David Robbins | Boomer Magazine

“This,” says Gene Simmons, “is how the big boys do it.” Simmons, a big boy, is talking about his band, KISS

Nearing 63, he exudes disdain for the modern brand of rocker, the sloppy kids he claims look no different from their own roadies. Metaphorically, he sticks his famous elongated tongue out at them.
“When I’m up there, I’m wearing 40 pounds of armor and studs, in 10-inch heels. I’m like a Marine on a 26-mile trek in a loaded backpack.” Guitarist Tommy Thayer, only a 10-year veteran of the 39-yearold rock band, concurs with the military analogy. “When we’re getting into our outfits and makeup before a performance, we say we’re climbing into our battle gear. Putting on war paint.” Worldwide, the band has legions of fans, called The KISS Army.  The likenesses to fighting men go on and on for the members of this ageless group.  The similarities go even deeper, and they are not haphazard.

AMERICA – A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
Gene’s mother, Flora, was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. The girl, then only 14, watched her mother accompany her grandmother into a gas chamber so the older woman would not die alone. That camp was eventually liberated by the U.S. Army, and Flora was rescued. Gene is adamant – and probably right – that without America’s troops, he wouldn’t be here.  Tommy’s father, James Thayer, was a young Army officer fighting in the Continue reading →