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KISSonline.com

KISS is set to mark its 40th anniversary and impending Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with a variety of special releases, including a series of album reissues on high-quality vinyl, a two-CD compilation and a massive vinyl box set.

The LP reissue series will launch on April 1 with the arrival of remastered versions of 10 of the band’s albums on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl.  Additional LPs will be released on May 6, May 27 and June 6.  Among the reissues will be three albums that never have been available before on vinyl — 1997’sCarnival of Souls: The Final Sessions, 1998’s Psycho Circus and 2006’s Alive: The Millennium Concert, which previously was only available as part of the KISS Alive! 1975-2000 box set.

The double-CD retrospective, meanwhile, is titled KISS 40 and will hit stores sometime in May.  The collection will feature 40 tracks, including one from ever major album the band put out.  Among the songs are such classic hits as “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Beth,” “Hard Luck Woman,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “Christine Sixteen” and “Lick It Up.”  The compilation also offers four previously unreleased tunes, a 1977 demo version of “Reputation” and live renditions “Deuce” from 2004, “Cold Gin” from 2009 and “Crazy Crazy Nights” from 2010.

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Kory Grow | Rolling Stone

A quartet of Kiss fans trashed 25 vehicles and caused more than $40,000 worth of damage in a New Jersey auto lot last week, according to NJ.com. Video of the vandals, found on Gothamist, show them wearing masks with vocalist-guitarist Paul Stanley’s (probably) trademarked stars over their right eyes as they spray-painted the hoods of vehicles and smashed windows with crowbars, fire extinguishers and a shovel. At one point, two of the Stanleys chest-bumped. Police believe the men are in their late teens or early 20s.

Kiss’ Long Road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Photos

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Mike Boehm | LA Times

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the rock band KISS have long cherished living in aggrieved opposition to critics who said they have failed to respect their heavy metal oeuvre, and the band’s impending induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn’t changing their tune.

LA KISS Football

Sound Cloud

In the 10-minute audio clip above, KISS frontman Paul Stanley discusses the writing and narration of his memoir, “Face The Music: A Life Exposed”. This episode also includes an excerpt from the prologue.

“People say I was brave to write such a revealing book, but I wrote it because I needed to personally reflect on my own life,” Stanley said. “I know everyone will see themselves somewhere in this book, and where my story might take them is why I’m sharing it.”

Well known for his onstage persona, the “Starchild”, Paul Stanley has written a memoir with a gripping blend of personal revelations and gritty war stories about the highs and lows both inside and outside of KISS. Born with a condition called microtia (an ear deformity rendering him deaf on the right side), Stanley‘s traumatic childhood experiences produced an inner drive to succeed in the most unlikely of places: music. Taking readers through the series of events that led to the founding of KISS, the personal relationships that helped shape his life, and the turbulent dynamics among his bandmates over the past forty years, this book leaves no one unscathed — including Stanley himself.

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Miriam Coleman | Rolling Stone

Gene Simmons once had to talk Eddie Van Halen out of leaving his namesake band and joining up with Kiss, potentially altering the course of rock n’ roll history. In a recent interview withGuitar World, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee confirmed the rumor that around the time of Kiss’ 1982 album,Creatures of the Night, the virtuoso guitarist was “very serious” about making the change.

 Kiss’ Long Road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Photos

“He was so unhappy about how he and [David Lee] Roth were – or weren’t – getting along. He couldn’t stand him. And drugs were rampant,” Simmons said. According to the Kiss founder, Van Halen took him out to lunch at a diner across the street from New York’s record plant studio, with Vinnie Vincent (who ended up joining the band shortly afterwards) tagging along. “Eddie said, ‘I want to join Kiss. I don’t want to fight anymore with Roth. I’m sick and tired of it,'” Simmons recalled. “But I told him, ‘Eddie, there’s not enough room. You need to be in a band where you can direct the music. You’re not going to be happy in Kiss.’ I talked him out of it. It didn’t fit.”

Simmons also admits that he was going through his own identity issues with the band in the early Eighties, and that Paul Stanley was left to take on a lot of the heavy lifting in Kiss as Simmons pursued an acting career in Hollywood.

“It was starting to affect the band. It was not rock and roll,” he said, noting that former guitarist Ace Frehley was among the bandmates rightfully complaining about his extracurricular ambitions. “But maybe I just wanted to be appreciated outside of Kiss. My life in Kiss is like being a girl with huge tits. All anyone talks about is the makeup, or ‘Let me see your tongue.’ Sometimes you want to say, ‘Can’t you just focus your eyes up here so that we can have a conversation?'”

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Brian Ives | News Radio

He’s a football team co-owner, a restaurant chain co-owner, a reality show star, a comic book character, and — lest we forget — a member of the “Hottest Band in the World,” KISS. And tonight, Gene Simmons will add an extra line to his acting resume (who could forget his co-starring role with Tom Selleck in the 1984 film Runaway, or his cameos on shows from “Miami Vice” and “Millennium”?). He’ll be appearing on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” as  the CSIs investigate the murder of a rock and roll groupie and the disappearance of a prostitute.

We have questions for Gene, but should you have any questions, check out our FAQ on KISS.

Talk about your role on “CSI” tonight.

Gene Simmons: It was a role I was born to play. I was thrilled when they called and asked me to play “Gene Simmons.” Not the first time I’ve played myself: I did it on “Ugly Betty” and “Castle” and in the forthcomingEntourage movie. I’ve played other roles as well, this was kind of a hybrid. I play myself but I’m suspected of murder. If I told you more about the plot, I’d have to kill you.

In 2008, you published Ladies of the Night: A Historical and Personal Perspective on the Oldest Profession in the World, so you’re obviously familiar with the industry. 

It was a researched book, I’m not a gentleman who paid for it. And, you’re right! I’m glad you asked me: KISS are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [Note: the interviewer had yet to get to that question] It’s a well meaning organization run by about ten guys. I don’t think that there are any women on the board, which is interesting. And these ten guys, some of them are good guys, some perhaps not, decided that there would be rappers and disco artists inducted. Our contemporaries, the Eagles, are in the Hall of Fame, and every single member that has been in the Eagles is inducted. And so when they offered the induction to us, we graciously said thank you. But then they said, “Only [founding members] Ace [Frehley], Paul [Stanley], Peter [Criss] and Gene get to be in.” So we said, “OK, thank you.” And so we called up [former members] Ace and Peter and said, “Congratulations, we’ll proudly stand alongside you, accept the award.”

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Steve

70s Kiss Podcast | Bill Baker, Talks about his first experience being a 70s Kiss fan, Ace Frehley’s Guitar tech, friend as well as owning memorabilia.http://www.theacefrehleyarchive.com/

ABC News Radio

KISS and Def Leppard are calling a press conference for March 17 in Los Angeles to make a “major announcement.” Though there’s no official word, a source close to one of the bands tells ABC News Radio that KISS and Def Leppard are planning a summer co-headlining tour, set to kick off in late June and go through the very end of August.

Though it’s being billed as a co-headlining tour, the source tells ABC News Radio that KISS will be the closing band on all dates. There is speculation that the tour could extend internationally, but as of now only U.S. dates are set.

The press conference will stream live next Monday on Live Nation’s website.

KISS and Def Leppard have combined album sales of more than 200 million.

Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio

Broadway World

On the next episode of CBS‘s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation titled ‘Long Road Home,’ the CSIs investigate the murder of a rock and roll groupie and the disappearance of a prostitute that both have ties to a mysterious band.

The episode airs Wednesday, March 12 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. KISS lead singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gene Simmons guest stars as himself. Get a sneak peek below!

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a fast-paced drama about a team of forensic investigators trained to solve crimes by examining the evidence. They are on the case 24/7, scouring the scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that will solve the mystery. D.B. Russell, the CSI supervisor for the grave shift, is a family man and scientist, but not a nerd. Son of hippie parents, he’s a left-coast Sherlock Holmes who devours crime novels and looks at every crime scene as if it were a story waiting to be told.

The team’s other members include CSI Julie Finlay, a blood spatter expert who always speaks her mind, regardless of the consequences; Nick Stokes, the conscience of the team, often driven by his emotional connection to the victim to always get the job done; Sara Sidle, aka “Mrs. Grissom,” relentless in her pursuit of criminals and the moral compass of the team; Greg Sanders, once an off-beat tech analyst and now an experienced and intuitive crime solver; and Morgan Brody, an exile from the Los Angeles Crime Lab and the daughter of Undersheriff Ecklie. She’s a natural-born investigator who still has a lot to learn about politics and family.

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The Oregonian

The LA KISS of the AFL has unveiled their helmets and they are unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Gary Graff | Billboard

In April, Stanley embarks on a book tour for his memoir “Face the Music: A Life Exposed”… The rocker talks why he finally put his life on paper, the inaccuracies of Gene Simmons’ own book, and what actually went down with the Rock Hall of Fame

Joe Polo

Mitch Lafon

Joyce Smith | Kansas City Business

KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have signed their first Rock & Brews restaurant franchisee, a Kansas native who plans to open five locations in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Williams has formed Kanbrews LLC to develop, open and operate five Rock & Brews in Kansas and Oklahoma over the next five years. He also has an option to open an additional five units in Missouri and Nebraska. A corporate owned restaurant was planned for Overland Park but it will now be owned by Kanbrews and at least one more Rock & Brews could open in the Kansas City area.

Williams said the concept is “very family and neighborhood friendly.”

“The thing that sold me I think was the variety of craft beers, that was one piece. And I was real excited about the quality of the food,” Williams said. “It was really beyond my initial expectations. You want people to come back for the food.”

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Erika Engle | Star Advertiser

Rock & Brews Paia opened for business at 11 a.m. Wednesday, but famous KISS rockers Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were not present for the first lunch service.

The restaurant’s famous co-founders were present for the blessing about a month and a half-ago, according to the hostess on duty Wednesday afternoon.

“We like to call them our mascots,” she said.

The Star-Advertiser reported on the planned restaurant two years ago, which raised community hackles in the historically low-key town.

The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Rock & Brews also has locations in Southern California and Los Cabos, Mexico.

Bryan Alexander | USA Today

Lena Headey is clearly not a big Kiss fan. At Tuesday night’s premiere for 300: Rise of an Empire, rocker Gene Simmons found that out the hard way after Headey snubbed his aggressive social advances.

It was a scene that would have fit in perfectly on the rocker’s canceled reality show.

Simmons tried in vain to pull Headey, one of the 300stars, away from an ongoing black carpet interview . He wanted to introduce her to his son Nick Simmons, 25, who was waiting with a pained expression a few feet away.

At first Headey smiled politely as Simmons assured her that she would much rather meet his son than continue an interview.

Then Simmons joked lamely about the AP microphone in front of him. (“I have an app on my phone,” he said.) No one laughed.

Then he found out that Headey was not going to move despite being guided by his left hand on her back. Headey, who plays Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones and Spartan Queen Gorgo in 300: Rise of an Empire, stood her ground and continued her interview.

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Kory Grow | Rolling Stone

Kevin Mazur

The bitterness between the current and former members who founded Kiss will not be quelled anytime soon. It’s been a little over a week since the group announced that it would not perform “in any lineup” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, following Ace Frehley’s comment that he would not perform with current guitarist Tommy Thayer wearing Frehley’s sometime makeup. Now, in a new interview with Guitar World, vocalist-guitarist Paul Stanley has derided Frehley’s talent.

Kiss’ Long Road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Photos

“What we had at the beginning was magical. . . Ace and I played great together,” Stanley said. “But in my mind it’s a crime what Ace did: He threw away incredible potential and talent. The Ace I played with when the band first started out was a comet – and not [Frehley’s late-Eighties band] ‘Frehley’s Comet!’ But he was burning bright and really had the ability – and this would rub him the wrong way – to be a real contender. But he stopped practicing. He got involved with a whole lot of things that really diluted and diminished his craft. I saw that comet grow dim.”

Stanley also said that after Kiss ousted drummer Peter Criss in 1980, he decided the band needed to reinvent itself, and that’s why they removed their makeup in 1983. It’s a decision he now feels hurt the band. “Rather than saying, ‘We’ve built these iconic figures together and we’re going to continue on with what we built,’ we bought into the idea of, ‘We have to have a new character,'” he said. “That watered it down. Some people may argue with me, but I feel that Batman is Batman whether he’s played by George Clooney, Christian Bale, Val Kilmer and on and on.”

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