 |  | |||||||
|
 All news should be considered an unconfirmed report unless verified, and all information published at KISS Asylum is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves. All information is confirmed where possible, and all publication is governed by common sense.
From: Classic Rock Revisited Over 40 years ago a young Italian girl named Lydia lived in Brooklyn, New York. She dreamed of getting married, having children and being a stereotypical Italian mom – then she met PETER CRISS. The couple fell in love and Lydia entered the glamourous world of being a rock star wife. Things did not come easy however as she worked hard for 12 years to pay the bills and give Peter every chance to live his dream. Lydia was patient and Peter worked hard. Eventually, he was invited to be the drummer in a band called KISS. The rest, as they say, is KISStory! Fast forward to 2007and Lydia has released her first book which is both autobiographical and a pictorial history of her time with KISS titled Sealed with a KISS. The books imagery is the most comprehensive collection of photographs of the band’s heyday ever to be released. The text of the book is written simply and honestly by the author. From the glory of KISS Mania to finding out Peter was cheating on her and taking massive amounts of drugs, Lydia tells all. After taking in the entire spectacle, one feels they know Lydia on a spiritual level. She recounts her life with KISS on an entirely individual level and brings the monsters of rock down to earth and shows them as both rock stars and everyday people. Read on to discover how the book came to be and learn more about the hottest band in the world – KISS Jeb: When I heard the book was coming out I knew it would be interesting but when I got the book and I saw the layout, pictures and text I was blown away. Lydia: Everyone who has gotten the book has been surprised, including the guys who worked on it. I have guys all over the country who helped me with the book – one is in Baltimore, one is in Oklahoma City, one is in Tampa and one is in Seattle. All four of them are really avid KISS fans. The man in Seattle has had the photographs for years and has been very involved. I sent him the finished book unannounced and he was blown away with it. The guys I worked with talked me into putting a lot of the pictures in the book. I probably wouldn’t have used a photo that was a little too dark or out of focus but they told me that it didn’t matter because it was historic. The camera I used way back when was a tiny little instamatic. It was a twenty-dollar camera that my best friend had given me for my birthday. I took pictures with it until KISS went to Japan in 1977 and in the book you can see that the pictures got better around that time. Jeb: You did an online auction through one of our sponsors, Backstage Auctions. Tell me about that. Lydia: That auction financed this book. I had a publisher in the beginning and he talked me into doing the book. He was holding the boxes of all my stuff but he went bankrupt. It took me awhile to get my stuff back. I, then got an agent and she shopped the book but she didn’t do it right. She said the big publishing houses told her that GENE SIMMONS was flooding the market with KISS books. I had already scanned over a hundred photos and the guy that did the scanning told me that I could self-publish the book. I was introduced to Backstage Auctions owner Jacques Van Gool by Sean Delaney and Jacques talked me into doing an auction. I sold all of my KISS stuff for the fans. Once I did the auction then I knew I would do the book. I didn’t know anything about writing or publishing a book but there was a little buzz going on in the industry that I was going to do it. I didn’t know where to begin or who to hire or who not to hire. It took another six months to just get the team together. Eventually, we started in October and the finished book was delivered to the warehouse in New Jersey a year to the day from when we started. Even thought it looks like it took nine years, it actually took three very intense years. Jeb: Did you think your story would touch that many people? Lydia: No, I thought most of the fans would buy the book for the photos. I am amazed at how many of the fans are reading the story. I wanted the book to feel like you were sitting in the same room as me and I am telling you the story. I didn’t want any big words – I am not a stupid person but I am not that smart either [laughs]. If the editor wanted to change a word and I had to look it up to see what it meant then I didn’t want it in the book. The book had to sound like me, the girl from Brooklyn. The fans got that. They have told me that they got nervous for me when they read about me doing the People’s Choice Awards and the got sad for me during the sad parts of the book. I guess I got it across. KISS’ manager, BillAucoin, told me that if I was going to do a book that has anything to do with KISS then I had to do it as good as KISS and that scared me. From the response I got from Bill I think I must have done well. Jeb: As you reflect on your life with KISS would you say this story is a tragedy or a triumph? Lydia: I had to read this about five times as this was being edited. I remember actually sitting and crying during one part and a few paragraphs later I was laughing out loud. It is real life and it has its ups and downs. It was hard to relive everything again. I am living it for the third time because first I lived it then I wrote about it and then I had to edit it. It was a very emotional year. There were times that I wanted to quit and not do it anymore and there were times that I could not quit because I loved doing it so much. Jeb: This does not seem like you did this for the money. Lydia: I actually spent a lot of money to do this. Other than buying my home it is the most money I have ever spent on one thing. I have never been one to take chances in my life but this time I just decided to go for it. I made money from the auction and it was KISS related. It was kind of like free money so I just put it back in. Jeb: To relive your life thirty to forty years later would be difficult. Lydia: I met Peter in 1966 so I have known him 40 years. I didn’t expect to cry over anything because I thought I was over all of that. I did expect to laugh because there were a lot of fun times. It is just life. I am glad that I am not involved in that anymore and that I have my own life. I am a photographer and I am going to be going on a shoot tomorrow. I am still involved with KISS but not like I used to be. Jeb: People expected the photographs. Lydia: A lot of them were taken with an instamatic with a little flash bulb– there was not even a flash cube! The concert photographs from back then were dark. You can really tell when I first got the 35MM camera because the pictures are better. I have been told that I have an eye for capturing a moment. After we were divorced, I worked in a photo agency for 16 years. Jeb: You said you never took risks. I would think getting married to PETER CRISS is a huge risk. Lydia: That was a risk but it is not one where you are laying out money. You are just giving of yourself. I am not a gambler. I don’t go to Las Vegas and I am not one who invests in crazy things. I have to be safe. For me, spending this money was a big, big gamble. I know marrying Peter was a gamble but there was also love mixed in there. Jeb: Did you think he would make it? Lydia: He had something very special about him. He was very unique and his sense of humor was great. Girls love guys with a good sense of humor. Peter also was very confident and he really believed in himself. He could make you believe in him. Even before I married him, I knew there was something really special about him. Jeb: You are one of only a half a dozen people to be involved with KISS before there was KISS. Lydia: I was there from the very beginning. There are not many early photos because no one knew who they were and no one cared about them in the beginning. Years ago someone saw my photos and they told me that I would make a lot of money off of them one day. I was not even a photographer at that time. I was a bookkeeper and a secretary. I never thought I would live the life I lived. When I was a little girl, I just thought that I would grow up and get married and be a fat, Italian momma. I didn’t have any dreams other than that. It turns out that I never had children and that I am not fat but I am still Italian. Jeb: Were you close to your family? How did they react to Peter? Lydia: I am very close. I am the middle child and I am the only girl between four brothers. My mother thought I was crazy. My brothers all have corporate jobs and I am the black sheep rock and roller. My mom thought I was nuts when I went out with him and when I married him. But she grew to love him because everyone who meets Peter ends up loving him. Jeb: Did Peter confide in you? Lydia: We were best friends. He told me everything about KISS. In his other bands he was always the leader and he was the lead singer. Peter was the one who got the band booked. When he joined KISS, he was not the leader anymore and it kind of bothered him. He wanted to have his songs on the album but he got the same thing that Ringo and George got with the Beatles – he got a song or two on an album and that was it. Jeb: Tell me how the whole KISS make-up thing started. Lydia: That really started with the band The New York Dolls and with Alice Cooper. Jerry Nolan, the drummer for The Dolls, was Peter’s best friend. We used to see them and they were doing really good. They had an album out and Peter was very jealous. Peter would always say, "I am going to make it bigger than Jerry." The glam thing was really big, even David Bowie was doing it at that time. KISS decided to put make-up on but they were putting feminine make-up on. It just didn’t work because Gene is a big guy and Ace is tall. They were too gawky for it. Actually it worked for Peter because he was a little guy but the band decided to go away from the feminine look and go with the white face. I am not sure who came up with that, I think it might have been Gene. It was based on something to do with old horror movies. One day Peter came home and he told me that he had to come up with a character. We had a cat that Peter adored. He loved the way the cat acted and he loved that cats had nine lives as he had gone through a few lives already. Peter would be at home when I was at work and he would etch the cat with his face. They all ended up creating something that was unique for them. Jeb: KISS did the make-up differently and I think they came along at the time when the world needed the distraction. Lydia: They became cartoon characters like super heroes. Being that close to it made it hard to see it but the fans sure remember it. Everyday someone tells me that they were seven-years-old when they saw KISS at the Garden or that they saw the Paul Lynde Special on television and how it affected them. No one else had a show that looked that magical through a child’s eyes. Jeb: Alice Cooper had trouble with his on stage persona and his offstage reality. Did Peter have any trouble doing that? Lydia: Peter didn’t have problems with that. Peter would not drink or do drugs when he was on stage with KISS – he did them after the show. Jeb: Did it bother you that you could not be a normal married couple due to KISS Mania? Lydia: We actually were a normal married couple. Everyone looks at KISS as superstars but they still come home and exchange Christmas presents with their families. There is still a human side to them. We had a very normal marriage. We would have family reunions and we would have friends over. We were more normal than people think because no one knew who he was because of the make-up. We could go wherever we wanted when we lived in Brooklyn because no one knew who he was. There would be limos in front of our door everyday and still people didn’t put it together. Peter’s real last name was Criscuola. No one knew he was PETER CRISS. We went and saw Fleetwood Mac at the Garden and we went backstage and nobody knew it was him. After Peter and I separated I went out with Mickey Jones, the bass player for Angel, and since no one knew what Peter looked like they started thinking Mickey was Peter because he had the same hairdo as Peter. People would stop him and ask him for his autograph and he would sign his name and they would look at him really weird because they thought he was PETER CRISS. Jeb: There were hundreds of opportunities for journalists to get pictures of KISS without their make-up on. Why didn’t that happen? Lydia: There are photographers that have photos of them without the make-up. But they felt that if they revealed the photos then the whole thing would be over and that they couldn’t work with KISS anymore. The management made it very worth their while not to show the photos without the make-up. Barry Levine took photos with them after the make-up at the after show party. The difference is that they would give us the photos. It could not happen today because people can make a bunch of money with a photograph. Back then you could not get the same kind of money for selling a picture to The Star so it was really different. Jeb: You are the real life Beth. Lydia: My name is not Beth and my middle name is not Beth. The real girl was a girl name Rebecca and she went by Beck. The song was written about her and there is a picture of her in the book. She was a friend of mine and she was married to the rhythm guitar player from Peter’s band Chelsea. She was a little annoying. The song was actually written as a mean song. It really was saying that they hear her calling but they are not coming home because she is so annoying. They never did anything with the song. Peter brought it out to Gene, Paul, Ace and Bob Ezrin and they decided to use it but they made it a nice song. At the time I had stopped working. I had supported Peter for twelve years by paying the bills. Now that Peter was working and paying the bills I felt kind of empty. I told Peter that and in the song he wrote, "You say you feel so empty, that a house is not a home." I was normally at the studio when they were recording because I love to see and hear how it is all put together. However, I was not in the studio when they did "Beth." They called me in and they sat me on a stool and they played the song for me. Everyone was silent and I just listened to the song on headphones. When it was done, they asked me, "What do you think?" As the tears were rolling down my face I said, "You should have called it Lydia." I was shocked that the band let me accept the People’s Choice Award. You do know that you are going to win that award before the ceremony. KISS was already booked that night in North Dakota and there was no way they could be there. I told them that I would accept the award for them and Gene agreed. I panicked. I lost ten pounds in ten days. I only had ten days to get ready for it. I had to get a dress and I got fake nails – I was not used to them and I could not button anything. I was a nervous wreck. I had to get a speech ready and everything. I would go to the office and everyone would smile and say, "Look, she has stage fright already." Jeb: You were in the studio with KISS. How cool is that? Lydia: I loved that. In front of the board in the Record Plant there was a couch. I would keep quiet and stay out of everybody’s way. I loved to sit there and listen to just vocals or just the drums. I loved to watch them make them do it again. I loved watching them put it all together. Jeb: KISS has been knocked for not being good musicians. What is your take on that? Lydia: I would say KISS were more about the entertainment. I am not a musician but I have been told by people that they are not Pink Floyd. I don’t think that necessarily makes for the best record. You don’t have to be the greatest musician to make a great record. Lord knows Mick Jagger is not the greatest singer. I don’t think the money was a big deal in the beginning because they didn’t have any. It was all about presenting themselves to the pubic and being accepted by the public. They all had this attitude – especially Gene. One of his famous quotes is, "I would rather have a bad review then no review at all." That is how Ace felt about gambling. He would rather lose than break even! Jeb: From the fan’s perspective it seems the band divided into two camps. You had Gene and Paul on one side and Peter and Ace on the other. Lydia: Gene and Paul were together before KISS. Gene and Paul were also more into the business aspect of the band. Ace and Peter just wanted to party and live the rock star lifestyle. It really came down to the fact that there were two band members who did not do drugs and there were two band members that did do drugs. Jeb: Did drugs get worse after Destroyer? Lydia: It was after Destroyer. It was then that I felt drugs came into our life. It is also when the money started coming in. The money started creating problems. I remember Peter asking for a thousand dollars from management and he would just go right out and spend it all on drugs. This is when I was with him. After we split up I am sure it got worse. When he was in California doing the solo album, I was being phased out. Peter was hiding things from me. Peter had another girlfriend already and the word was that they needed to keep everything they can from Lydia. Jeb: You get a feeling that even though your relationship did not end on good terms, you and Peter really had a soul connection. Lydia: Oh yeah. Someone asked me when I realized that our marriage was going bad and I told them that I didn’t. We were planning on having a child. Within six weeks that thought was thrown out the window and he had another girl. Peter used to call me Mikey because I was like one of the guys. I wasn’t like the other girlfriends in the band – I was a wife but I was supposed to act like a girlfriend. After I found out Peter had someone else, I was devastated. Not only did I lose Peter, I lost his family, I lost his friends and I lost a lifestyle. It was an instant diet because I didn’t want to eat. I knew the relationship wasn’t working at the end but I didn’t know what to do. Divorce and the death of a parent are the hardest things that I have ever had to deal with. Jeb: Did you return to your lifestyle you had before you met Peter? Lydia: All of my friends that I had made were still in the business. I am still friends with Bill Aucoin to this day. Sean Delaney was a friend till the day he died – I was at his funeral. I was still around musical people so my lifestyle did change but it didn’t change that much. I was still living in the house in Connecticut. I was getting alimony but eventually that was cut in half – that is when my lifestyle really changed. I had to give up the beautiful home that I lived in for eight years. Jeb: And you still didn’t hate the guy. Lydia: I don’t hate Peter. There is just something in my heart for him. He is my first love and he was my first husband. There is just something about him that makes you love him. I think that is why Gene and Paul keep going back to him too. I met Paul once at a party and I said, "So, I see Peter is not in the band anymore" and he goes, "I am so glad that I never have to work with him again." I looked right at him and said, "I know what you mean." Peter is a lot to handle. I understand the relief he felt but there is still the sorrow and the missing him. I still miss the fun times. I have a great boyfriend right now who is very funny. He has me laughing all the time. I don’t know if you read the whole book but he was with Aucoin Management, he was in the band Piper. Jeb: Billy Squier’s band. Lydia: My boyfriend is Richie Fontana. He also played on PAUL STANLEY’s solo album. It is all like a big family. I had not seen Richie for 24 years. He came to my apartment with Sean Delaney the day before New Years. He comes walking through my door and within a month we are dating. Jeb: KISS has become much more than a band. They have become part of American culture. Lydia: It is very strange for me. They have not even put an album out for years and they are still around. They have these diehard fans that are going to keep them together forever. I have had fans who have read my book tell me that it makes them feel like a kid again – these are guys in their 40's who are telling me this. Jeb: When KISS Alive came out I was ten. KISS were it. Lydia: That is how I felt about Peter. He was it. Jeb: I want to know what you think about Peter’s make-up being worn by ERIC SINGER. Should they let him do that? Lydia: Absolutely not. TOMMY THAYER should not wear Ace’s either. Eric looks more like Peter than Tommy looks like Ace. I have heard that Tommy is a really nice guy. I have never met him but he actually bought the book. He emailed me and told me that I did a fantastic job. He was in charge of KISStory. The book has been compared to KISStory. Some say it is as good as and some say it is better. I just wanted it to be as good as. Jeb: It is hard to compare them because this is KISS through your eyes and that makes it very personal. Lydia: Everybody says that the book makes you feel like a fly on the wall. I think the fans really enjoy that because Peter was the one that people knew the least about. At one point people told me that his autograph was the one that was most sought after because it was not out there. Gene will sign twenty things at a time. Peter was always shying away from that. There were times that the fans would want his autograph and Peter would not want to do it. I would have to push him into it because I felt so bad for the fans. They waited there a long time to get a glimpse of him and he didn’t even want to give them an autograph. If you put your foot through the door then you need to live up to the fans. You give away your privacy. Jeb: When is the last time you spoke to Peter? Lydia: I have not talked to Peter for years. We had a problem with the IRS and we had to talk to each other in 1996 but that was the last time I spoke to him. It was about a week before they signed the contracts for the reunion tour. He never mentioned a thing about the reunion to me. He said he needed some paperwork that was destroyed in the earthquake for the IRS. I was actually approached by the IRS ten years after I divorced him – that was a little bit of a shock to me. I am still in touch with Peter’s family on holidays and birthdays. His brother provided some photos for the book. He loves the book. The only one in the band I still speak to is Ace. Jeb: Has Peter read the book? Lydia: Peter has seen the book but I don’t know if he has read it. He has not ordered it, I know that. He did some sort of event in October. It was a weekend event and I think he was autographing photos and taking pictures with the fans. I know the fans have brought the book with them. I don’t know if Peter signed the books or not but I have heard from the fans that he looked through the book and that he liked what he saw. Jeb: Last one: If you have been estranged from Peter for that long why did you bother putting out the book? You could have just kept the auction money. Lydia: The fans have been after me to do this for some time. The first time I did a KISS Expo was in New Jersey. I brought my scrapbooks with me and the fans just went nuts. I let everyone hold them and look through them. I let them turn the pages. They have never forgot that. They have told me for years to do a book. My cousin was in Australia and she met some people who were KISS fans and she told them that I was related to her and the first thing they said to her was, "Why has it taken so long for her book to come out?" I can finally shut the fans up because the book is out [laughter]. Jeb: Where do they get the book? Lydia: You get it on my website www.lydiacriss.com You can get it autographed or not autographed. I will sign anything you request. It is a four and a half pound book with more than 1500 unseen photographs and it is 365 pages long. It is a coffee table-sized book With a deluxe hard cover – there I got it all in! |
     | ||||||
|
 KISS Museum
News Archive
Features
Tour Dates
Photos
KISS ASYLUM © 1995-2008, all rights reserved. KISS ASYLUM is an unofficial, fan run KISS web site. KISS ASYLUM is optimized for 800x600 screen resolution or higher using Internet Explorer 6.0 and it is recommended that you have the Flash, Real Player, and Quicktime plug-ins to experience the rich audio and video media. Have KISS News to report? Email us at news@kissasylum.com | | ||||||
| | | ||||||
