It was classic Simmons humor when Gene lunged for Ken

At first it seemed to be another hot late-summer day (she wore lingerie). I had done some writing, drank about a gallon of espresso... and then the phone rang. It was Boot Camp's recreation director and Bruce Kulick biographer Ken Gullic.

"Dude, I have an invite for Gene's surprise birthday party." Is it plus one, I pondered. I don't ordinarily invoke mental references to Ace Frehley EPs upon myself, but in this case it was apropos. "It's plus one," he said, as if reading my mind. Then again, he didn't hum a singe note of "Words are Not Enough."

We went, he was there, and it's now newsworthy Kiss stuff. Here's a quick account of a party thrown in Gene's honor last night in the naked city, courtesy of Ivy Supersonic (they make hats and stuff) at Cafe DeVille. Gene showed up about 11 p.m. (with a decent-looking birdie in tow) and at first hung out on the sidewalk signing autographs and socializing.

Dr. Luther shows Ron Albanese just a fraction of his power by making evil temporarily inhabit an innocent bystander

Ken and I had a perfect view of the sidewalk festivities from inside the club: The Demon was in his official off stage costume of black sports coat, tan and new hair modification. Think of a thinner, less-permed Fridays coif -- he's a knight from behind. The guy looked good. Yes, he's heavier (really just on par with any 51-year, 361 day old), and as for his hair, it's the real thing.

After fifteen minutes Simmons entered the place, and seemed genuinely surprised Being that this was New York (yo), both the papa -- and mama-razzi were out in full force, creating a strobe light effect around the business bassist. Ken and I had brought gifts for Gene, which we wrapped in the hottest paper in the world -- official Kiss gift wrap (Ken thinks of everything). With our offerings in hand we entered the hornet's nest of people around our hero. Ken went first.

Gene makes the scene in style. Usually, we only get to see from the blazer upward.

After trying to kiss the lead Boot Camp-er (I'm not kidding -- see photo!) he opened his gift. It was a framed photo of Gene's Unmasked codpiece, which yielded laughs from everyone. Then it was my turn. "You'll have to open this," said Gene, as his hands were full. As I removed the "elementals" wrap, I rambled, "this is in honor of your new haircut. Something that you can really enjoy... for the man that has everything... the tales of Dr. Charles Luther!" Thus was how one Runaway DVD was uncovered and bestowed upon Gene Simmons. He was shocked, saying "Oh..." before trailing off into a laugh along with some hardcore fans that got the joke.

Gene continued to be extremely accommodating, though after the same five photogs kept clicking at him, he politely inquired, "Who are you guys taking pictures for?" He eventually went back outside (the one girl with him had somehow become five).

Ken had brought a couple of shots of his collection, which includes Gene's Unmasked costume. "That's expensive," nodded the Demon, impressed. I asked, "wasn't that the costume, right next to Paul's disco outfit?" Gene nodded in agreement of my appraisal of the Starchild's Elder getup.. Ken mentioned that he also has one of Vinnie's Creatures of the Night pieces, but I didn't think that Gene heard him. So I repeated it. I was barely finished when the man of 1,000 licenses quipped, "I have Vinnie Vincent... (long pause) stuffed in my closet!" I asked for an interview with him. After pretending to go back and forth holding a microphone to our mouths he asked, "how much?"

Shortly after posing with a cake (classic tongue moments ensued) Gene said, "I'm going to catch a cab." He posed for even more photos (Wanted Dead or Alive alert: in jest, he grabbed one guy who wanted a pic by the mouth and said, "don't talk") signed Ken's copy of the August 18, 1980 issue of People Magazine , which ironically was on newsstands 21 years ago this week. That Gene Simmons, he's all things to all Kiss fans. But overall, he's just a pretty cool guy.