Verne Gay | Newsday

THE SHOW “4th and Loud”

WHEN | WHERE Tuesdays at 9 p.m., AMC

WHAT IT’S ABOUT Almost exactly a year ago, Kiss frontmen Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons — along with manager Doc McGhee and Arena Football League executive Bret Bouchy — bought a Los Angeles Arena Football League expansion team, and quickly named it — what else? — the LA Kiss. Coaches and players were hired — tonight the 24-man roster is put together — and a future begins to take shape, which this doc-series will track. And what a future: Simmons and Stanley decided to impose Kiss style and energy on the team, which was smart, perhaps, from a marketing standpoint, but perhaps not from a winning one. The Kiss had a very rough first season — three wins, 15 losses. As such, this series may not have a happy ending, at least for the first season.

MY SAY Deep, deep in the shadow of the NFL is the AFL — arena football, well hidden to most except dedicated fans who like its pace (fast) and scoring (high). Games are played in pocket-size stadiums (arenas, if you will) by talented players who, nonetheless, were not quite talented enough to play in the NFL.

Continue reading →

Chad Bowar | Loud Wire
 

KISS icons Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are part owners of the L.A. Kiss arena football team, and a new reality show ’4th and Loud’ will chronicle the team’s inaugural season. The program debuts Aug. 12 on AMC.

The 10 hour-long episodes will follow owners Stanley and Simmons, along with long-time manager Doc McGhee, other team executives and of course, players and coaches as they try to turn L.A.’s first professional football team in years into a winning franchise.

“We are thrilled to partner with AMC in bringing our show to the viewing public,” Stanley says. “Anyone who knows Gene and I know we have never played by the rules. This opportunity to see the making of our team of rebels, the LA KISS, from behind the scenes will once again show everyone that we play to win.”

The first three ’4th and Loud’ webisodes are now available (watch below). The first one ‘Meet the Owners’ features Stanley and Simmons. The other two introduce viewers to the team’s players and coaches that will be featured on the show. You can also watch a trailer for the series below.

KISS are currently on tour with Def Leppard. That trek wraps up Aug. 31 in Woodlands, Texas. On Nov. 5, they’ll begin a Las Vegas residency at the The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for nine shows.

Billboard

Even when it seems everyone is opposed to something as awful as Donald Sterling’s racist rant, everyone isn’t always on the same page. In an interview forThe Wall Street Journal, Kiss’ Gene Simmons expressed his support for the former Los Angeles Clippers owner.

In doing press for the new AMC series 4th and Loud — about the Kiss-branded Arena Football League team L.A. Kiss — Simmons was asked if he had followed the Sterling incident.

“I’m on the side of Don Sterling,” he replied, before his position was even asked. Although he admits that Sterling is “heinous,” he opines that he should have been let off with a fine, since the rant occurred in private.

Continue reading →

Joe Polo

I had so many problems with my computer! I got them fixed and here is the episode I couldn’t get out in time for my 1 year party!!

Mike Adams | Banana1015

Cadillac, Michigan became the adopted home of the legendary rock band KISS back in 1974, after the group showed up in the small town to lend several days of support to the high school football team. Since then, the people of Cadillac have held KISS in high regard, and the experience was such a memorable occasion that a movie called ‘Cadillac High’ is now in the works.

According to reports, Gene Simmons confirmed last week that KISS is about to begin production for the film, which was originally proposed by the Michigan Film Office back in 2012. However, as with any film, finding the proper financial support kept production from immediately moving forward. “It’s now been fully funded and it’s now in pre-production,” Simmons told MLive. “The only date or timeline [for a release] I can give would be a guess.”

Philip Steuer, who is best known for his work on ‘Interview with a Vampire’, ‘Narnia’ and ‘Saving Mr. Banks’, will produce ‘Cadillac High’. The film is expected to employ 205 Michigan residents and will spend over $27 million, according to data from the Michigan Film Office.

To learn more about when KISS visited Cadillac, Michigan, be sure to check out the video above.

Eric Lacy | mlive

DETROIT, MI — The phone conversation last week started a bit awkward.

Me: “Hi Gene! My name is Eric Lacy and I’m a reporter with MLive.com. We own eight newspapers in the state of Michigan and cover Detroit entertainment.”

Gene Simmons: “I’m sorry.”

Fortunately KISS’ on-stage demon warmed up quickly after I asked him to reflect on the impact the Motor City made in the early 70s when the band needed some love.

“We broke in Detroit before any other city,” Simmons said quietly, seemingly with conviction. “We did it even though we’re from New York.

I caught up with Simmons last week to find out more about the band’s relationship with Detroit and Michigan through the years, its future that includes a variety of projects and a current tour with Def Leppard.

The tour makes an Aug. 23 stop at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston.

During the chat, Simmons broke some news when he revealed that a movie about KISS’ 1975 visit to Cadillac, Mich. is fully-funded and in pre-production.

Enjoy the interview and feel free to post any questions/reaction in the comments section below.

What does playing in Detroit mean to you after all these years knowing this city helped get the band popular across the country?

It was the heartland of America because America was built on wheels. Without cars and trucks and stuff like that, we wouldn’t have the structure of the highways and everything else. Detroit was the heartbeat of that; it was the Motor City. And it wasn’t just the home of Americans working their butts off so that the rest of us could ride in comfort and create the infrastructure, but also the home of America’s music, this kind of amalgam of R&B, soul and Motown.

Continue reading →

Terry X

It’s been a minute since your KISS Army bros did a roundtable..and we were super stoked to be joined by Adam Smith from KISSTORY SCIENCE THEATRE! This time around we dive into the controversial and very colorful 1985 KISS offering..ASYLUM!!!

Amazon

You can hear new track samples of Ace Frehley’s upcoming album Space Invader HERE!

Jeff Giles | Ultimate Classic Rock

There isn’t exactly a shortage of Kiss memoirs on the marketplace, but Ace Frehley hopes you’ve got room for a few more on your bookshelf.

Speaking with the Rock Pit to promote his upcoming ‘Space Invader‘ LP, Frehley pulled back the curtain on preparations for his next book, the follow-up to his 2011 autobiography ‘No Regrets.’ Saying he expects it to “be along the same lines as the first one,” he added that he has “a couple of chapters written,” and went on to offer a few hints as to what fans can expect to find in the pages.

“I don’t believe in bashing people, I don’t believe in a lot of negativity, so most of the stories in the book are going to be about me, funny stories and funny situations on the road, all stories about me in the Bronx growing up, and so on and so forth,” continued Frehley. “There wasn’t much in the first book about the Frehley’s Comet years, and there’s plenty of stories along those lines, there’s still plenty of Kiss stories, and plenty of stories of me growing up. I probably have enough stories for five books.”

Frehley didn’t include any sort of timeline for the project’s release, but he did offer a peek into his writing routine, which seems rigid enough that he should be able to finish another book’s worth of material sooner than later. “Every day I wake up and I remember something else that I completely forgot about,” he mused. “You know, I just turned 63; I’ve lived a lot in my life. The latest thing was I was just talking to my fiancee, Rachel, about the time I went over to John McEnroe’s house, the famous tennis player, and I remembered something. I’ll have to give John a call and document it for my next book.”

Joe Polo

Hey guys!! Joe here and I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support in doing PCRC!! I have met a lot of awesome ppl in the past year and I wanted to celebrate by doing a show a day for the next few days..so each day I will release a show with a different friend and I hope you enjoy!!

Terry X

Episode 29 finds your KISS Army bros joined by MATT PORTER from THE KISS ROOM, as well as our Canadian Co-Anchor, ANDREW KISS!!! We got together for a little discussion about something none of us wants to face..The End of KISS… Even with such heavy subject matter, we still had a blast, and hope you do too!!!

House

Part of Ace Frehley’s New York Groove shows up embedded in this track by Kindness. Definitely worth a listen…

NJkissexpo.com

Saturday, September 13, 2014
NJ Convention and Exposition Center, at the Raritan Center
97 Sunfield Ave, Edison NJ 08837.
Directions and info are at NJkissexpo.com

It’s coming up sooner than you think – The New Jersey KISS Expo returns to Edison NJ for an exciting day of celebrating KISS with all your KISS friends and family! Tickets will go on sale in early August.

Taking reservations for dealer tables now! We sell out every year, so get yours today. Dealer table reservation info is HERE.

Cindy Watts | The Tennessean

Britta Pedersen

Tongue-wagging, fire-spitting Gene Simmons of KISS is 64 years old and every night on the band’s 40th anniversary tour, “I have to wear more makeup and higher heels than you ever wore,” he said.

To be exact, those heels are eight-inch platforms and he does it carrying 50 pounds of gear.

Not that he’s complaining.

“I’m happy every day I get up,” said the over-the-top bass player who will appear with KISS tonight at Bridgestone Arena. Def Leppard will also perform. “You open your eyes, you win.”

Simmons said the stage production has been 40 years in the making and he doesn’t want to divulge a single detail because he wants fans to come see it for themselves. He said the fans are his highlight every night.

“The highlight that happens almost every show is when you look out and you see somebody in their 40s or 50s, that’s great,” he said. “When you look out and you see teenagers, they’re cool and they’re seeing their first KISS concert, that’s great. But the amazing thing is when you look out and you see a father and he’s got KISS make up on. And you see his five-year-old kid on his shoulders and he’s got KISS make up on and they’re both doing my hand gesture, it just chokes me up. It’s amazing.

“When I was growing up rock and roll divided the generations and now it’s finally something the whole family can get behind. It’s a unifier and not a divider. I love that about KISS.”

Continue reading →

Ultimate Guitar

KISS bassist Gene Simmons recently discussed the still-current matter of Rock Hall, suggesting an interesting idea – to buy it.

Asked by the Tampa Tribune on how he’d change the system, Gene casually replied, “Well, I was thinking of buying the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

Prompted to further elaborate, the bassist suggested a string of changes he’d incorporate if becoming the new Rock Hall head honcho. “The first thing I would do is move the bodies buried in the wrong place. I would bury them in the right place,” he explained.

“I would put Run DMC, who I believe are very good, and the rest of hip-hop into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. I would take Madonna and Donna Summer, who was a dear friend, and put them in the Disco or Dance Hall of Fame. I would put Deep Purple in the Hall. The fact that Blondie got in before Humble Pie is crazy,” Simmons added.

During the rest of the chat, the musician touched on quite a few interesting matters, ranging from original KISS reunion to the internet’s impact to Lady Gaga.

The interviewer didn’t even get to finish the Frehley/Criss reunion question as Gene jumped in with “Not a chance. We’ve already danced that dance three different times. No way will we reunite. It wouldn’t be fair to Tommy and Eric. It wouldn’t be right.”

Continue reading →

Ken Kelley | Ultimate Classic Rock

 

Kevin Winter

Kiss co-captain Gene Simmons is not one for mincing words. And his latest statement won’t be music to the ears of those still holding out for a reunion between the original four members of the iconic band.

In a new interview with the Tampa Tribune, Simmons offers a blunt answer when asked whether or not he would reunite with estranged Kiss members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss: ‘Not a chance.”

“We’ve already danced that dance three different times,” he explained. “No way will we reunite. It wouldn’t be fair to [current Kiss members] Tommy [Thayer, guitar] and Eric [Singer, drums]. It wouldn’t be right.”

Yet for all of his perceived brashness, Simmons is ultimately grateful for and gracious about all that Kiss have been able to accomplish over the last four decades. “We have no reason to complain. We’re the luckiest sons of bitches to walk the face of the Earth.”

Continue reading →