WBAB | Donna Donna

If you were in high school in the 70s could you ever have imagined Kiss showing up at your school to perform? Well that’s what happened in 1975, at Cadillac High School in Michigan.

Here’s how the story goes, the school’s football team was struggling until they started cranking up Kiss in the locker room before games. After winning seven games in a row to become conference co-champs the team credited their success to Kiss. The band heard about the team and in 1975, visited the school and performed there during homecoming weekend.

Now the story is in the process of being tuned into a film. Vh1 Radio caught up with Gene Simmons last week at the opening of his new Rock & Brews restaurant in California and gave them an update on the status of the film: “There’s a gentleman named Mark Johnson who’s a producer, who’s produced the Narnia movies as well as other things.  There have been some meetings.  You know, they don’t call it development hell for nothing. It’s hell to launch anything and he’s almost there, the financing is almost there.” Gene went on to say, “I mean there’s a script, I read some of it.  It’s about Cadillac.  Kiss is part of the culture, the inspirational story about how a nowhere, nobody football team scaled to heights by infusing their blood with Kiss blood.” Gene added, “We are not producing this movie, by the way, this happened naturally out of Hollywood.”

Ultimate Guitar

Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell is hoping that it’s only a matter of time before the Seattle four-piece gets inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and once they do, he would like none-other that Kiss bassist Gene Simmons to be the group’s presenter.

During a recent HBO Q&A session, Cornell was asked to name who would he like to see as the band’s presenter if Soundgarden ever gets inducted. “I would hope it is a when, as opposed to an if,”frontman replied. “How about Gene Simmons?”

Another fan asked Cornell yet another Hall of Fame related question, this time around regarding the artists he would like to induct, apart from those he already did. The singer opted for songwriter Daniel Johnston, whose records he even considers as enjoyable as the work of rock giants Pink Floyd.

“I would induct Daniel Johnston,” Cornell said. “He is a songwriter who recorded a lot of music on a boom box and produced records where the budget was ultimately the price of a cassette tape. It occurred to me at one point that I got no less enjoyment out of listening to his records than I did from a Pink Floyd record, for example. That thought spoke to me as an absolute definition of what rock ‘n’ roll is really about.”

Finally, the frontman reflected on inducting Heart into the Hall of Fame at this year’s ceremony, calling it an “eye opening experience.”

“Inducting Heart into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame was an eye-opening experience. I was certainly honored, but had always had a cynical attitude about an institution like this as it pertains to Rock ‘n’ Roll in general. The fan support of all the bands inducted and their emotional enthusiasm changed everything for me.”

Continue reading →