ringos”.)

Simmons has embraced the role of heavy in his public life—sneering defiantly at critics, extending a middle finger to punks/true believers who think music should be about art and integrity and not chicks and money, and lasciviously waggling his famously long tongue at the highbrow gatekeepers of culture who are aghast at the nakedness of his sexism and greed (most notably Terry Gross of Fresh Air). There’s an unmistakably preemptive quality to Simmons’ confrontational, unapologetic shtick: A man who loudly professes to have no integrity or values cannot be accused of betraying his integrity or values. And a man who makes it clear that he cares only for power, money, and women cannot be accused of losing his way.

But what does the villain have to say about himself and his path to infamy? That is the question behind Kiss And Make-Up, Simmons’ relentlessly self-aggrandizing, intensely unedifying 2001 memoir. In the book, Simmons pats himself on the back for having the courage to deliver the unvarnished truth about Kiss in spite of what fans might think, but that mostly means he’s comfortable repeatedly trashing Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. To
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Jeff Giles | Ultimate Classic Rock

Former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick gave his girlfriend Lisa Lane a yuletide to remember in 2012, popping the question in London on Christmas Eve.

Kulick shared the news via Facebook, telling his social media family that “I am ringing in the Nee Year [sic] by letting you all know I’m engaged to my lovely girl, Lisa Lane. I proposed on a London holiday on Xmas eve. It’s been a great holiday season!”

Kulick joined Kiss in 1984, following previous guitarist Mark St. John’s diagnosis with Reiter’s Syndrome, and remained until 1996, when the original lineup regrouped for a reunion tour. In between, he appeared on a string of studio albums (including 1987′s platinum-certified ‘Crazy Nights’) as well as the live sets ‘Alive III’ and ‘Kiss Unplugged.’

Following his departure from Kiss, Kulick has kept busy with a variety of projects over the last 15 years, including the short-lived Union — featuring interim Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi — and most recently the reconstituted Grand Funk Railroad, which currently features Kulick playing alongside original members Don Brewer and Mel Schacher as well as keyboard player Tim Cashion and former 38 Special vocalist Max Carl. His most recent solo LP, 2010′s ‘BK3,’ featured contributions from a host of classic rock artists, including Gene Simmons, Toto‘s Steve Lukather, and Doug Fieger of the Knack.