Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

In a NovElder exclusive, for the first time in KISStory, actor Chris Makepeace shares his recollections regarding his spoken word role on “Music From The Elder”

“Bob said that the plan was, should the album do well (and why wouldn’t it?), that KISS would unmask for the first time and tour while we made the movie.” — Chris Makepeace

Imagine “Music From The Elder,” the album we KISS fans are all too familiar with. Now imagine it complete with not only the 11 songs on the album, but with compelling spoken word dialogue weaved between the songs, drawing you in further and helping to unravel the legend of “The Elder.”

According to multiple sources who worked on the project, the purpose of the spoken word dialogue was designed to do exactly that: to help thread the tale of “The Boy” and his epic odyssey. Producer Bob Ezrin contracted the services of Canadian-based actors Robert Christie, Chris Makepeace and Antony Parr, a recording session was scheduled and dialog was, in fact, recorded. Makepeace, a teenage actor who had garnered success in films such as “Meatballs” and “My Bodyguard,” played the role of “The Boy.” Veteran actors Christie and Parr read the roles of the caretaker “Morpheus” and “Council of The Elder,” respectively.

What happened next is not clear. Someone – perhaps an executive at PolyGram – made the call to discard the dialogue component, save for the lines during the album’s final sequence, in what was likely a last-minute decision. One has to wonder why Ezrin would go through the trouble of recording dialogue only to not ultimately use it?

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Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

In more ways than one, “Music From The Elder” is the most mysterious album in the KISS catalog. And a large part of that mystique lies in the things that are unknown.

Case in point, the project’s spoken word dialog component, which was designed to thread the album’s concept between songs. While there was, in fact, dialog recorded, only a small portion actually made it onto the final album. The rest of the dialog? The specific whereabouts are unknown, though it would seem to be tucked away somewhere on a lost shelf deep in the bowels of the KISS vault. And as for why the dialog was ultimately discarded — and who made that final call — that is not entirely clear either.

What is known is that the services of Canadian-based actors Robert Christie, Chris Makepeace and Antony Parr were contracted. Though he is officially credited on the album’s back cover, Makepeace is nowhere to be heard on the album. By process of elimination, that leaves Christie and Parr as the voices heard during the closing sequence.

Born April 30, 1925, in Nottingham, England (Robin Hood country), Parr was a versatile actor who impressively garnered roles across theater, film, television, and radio, as well as voiceover work. Born in 1913 in Toronto, Christie amassed a diverse career as well, acting in theater, TV and film, in addition to serving the Canadian Army during World War II.

Unfortunately, Christie and Parr passed away in 1996 and 2002, respectively. To our knowledge, neither actor ever went on record regarding their contribution on “Music From The Elder.”

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