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New KISS DVDs Boldly Breach The Band's VaultsFrom: Goldmine KISS fans are an impatient bunch. For the past two decades, KISS’ legion of followers have hounded the band to crack open up the dusty latches of its vaults and unleash a flood of KISS footage on the marketplace. Through the years, rumors abounded that an impending multi-volume KISS archival release was on the horizon, and just as quickly, those plans fell by the wayside. Finally, last fall saw the release of "KISSology: Volume One 1974-1977," a 3-DVD collection crammed with vintage TV performances, concerts, promo clips and two historic Easter eggs (including the earliest known footage of KISS performing at Coventry circa December 1973, plus KISS performing sans makeup at ACE FREHLEY’s wedding). "KISSology: Volume Two 1978-1991" is the latest archival release and is yet another winner, including the European theatrical print of KISS’ feature film, "Attack Of The Phantoms;" live shows from Australia (1980); Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (1983); Philadelphia (1987) and Detroit (1990); vintage TV appearances ("Fridays," "The Land Of Hype And Glory," "The Tom Snyder Show") and more. While much of the archival KISS footage has circulated for years on the KISS underground collector’s circuit in fuzzy, sub-par quality, never before has it been presented in such improved quality than on the "KISSology" series. The project, a partnership between KISS and VH1 Classic, is overseen by producers and avid KISS fans, Alex and Roger Coletti. Here are their thoughts on the making of "KISSology: Volume One 1974-1977" and "KISSology Volume Two 1978-1991." Goldmine: Discuss your responsibilities as producers in putting together this archive project. Alex Coletti: The way the project started was with an agreement between KISS and MTV Networks that we would go through their archives and curate it and come out with three DVD box sets that will chronologically cover the band’s entire history. As we got into KISS’ archives — as cool a place as it is — we realized that there’s a lot more material that needs to be included on these DVDs, so that meant going to a lot of outside parties and collect all the great TV performances. GM: Both of you are longtime KISS fans. How did that shape your vision of KISSology? Roger Coletti: One of the most important things for us in putting this box set together was not so much giving fans footage they’ve never seen but giving them the best KISS footage we could find in the best possible way we could present it. AC: First, what we should make clear is that while we cleaned up the concerts and TV performances and worked on the audio and video, we didn’t shape the piece in any way. These are historical documents. But there’s one exception to the rule, and [it] literally stands out. On the first DVD, there’s a mini six-and-a-half-minute documentary about KISS’ visit to Cadillac, Mich., on Oct. 9-10, 1975. There was a lot of footage that the band had in their archives, separate audio and video reels and 8- and 16-mm film. Roger got on the phone with Jim Neff, the assistant coach of the Cadillac High football team, and we used his interview as a guide. I think we were able to put together something very unique that no one’s ever seen. The band loved it, and I think that really is the centerpiece on this DVD. GM: There’s some nice previously unseen footage of the band performing a concert in the Cadillac high school gym. RC: Yeah. Of all the footage that we found on KISS’s visit to Cadillac, Mich., and there was a lot of footage, the footage of the band playing in the gym was the greatest surprise that we found. I don’t even think the band realized that footage existed. Once Alex and I had decided everything we wanted to put on the first box, we flew out to meet with Gene (Simmons) and Paul (Stanley) and Tommy (Thayer) and showed them the footage. We showed them footage that they had never seen. That was really fun. Also, the DVD opens up with footage of KISS performing the song "Acrobat" in Long Beach, Calif., in 1974. That song never appeared on a KISS album and only appears on the DVD as a live recording. So we found footage of them playing the song live, and the band was quite amazed to see that footage. GM: Bring us through the audio restoration that was done to improve the vintage footage. RC: Working to improve the audio was really interesting and challenging, because a lot of this footage is very, very old. The way it was recorded and shot made it very difficult to restore a lot of this footage. We were limited in what we could do. But, luckily, the audio people that we had work on this project did an amazing job cleaning the stuff up and making it sound as good as it possibly can. GM: The "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "C’mon & Love Me" promotional clips look spectacular on "KISSology One." AC: With those old promo clips, we went back to the original film transfers and reconformed it shot for shot. It’s night and day from anything anyone’s ever seen. There are a couple shots by today’s standards where you can tell they didn’t have the technology back then to fix a few things. Derek said, "You know, I could fix that shot, because the drums are out of sync" and we said, "No, that’s how it was, and that’s how it’s gonna stay." RC: Alex and I flew out to L.A. and sat in Doc McGhee’s office for several hours with Gene and Paul. We showed them the footage, and they talked about every piece of it. In the second audio track included in the DVD, based on this footage, Gene and Paul tell a lot of stories that I had never heard before or had never heard them talking about before ... we got a lot of fresh stuff out of them. That was one of the greatest things about the project, getting them excited and talking about things you could tell they hadn’t thought about or talked about for a very long time. GM: Paul, in particular, sounds quite enthused discussing this footage. AC: I think when your past is presented in this kind of way, it’s hard not to be pleased and proud of your accomplishments. I think at that moment, we caught Paul really taking a look back at stuff he hadn’t seen for a long time and saying, "Wow, we were a great band!" Roger and I talked about this constantly. This "KISSology" project is about showing people who weren’t there for the first go-around that putting all the gimmicks, all the effects and the comic books aside, these were four guys who really, really kicked ass on their instruments. First and foremost for us was to put the music way out in the foreground, and anything else was secondary. This wasn’t a "Behind The Music" type of thing. This was about trying to find the best performances and make them sound and look great. GM: What were the greatest challenges both of you faced putting together these collections? RC: I think the biggest challenges we faced was finding out what footage we could and couldn’t use. KISS had a lot of stuff in their archives, but there was a lot of footage they didn’t have in their archives that we wanted to get. With anything that the band didn’t have, it became very difficult to find out who owned it. Then we had to figure out how much money it would cost to acquire, and if they would grant us the rights to use the material. That was very tough. AC: A lot of these shows didn’t exist anymore, and the paperwork isn’t thorough on things like "Midnight Special" or the "Winterland" concert. So there was a lot of legal backtracking. "Midnight Special" became the Holy Grail for us. Tracking down the show’s producer, Burt Sugarman, was tough. He was vacationing in Europe all summer and was not reachable by e-mail. We had a hard deadline on this project, and we knew we couldn’t call it the definitive anything without that "Midnight Special" footage. GM: How was it determined what footage to include on the "KISSology One?" RC: It was really difficult to pick one concert over another. When it came to 1976 and 1977, we had a bunch of concerts to choose from. What it really came down to was picking the shows that had the best band performances, the best crowd reaction, and the set list came into play as well. We wanted to make sure that we covered all of our bases as far as hitting all the tours the band did and highlighting the songs from those specific albums. We didn’t want too many songs to repeat without showing the differences between one tour to the next. So as far as 1977, we had the Summit show from Houston and Largo from Maryland. We’d watch the shows side by side and decide which one felt better and which one would look and sound the best. AC: We’d literally sync songs up and split screen them. We had three nights of concerts from Cobo Hall Detroit 1976 to choose from. Paul told us that some nights you come out a little too wound up, and by the third night of a three-night stand, you’re a little tired, so the second show was the money show, and the one we ultimately selected for the DVD. After watching hours and hours of KISS footage, I think there are moments in that show which are great. There’s the scary moment where Gene’s hair catches on fire during the fire stunt. To see that caught on film shows you how risky it is to fire breathe. There’s also the funny moment where Gene makes a mistake and sings part of "Rock And Roll Nite" at the start of "Let Me Go, Rock & Roll." There’s also a great moment from that show where the band comes out for the encore in these robes. Peter and Gene are wrestling, and Ace and Paul are laughing at some inside joke. To see the band let down their guard and to be clearly having the time of their lives made that a concert we had to include. RC: One of the greatest things about talking [to] Gene and Paul back with this footage was hearing them tell stories about how their road manager would lock guys in road cases, and their roadies were threatening other people with knives to help get the band onstage. They were like a gang at that point. You can tell by the way they perform. They were definitely connected. They had a mission. GM: Let’s discuss the Easter eggs on the "KISSology One" DVD, starting with the footage of KISS performing "Deuce" at Coventry in December 1973. RC: This concert has become the Holy Grail for KISS fans. It’s a show that no one has ever actually seen, and there’s no bootleg of it, nothing. It turns out that sometimes certain things aren’t seen for a reason. This is one of those performances that’s only going to be interesting to die-hard KISS fans, because it isn’t the greatest quality. It’s shot on a single camera and filmed from the back of the club. You can barely make out their faces. But we definitely wanted to include a clip on the DVD, because it is such a coveted piece of footage. GM: Was there a piece of Holy Grail footage you sought for the project but were unable to acquire for licensing reasons or which was impossible to locate? AC: For me, the "Bigfoot" footage was Paul in the bandit makeup. There is a minute and thirty five seconds of the band with no sound taped at one of the three shows where Paul wore the bandit makeup in concert. Unfortunately, the quality of the footage is so blown out that you couldn’t tell it was him in the bandit makeup at all, anyway. We chased it down, we found it and we were so excited. Then we watched it and were like, "Nah, it’s not good enough." There are photographs of Paul in the bandit makeup that represent that much better. As far as other Holy Grail footage, there was also talk of them playing some loft party. KISS opened for Wayne County, and his set was filmed. Someone may have shot some footage of KISS, too. GM: What story does "KISSology II" tell? RC: In the "KISSology" trilogy, this one is definitely like "The Empire Strikes Back" of the three. It’s the darker one; there’s a lot of turmoil. There are a lot of changes that the band didn’t foresee coming. AC: "KISSology II" chronicles the end of the original lineup. Peter (Criss) leaves the band and then Ace (Frehley), and then it’s the removal of the makeup. I think the KISS film, "Attack Of The Phantoms," was kind of the height of the success of the original lineup. The DVD follows them chasing trends and keeping up with the times as the rules of the music business shift. It covers a lot more years than the first "KISSology." GM: How did you narrow down what footage to include on "KISSology II?" AC: We knew there was essential footage that had to be included ... the "Phantom" film, the band’s appearance on "The Tom Snyder Show" and "Fridays," which was the only time they performed songs from The Elder. Those were the holy trinity for me as a fan. RC: The Australia concert from 1980 is one of the definite highlights of "KISSology II." They were greeted like the Beatles in Australia. The band exploded there. They’d had a hit with "Shandi" from the Unmasked album. When you watch the concert, the band is at their best playing wise, and a lot of that had to do with their new drummer, ERIC CARR. There’s also footage from the band’s last show in makeup filmed in Rio, where they played in front of almost 200,000 people. It features yet another KISS member change with VINNIE VINCENT on lead guitar. In 1983, KISS were at a critical stage in their career; things were not going that well for them, especially in America, but yet, outside of America they were bigger than ever. GM: Any surprises in store for "KISSology Vol. III?" AC: A lot of the stuff on Vol. III is footage I shot personally for MTV. The quality of the footage progresses, so now we’ve got multi-track audio and multi-cameras. We’re able to go back and remix and do true 5:1 mixes. Vol. III will have the "Unplugged" show in a remastered, remixed and more complete version than ever has been available. There’ll be footage from the reunion tour, and much more. As part of the MTV Video Awards, KISS performed "Rock And Roll All Nite" under the Brooklyn Bridge. We’ll include the rest of the songs they performed that night. There’s even some soundcheck rehearsal footage of the band performing without makeup. RC: Alex and I grew up tremendous KISS fans, so anytime we work with KISS is a little extra cool for us. |
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