Episode 582. Steve Stierwalt joins us this week and we talk about the very beginning of KISS on the internet as Steve was there when it all started with his website KISS Freaks. Steve shares stories and insight into putting on the Indy KISS Expos. How much money does it take to put together and make a KISS expo happen? How did Steve’s online store KISS Army Warehouse get started, how did he end up acquiring the inventory from KISS Museum.
Author Archives: Steve Stierwalt
Flasher Eric Carr Pre KISS 1980 Frustrated
Episode 105 “ANTON FIG” – Top 5 with Joey Cassata
“KISS’ Finest Hour”: Remembering Their Legendary 1995 MTV Unplugged Performance
MTV Unplugged is more or less dead now, but it was once a stellar way to show the world’s top bands in a stripped down, intimate, acoustic instrument-only manner that fans may have never seen before. Nirvana’s set from 1993 and Pearl Jam’s 1992 sets are notably legendary. But grunge is pretty easy to break down into its essential parts, and some genres aren’t exactly easy to perform in the “unplugged” fashion. That’s why KISS’s 1995 MTV Unplugged episode was so shocking, mainly because it was so good. There were no costumes, no makeup, no pyrotechnics; just KISS in their purest form. As fans put it on YouTube, “Kiss’ finest hour.”
KISS was known for their music and theatrics in almost equal fashion. Their music could be defined as heavy metal; a genre that depends on electric guitars, distortion, and a few other elements that are rooted in technology. Just as well, KISS’s theatrics have also heavily depended on technology. When one thinks of pyrotechnics, they usually think of KISS.
When the idea of doing an Unplugged set started floating around, KISS was at a low point in their career. A number of artists, including Rod Stewart, managed to breathe some life into their careers by appearing on the MTV series, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.
But how did KISS pull off an unplugged set when their whole brand revolves around being very much plugged in? It all comes down to the fact that the band, as a whole, was just very talented and creative.
The band brought back OG members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss for the Unplugged set, a choice that was quite smart in retrospect. There were rumors that Criss’ drumming ability had declined in recent years. Even though fans of KISS were excited to see the original lineup together on stage, there was some trepidation.
Luckily, the set was incredible. Each member’s talent was on full display, sans makeup, and the nostalgia of it all was heavenly for fans of the rock legends. In fact, the set was so successful that the band decided to kick off a massively successful reunion tour shortly after the Unplugged episode and subsequent album was released. If anything, we can credit this Unplugged set with quite literally bringing KISS back to life for decades more.
KISS – Kitchener, Ontario, Canada 7/16/77 – Memorial Auditorium 8mm film
Ace Frehley Anomaly Deluxe Vinyl LP SALE at KISSArmyWarehouse.com!
STILL SEALED!
Deluxe Gatefold Edition 180g Reflex Blue/Clear Starburst Vinyl Double LP!
Includes New Poster, Liner Notes & 3 Bonus Tracks!
Features “Hard For Me” & “The Return Of Space Bear”!
Double LP
180g Vinyl
Reflex Blue/Clear Starburst Vinyl
Founding KISS guitarist (1973-1982, 1996-2002)
Remastered
Gatefold sleeve with raised and embossed lettering
Liner notes insert with a live poster image of Ace on the reverse
3 Bonus tracks
Collectible limited time download card
TRACK LISTING
Side A:
1. Foxy & Free
2. Outer Space
3. Pain In The Neck
4. Fox On The Run
Side B:
5. Genghis Khan
6. Too Many Faces
7. Change The World
8. Space Bear [extended]
Side C:
9. A Little Below The Angels
10. Sister
11. It’s A Great Life
12. Fractured Quantum
Side D:
Bonus Tracks:
13. Hard For Me
14. Pain In The Neck [slower version]
15. The Return Of Space Bear
Ace Frehley’s Paranormal Instincts
When Kiss was founded in 1973, the rock band’s four original members invented characters that reflected their obsessions. Bassist Gene Simmons—who had been raised on a steady diet of comic books and monster movies—became “the Demon,” a blood-spitting, fire-breathing creature from the land of nightmares. Frontman Paul Stanley became “the Starchild,” a flamboyant, lustful figure of rock and roll showmanship who sought to bury his insecurities beneath the adulation of fans. Drummer Peter Criss, meanwhile, became “the Catman”: After surviving numerous scrapes on the rough streets of post-war Brooklyn, he was convinced he had nine lives.
Then there was Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist. Inspired by his enthusiasm for technology and all things extraterrestrial, he became “the Spaceman,” an alien from the planet “Jendell,” who fired rockets from the neck of his guitar and struggled to walk in a straight line. Naturally, he blamed the Earth’s foreign gravity rather than his taste in recreational substances.
After departing Kiss in 2001, Frehley abandoned most of the old facade. For the last 17 years, he’s been sober, performing as a solo artist in street clothes with a band of greasy, denim-clad musicians behind him. But though his stage persona has been brought down to Earth, his mind seemingly remains somewhere in the cosmos.
Sitting in his home recording studio in rural New Jersey, the walls behind him decorated with murals of stars, galaxies, and Gibson Les Pauls, Frehley begins talking to me about his latest solo album, 10,000 Volts. It bears all of his usual hallmarks. There are silly, sex-crazed lyrics that often defy basic norms of language (“Your charming allure, you’re like the girl next door / Your magic ensues all the others”); powerful riffs that instantly lodge themselves in the mind; and sloppily melodic solos redolent of the 1970s. Frehley tells me he’s “pleasantly surprised and presently pleased” with the album’s success. “I can’t believe the first single got over a million views on YouTube and had so many streams on Spotify and what have you. It’s never happened to me before with a record.”
But when I ask him a few more prosaic questions about the songwriting process and where he finds inspiration, he answers with limited enthusiasm. His true passions, it turns out, are far more exotic. They only reveal themselves when we turn to the subject of alien conspiracies.
“The last UFO I saw was probably six or seven years ago,” Frehley cheerfully recalls. “I was on a plane in first class on the right side, sitting by a window. We were going from Vegas to LA … kind of crosses over the area of Area 51, maybe within 100 miles or so. I saw a UFO come out of the clouds and then go back down. The classic UFO that you’ve seen a lot of times, you know, in pictures and stuff. It was there.” He’s reminded of the anecdote when I ask about “Up in the Sky,” a song on the new album that playfully reminds listeners, “you can’t trust the news, you can’t trust the law.”
Frehley’s always been an outspoken UFOlogist. In addition to believing that he himself is “part alien,” he’s stated in the past that aliens have abducted him and landed outside his house. He also claims to have been punched in the face by a ghost. (He refuses to say anything decisive about the existence of Bigfoot.) It’s unsurprising, then, that he thinks the U.S. government has been covering up the presence of alien life on Earth since the Roswell incident in 1947.
Bruce Kulick on ‘90’s Kiss Lineup: ‘It’s a Shame It Was Killed’
Bruce Kulick says he understood why Kiss leaders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons decided to stage an original lineup reunion, complete with makeup, in the ‘90s – but it took him a while to accept it.
And the guitarist pushed back against the pair’s dismissal of the work done during his twelve-year stint that started in 1984, arguing it compared favorably to the group’s best output.
His termination as a band member came in December 1996, after Ace Frehley and Peter Criss had successfully taken part in that year’s reunion tour. By that point, Kulick had been retained with full pay for a year.
“Paul and Gene did the right thing by keeping us on salary for a year, but they had to do that because they could go back if the reunion blew up,” he told Guitar World in a new interview. “But once success came, and Ace and Peter did their jobs, the writing was on the wall.”
He continued: “I’ve always looked at it as I was never fired from Kiss; I was left behind for a wildly successful commercial venture. You don’t have to be an accountant to understand Paul and Gene. What Kiss would make with Eric [Singer] and me was like five million, but with Ace and Peter, we’re talking about netting 50 million; that’s truly obscene.”
Responding to the suggestion that the lineup change had been made “at the expense of chemistry and musical integrity,” Kulick said: “True. All the cracks reopened. If you look at [1998 album] Psycho Circus, that was not a band album. It’s got Tommy Thayer on guitar, Kevin Valentine on drums, I’m playing some bass – and Ace and Peter are barely there. Sure, the four of them toured in support of it and did that ‘final tour,’ but the truth is that putting the makeup back on at the time was a purely commercial decision.”
He replied cautiously when asked if the return to makeup had “killed Kiss as a creative entity,” saying: “That’s tough to say because you’ve got people who like the music they did after the reunion… [D]id they turn their back on what was a very creative and solid band? Yes, they did. But it was for the popularity and massive success of a reunion tour, which I can understand.
“Our version of Kiss had a lot of promise. We clicked, got along, and shone brightly. It’s a shame it was killed. I understand why it happened, but it took me time.”
Kulick went on: “In the ‘90s, musically speaking, we were as good as any Kiss era… I’ve heard Gene pick on [1993’s] Alive III… It’s like, ‘Dude, give me a break. We were killing it then.’ Here’s the truth… we could play the old shit right, and we played the new shit right. I’m not saying we had the magic of the original band, but don’t put that era down because you’re trying to sell the makeup
KISS I Was Made For Lovin’ You Passes One Billion Streams on Spotify
Episode 582. KISS join a very small and elite group of artists who have a song with over one billion streams on Spotify. I Was Made For Lovin’ You from the album Dynasty has been streamed over one billion times!
Goldin sets auction for famous drum items by Eric Singer, Neil Peart, Louie Bellson, others
David Frangioni & Goldin to feature auctions of legendary drum kits
In an unparalleled gathering of percussive history, David Frangioni, CEO of Modern Drummer and a respected figure in the music industry, in collaboration with Goldin, the leading collectibles auction house, announces a series of exciting upcoming auctions. These auctions will feature drum kits and memorabilia from some of the most renowned drummers in music history, spanning genres and generations.
The current auction features the drum kit Eric Singer used for the Kiss/Motley Crue tour and a collection of sticks from the late Neil Peart. Both are available through July 20th via Goldin’s website.
Additional items to drop throughout the year include kits by Zak Starkey, Journey’s Steve Smith, Carl Palmer, Carmine Appice, Terry Bozzio, Cozy Powell, Rufus “Speedy” Jones, Louie Bellson, Hal Blaine, Jeff Ocheltree, and Aerosmith’s John Douglas.
Each auction will provide fans and collectors with an exclusive opportunity to own a piece of music history, used by the drummers who have shaped the sound of generations. David Frangioni’s expertise and passion for drumming are reflected in the curation of these auctions, ensuring that each item represents a significant part of musical heritage.
“This great crescendo”: Paul Stanley chose his favourite sad song
The classic rock era was brimming with braggadocio, and no band typifies this better than Kiss. From the outset, the New York quartet were fully confident in their abilities and their sonic character, and erupted onto the scene with their mysterious make-up and grooving hard rock, capturing imaginations. Their swaggering sounds and explosive shows became the stuff of legend, and they quickly rose as one of the 1970s most successful acts.
While Kiss wrote many gems, none typify their nature better than ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’. A highlight of 1975’s Dressed to Kill, it is their signature song, with the classic chorus lyric: “I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day”, speaking to not only their spirit as a group but that of the era in which they emerged. A hard rocking and hard partying outfit completely wrapped up in their image and the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, they opened the gates for controversial glam metal outfits such as Mötley Crüe and Poison, who would push this area to the limit. It would take the Nirvana phenomenon to consign them to the dustbin of history.
ven back then, when rock stars were still mysterious god-like figures, Kiss’ music wasn’t for everyone. When punk arose in 1976, they attracted much criticism from swathes of listeners wanting to do away with the rampant commercialism of the rock world and the egotistical figures who propped it up, including Kiss.
Providing a concise account of how Kiss were deemed by people outside of their fanbase and their deeply polarising nature, Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon once remarked: “There’s a lot [of artists] that are selling you an image that’s false, deliberately fake, and deliberately commercial. I’ve met the Kiss lads. They’re all right. You know, [but] without the makeup, there ain’t much going on.”
With punk a very human genre, fuelled by anger at the state of the world and confusion about our place in it, Kiss represent the complete antithesis; a masked group steeped in fantasy, churning out simple anthems for the masses. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons’ band delved so deeply into this area that they became known only for their costumes, affected glam metal and extensive use of flames in the live setting. They’ve never been taken seriously.
Kiss aren’t known for their tenderness either. While their cover of Argent’s ‘God Gave Rock and Roll To You II’ is technically a power ballad, it is neither the most emotional moment nor steeped in the complexity of everyday experience. Used in the soundtrack for Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, the link to the outlandish comedy film says everything about the temperament of the track.
Despite Kiss not being famed for melancholy, when asked to name his favourite sad song by Shortlist in 2015, frontman Stanley chose an unexpected number, ‘Try a Little Tenderness’ by soul icon Otis Redding. While not a completely blue track, the Kiss frontman is in no doubt that Redding was “such a great deliverer of line and emotion”.
He also loves how the song builds to “this great crescendo”, a compositional move Kiss were prone to utilising every so often. He said: “The song just builds to this great crescendo with the instruments coming in and him just going full bawl – it’s kind of like emotional church. Support your woman… although it may not be sad, it’s certainly emotional and empathetic, so I’ll go there rather than try to find a sad song.”
The Paul McCartney album Gene Simmons called a “tour de force”
Sometimes, first impressions are wrong. Especially when it comes to music, some masterpieces need a few repeats to reveal themselves or require a bit more digging into the context of the creation to be truly appreciated. That’s what Gene Simmons learned when it came to this Paul McCartney record.
“That first McCartney solo record was an eye-opener,” Simmons said of McCartney, the Beatle’s 1970 record and his first venture out on his own. The factual context around the album was clear, and the Kiss musician knew it well, as everyone did. “I was aware that The Beatles were breaking up; I was aware that McCartney was bringing out a solo record and, song after song it was, you know, decent!”
But “decent” was about all he could muster in his immediate response to the release. “The production wasn’t like The Beatles production, but it was decent enough. The playing wasn’t as good as Beatles playing, but it was good enough,” he said in a review so middling it might as well be damning.
However, when viewed in the sad context of the Beatles’ demise, McCartney was never going to live up. It was always bound to be shadowed not only by the music the musician had made within the beloved group but by the sad fact that the era was over and the members were now cast off as strays. Through that lens, it would have been near impossible for the album to be anything but a “decent” piece of history, existing more as a piece of the puzzle of the Beatles’ split rather than an album with its own artistic worth and merit.
But then Simmons got a new piece of context, revealing a more emotional motivation and determination. “Then I found out that he wrote, engineered, produced, played all the background – except Linda would show up here and there – it was a one-man band,” he said. “I mean everything! Drums, keyboards, everything, then engineered it, then produced it, did it all. Unbelievable!” he added, genuinely wowed by the feat.
ERIC CARR DRUM SOLO HOT IN THE SHADE TOUR 1990
Rock Stars React to Donald Trump Assassination Attempt
Rock stars have reacted to last night’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump with a mixture of shock, sadness and anger.
Trump was shot in the ear while delivering a speech at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old kitchen worker from nearby Bethel Park, is alleged to have opened fire on the former President from a nearby roof. Crooks killed one other person and wounded two others before Secret Service agents returned fire and killed him.
Trump was swarmed by Secret Service agents and escorted to safety. Shortly after the attack the former President posted that he was safe and vowed to return to the campaign trail.
“The shooting of former President Trump is an awful example of the state of our country,” Kiss frontman Paul Stanley posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). “NOBODY has the right to use violence to further their beliefs. Democracy depends on elections to determine the will of the people. Wishing him a speedy recovery & a prayer for the lives lost.”
KISS Sure Know Something (Official Video)
KISS – Live in Tokyo 1988 “Black Diamond” Eric Carr vocal
Top 20 Kiss songs of the Eric Carr era
On this day back in 1950, the Caravellos from New York welcomed a bouncing baby boy to the family. Paul Charles Caravello would go on to become Eric Carr, drummer for Kiss through the 1980s. Sadly, we lost Eric on November 24, 1991, which is the same day Freddie Mercury passed. Longtime Goldmine writer — and author of the recent Kiss at 50 — Martin Popoff, celebrates Eric’s life and times with a look at the top songs of his tenure. —Pat Prince
Thanks Pat, and a pleasure to write this one up, as that ‘80s period from Kiss is rapidly and continually rising in the estimation of the Kiss faithful as the years roll on. Let’s see if we can figure out why. —Martin Popoff
20. “Little Caesar”
This Hot in the Shade track wouldn’t have made this list on merit alone, because I don’t like these funky, butt-shaking Gene Simmons stripper-rock songs as a rule. But we celebrate it because Eric Carr co-writes (with Simmons and Adam Mitchell) and then turns in a rock-solid, confident lead vocal, his only one besides the band’s “Beth” remake. As it turns out, Eric had a great voice, too, putting him right between Peter Criss and Eric Singer as capable singing drummers in Kiss. And the weird thing is, despite having a somewhat unusual voice, he sounds like Eric Singer, and even, to some extent, Peter when he’s singing higher and cleaner and not doing his lion’s roar. It’s kinda like Kiss’ version of the Genesis story.
19. “Crazy Crazy Nights”
This is just pure stupidity like “Lick It Up,” but it gets sold, partly because it’s the lead track on the mostly anemic Crazy Nights album. There’s a bit of a Charlie Watts approach to the high-hat track that helps the song, which otherwise survives on Paul Stanley’s spirit of hope in it, and then a modulation. OK, maybe it isn’t Shakespeare or Queen, but whatever it is, it’s a hair metal confection that’s hard to get out of your head once you hear it. And the British sure liked it, sending it to No. 1 on the charts, making it the band’s highest-charting U.K. single ever.
18. “Nowhere to Run”
After the failure of Music from “The Elder,” Polygram requested a course correction, with Kiss turning in four new songs (with Bob Kulick on lead guitar) to go on a European hits compilation called Killers. None of them were that great, but Paul’s “Nowhere to Run” is kind of fun because it represents Kiss in rare AOR mode, sounding very much like the commercial music of its day as practiced by Sammy Hagar, Bryan Adams and Night Ranger. Conversely, it sounds like a really good song from Paul’s 1978 solo album, albeit with brash, overly loud and reverb-laden drum production (so not the best representation of Eric).
Jason Hook on the End of KISS, the Avatars and His Favorite and Least Favorite KISS Albums
Episode 581. We are joined by guitarist Jason Hook this week. Jason updates on his new band Flat Black, their new album will be released on July 19th. But… we talk all KISS with Jason, who is a HUGE KISS fan. Jason shares his feelings and thoughts on the end of KISS and the upcoming avatars. We also discuss our five favorite KISS albums and our two least favorite albums.
KISS’s ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ Surpasses One Billion Streams On SPOTIFY
KISS‘s classic song “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” has joined Spotify‘s “Billions Club”.
Billions Club is a playlist first launched in 2020 which includes all of the songs on Spotify that have surpassed one billion streams on the platform. After the achievement, Spotify gifts artists the Billions Club plaque.
“I Was Made For Lovin’ You” joins other tracks — including METALLICA‘s “Nothing Else Matters”, AEROSMITH‘s “Dream On”, SURVIVOR‘s “Eye Of The Tiger”, PAPA ROACH‘s “Last Resort”, GUNS N’ ROSES‘ “Paradise City”, BON JOVI‘s “You Give Love A Bad Name” and EVANESCENCE‘s “Bring Me To Life” — to be featured in Spotify‘s “Billions Club”. The milestone has reportedly been achieved by at least 500 songs so far.
“I’ve always missed being in Kiss, but if that meant being the Spaceman like Tommy, I wouldn’t want to do it”: Bruce Kulick was never invited to rejoin Kiss – and he’s OK with that
Kulick was around for Kiss’ under-appreciated no-makeup era, but when the band’s first reunion fell through, he was never invited back
Bruce Kulick has opened up on his departure from Kiss, and explained why he wasn’t all that fussed when he never received an invite to rejoin the band in the early 2000s.
Over the years, Kiss has recruited a number of electric guitar stars, from Mark St. John to Thayer and Vinnie Vincent, whose controversial guitar solos drove Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley mad.