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 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.
GENE SIMMONS, 'KISSology II' DVD meet Tom SnyderFrom: Newsday.com As the legends of TV talk keep departing this realm in alarming numbers, fans of Tom Snyder in particular should do a very peculiar thing. Obtain the DVD set "Kissology Vol. 2: 1978-1991." Within its three biographical discs of rock-and-roll-all-night lies a hilarious encounter between said "Tomorrow" show host and four dudes tricked out in pseudo-space gear and outrageous makeup, all laid helpless by the giggles. Except, of course, for Kissmaster GENE SIMMONS, who slumps sulking in his chair for reasons he explains in another of the DVD's delights, optional audio commentary, looking back now on NBC's 1979 late-night tete- ... -tete. "He was the Barbara Walters - bigger than Barbara Walters," today's imperious Simmons says of the expressive Snyder, who would have loved hearing that before he died July29. "Important entities would sit there and they would sort of delve into the what-is-it-that-makes-this-thing-tick, who-are-these-people. So we were honored to be on the show." Guitarist ACE FREHLEY was, in fact, so honored that he got completely blitzed, and acted plastered, which Snyder loved, beseeching Ace to describe his "outfit." "I think this outfit is self-explanatory. I'm a plumber," Frehley deadpans before another burst of mirth. "Listen," replies the talkmeister devilishly, "I've got a little piece of pipe backstage I'd like to have you work on." "Tell me about it!" blurts Ace, dissolving into convulsive cackles. "When [Ace] would have a few - gallons," Simmons drawls in commentary, "he would turn into a happy guy. The result is kind of a grumpy old man who used to stick his tongue out" - that would be Simmons - "and a bombed guitar player." The exchange is laugh-out-loud hysterical. God help the closed-captioners trying to transcribe all the antic crosstalk dialogue. (Yes! It's captioned this time!) Why doesn't everybody strip-mine TV history the way these KISS sets do so deliciously? The highlight of last year's three-disc "Kissology Vol. 1: 1974-1977" was another talkfest artifact: the rockers' ultra-early '74 appearance on daytime's amiable "Mike Douglas Show." As KISS' PAUL STANLEY recalled in commentary, "Mike Douglas pretty much made Merv Griffin look like Ozzy Osbourne." But it was Douglas' co-host that week, mature Catskills comic Totie Fields, who memorably looked beyond Simmons' skull-and-crossbones leather and flesh-veiling makeup to call the Israel native "a nice Jewish boy. You can't hide the hook." That surreal clash of cultures - what did Douglas' housewife viewers make of KISS at a time when even rockheads weren't sure what they were? - was supplemented on Vol. 1 by other classic tube excerpts. "The Midnight Special." "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert." And the show-biz bizzarerie of 1976's "Paul Lynde Halloween Special." (Quips the fey Lynde, "Just what I've always wanted - four kisses on the first date!") "Kissology Vol. 2" covers a longer period and a broader swath of territory. This one unearths TV appearances from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, in addition to ABC's "Fridays" rock-out. Add in CNN and MTV coverage of the band, led by video jockey J.J. Jackson's chat during the 1983 "unmasking" when they revealed their faces sans makeup. Simmons and co-founder Stanley recently sat down to provide fresh commentary on it all, bluntly assessing their youthful behavior, the band's evolution and various missteps along the way. The vintage clips remain the most priceless (though a crisp wide-screen European cut of their NBC TV movie "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park" is a hoot of its own). The "Tomorrow" show finds Stanley recalling how the Queens boys "started out playing in Amityville, Long Island, and we always said, 'This is the Garden. Every night.'" Even then they knew they were making what they already called "Kisstory." Now it's satisfyingly amassed and interpreted for all to savor. Hey, didn't these guys ever visit Merv Griffin? |
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