Black Diamond: Excerpts
Excerpt from Chapter Three, "2,000 Lightyears from Home":
"The Genesis of the Solo Albums"

What concerned the band members more than the "Best Of" album and that of the movie was another project that had been in the works for quite some time: the solo albums. Recent interviews with Gene and Paul clearly state that the solo albums were done as a result of Ace and Peter wanting to leave the band in order to do solo albums. In claiming such, both Gene and Paul usually thrust upon the idea that the solo albums, usually considered the breaking-point for the original line-up of the band, were mainly Peter's and Ace's doing and that they had little to do with it.

While there are some glimmers of truth in this story, as will be pointed out a little further on, this is patently untrue. One needs only to see the contract signed by the members under their original names (which they still went by on legal documentation at the time) in late 1976 which explained exactly the rights and duties of both Casablanca and KISS. In the terms of the contract KISS agreed to deliver to Casablanca between January 1, 1977 through June 30, 1979 the equivalent of five studio albums.

Further into the contract are stated requirements for both parties as to what would constitute a studio album. For example, a "Best Of" album was not considered to be an equivalent, while a two-record set would be considered only as one album under the contract. Most startling to fans who thought that the solo albums were a compromise made by the members in 1978 is an paragraph on page three of the contract which clearly states:

"During each year of the term hereof including the Option Period, Company shall have the right to request Artist to deliver one (1) Album embodying performances featuring as the 'lead singer' or 'solo voice' thereof one (1) member of Artist (hereinafter 'Solo Album'), Artist shall designate the individual 'Solo Voice' and Company shall have the right of approval thereof which shall not be unreasonably withheld. Such Solo Albums shall not be deemed compliance with part of the recording commitment referred to in paragraphs 1.1 and 1.2 except upon delivery of every second Solo Albums in which case each series of two Solo Albums shall then count as one (1) delivered Album (e.g. . . .four Solo Albums count as two delivered Albums...)."

What the above text means in layman terms is that, if the band did four solo albums they would conclude two albums off of their required five for the terms of the contract. Considering that between January 1, 1977 and June 30, 1979 the band did exactly five album equivalents (LOVE GUN, ALIVE II, four solo albums equaling two album equivalents, and DYNASTY), one can easily see that such solo albums must had been discussed in 1976 -- long before such gripes would had been apparent in the band itself. Plus, sources inside of the KISS camps also point to the fact that it was not the brainchild of any of the band members themselves, but that of Bill Aucoin and Neil Bogart.

"It was another way for a 'First,'" Stan Penridge explained in 1994. "Just as KISS had gone to Japan and broken the Beatles' attendance records, and how they did this and how they did that, this was just another part of it. Now they would be the first band to have four solo albums come out at the same time. It was their idea."

With the success of ALIVE II and the DOUBLE PLATINUM album to hold fans over, Aucoin and Bogart believed the time was ripe to go ahead and let the band members spend some time apart and work on the solo albums. Plus, with the additional strength of doing the television film and another comic book coming out in the fall it would make a great triple-threat. There were some hesitation at first, however, and Casablanca dropped the idea twice before allowing the band to go ahead with the albums. An okay for the members to begin work in the albums occurred after the end of the ALIVE II tour, then were dropped. It was a go again in March, but dropped again due to Casablanca being unsure.

Finally in June the four members were told to record their albums. In Gene and Paul's case this was a simple step as they had already done a majority of their basic tracks in March and April, while Ace had done some basic tracks in Sharon, Connecticut during that time as well. Peter, on the other hand, had more problems getting started in June due to a car crash he was involved with in California right after filming was completed on the television movie. Riding in a car driven by his bodyguard, Fritz Postlethwaite, and with Bill Aucoin as a passenger, the car had ended up off the road and had smashed into a tree sending the car up in flames. Peter managed to escape the wreck with only a concussion and minor injuries, but he had busted his hands up so badly that he needed to wear iron braces on his hands for some time to come.

Still, he had an album to produce and not as much time as Gene, Ace and Paul had due to his injuries and lack of material to choose from before heading into the studio. Managing to play as much as possible with Allan Schwartzberg assisting, Peter went into the studios in late June through July to record his solo album. Fortunately, he had already recorded basic tracks for four songs earlier in the spring so there was not as much work to be done there, but he was still short on songs. Stan mentioned to Peter about some of the songs that he had written for the discarded Lips album that was never completed. Peter thought it was a quick way to get out of the bind he was in, and also loved the songs. Offering to split the royalties 50/50 with Stan if he allowed Peter to put his name as co-writer on each track, Stan agreed, thus creating a partnership that would last for years to come and lead to them joining together in partnership in Rock Steady as well.