"All of my facts are based on the info from various books, magazine and newpaper articles, and recorded interviews that I have studied since 1976, including "Kiss and Sell" by CK Lendt, "Black Diamond" and "Black Diamond II" by Dale Sherman.
This feature (C) 1996-2000 Bob Rodrick / KISS ASYLUM
KISS Fact of the Week [3/ 19/ 2001]:
Paul Stanley is almost entirely deaf in his right ear, although he can hear when he presses his ear against a speaker, or similar audible equipment.
Bob Rodrick's KISS Bio Center - Photo gallery has been updated on September 17, 2000 with over SEVENTY
new pictures!! Come check them out!
| Previous KISS Facts of the Week: Year 5
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| The song "Take it Off" was co-written by Paul Stanley and Kane Roberts, who is the "Rambo" looking, muscle-man guitarist who played with Alice Cooper in the late 80s. |
| Although Paul Stanley gets full credit for the songs "Firehouse," "Black Diamond" and "Love Her All I Can," it was Gene Simmons who actually wrote the familar guitar riffs for those songs. |
|
| Paul Stanley's solo song "Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" was patterned after a couple of songs by one of Paul's favorite groups, The Raspberries (which featured singer/songwriter Eric Carmen). |
| Ace Frehley's older brother Charley has a new band called The Bridge, that released an album in late 2000 with acoustic rock styled music - Credit to Julian Gill. |
|
| When Gene Simmons and Cher were dating in the late 70s, the couple fixed up Paul Stanley with Cher's sister Georgiann. |
| During the 1970s, Peter Criss took up racing cars as a hobby. |
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| In early 1982, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were spokesmen for a Cerebral Palsy foundation and made appearances on local New York telethons. |
| The strippers that Kiss used on stage during the 1992 "Revenge" tour actually began as a joke by the road crew, and the band liked them too much to only have for one night. |
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| Warrant guitarist Erik Turner was one of the production people who helped put the new "Kisstory II" book together. |
| The lighting flying rig that is used by Gene Simmons during Kiss's live show was originally designed for Paul Stanley in 1979, but Paul refused to use it. |
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| According to Bill Aucoin (and contrary to popular belief), the hand on the cover of "The Elder" is not Paul Stanley's, but a hand model's who was hired for the photo shoot. |
| According to Eric Carr, a late 1980s interview, Bruce Kulick was hit by a car while running an errand for Eric around the time of the "Asylum" album recording, and suffered a fractured collar bone. |
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| The door that is pictured on the cover of "The Elder" album is the door for a Methodist church that is on Park Ave. in New York City. |
| Ace Frehley originally wanted to play "Shock Me" for the 1995 MTV Unplugged special, but was forced to play "2000 Man" when he couldn't play the "Shock Me" solo on an acoustic guitar. |
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| Ken Kelly, the artist who painted both the "Destroyer" and "Love Gun" album covers also painted album covers for Rainbow and Manowar. |
| The 1977-78 "Love Gun" tour ended in Fort Worth, Texas with a pie fight that included many celebrities. |
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| Eric Carr's collar on his 1980 fox costume was made out of real fur. |
| To prepare for the Farewell Tour (and for his health), Ace Frehley took
up and practiced Yoga and lost a considerable amount of weight. |
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| Paul Stanley nearly lost an eye in an accident during the filming of the "Uh! All Night" video in 1985. |
| Previous KISS Facts of the Week: Year 4
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| Ace Frehley patterned his guitar solo on the song "She" after Robby Krieger's solo on the Doors' classic 1968 song "Five to One." |
Besides "Destroyer II," KISS was toying with the idea of calling the "Revenge" album just "KISS," but thought differently due to possible confusion with the first album.
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| Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick were accquaintances during the 1970s when they used to play in rival cover bands in New York City. |
| After performing "Whole Lotta Love" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" during the "Asylum" tour, KISS toyed around with the idea of recording a cover song for the "Crazy Nights" album. |
|
| Former Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French auditioned for lead guitarist of Kiss in late 1972/early 1973, when they were still called Wicked Lester. |
| Bob Ezrin was originally scheduled to produce the album that became "Carnival of Souls." |
|
| Contrary to popular belief, the vat of red ink that contained Paul's, Ace's, Gene's and Peter's blood for the first Marvel Kiss comic was not
used for that comic book, but instead, for an unknown book! |
Disappointed in not being able to participate on the 1994 "KISS My Ass" tribute album, Stone Temple Pilots planned on recording a full album of KISS covers.
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In the late 1980s, Gene Simmons was arrested after a KISS performance for dropping his pants backstage to "situate" and make himself more "comfortable" (he thought he was out of view from other people and police).
| Not happy with the initial mix, Ace Frehley remixed the song "Into the Void" from the "Psycho Circus" album by himself. |
|
Paul Stanley was offered to produce albums for Ratt, Warrant and Cher, but had to turn to them all down due to his priorities with Kiss.
| The mansion that was used for the 1987 "Exposed" video was actually owned by Paul Stanley. |
|
| Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley were both heavily considered to produce early albums for the heavy metal band W.A.S.P. in the mid 1980s (Ace, the first album and Paul, the second album "The Last Command"). |
Ace Frehley got his nickname for being an "ace" at getting his friends dates.
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| The child voices heard throughout the song "God of Thunder" belong to producer Bob Ezrin's two sons. |
| Paul Stanley has written unnoticed songs for unsuccessful bands such as War Babies and China Rain. |
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| Paul Stanley arranged the horn section on the 1989 song "Cadillac Dreams." |
| Paul Stanley was an art major at the Bronx Community College in the early 70s. |
|
| Eric Carr majored in cartooning and later photography while attending the Manhattan High School of Art & Design. |
| In the late 80s/early 90s, Gene Simmons managed the recording career of Liza Minelli. |
|
| One of longtime Kiss producer Eddie Kramer's first professional recording jobs was engineering the Beatles classic "All You Need is Love" in 1967. |
| The songs "Animal," "Twisted," and "I Wanna Be Your Victim" from the first Vinnie Vincent Invasion album in 1986 were originally written for KISS's "Animalize" album. |
|
| Besides "See You in Your Dreams," Gene Simmons attempted to re-record the songs "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" and "Ladies Room" for his 1978 solo album. |
| KISS almost signed a deal to participate in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff offered them more money for appearing in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). |
|
Peter Criss's second wife Debra was a one time Coppertone Suntan Lotion model and a former Playboy Playmate of the Month (in 1978).
| Gene Simmons took the title to his song "Calling Dr. Love" from a line of an old Three Stooges film. |
|
| Diane Warren, who wrote the new Kiss ballad "Nothing Can Keep Me from You," as well as other hit singles such as Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and LeAnn Rimes's "How Do I Live" co-wrote both Kiss 1980s classics "Turn on the Night" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard" with Paul Stanley. |
| Peter Criss considers Frank Sinatra as his all time hero. |
|
| In 1989, Ace Frehley produced some demo tapes for a band called Cypruss. |
| Right before rejoining Kiss is late 1995, Peter Criss and his band Criss were about to enter a recording studio to begin work on a second album. |
|
| Steve Lukather, guitarist for the group Toto ("Rosanna," "Africa") played a couple of the guitar solos on Peter Criss's 1978 solo album. |
| Gene Simmons based the song "Deuce" on guitar riffs from Rolling Stones songs "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Bitch." |
|
| Gene Simmons sang backing vocals on a song by Cher titled "Git Down (Guitar Groupie)", which was found on her 1979 album "Take Me Home," distributed by Casablanca Records. |
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| Previous KISS Facts of the Week: Year 3
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| In the early 90s, Gene Simmons wrote a song with Bob Dylan that has yet to surface on any kind of album. |
| Paul Stanley wrote a number of early Kiss songs, including "Firehouse" and "Let Me Know" while still in high school. |
|
| In 1989, Eric Carr worked pre-production on an EP for a band called Electric Thunder. |
| The title of the song "Little Caesar" comes from a nickname that Gene Simmons used to call Eric Carr. |
|
| The song "God Gave Rock 'n Roll to You" was originally to be included in a 1991 movie titled "Doin' it," but was later chosen for the second Bill & Ted movie. |
The "Asylum" album was originally to be titled "Out of the Asylum."
|
| According to Vinnie Vincent, six songs total were co-written by him for the 1992 "Revenge" album. |
| Before a song of the same title appeared on the "Hot in the Shade" album in 1989, Paul Stanley and Vinnie Vincent wrote a song called "Betrayed" that was meant for the 1982 "Creatures of the Night" album. |
|
| The song "Acrobat" was recorded in its entirety (with the "You're Much Too Young" section) for the first Kiss album, but was edited down and retitled "Love Theme from Kiss." |
| Contrary to popular belief, the "unreleased" Kiss song "You're Much Too Young" (performed in concert around 1973/74, but never released on an album), is actually the second half of a song called "Acrobat" (the first half being what became "Love Theme from Kiss"). |
|
| Like the four original members, Eric Carr had a signature color: Rust |
| Mark St. John's band White Tiger recorded and mixed a second album in 1988 in hopes of major label distribution, but the album was never released. |
|
| Jean Beauvoir, who co-wrote a few Kiss songs with Paul Stanley in the mid 80s, contributed a good deal of bass guitar work on the 1984 "Animalize" album. |
In 1989, Paul Stanley contributed backing vocals to an album by female vocalist Robin Beck, which also included a cover of "Hide Your Heart."
|
| In 1988, Kiss was voted "Best Heavy Metal Band" at the New York Music Awards. |
| In the late 1980s, Paul Stanley started a management company called Paul Stanley Entertainment and helped develop two rock acts called Rackett and Unchained. |
|
| Most of the songs featured on Peter Criss's 1978 solo album were originally written in 1972 for an album by his then band Lips. |
| According to Gene Simmons, the song "You Wanted the Best" was originally written in 1977 as a song called "Just Give Me Love." |
|
| Drummer Allen Schwartzberg, who played on Gene Simmons's 1978 solo album, played on the song "I," off "Music from The Elder." |
| Peter Criss's 1980 solo album "Out of Control" was originally to feature a photo of his face without his makeup on the album cover, but that idea was scrapped after Kiss asked him not to reveal his face so quickly after leaving the band. |
|
| Vinnie Vincent co-wrote a song with Bangles member Vicki Peterson called "Make a Play for Her Now" which was included on The Bangles' 1988 "Everything" album. |
| Three other songs were recorded for the "Love Gun" album but never made it to the finished product: "Sincerely," "Have Love Will Travel" and "Tunnel of Love" (the latter eventually found its way on Gene's solo album). |
|
| According to Paul Stanley, "Detroit Rock City" was written as almost a total ripoff of an old song by guitarist Paul Butterfield. |
| Ace Frehley was originally to make his lead vocal debut for a Kiss record on a song titled "Queen for a Day" that was recorded (never with a finished vocal) for the 1976 "Rock and Roll Over" album. |
|
| Kiss's 1996 MTV Video Music Awards performance was originally supposed to take place at the Statue of Liberty. |
| Original promotional pressings of the "Alive II" album mentioned the inclusion of the songs "Take Me," "Hooligan" and "Do You Love Me" on the album cover. (This is a rare and valuable collector's item!) |
|
| In the early 80's, Gene Simmons worked with an acting coach for his future movie opportunities. |
| The song "Only You" from "The Elder" was originally written by Gene in the early 70's for Wicked Lester under the title "Eskimo Sun." |
|
| Ace Frehley was offered the opening slot on Kiss's "Hot in the Shade" tour, but he turned it down, feeling he would be playing "second fiddle" to his old band. |
| Paul Stanley has had numerous surgeries over the years to repair muscle damage in his upper body. |
|
| Around the time of the "Troublewalkin'"album in early 1989, Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons were collaborating on a song called "Hot Lips" which never saw the light of day. |
| When Kiss released their original set of trading cards in Australia in 1980, all of Peter Criss's shots were replaced with new ones of Eric Carr. |
|
| Before purchasing their six-foot logo, Kiss used a large spider web as the backdrop for their early live shows. |
| Ace Frehley began using blue eyeshadow in the late 70's to prevent allergic reactions to his silver makeup. |
|
| Glen La Ferman, who shot the back cover photos for the "Psycho Circus" album, also shot the back cover photos for Kiss's 1987 "Crazy Nights" album. |
| Other artists that were scheduled to appear on Gene Simmons's 1978 solo album, but couldn't due to other obligations included Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore, Chaka Khan and Liberace. |
|
| Kiss had plans to record and release a second part to "Music from the Elder" titled "War of the Gods" in 1982. |
| A twelfth song was recorded for the 1987 "Crazy Nights" album: a Gene Simmonssong titled "Are You Always This Hot." |
|
| In late 1989, Kiss was scheduled to co-headline a festival in Australia with Joe Cocker called "World Rock '89" that never occured due to poor promotion. |
| The first Kiss Marvel comic book was released the same day as the "Love Gun" album in 1977. |
|
| Even though Ace Frehley was given total writing credit for the song "Cold Gin," Gene Simmons actually wrote the instrumental break after the second chorus, and Paul Stanley arranged the song. |
| Other noted guitar players who have used Paul Stanley's legendary "Iceman" guitar include Dave Sabo from Skid Row, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick, and Sean Yseult of White Zombie, who uses a bass version. |
|
| According to Gene Simmons, the majority of early Kiss songs were written on acoustic guitars |
| Paul Stanley pinched a nerve in his back during the filming of the "I Love it Loud" video (the scene where he tumbles across the stage before the guitar solo). |
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| Kiss's only number one single, as of now, was in 1979 when "I Was Made for Lovin' You" hit the top of the charts in Holland. |
| The man who plays the father in the "I Love it Loud" video is the late Howard Marks, who was Kiss's business manager from 1976 to 1988. |
|
| Giorgio Moroder, who had produced hits for disco acts, including Donna Summer, was originally selected to work with Kiss on the 1979 "Dynasty" album. |
| In the early 80's, Gene Simmons had cosmetic surgery to reshape his nose. |
|
Chip Taylor, who co-wrote Ace Frehley's signature solo song "Rock Soldiers" wrote the legendary rock anthem "Wild Thing" in the 1960's.
PART TWO OF A TWO PART FACT:
Several tracks off "Alive II," including "Beth," "Makin' Love," and "I Want You" (with vocal enhancements) were actually taken from the unreleased Japanese live album. |
|
PART ONE OF A TWO PART FACT: (The second part next week.)
In early 1977, Kiss had recorded, overdubbed, mixed and mastered a single live album from their first tour of Japan, but decided to shelve it in favor of recording the "Love Gun" album and fresh live recordings from the L.A. Forun for "Alive II." |
| In 1986, Paul Stanley was close to getting the producer's job for Guns'n Roses' "Appetite for Destruction" album, but he was somewhatpersonally turned off by the group and decided not to work with them. |
|
| In 1985/86, after splitting with David Lee Roth, Eddie and Alex Van Halen were given a bid by Gene Simmons for him to become their manager, which never came to an agreement. |
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| Previous KISS Facts of the Week: Year 2
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| The idea for Paul Stanley's star makeup actually came from Ace Frehley, who suggested that a single star go over both eyes. |
| Peter Criss's official birthdate is December 20, 1945. Two years were dropped from his age for P.R. reasons. |
|
| Ace Frehley was set to play the guitar solo on "Tunnel of Love" on Gene Simmons's 1978 solo album, but had to pull out due to his own solo album recording schedule. |
| During the mid 70's Gene Simmons wore braces on his bottom teeth. |
|
| According to the Goldmine Price Guide to Collectable Record Albums, a white label promotional copy of the first Kiss album (without "Kissin' Time") is the most valuable Kiss record, worth $150 in mint condition. |
| According to Peter Criss, Ace Frehley played bass on a lot of early Kiss songs. |
|
| Paul Stanley's first outside songwriting job was a song co-written with Desmond Child titled "The Fight" that appeared on a 1979 album by Desmond and his band Rouge. |
| In 1989, Ace Frehley and Eric Carr began writing a song titled "Breakout II" that was never finished. |
|
| Katey Segal, who played Peg Bundy on the TV sitcom "Married with Children" sang backup vocals on Gene Simmons's 1978 solo album. |
| In 1989, plans had begun for a reunion/makeup tour to feature Paul, Gene, Ace and Eric Carr, but those plans unfortunately fell through. |
|
The "Dynasty" album cover photo is actually a meticulous conglomeration of pieces taken from tons of photos from the session.
| According to Gene Simmons, Paul McCartney was set to appear on Gene's 1978 solo album, but had to pull out due to a scheduling problem. |
|
| With 30 albums to their credit (including the "Kiss My Ass" tribute album), Kiss currently has the biggest catalog out of any artist in every genre on the Polygram Records roster. |
| Kiss were offered to take part in the 1985 Hear 'n Aid project for Ethiopian famine (put together by Ronnie James Dio), but declined, saying that loud guitars for world famine was in poor taste. |
|
In 1979, a third Marvel comic book was planned, but the band pulled out when Marvel wanted to own the Kiss characters and copyrights.
| Prior to Paul Stanley's solo club tour in 1989, Kiss had originally planned to do a full club tour in support of "Smashes, Thrashes and Hits," but those plans fell through. |
|
| Early in Kiss's career, Paul Stanley incorporated a small mole into his makeup design, which obviously didn't last long. |
Gene Simmons's mother, Florence, is a Nazi concentration camp survivor.
|
| While staying in hotels, Gene Simmons would register under the name "Barbara Walters" due to him wishing he had her salary!! |
| During his early teen years, Paul Stanley called himself a "folkie," with a harmonica around his neck and a guitar singing songs from his idols, Bob Dylan and John Sebastian. |
|
| Multi-Grammy award producer David Foster considered Kiss's song "Heaven's on Fire" his favorite record of 1984, calling it "a hell of a well produced record." |
| All of the music on the song "Little Caesar" off the "Hot in the Shade" album was played by Bruce Kulick (all guitars) and Eric Carr (drums and bass). |
|
| Before deciding on "Eric Carr," Paul Caravello almost chose "Rusty Blade" as his new Kiss name. |
Neal Smith, the original drummer for Alice Cooper, was one of the drummers considered as the replacement for Anton Fig in Ace Frehley's group, Frehley's Comet in 1987.
| The guitar solo that Ace Frehley played on the song "Christine Sixteen" is an exact duplicate of the solo played by Eddie Van Halen on the original demo he and his brother Alex recorded with Gene Simmons in 1977. |
|
Ace Frehley's stunt double in the movie "Kiss Meets the Phantom" was an African American, well schooled in martial arts and acrobatics.
| The initial plan for the first "Alive" album was what "Alive II" became: three live sides and one side of new studio material. |
|
| "I Love it Loud" is the only Kiss single to just fall short of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, "bubbling under" at a peak of #102 in 1982. |
| The song "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" off the "Rock and Roll Over" album contains the line, "you want to sit in my driver's seat, if you do it's alright with me," which was originally a line from the song
"Drive Me Wild," that became "Rock and Roll All Nite." |
|
| One of Gene Simmons's first production credits outside of Kiss was an album in the late 70's by an all kids band called Virgin, but it never came out due to Gene disliking the group's material. |
| Besides the Cheap Trick song, "Surrender," Kiss is immortalized in the 1978 Jimmy Buffett (!) song "Manana," which features the line, ".. .don't try to describe a Kiss concert if you've never seen one." |
|
| Before being released in its first marketable form, the 1981 album "Music from the Elder" featured narrative dialog throughout, telling the story of The Elder along with the music, thus explaining the references to Robert Christie, Anthony Parr and Christopher Makepeace. |
| In the early 70's Peter Criss flew out to England to audition for Elton John's backing band, but eventually lost out to drummer Nigel Olsson. |
|
Around the time of him leaving Kiss in 1982, Ace Frehley flew out to Los Angeles to produce the first demo tapes for the band W.A.S.P.
| Kiss was asked and had plans to write and record all new songs for the "Kiss Meets the Phantom" movie in 1978, but couldn't due to time restrictions. |
|
| After already being released on the European "Killers" album, the songs "Nowhere to Run" and "Partners in Crime" were seriously considered to be on the "Creatures of the Night" album and were remixed to have a similar "big" sound to the other songs on the album. |
| Early in their careers, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss all recorded vocals on commercial jingles, including AMC trucks. |
|
| In the late 80's, Gene Simmons began, but never finished, work on a movie called "The Deed," which he was also set to produce. |
| Ace Frehley got the chance to be a drum roadie for Mitch Mitchell during Jimi Hendrix's final New York performance in 1970. |
|
| Ten years prior to Simmons Records, Neil Bogart offered Gene Simmons his own custom label to be distributed through Casablanca Records. |
| Gene Simmons's first major band "discovery" was Angel, who he saw playing in a Washington D.C. club in in 1975 and eventually helped to get signed to Casablanca Records that same year. |
|
| According to a Gene Simmons interview in Billboard magazine (1989), Kiss's very first live performance was on January 30, 1973 at a club in Queens called Popcorn. |
| The song "Black Diamond" was actually a song Gene Simmons was working on that Paul Stanley stole the title of. |
|
| "Kiss Alive" was one of the first albums to ever be certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. (the certification award was introduced to the music industry the first week of 1976). |
| Sammy Hagar was thrown off as the opening act of a Kiss tour during the late 70's due to using foul language on stage. (Because of the younger audience they were attracting, Kiss never cursed on stage during the makeup years). |
|
| Gene Simmons was taught how to breathe fire by a magician named Amaze-O. |
| For the 1992 "Revenge" tour, Paul Stanley and Bruce Kulick had originally planned to do an acoustic set as part of the show. |
|
| In the late 80's, Gene Simmons filmed a pilot for an ABC series called "Jon Sable," but turned down his role for the fall season due to his conflicting Kiss schedule. |
| Gary Corbett, keyboard player for the "Hot in the Shade" tour, as well as Paul Stanley's solo tour, was a co-writer of Cyndi Lauper's 1984 hit song "She Bop." |
|
| In 1988, Bruce Kulick auditioned to play lead guitar on Mick Jagger's "Primitive Cool" solo album, but lost out to Jeff Beck. |
| Currently, the Kiss Unplugged show is the second highest rated MTV Unplugged special right behind Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. |
|
| The piano heard on the song "Christine Sixteen" was played by Gene Simmons. |
| Peter Criss's real full name is George Peter Crisscoula |
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| Previous KISS Facts of the Week: Year 1
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| Because of the contract Kiss signed with Phonogram Records in 1980, Peter Criss received royalties on albums he didn't play on, including "Lick it Up," "Animalize," and "Asylum." Paul and Gene bought out Peter's share in 1987. |
| For the 1992 "Revenge" tour, Kiss approached Black Sabbath (then with Ronnie James Dio) to open for them, but were quickly turned down. |
|
| In the late 80's, Peter Criss had planned on filming a drum instructional video and incorporating his catman costume and makeup. |
| In 1979, Kiss and their management company purchased over 190 acres in Cincinatti, OH for a Kiss travelling amusement park, which of course was never built. |
|
| When Eric Carr recorded his vocal for "Beth" in 1988, he actually sat in the same exact stool that Peter Criss sat on during the original recording of the song in 1976. |
| Prior to joining Kiss in late 1972, Ace Frehley recorded an album for RCA Records with a group called Millemo that was never released. |
|
| The photo that was to be used for the cover of the 1972 unreleased Wicked Lester album featuring Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons was used in 1979 for an album by a group called the Laughing Dogs. |
| In 1994, Kiss was offered $1 million dollars to reunite in makeup with Ace and Peter and headline the Woodstock II festival. Paul and Gene were quick to turn it down. |
|
| The song "The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away" was actually written as a "tip of the hat" tribute to David Bowie. |
| In 1979, Kiss spent over $1 million on a special laser effects system for the "Dynasty" tour, which included an effect where Paul shot a laser from his eye. The entire system, however was never used on the tour. |
|
| In 1978, Kiss was the first band offered the role of F.V.B (Future Villain Band) in the movie "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," that starred Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. Kiss turned down the role in fear of hurting their "super hero" image, and it was then given to Aerosmith. |
| In his early years, Gene Simmons entered a Jewish Rabbinical school to become a Rabbi. |
|
| When Eric Carr joined the band in 1980, there was talk of him actually recording a KISS solo album, so the band commissioned the same artist who painted the 4 solo album covers to paint one of Eric. The painting is now is Eric's family's possession. |
| In the late 80's Eric Carr managed and help develop an all female thrash band called Hari Kari, which unfortunately never got off the ground. |
|
| When Ace Frehley recorded his first lead vocal for Kiss on "Shock Me" in 1977, he recorded it while lying on his back to deal with his nervousness. |
| In the mid-eighties, Paul Stanley was offered to do a nude pictorial for Playgirl magazine, which he was very quick to turn down. |
|
According to Billboard Magazine Research, Kiss is currently the 36th biggest selling album act in the Rock Era, placing them ahead of such acts as Pink Floyd, Greatful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Billy Joel, The Who, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, and Van Halen.
NOTE: This includes the four 1978 Kiss solo albums, which Billboard normally doesn't count as Kiss albums. |
| In 1990 as part of the "Hot in the Shade" tour, talks began for Kiss to participate in a co-headlining summer stadium tour with Aerosmith, and with Motley Crue as the special guests. |
|
| In 1980, Kiss was planning on putting out a line of designer jeans with the KISS logo on the rear right pocket. A prototype was made, but the line was never put out to the public. |
| In 1980, it was rumored that Kiss was about to film a second movie that was titled "Behind the Mask" that dealt with two groupies' attempts to get the band out of their makeup. |
|
| Vinnie Vincent's Egyptian Warrior character was actually conceived and created by Paul Stanley in late 1982. |
| Kiss was originally planning on calling the "Crazy Nights" album either "Who Dares Wins" or "Condomnation." |
|
| In late 1987, Paul Stanley was slated to produce Poison's second album, "Open Up and Say Ahh," as well as an album from Cher, but had to pull out due to the "Crazy Nights" tour schedule. |
| To get his drumming perfected for the current Kiss reunion tour, Peter Criss hired a special drumming coach for rehearsals. |
|
| The album packaging for "Kiss Alive" was patterned almost exactly after a live album by Uriah Heep. |
| In 1986, Peter Criss was rumored to be the replacement drummer for A. J. Pero in Twisted Sister. |
|
| The song "A World Without Heroes" was originally titled "Every Little Bit of Your Heart" and was written by Paul Stanley, who was intending on including the song on the album Kiss was working on right before deciding to do "The Elder." |
| The song "Man of 1000 Faces" from Gene Simmons's solo album was originally written in 1975 and was intended for the "Dressed to Kill" album, but was never recorded because of not fitting with the rest of the material. |
|
| As of now, the song "Hide Your Heart" is the only Kiss song to be released on a domestic American CD single. |
The ending of "Do You Love Me" that is played during the reunion concerts was actually recorded for the "Destroyer" album, but was deleted by Bob Ezrin.
|
| The newscast heard at the beginning of "Detroit Rock City" on the "Destroyer" album was actually read by Gene Simmons himself. |
| "Hot in the Shade" was originally to be titled "Hang Tough" but that was changed because of the success of the New Kids on the Block's album "Hangin' Tough." |
|
| The 1979 "Dynasty" album was originally planned to be a double album. |
| Before deciding on "Revenge," Kiss was actually considering calling their 1992 album "Destroyer II." |
|
| When Kiss had to replace Ace Frehley in 1982, well known guitarists such as Punky Meadows from Angel, Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi, and even Eddie Van Halen wanted to
audition for the group. |
|
| The "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" video, as of now, is the only Kiss video to ever be nominated for an MTV video music award, being nominated for best cinematography at the first MTV awards in 1984. |
| During their concerts in the late 70's/early 80's, Cheap Trick used to throw out "Destroyer" and "Dynasty" album covers to the audience while playing their song "Surrender," which has the line "...rollin' numbers, rockin', rollin', got my KISS records out!" |
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| Paul Stanley's lead guitar solo debut on a Kiss recording was the intro to "C'mon and Love Me" on "Dressed to Kill" in 1975. |
| The announcer who says "You wanted the best...." on the first "Alive" album is Junior Smalling, the black man seen in the Kisstory book who was the band's first road manager. |
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The guitar solos on the songs "All American Man" and "Exciter" were played by Rick Derringer ("Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" fame).
| All the lead guitar work on Paul Stanley's songs off the "Unmasked" album was actually played by Paul himself. |
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| The solo album morph that is seen on the video screens right before the encores during the Kiss reunion concerts was created by Ace Frehley on his home computer system. |
| The song "Nowhere to Run" from "Killers" was originally intended to appear on "Smashes Thrashes and Hits" but was eventually taken off in favor of "Tears Are Falling." |
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| Kiss had originally planned to record Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" for the fourth side of "Alive II." |
| Even though "Alive II" is said to be recorded in Los Angeles during the "Love Gun" tour, the version of "Beth" on the album was recorded in Tokyo, Japan a few months prior, during the "Rock and Roll Over" tour. |
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| Right before joining Kiss in 1982, Vinnie Vincent was a staff songwriter for the TV program, "Happy Days," writing all the songs that Joanie and Chachi sang on the show. |
| Paul Stanley got the title of his 1980 hit "Shandi" after listening to a Bruce Springsteen song titled "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)." |
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| Out of the 4 1978 solo albums, Peter's was the only one not to have had a Billboard Hot 100 Chart single, yet his was the only one to have had 2 singles released from it. |
| In 1982, Paul Stanley had made his acting debut in a cameo role in the comedy movie "Young Doctor's in Love." He played himself, in makeup, but as a patient who had accidentally swallowed a microphone onstage. Unfortunately, Paul's scene was cut out of the final print of the movie. |
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| In early 1977, Kiss became the first band since the Beatles to have 4 albums on the Billboard Hot 100 album chart. "Alive," "Destroyer," "Rock and Roll Over," and "The Originals" were all in the top 40 at the same time. To this day, no other band has accomplished that feat. |
| In 1983, Gene Simmons turned down the male, romantic, leading role in "Flashdance," in fear of hurting his image. |
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| In 1975, producer Eddie Kramer passed up the opportunity to produce the debut album from Boston so that he could produce KISS's "Alive" album. |
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KISS Guitar Tabs
The #1 source for KISS Guitar and Bass tabs on the internet! A great resource for those KISS fans that can wield an ax!
KISS Album Focus
Exploring the history of the band through each album release. You'll be able to find out the logic behind the releases, what was going on in the band during the recording of albums, what the band was up to in the period leading up to studio time, and lots more information which should be of interest to the diehard fan!
Sound Off KISS Army
KISS ASYLUM wanted to open the door to other writers out there and give them a place where they can voice their opinions about KISS. We bet there are more than a few of you who have at least one KISS related topic burning in you that you'd love to write a one time piece about. Well, KISS ASYLUM is happy to bring to you a forum in which to do so in our new feature "SOUND OFF!" KISS ARMY.
KISS Thought Vault
The "Summertime Memories" Kiss Thought Vault finds Ron Albanese waxing nostalgic over summers past, by way of release dates and pinball. A certain starry-eyed little girl also secures her place in Vault history. Also mentioned: The Harlem Globetrotters.
KISS Video Spotlight
What I have in store for you is a real treat. What you are about to read is an interview I recently completed with WNEW DJ (and fellow NJ resident) Ed Trunk.
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KISS Museum