Global Trader

Royalty, rock’n’roll and movie stars – they do business lunches differently in America.

While British business councils and clubs might attract the odd comedian or government minister, over in California today (Friday December 13) Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and Sarah Duchess of York were just two of the stellar names attending the annual Christmas Luncheon of the British American Business Council Los Angeles.

Taking place at the uber-glitzy Fairmont Hotel and Bungalows Resort in Santa Monica, the event – this time appropriately showcasing British and American luxury brands – is now in its 54th year, and the organisation aims to promote ‘friendship, commerce and trade between the United States and the United Kingdom.’

While evidently getting its rocks off at the same time!

Simmons, whose commercially lucrative oeuvre in the glam rock Kiss line-up includes raunchy tunes such as Calling Doctor Love, and special guest speaker Fergie, who has forged a successful media career across the Atlantic, were part of a 500-strong throng at the popular festive bash.

Other guests included Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day, Set It Off, Soul Food), Will Rothhaar (star of National Geographic’s Killing Kennedy), Cas Anvar (Diana the movie), Penelope Ann Miller (The Artist, Saving Lincoln and Mistresses) and Lolita Davidovich (Rizzoli & Isles, Kill Your Darlings, and Squatters).

Meanwhile the serious business side was represented by the British Consul General, the Regional Director of UKTI and a multitude of influential bosses. The BABC LA is part of the largest transatlantic business network, with 23 chapters, 2,500 member companies and some of the world’s largest multinationals, based in major business centres throughout North America and the UK.

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RTT News

KISS have unveiled their latest foray into the merchandising world — an officially licensed version of Sega’s iOS game Demon Tribe.

The painted rockers shared the new game online this week, boasting that it blends of the best of several spheres of the gaming world.

In an official statement, band reps say that the game is “an intense real-time blend of MOBA, Card Collection and RPG gaming,” which requires players to “build a powerful team of fighters by capturing demons and fusing them into the ultimate power: magic that transforms you and your tribe into the very demons you must vanquish.”

Online gaming is relatively new to KISS. Gene Simmons previously said that they’ve “stayed out of the marketplace because the ideas simply weren’t exciting enough.”

Sterling Whitaker

Kiss were one of the top arena draws of the ’70s, staging some of the most impressive concert spectacles of that era with their over-the-top theatrical performances. But the power of their live production almost cost guitarist Ace Frehley his life at a gig on Dec. 12, 1976, at the Lakeland Civic Center in Florida, when an unforeseen technical glitch caused him to nearly be electrocuted onstage.

The near-fatal production snafu occurred early in the group’s set, after ‘Detroit Rock City.’ Kiss performed that song atop their set before descending to the stage for the next song. As Frehley came down from the top of the set, he grabbed onto a metal rail to steady himself — inadvertently completing an electrical circuit with his guitar. He was seized by the electrical current and unable to move, but finally broke free and fell several feet to the stage below. “If I hadn’t been able to let go, I would have died,” Frehley told theLakeland Ledger shortly thereafter. “My life passed in front of my eyes.”

Shaken, but not seriously hurt, the Spaceman took a 10-minute break in the dressing room before returning to the stage to a standing ovation, finishing the night’s set. “I knew it for an instant and then I blacked out. I woke up behind the amplifiers,” the guitarist told the Morton Report. “I said, ‘I can’t play.’ Then the fans started chanting my name and I finished the show. But I had no feeling in my hands. I don’t know how I even did it. I guess it was all adrenaline.”

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Something Else!

Should Kiss earn a belated induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Gene Simmons has made it clear he’s not participating in a reunion with his fellow original members. That won’t keep Ace Frehley away. “There’s no way Gene can put a lid on it,” Frehley tells Eddie Trunk. “I mean, what’s he going to do?”

Kiss has grown increasingly fractured over the 15 years since it became eligible, as the good feelings engendered bya long-awaited 1990s-era reunion of Frehley, Paul Stanley, Simmons and Peter Criss have been completely forgotten. Kiss continues these days with replacements Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, even as the remaining founders making increasingly inflammatory remarks.

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Examiner

Rock Legend and media mogul, Gene Simmonswill mentor and jam with campers along with fellow rock star friends at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp offering an opportunity of a lifetime at itsLas Vegas studios. The camp will also feature Tommy Thayer (KISS), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Dave Ellefson (Megadeth). Together alongside Simmons, they will help musicians of all levels form bands, learn or perfect their knowledge of an instrument, write and record a song. The four-day camp will culminate with a live performance at the House of Blues at theMandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas March 27-30, 2014. This March marks Simmons’ return to Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp for the first time since his October 2012.

“Mentoring adult and young rockers at the fantasy camp has always been an amazingly rewarding experience for me,” said Simmons. “I enjoy teaching and handing over lessons I’ve learned from the business to young and upcoming talent’’

Space for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp is extremely limited. To sign-up or for more information, please visit www.RockCamp.com, or call (888) 762-2263.

Formed in New York City in 1973, KISS is one of the most successful rock bands of all time and was recently nominated this year for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Simmons, the band’s original bass player and co-founder, is credited with writing many of the band’s songs including “Nothing To Lose,” “We Are One,” “Shout It Out Loud,” and “Domino” to name a few. He also owns a record label, Simmons Records, and is known for his innovative marketing of his band and his TV series, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels.”

The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is located at 3950 S. Las Vegas Blvd in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, please visit www.mandalaybay.com.

KISSmuseum.com

Or shipment arrived today and we are shipping all orders, (including pre-orders), out within one business day. Order now to have them in time for Christmas.

The new KISS Dressed to Kill figures are a step up in detail, molding and quality. The suits are made of stitched fabric and the facial expressions are phenomenal!

Postage is always only $3.95 for any size U.S. order when you order from KISSmuseum.com!

Buy the new figures HERE at KISSmuseum.com

Musicnews.com

Rock Legend and media mogul, Gene Simmons will mentor and jam with campers along with fellow rock star friends at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp offering an opportunity of a lifetime at its Las Vegas studios.

The camp will also feature Tommy Thayer (KISS), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Dave Ellefson (Megadeth). Together alongside Simmons, they will help musicians of all levels form bands, learn or perfect their knowledge of an instrument, write and record a song. The four-day camp will culminate with a live performance at House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas March 27-30, 2014. This March marks Simmons’ return to Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp for the first time since his October 2012.

‘Mentoring adult and young rockers at the fantasy camp has always been an amazingly rewarding experience for me,’ said Simmons. ‘I enjoy teaching and handing over lessons I’ve learned from the business to musicians and upcoming talent’

Space for Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp is extremely limited. To sign-up or for more information, please visit www.rockcamp.com

Krazy Knights
 

Marshall Terrill | Get Out

Alice Cooper’s 13th annual Christmas Pudding is going heavy on the metal — and will be sealed with a KISS.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and shock rocker has enlisted four members of KISS — Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer — to co-headline his annual holiday music and comedy benefit gala.

They’ll be joined by many of rock and metal’s biggest stars, including Joan Jett, Rob Zombie, Vince Neil of Motely Crue, Stephen Pearcy of RATT, Tom Keifer of Cinderella, Kip Winger of Winger, and several more guests soon to be announced.

The concert takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at Comerica Theatre. Proceeds from the event directly benefit Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Center.

Former “Seinfeld” and “Family Feud” star John O’Hurley will serve as guest host for the festivities. Blue Collar Comedy Tour’s Bill Engvall will be this year’s comedian.

“Although I have played more than 100 shows this year, Pudding is the one I look forward to the most,” Cooper says. “We love bringing people together for Christmas, for the sake of music and dance, and the mission of Solid Rock.”

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njkissexpo.com

Come down to the KISS Mart in Edison NJ this Saturday and pick up a set of the new KISS Dressed to Kill action figures before their official release! The figures landed in the U.S. just today and will start ground shipping to all the outlets shortly. By a special arrangement with the distributor, the NJ KISS Mart is having a shipment FedEx Overnighted to us, hot off the boat, to sell at the NJ KISS Mart event this Saturday, December 7! Come by and pick out a nice set for yourself and have them before anyone else!

In addition to the new KISS DTK Figures, the KISS Mart will have tables and tables full of KISS merchandise, old and new – mostly at discount bargain prices. Credit cards accepted.

The NJ KISS Mart is THE place to meet with your fellow KISS Collectors to view, buy, trade, sell, and talk about all things KISS. A great place to meet friends and have a top-of-the-line KISS shopping experience!

The NJ KISS Mart always has FREE admission!

All info and directions for the NEW JERSEY KISS MART are HERE 

Anthony Smiljkovich | My Fox LA

Los Angeles Local News | FOX 11 LA KTTV

Gene Simmons is a football fan and he’s bringing football to LA. He talked to Steve and Maria Wednesday about his new Arena Football team the LA KISS and why he and Paul Stanley are venturing into the world of sports and offering season tickets starting at 99 bucks each.

“If you’re a football fan and who isn’t, you’ve got to mortgage your home to get a season ticket. You’ve got to fight traffic to get into a stadium filled with other fans…what a crime that Los Angeles, the second biggest market in the entire North American continent, does not have a football team…we’re gonna be bringing it to you because Los Angeles deserves a football team.”

Gene says he and Paul are using their fame to showcase what they consider a sport that is too often overlooked.

“We’re calling it LA KISS to bring more attention to arena football which is really much faster, much more aggressive, much more in your face kind of football. It’s classic football on adrenaline.”

Steve also asked Gene about the band not being inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Whether The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or any other institution recognizes us is really not foremost in our mind. I was thinking of buying The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame… it’s well meaning guys, a handful of people who sit behind the scenes and have meetings and they’re good guys but you know…”

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Something Else!

Paul Stanley’s iconic star-themed make up is as much a part of his persona with Kiss as original songs like “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” and “Shout It Out Loud.” But it wasn’t always like that.

Stanley actually changed his look for a new concert in mid-1973, switching to a character known as the Bandit that bore more than a passing resemblence to the Lone Ranger. It wasn’t the only time Stanley considered another option, either.

“At one point, I was experimenting,” Stanley tells KLOS in Los Angeles. “I thought about a ring around my eye — like Petey, the dog from the Little Rascals. But, as much of a dog as I was, I felt more like a star.”

And so it has been for decades now, save for a period beginning in September of 1983 when the group performed unmasked through February 1996 — when Stanley resumed his role as the Starchild, one he hasn’t relinquished since.

Even having had that time away from the elaborate on-stage getups, Stanley says he’s never resenting going back to the familiar makeup.

“Never,” he says. “We had, what was it? 14 or 15 years without the makeup? But if you win the lottery, you don’t complain about taxes. If that was what got us to where we were, how could we complain about it? It makes people happy, it makes me happy. I’m proud of the legacy we have.”

Erik Ofgang | CT Post

For the members of Kiss Alive, every day is like Halloween.

The band members get decked out in the iconic Kiss white-face paint and gear, faithfully recreating the music and wild stage antics of the hard-rock super group.

Kiss Alive will perform at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Friday, Dec. 6, a fundraiser to benefit Breath From An Angel, a memorial fund in honor of Tommy Chisholm, who died at age 2 in 2011.

Since 1999, Kiss Alive has been faithfully recreating the look, feel and sound of a Kiss show. We recently caught up with Tom Pressano, who sings and plays bass with the group, and who — when he applies the white Kiss war paint — takes on the alter ego of The Demon, aka Gene Simmons.

Q: What can fans of Kiss expect at your show in Ridgefield?

A: They can expect the closest approximation to the real Kiss from the late ’70s, with some popular and more current songs thrown into the mix. Add to this, blood-spitting, fire-breathing and smoking guitars and any Kiss fan will feel like they have seen the real deal.

Q: How did you guys form? Did you always wear full Kiss costumes?

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njkissexpo.com

The promoters of the New Jersey KISS Expo once again bring you KISS Mart, back for 1 day only.

Get your Christmas shopping done and see the new KISS Dressed to Kill Figures at this special KISS merchandise store!

– Saturday, December 7, 2013
– Raritan Center, 97 Sunfield Ave, Edison NJ 08837
(same venue as the NJ KISS Expo)
– 11 am to 5 pm
– FREE admission!
– FREE parking!

What is KISS-Mart?
– A one day KISS memorabilia collector’s meet where KISS fans gather to buy, sell and trade official items spanning all eras, 1974 to 2013. 
– THE BEST PLACE on the planet to find great deals on overstock and private collection items.
– A place to socialize with fellow hard-core KISS Collectors and make new friends.

All types and genres of KISS collecting will be present – magazines, promo items, toys, T-shirts, books concert items, picks, posters, paper items, official CDs and DVDs, tour books, vinyl, signed items, out of print and vintage items, and all the latest releases as well. 

Have KISS items you want to sell or trade? Bring it on over, we pay CASH on the spot!

Have an entire collection you want to sell? Small, medium or large, it does not matter! Cash paid on the spot, (contact Ross Koondel for appointment – 267 566 2046). 

For more info and directions, visit the web page HERE

Mitch Lafon | Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles

In a new interview with Mitch Lafon, drummer Allan Schwartzberg discusses his work on the KISS albums The Elder and Animalize.

In conjunction with KissFAQ’s month-long NovElder retrospective back in December 2012, key Music From The Elder contributor Tony Powers went on record for the first time about his “odyssey” with KISS. Check out an excerpt from the interview below:

KF: How did you become involved on the Music From The Elder project?

TP: “There was a bar/restaurant in New York called the Cafe Central. It was on 74th and Amsterdam in Manhattan. A lot of showbiz people used to hang out there: writers, actors, producers, director — names you would know. And we met there. Paul was aware I had recorded ‘Odyssey’. I’m not sure if I had done the video by then, but he knew the song and he really liked it. And he asked me if they could use it on the album and of course I said yes. I was quite flattered. And then he wanted me to come to Toronto with him to help finish this other song. I did that and I played piano for them on ‘Odyssey’. 

KF: While acknowledging he likes the song, Paul has criticized his vocal performance on ‘Odyssey’. Do you remember any hesitation on his part, and do you recall any talk of Gene singing the song?

TP: “I’m sorry, that I don’t remember. I do remember Paul, even then he struggled with the lead. But I thought he did a great job. No, I don’t remember anything about Gene being considered to do the lead vocal. He quite well might have been.”

KF: The song is very sophisticated musically — there are interesting chord changes and musical twists. The lyrics also have a cinematic quality. Tony, I’ve always wanted to ask you: What was your inspiration for writing this song?

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Mitch Lafon | Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles

In October 1975, Cadillac High School (in Cadillac, Michigan) had KISS play at their homecoming.

In the interview below, Mitch Lafon chats with Jim Neff – the person responsible for making it all happen.

Glen Smith | The Post and Courier

John Downs wasn’t the fastest runner in Thursday’s annual Turkey Trot road race in Charleston. But to be fair, it’s not easy to make good time in a pair of metal-scaled demon boots with 6-inch platform heels.

It’s become a tradition for Downs to run the race each year slathered in makeup and sporting the spiked armor of his favorite musician, Gene Simmons, bassist for the rock band Kiss. His brother gets in on the act as well, taking on the starry-eyed persona of guitarist Paul Stanley.

These are middle-aged men, mind you. John Downs runs a successful auto glass company in Charleston. His brother, Jamie, is a regional medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

They’re both in the early 50s. But just mention Kiss, and they suddenly revert to the same fist-pumping teens who borrowed dad’s car to cheer on the flamboyant band from a pair of nosebleed seats in Columbia in 1977

It was the brothers’ first concert, and they’ve been loyal members of the Kiss Army ever since, attending the group’s shows, fan conventions and cruises whenever they get a chance. There’s just something about that hard rock sound, the flash pots, fire-breathing and blood-spitting. They were hooked from the start.

“Everyone has hobbies,” John Downs said. “Mine just happens to be Kiss.”

Like a lot of Kiss fans, the Downs brothers bristle at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s failure to induct the costume-clad band into its ranks — an unforgivable snub to some. But this year, John Downs happened on an idea to get his hero some recognition from an even more distinguished forum — the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum.

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Lydia Criss

Michelle Da Silva | Straight

Shannon Tweed-Simmons and Sophie Tweed-Simmons, wife and daughter of KISS frontman Gene Simmons, respectively, will star in a new reality show filmed in Vancouver.

According to a news release from Force Four Entertainment—a Vancouver-based television production company responsible forThe Cupcake Girls, Border Security, and The Bachelor Canada—production on the unnamed eight-episode series will begin in B.C. in December.

“We are thrilled to be working with W Network and Shannon and Sophie on this series,” John Ritchie, an executive producer at Force Four Entertainment stated November 12.  “They’re a true dynamic duo—outgoing, savvy, enterprising and smart as hell. Their legions of fans will be highly entertained as they rock into the next exciting chapter in their lives.”

The show will reportedly centre on the mother-daughter duo’s close relationship. Shannon, a Canadian, is a former Playboy model and film actor. Sophie, the younger of two Tweed-Simmons children, helps run Sophie’s Place, a children’s advocacy centre in Surrey. The family owns a home in Whistler and spends time in the Lower Mainland.

“It’s amazing the friendship my mom and I have. She’s my rock, my best friend, and even though we are very different, ultimately we agree on the important things in life,” Sophie stated in the news release. “I’m excited to start shooting and give viewers a glimpse into our world.”

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