Category Archives: KISS News
TOMMY THAYER Featured In ‘Me And My Guitar’ Segment
News review of KISS Dynasty show in Nashville, 1979
Awesome local TV news review of the KISS show from August 14, 1979 in Nashville Tennessee. Awesome live footage that we’ve never seen before and a surprisingly positive review, (rare for that time for all of those who can remember).
Tower Records KISS album displays from the ’80s
Zak Wilson | Art Gods Movie
Old school record store days! Check out the hand made foamcore wall displays made by the artists at Tower Records Berkeley to promote Kiss. For more on those crazy heavy metal loving Tower Records Berkeley store artists (that helped influence the in-store look of Tower Records stores moving forward in the 80’s) check out the documentary “Art Gods” on DVD (artgodsmovie.com).
The KISS Room podcast – January 2016
Matt Porter | The KISS Room
THE KISS ROOM, originally broadcast LIVE on Friday, January 15, from 3-5 PM EST via MontcoRadio.com!
no BOWIE, no KISS
So true …From Ziggys lightning bolt live backdrop logo adopted by ‘the Ace’, to Bowie’s face paint, to Spiders From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson‘s over-driven Les Paul, early DB is a glowing strand in KISS’s DNA, both visually and musically. Bowie made being ‘out there’ cool and KISS got the message.
At least a couple KISS fans (me and my brother) were introduced to Ziggy & KISS on the very same day. In fact it was back to back in real-time when our whole family tuned in for the ABC Friday Night At The Movies special feature‘Heroes Of Rock & Roll’ hosted by Jeff Bridges. Still have the VHS …it’s a whirlwind tour that takes us from the inception in the 50’s to 1979, when it aired. It has the coolest segue I have ever seen in my life … Ziggy pointing to the rafters with a peace sign, grimacing at the end of a hairy live version “Ziggy Stardust” when the scene cuts to Gene Simmons breathing fire as the riff to “Rockin’ In The USA” off Alive II kicks in. It may have been that very moment that I realized ‘I Wanna Rock’ (thanks Dee).
Paul Stanley Talks Bowie And Legends Outside Elton John Concert
Gene Simmons, Bowie was about more than the Faaaame
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 160 – The WORST of KISS and READ MY BODY!
Michael Brandvold
Gene Simmons Remembers David Bowie
Strange Ways, episode 50 – That ain’t no pistol, honey…
Strange Ways
KISS plan tribute to 1982 Creatures tour on next Kruise
Nick DeRiso | Ultimate Classic Rock
Kiss plan to pay tribute to their 1982 Creatures Tour on a newly announced Kiss Kruise VI, which sails on Nov. 4 from Miami.
This edition of Kiss’ floating concert series will visit Cozumel and Grand Cayman before returning on Nov. 9. More details are available at thekisscruise.com.
As for the 1982 tour, fans will remember those U.S. dates as the first in which Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent appeared with the band. Both assumed newly created characters onstage. Vincent, who had been dubbed “The Wiz,” wore a design based on the Egyptian ankh, while the late Carr boasted fox-influenced face paint.
The duo replaced Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, after a period in which Kiss turned to more pop and disco styles. Creatures of the Night, which was also the first album to feature Carr and Vincent, represented a welcome turn back toward harder rock. The tour that followed celebrated Kiss’ 10th anniversary as a band, but it also marked their last tour in makeup un
til an improbable 1996 reunion with Criss and Frehley.
Today, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer round out the Kiss lineup, joining co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Singer and Thayer have assumed the original Catman and Spaceman characters once assigned to Criss and Frehley, respectively. There’s no word on whether this high-seas tribute to the 1982 tour will include a return of the period-appropriate makeup worn by Carr and Vincent back in the day.
There Won’t Be A Kiss Album In 2016? Stanley Says Band Can Move Forward ‘Without New Music’
Ernest Aguila | Korea Portal
Fans of Kiss were never really sure if the the legendary rock band intends to go back and hit the studios again to record a new album for 2016.
There have been numerous reports of Gene Simmons feeling highly optimistic about Kiss releasing a new album for 2016. However, Paul Stanley was quoted to have said that the band can proceed without necessarily having to release a new record, according to sources.
“There has to be a purpose to us doing an album,” the guitarist said in an interview when the topic a new album being released this 2016 was brought up, courtesy of Loudwire.
He added, “There was a time when we did albums because the contracts said so. But I only want to work now when it’s justified. ‘Sonic Boom’ was an album that was very much needed to be done and ‘Monster’ just felt like, Well, we did’ ‘Sonic Boom’ – let’s see where we go from here.”
“Having accomplished that, I feel we can move forward without new music. There are enough things going on in KISS that right now it doesn’t feel utterly necessary to make a new album,” he said, via Classic Rock.
New Year’s resolution from notable New Jersey resident Peter Criss
The new year will find Criss, a co-founder of the rock group Kiss and a Wall Township resident, looking to finish some unfinished musical projects. The drummer and singer known for his Catman persona and chart-topping single “Beth” also vows to go to art classes in 2016 to improve his painting and drawing abilities.
“And of course bring more awareness that men get breast cancer,” said Criss, who survived the disease and has become a vocal advocate for having men check themselves for it.
Have a Happy New Year!
Chris Medek
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 159 – We look back at all of the shows from 2015, the good, the bad and the ugly
Michael Brandvold
Strange Ways podcast, episode 49 – 2015 year in review
Strange Ways
Merry KISSmas!
Chris Medek
Ace Frehley, Paul Rodgers, Night Ranger to Headline Rockfest 80’s
Brittany Spanos | Rolling Stone
Scott Lagato
A celebration of hard rock’s big hits and big hair will take place next spring in south Florida at the two-day Rockfest 80’s. Headliners include former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, Bad Company, Free and Queen singer Paul Rodgers and Night Ranger, who are best known for power ballad “Sister Christian.” The festival will take place at Markham Park in Sunrise, Florida on April 2nd and 3rd.
Ratt, the Romantics, Warrant, Cinderella’s Tom Keifer and Geoff Tate are some of the other acts to be part of the nostalgic lineup. Firehouse, John Waite, Lynch Mob, Autograph and Slaughter will also perform. More acts to be announced in 2016. The bands will be playing more of their classic hits for fans over the two-day show.
“Rockfest 80’s is a project over a year in the making,” the festival’s producer Larry Offsey said in a statement. “We are excited to launch our brand and create a true South Florida rock festival event.”
Motley Crue’s Vince Neil Blasts Kiss’ ‘Multiple’ Farewell Tours: ‘That’s Exactly What We Don’t Want to Do’
Jeff Giles | Ultimate Classic Rock
The members of Mötley Crüe have been asked countless times if they can envision ever taking the stage together again after their Final Tour concludes Dec. 31. With his latest refusal, singer Vince Neil offered former Crüe tourmates Kiss as an example of what the band is trying to avoid.
“Kiss had five farewell tours and four reunion tours. That’s exactly what we don’t want to do,” Neil told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “That was the whole reason. … We wanted to go out on top, with people saying, ‘Yeah, man, I saw the last concert. It was awesome!’ We don’t want to be that band, where it’s [billed as] Mötley Crüe, and it’s maybe one [original member’s] brother left in the band, and they’re playing clubs. … If we let that happen, we wouldn’t be thought of or remembered like we wanted to be.”
To that end, the band members signed their much-touted “cessation of touring” agreement when they announced these final dates, and although Neil admits breaking the contract wouldn’t carry a legal penalty, he insists it’s there as a reminder that unlike those other acts, the Crüe’s retirement will definitely stick.