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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.
KISS Goldmine Cover StoryFrom: Goldmine Magazine Posted: April 2, 2008 By December, 1972, with the addition of lead guitarist, ACE FREHLEY, KISS was born. KISS’ mission was simple: They wanted to conquer the world. But, the job wouldn’t be easy. At the time, the New York City music scene only boasted a few places to play original music, including Max’s Kansas City, the Mercer Arts Center and a club located outside of the city in Queens called Coventry. It was at this local hole in the wall that KISS performed its first show on Jan. 30, 1973. Throughout the year, the band would return to Coventry and also ply its heavy-metal wares at other local dives including The Daisy in Amityville, Long Island, and shows at The Hotel Diplomat and a loft party on Bleecker Street. 2008 marks the 35th anniversary of KISS’s first show ever at Coventry in Queens. In celebration of that KISS-toric event, we spoke to KISS and members of the band’s inner circle, who shared their reminiscences of those pivotal performances and pre-fame days. In the beginning, Coventry was ground zero for New York City’s glitter-rock scene, as everyone from The New York Dolls to The Ramones to Jayne County played there. KISS wasn’t the main draw at first, but it didn’t take long for the band to build a following. PAUL SUB (Owner, Coventry): Coventry opened in the early ’70s. It was located on Queens Boulevard and 47th Street in Queens. The club was originally called Popcorn Pub, and I later renamed it Coventry after a town in England. PAUL STANLEY: When we played Coventry, it was called Popcorn, and they were trying to change their image. It was a perfect relationship in that we brought in a certain New York credibility to the club, so other bands started coming across the water and playing there too. PAUL SUB (Owner, Coventry): It was a big club, around 5,000 square feet, and it held around 700 people. Everyone from KISS, The New York Dolls, The Ramones, Blondie, Sam & Dave, The Dictators and Elephant’s Memory played there. I’d put on 10 acts a week, both local and national. The only act we turned down, because we didn’t want to spend $300, was Aerosmith (laughs). The New York Dolls were really the ones that kept Coventry going. They played once a month, and whenever they played, 700 people would show up. They had the main following of all the bands who played there. The Dolls really helped pay my rent (laughs). All the other groups who played there, from KISS to The Ramones, didn’t really bring in that many people. GENE SIMMONS: Coventry was located in Queens, New York, in a downtrodden industrial area. Two stories above the building we played was a subway, so when we played, the trains would be going by, and it was loud. It was owned by the boys (imitates tough guy accent) "Who kind of talked like this.’" We played a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and were paid 30 dollars. PAUL STANLEY: First time we played there, it was virtually empty. PETER CRISS: Nobody was there (laughs). It was a nightmare. We killed ourselves for six people. LYDIA CRISS (Peter’s then-wife): I remember it was a really cold winter night. The only people who showed up at that first Coventry show were me, Jan Walsh, who was Gene’s girlfriend at the time, and her friend, plus the road crew — Eddie Solan; Joey Criscuola, Peter’s brother; and Bobby McAdams — and the people who worked at the club. BOBBY MCADAMS (KISS roadie): It was really empty. But, they took it in stride. They knew things would turn around. They weren’t gonna give up. Most bands have to showcase for years before they get noticed. These guys got noticed right away. They were very lucky in that sense. PETER CRISS: Even though hardly anyone was there at our first gig, when we eventually played there enough times, I remember pulling up one night in the car with the boys and there was a line down the block. We went, "Holy shit! Wow, this is cool!" We had to go through the crowd, and they were all patting us on the back, and we made it to the basement and we said, "Fuck!" It was cool. EDDIE SOLAN (roadie and soundman): We had a small crew, just me, Joey Criscuola, Peter’s brother, and Bobby McAdams. But, everybody helped. Paul used to drive a bread truck with all the band’s gear. It was filled to the ceiling with equipment (laughs). KEITH WEST (The Brats): When KISS came together, it was a small glitter scene in New York City with about 10 bands that were popular — The Dolls, The Brats, Eric Emerson & The Magic Tramps, Teenage Lust, Harlots of 42nd Street, Ruby & The Rednecks, The Planets, Luger and Street Punk. Every band in the glitter-rock scene in New York City had their own gimmick. KISS wore the kabuki makeup, Jayne County was the transsexual, The Dolls had this gender-bending look, and The Brats were into bands like The Faces. Everybody was into the glam/glitter/pop stuff like Sweet, David Bowie, T-Rex, Mott The Hoople and The Raspberries. But, it was Bowie who led that scene for all of us. MARK POLOTT (frequent Coventry attendee and member of local bands, Murder Inc. and The Brats): KISS separated themselves from other bands. They had a certain charisma. In a lot of ways they weren’t part of the scene; they were their own entity, and they cultivated this mysterious vibe. So many guys I knew in bands were from Queens. You had PAUL STANLEY and GENE SIMMONS from KISS. You had The Ramones, Johnny Thunders from The Dolls, Ricky Byrd from Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Wayne County, The Miami’s, The Brats, Murder Inc., Rags and Street Punk. GENE SIMMONS: I was always the asshole who decided to pick up the phone and bother people and get us to where we wanted to go. On my way into work in the city I used to pass by this club in Queens. I called the club, got the manager on the phone and started selling, which is what I’ve always done my entire life. I said to him, "We’ve got a band called Wicked Lester, and I’m really excited about it. You should book us, because we’re terrific." So he agreed to put us on for three nights during the middle of the week when nobody went there. We had yet to name ourselves KISS. That first night we changed the name of the band from Wicked Lester to KISS. JIMI LALUMIA (Writer, Words & Music/Rock): Coventry was a real nexus for rock and roll ’cause there were no strings attached. Max’s Kansas City had strings attached, because it was associated with the Warhol crowd and the glitter/glam rock scene that was happening with the Dolls and Wayne County. The Mercer Arts Center in downtown Manhattan was also not considered rock and roll; it was considered an art center, which made itself available to rock and roll after all else had failed. Coventry was viewed as a real nuts-and-bolts, rock-and-roll joint. It felt like a real rock-and-roll room. It was a perfect venue for KISS to get their act together because it was very rock and roll. Early attempts at using makeup were rudimentary at best. But, KISS’ electrifyng stage show was coming together, and it all began that first night at Coventry. GENE SIMMONS: That night at Coventry, I wore a sailor suit for the first show. It was a holdover from Wicked Lester’s audition for the head of Metromedia Records. I put on whiteface, put my hair up, kind of had that bat-like thing, but no black lipstick. I had the design. Paul put on rouge, and that was it. Ace had his little design but no whiteface. And Peter had only rouge on his cheeks and red lipstick. By our second appearance at Coventry, we had a primitive version of the KISS makeup on and had a real sense of who we were gonna be. PAUL STANLEY: We wore makeup then, but it was not as sophisticated as it is now. The rest of the band pretty much looked the same, but I didn’t. I just wore eye makeup and rouge. It was the same idea but different makeup. PAUL STANLEY: Our outfits were predominately black. I was wearing real high heels, skin-tight Lurex pants, black knee socks and a black T-shirt that said "KISS." The costume cost about $45 for the shoes, $3 for the T-shirt and about $5 worth of Lurex. I made the pants myself, because I couldn’t afford to buy them. Instead, I went out and bought the material, and then, my father said, "Well, nice try, but I’ll buy you the pants… I admire you for wanting to make the pants, but you can’t; you’ve never done it before." I said, "Oh yeah?" So, I took my best pair of jeans apart, cut the Lurex like the jeans, asked my mother to show me how the sewing machine worked and made myself a pair of pants. GENE SIMMONS: We must have looked like dinosaurs. By 1973, everybody had stopped wearing high heels. We had these 6-inch boots with studs on them. It looked like an S&M thing, and if you didn’t know what the studs were, they were the strangest things you ever saw. They looked like they weighed a ton. But, the show itself was straight ahead — real raw, real short, real good rock ’n’ roll. PAUL SUB: Nobody knew KISS at the time; they didn’t have a following. LYDIA CRISS: Even though there wasn’t anybody there, they weren’t discouraged. They were just happy to play. They played their hearts out like it was the Garden. The band made $30 that night, but all the money went to the road crew. JOEY CRISCUOLA (PETER CRISS’ brother and early KISS roadie): After the first show, word spread about this wild act, and the few more times they played Coventry they’d built a following and began to pack the place. GENE SIMMONS: We refused to play Top 40. We had brass balls. We said, "We’re not gonna do "Hang On Sloopy" or "Midnight Hour." We’re gonna go on and do our own tunes. We were taking a really big risk doing that. We did two sets at Coventry for that first show, all originals. We still had the same musical bullets we use today — "She," "Watchin’ You," "Deuce," "Strutter" and "Black Diamond." Editor’s note: The set list for the first show Set one: Deuce Watchin’ You Love Her All I Can She Simple Type (Wicked Lester song) Keep Me Waiting (Wicked Lester song) Life In The Woods Baby, Let Me Go (renamed Let Me Go, Rock & Roll) Firehouse Black Diamond Set two: Deuce Love Her All I Can She Life In The Woods Simple Type (Wicked Lester song) Keep Me Waiting (Wicked Lester song) Baby, Let Me Go (later renamed Let Me Go, Rock & Roll) Watchin’ You (Set list info courtesy of "KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History") GENE SIMMONS: Our show had no talking, just bang-bang-bang, song-song-song and off the stage. We didn’t have any real effects at the time. EDDIE SOLAN: For "Firehouse," we had this idea to use these red revolving beacon lights. They had a magnetic base so a fireman or cop could just reach out and put it on the roof of his car and plug it into the cigarette lighter. I was working for an electronics company back then, and we sold those kind of lights. I made up a box out of a car battery charger to turn on the red lights. We had three of them on top of the amps. We used to use it at the end of "Firehouse" and at the end of the show, too. That whole thing stuck with them for a long time. Even when they were on the road playing big places, they always had the revolving red lights. LEW LINET (First KISS manager): After the show, even though only a few people showed up, the band were in high spirits. They were very young and naïve, and they were on the road to success. They had a gig, they were very impressed with themselves and happy with what they were doing. They didn’t second guess themselves or question their journey; they did what they loved to do. They didn’t understand how difficult it would be to achieve success. They didn’t know how high the mountain was to climb. When we’re very young, we’re not frightened of working toward success, because we don’t know that it’s difficult. It’s the same syndrome as children picking up a second language. They don’t know that picking up a second language is hard. They just do it. So, in many ways, KISS were babies in rock and roll, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to take on the world. STAN MIESES (Writer, New York Daily News): Back in 1973, I was 20 years old. I was a copy boy at the Daily News. Hanging around, I impressed a couple of the editors with my enthusiasm for rock and roll. I’d gotten a couple of assignments to review rock shows. Then this guy Paul (Sub) wrote me from Queens — he must have seen my byline. He said, "You’re The Daily News. You guys should really cover clubs in Queens." So, I went out to this guy’s club, The Coventry, sat down, and this group named KISS came on. I looked at them and thought this was like comic book or kabuki, something I’d never seen. They looked great. Musically, it sounded like cement mixing. It was not my style of music — my style leaned more to The Velvet Underground — but I thought their stage show was very impressive. The club was half full but they were enthusiastic. The substance of my review, which ran in The Daily News, was how they looked. I described the band in detail and not so much the sound. They had clearly defined characters, and that’s something I hadn’t seen since The Beatles. Each member of the band was individualized. The makeup made all four guys distinct. The behavior onstage was also very distinct. I thought these guys had a shot at making it, because, at the very least, the next day people would say, "You should see what I saw!" Signed to Neil Bogart’s fledgling new label, Casablanca Records, in the fall of 1973, before embarking on their first national tour, KISS returned one last time to play two final shows at Coventry on Dec. 21 and 22. The Dec. 22 show was captured on video and is included in "KISSology III: Volume Three 1992-2000." BILL AUCOIN (KISS manager 1973-1982): I met with KISS, and they came across as guys that really wanted to make it. I told the group I’d get them a record contract and to give me 30 days to do it. Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise heard the tape and told Neil, "Come on Neil, sign them." PAUL STANLEY: When we signed with Casablanca, it felt really good and new. There was the feeling back then that they needed us because KISS was Casablanca. I think a lot of creativity comes from when you want something very badly or when it’s new and there’s a certain amount of excitement. Neil (Bogart) wanted his record company to be great, and he needed to devote everything to whomever he signed to the label. That fit in with all of our plans. PAUL STANLEY: Things happened quickly after we got signed. It was virtually overnight that were in the studio recording our first album. At the time we did the shows at Coventry in December of ’73 we were getting all new equipment. We knew that we were on the verge of the next step of this world domination that was to come. GENE SIMMONS: When we played there in December of ’73, there may have been 80 to 100 people. But, there was a special excitement within the band, because we had just signed to Casablanca Records, which was going to be a brand-new label. We were the first artists on the label. For all we knew, we were about to become big stars. In the beginning, you dream big. BILL AUCOIN (KISS manager 1973-1982): After the Fillmore East closed, no one was using that venue. So, we hired that venue to rehearse the KISS show on a bigger stage. They weren’t used to playing on a big stage; they were used to small clubs. So, after the band recorded the first album, we wanted to play in front of a live audience. We knew we were coming up to their first big live show on New Year’s Eve. That was the reason for playing Coventry in December of ’73. MARK POLOTT: KISS played two sets a night, and their sets were really strong, especially "Deuce," "Strutter," "Firehouse" and "Black Diamond." GENE SIMMONS: That would be the last time we’d play a New York club. We had full outfits; we had the candelabra. MARK POLOTT: At the end of the set, they would have these red emergency lights spinning around on their amplifiers. The theatrics were beginning. KISS were very impressive. In that era, most of the bands’ material was a little shaky; it was glitter/punk, and these guys were a hard rock band. They were much more polished, and they could play. They weren’t the greatest musicians, but they really played strong. They really had something. You could tell everything was very thought out and calculated, but in a good way. These guys were smart. They weren’t drugged out. You had to respect them; they knew exactly what they were doing every step of the way. They had stage moves, and they had choreography in certain parts of their songs. You didn’t see that with other local bands. Visually and sonically, they were exciting. Maybe you saw it on TV with Paul Revere and The Raiders years before, but not then. RICK RIVETS (The Brats): Me and the drummer from The Brats, Sparky Donovan, knew KISS were gonna make it and make it big. They reminded me of a futuristic Beatles. You had four guys who could sing; they all had the same look with the black leather and studs, although they each had their own individual characteristics. PAUL STANLEY: Coventry was a study in contrasts. The first time we played there, there was nobody there. The last time we played there, you could barely get in the door. It was very cool. It was the first place we played when we got a record deal. LYDIA CRISS: The all-girl band Isis opened for KISS that night. The Dolls were in the audience. It was a wild show. It was all starting to happen for them, and you could sense the momentum building. Spirits were high. JOE VALENTINE (Rags): We played on the same bill with KISS at Coventry in December ’73. I didn’t quite understand the correlation between kabuki makeup and rock and roll, but hey, rock and roll has strange bedfellows. But, their music was so good. To be honest, I thought they didn’t even need the makeup. I said to myself, "These guys are gonna be big!" The Dolls were struggling at the time; their asexual look was a tough sell to middle America. KISS were the next New York band in line poised to conquer the world. KISS Manager Bill Aucoin captures the band at Coventry on video. GENE SIMMONS: Bill Aucoin had a primitive version of a video camera set up in our rehearsal hall that Sean Delaney arranged. PAUL STANLEY: We rehearsed down there, and we set up a video camera just so we could see how we moved, and check ourselves out. BILL AUCOIN (KISS manager, 1973-1982): We filmed it in a little basement that we rented off Canal Street that had roaches the size of cats. PETER CRISS: That impressed me about Bill Aucoin. Here we are in 1973 in a basement with video cameras on us. He had four videos running on us all of the time getting our moves together, getting our choreography together. After we were done, we’d watch ourselves to see how stupid or how cool we look. Whatever’s cool, keep; whatever’s stupid, lose. PETER "MOOSE" ORECKINTO (KISS roadie & special effects): Sean (Delaney) gave KISS the personalities that he wanted to see. I can still picture him standing in front of them down in the loft, and he’s got that Charlie Manson look in his eye, that intense f**kin’ look, and he’s going, "Gene, you’re the monster; you’ve gotta act this way!" He solidified their stage personas and wanted them to come across larger than life. GENE SIMMONS: We actually started filming ourselves so we would learn by watching ourselves. You can’t be in two places at once, of course, but if you can watch what you’re doing, you can hone what you do a little bit easier. PETER "MOOSE" ORECKINTO: Their manager, Bill Aucoin, was a TV producer who had done the show "Flipside." He brought in the video equipment that we were using down in the loft. BILL AUCOIN (KISS manager 1973-1982): I shot the footage that night at Coventry on a half-inch Sony reel-to-reel recorder with a Sony black-and-white video camera. We shot the footage not to preserve a show per se, but more to see if they did anything wrong that we could fix before their big show on New Year’s Eve at the Academy Of Music. Unfortunately, that same reel of video tape held some wonderful moments in their rehearsals in this dungeon down in the Bowery, but I taped over it when I shot their Coventry show. I always knew I had the footage, and a few years back, I finally had it transferred. I came out to L.A. and showed Gene and Paul the Coventry footage, and they were both quite amazed. I don’t think they remembered they were as good as they were. Gene said, "Gee, we really were together then." At that point, they’d rehearsed so much they were really tight. They were thinking of themselves as not being that tight and focused, but the truth of the matter is yes, they were. Watching the video you can sense what I believed from the first moment that I worked with them: KISS were really on a mission. They were driven to make this happen, and a lot of artists aren’t. They expect it to happen, or they dream about the money. But, they don’t necessarily have the drive, but KISS had it. At that time, they were very excited. They had their album coming out. They were doing their first tour. This was a dream for any artist, and you can see it excitement in their performance at Coventry. GENE SIMMONS: In "KISSology III," what people are seeing is early videotape of our show at Coventry, December of 1973.The band is pretty well rehearsed, pretty tight and the sound quality is pretty damn good. I always knew the footage existed and went after Bill, and it took me years to convince him to let us put it out. I negotiated the deal with Bill, and eventually, we came to an agreement. He was very kind about it. The fans deserve to see this. I hadn’t seen the tape for over 30 years. PAUL STANLEY: Seeing the footage of us at Coventry only reaffirmed for me how great this band was just in terms of the commitment we had to what we did, and the sheer balls to be who we were at that time. The footage is great. The songs are great. It was a thrill to see the footage. You’re seeing a band on the verge of exploding into a world force. And again, it only pointed out to me what I always believed, which was that you could either go with us or we’d roll right over you, but you couldn’t stay in the way. The band live, even in such a raw state as is in that Coventry footage, it’s undeniable the sheer power and force that we were putting out. And the commitment we had to what we were doing. Commitment is a word that always comes out in terms of referring to KISS. Everything we do and everything we’ve always done has been done with 100 percent commitment. There we are basically with no frills in terms of what people would consider a stage show today. GENE SIMMONS: The most impressive thing about it was you saw a band. Peter and Ace, especially, were really into it. They were clear-headed, really committed, and their playing was really solid. Both Ace and Peter played in tune and had great live energy. They rocked. Back then, we were a real band. You could see that everybody felt proud of being onstage together. It really was a four-wheel-drive vehicle in the early days. What was most impressive to me was how tight it was. I thought because the band was playing in a club right before we went off on tour we would be loose. Actually, it wasn’t loose at all; it was pretty tight. Onstage, it was a real band. Offstage, it was a dysfunctional family. Ace and Peter had their own demons that continue to this day, unfortunately. When you watch the video of us at Coventry, you can see Peter is playing his heart out. Even early on, KISS seemed destined for superstardom, as its brand of performance art and rock captured the imaginations of those around the band. And Coventry served as the launching pad. EDDIE SOLAN: From the first time they played Coventry to the last time they played there, you could sense a big difference in their performance. KISS constantly took a step forward. Every show they did was a constant build. They had a vision. Every step they would take was a step forward. That made them a little more serious than the other local New York bands. Nobody doubted that they’d make it eventually. JOEY CRISCUOLA (PETER CRISS’ brother and early KISS roadie): KISS had a real ballsy attitude. Even back in their club days they had a sense they were something special. Gene always had that ego, and so did Paul, Ace and my brother. They always felt they were stars, whether they played for one person or 20,000. PAUL STANLEY: Coventry was important for us, because it was so difficult for a band like us to get any gigs because we didn’t play Top 40, and we weren’t part of the Mercer Arts crowd, which was the crowd that took in the New York Dolls and some of the Andy Warhol, Max’s Kansas City bands. So, we needed a place that could be ours, and Coventry was a place in Queens that was just on the other side of the East River. It gave people in New York access to come see us, and it also set us a little apart from the New York glitter bands. Coventry was a place where we really cut our teeth, and it was the first place we ever played. GENE SIMMONS: For us, playing at the Coventry was magic. Coventry defined who and what we are. We felt like we belonged together and believed it was us against the world. |
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