Cacey Moffitt | Chicagoist

Peter Cade

Can someone give Jann Wenner a well-being check because we’re not exactly sure how he let his guard down long enough to allow KISS to be inducted into his mausoleum to the spirit of Woodstock aka the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The announcement came from up high this week that KISS is part of the class of 2014 inductees—along with Nirvana, Cat Stevens, Linda Ronstadt, Hall and Oates, Peter Gabriel, Beatles producer Brian Epstein, The E Street Band and Andrew Loog Oldham, the legendary producer and manager of the Rolling Stones’ early career. But for KISS to actually make it past the gate keepers at the Hall was kind of surprising, given Wenner’s apparent distaste for anything that sniffs of hard rock or heavy metal.

KISS has been eligible for induction since 1997 but for some reason this is the first year the band was even nominated. Whether you love them or hate them, when you look at the criteria for induction it’s hard to say that KISS doesn’t meet the requirements laid out by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.

How many bands have been influenced by KISS, either musically or in terms of putting together a killer live show? We’re not even going to try to count. The significance of KISS’s contributions to rock and roll certainly can be debated. Let’s face it, KISS is a cheap thrills act. However, people love cheap thrills and if cheap thrills have no place in popular music then maybe we should scrap it as a whole and try to start all over.

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Peter Criss celebrates his birthday at the Capital Centre December 20, 1977.

eBay

For sale now on eBay – a fresh fruit sculpture melon head with makeup drawn by Gene Simmons.

Seller says it is now in her refrigerator and should last about a week, so, our advice – bid early! It may even make it until Christmas!

See the KISS Melon Head on eBay HERE before it’s gone….literally.

ABC News

NEW YORK (AP) – It’s legacy time for Kiss frontman and co-founder Paul Stanley.

Not only are Stanley and fellow band members being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he has a memoir scheduled to come out less than two weeks after the ceremony.

HarperOne announced Tuesday that Stanley’s “Face the Music: A Life Exposed” is coming out April 22.

The publisher says the book will feature rare photographs and candid memories about his wild life with the mega-selling band.

Earlier Tuesday the Rock Hall announced that Kiss, Linda Ronstadt and Peter Gabriel were among the performers voted in. The ceremony is scheduled for April 10.

Amber Lee | 93 Rock

KISS singer/bassist Gene Simmons recently told Rolling Stone that he was open to a reunion performance of his band’s original lineup when the group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, and now ex-KISS guitarist Ace Frehley says he’d also be up for playing with his old band mates at the event.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Frehley commented to Rolling Stone when told that Simmons was agreeable to a reunion.

Asked whether he’d be apprehensive about hitting the stage with Gene and KISS singer/guitarist Paul Stanley again, Ace says, “Not at all.  I think it will be great.  I think it will be great for the fans to witness and a lot of fun.”

As for how he feels about his old band getting inducted into the Rock Hall, Frehley says, “It’s such an honor,” adding, “It should be a great evening.  I’m really excited and looking forward to the night.”

With regard to KISS having had to wait more than a decade after first being eligible for the honor, Frehley notes, “I had a sense that someday we’d have to get recognized, and that someday has come to pass.”

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From: Chris

This KISS fan actually re-created, corrected and perfected the original Paul Stanley PS10 guitar ad from 1978 and it looks even better than it’s predecessor. The new ad from 2013 is on the left with the original from 1978 on the right. An incredible job well done!

What can I say, the ps10 always has been my ultimate Kiss guitar.

The photo’s from ’70s and the ad’s from Ibanez are burned in my head. I bought the ps10ltd, I thought that that was the ultimate signature model to have and since then I always wanted to bring my guitar back into the ’70s, So I took the ’78 ad and we re-created the shoot with the album covers and the amp.

I alway thought that the amp used in the original ad was wrong and that it should be a Marshall, so we changed that. And also we changed the inner sleeve from Alive II to the album cover of Alive I. I wanted the same feeling but at the same time it had to be different.

Chris

Wayne Parry | The Modesto Bee

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — An adopted son of the Jersey shore is heading into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Peter Criss, the original drummer of the rock group Kiss, has made his home in Wall Township for years. The band was among the Class of 2014 inductees announced Tuesday.

“This is absolutely the best Christmas and birthday present I could get,” Criss, who turns 68 on Friday, told The Associated Press. “This is amazing, that something like this could happen to a kid from Brooklyn.”

Criss said the band always tried to give fans more for their money by adding makeup, costumes, explosives and stage props to the live concert experience. His drum kit, for example, rose 50 feet into the air during his drum solos, which were often filtered through a phase shifter to produce a surreal sound effect.

The big productions Kiss pioneered have been widely embraced by other rock and pop acts, he said.

“When you set someone a strong example and you see it happening with other bands, you know you’ve opened some sort of door,” he said. “We always wanted more, more, more, bigger, bigger, bigger.”

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Andy Greene | Rolling Stone

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame officially announced next year’s inductees on Monday: Nirvana, Kiss, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt will all join the class of 2014. The E Street Band will be given the Award for Musical Excellence and Beatles manager Brian Epstein and original Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldgham will both receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.

See all of the Rock Hall’s legendary inductees from 1986 to today

The induction ceremony will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on April 10. It’s the first time the general public will be able to attend the event in New York City. Tickets go on sale in January; HBO will air the event in May.

Artists are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single.Nirvana, whose first single “Love Buzz” came out in 1988, are entering the institution their first year of eligibility. “That’s really no surprise to me,” says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Joel Peresman. “People see the relevancy of that band. We’re just getting into the creative of the show, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with that performance. They have to figure it out.”

The rock band Kiss, from left, Tommy Thayer, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Paul Stanley in March 2012.

Kiss have been eligible for the last 15 years, but didn’t get the nod until now. “The Kiss Army has descended on Cleveland in recent years,” says Peresman. “And we’ve gotten thousands of letters. They also did extremely well in the public vote.” (In 2012, the band joked to RS, “We’ve been thinking about it and the answer is simply, ‘We’ll just buy it and fire everybody.'”)

A lifetime of Kiss: look back at the group’s rise to the Rock Hall

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Krazy Knights

Dave Lifton | Ultimate Classic Rock

This morning (Dec. 14), firefighters in Westchester County, N.Y. were called to a house in Yorktown Heights owned by former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley. There are no reported injuries.

Lohud.com is reporting that the stone house was “heavily damaged,” and that “[f]lames burned through the roof.” The Yorktown Heights Volunteer Fire Department has posted four pictures of the fire to its Facebookpage, including the one used above.

It is believed that a caretaker, not Frehley, lives in the house. The Red Cross has been enlisted to assist with finding a place for the resident to stay. “We are making arrangements to make sure he has emergency lodging,” Carolyn Sherwin, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, told lohud.com.

Back in February, U.S. Bank National Association looked to foreclose on the house due to nearly two years of unpaid mortgages. A lien had also been placed on the property due to Frehley owing back taxes, which were paid off in May. The foreclosure issue does not appear to have been settled yet.

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The Guardian

Tania Savayan

A suburban New York house owned by the former Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley has gone up in flames.

The Journal News newspaper reported that firefighters had been called to the stone house in the town of Yorktown Heights late on Saturday morning. The home was heavily damaged, with flames burning through the roof.

The newspaper said the musician had been fighting foreclosure on the property in Westchester county court.

The Red Cross helped a resident with emergency lodging. A neighbour said a caretaker had been living in the home.

It was not clear where the 62-year-old founding member of the famed rock band was at the time of the blaze. He played with the group until 2002, during what was billed as their farewell tour.

Global Trader

Royalty, rock’n’roll and movie stars – they do business lunches differently in America.

While British business councils and clubs might attract the odd comedian or government minister, over in California today (Friday December 13) Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and Sarah Duchess of York were just two of the stellar names attending the annual Christmas Luncheon of the British American Business Council Los Angeles.

Taking place at the uber-glitzy Fairmont Hotel and Bungalows Resort in Santa Monica, the event – this time appropriately showcasing British and American luxury brands – is now in its 54th year, and the organisation aims to promote ‘friendship, commerce and trade between the United States and the United Kingdom.’

While evidently getting its rocks off at the same time!

Simmons, whose commercially lucrative oeuvre in the glam rock Kiss line-up includes raunchy tunes such as Calling Doctor Love, and special guest speaker Fergie, who has forged a successful media career across the Atlantic, were part of a 500-strong throng at the popular festive bash.

Other guests included Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day, Set It Off, Soul Food), Will Rothhaar (star of National Geographic’s Killing Kennedy), Cas Anvar (Diana the movie), Penelope Ann Miller (The Artist, Saving Lincoln and Mistresses) and Lolita Davidovich (Rizzoli & Isles, Kill Your Darlings, and Squatters).

Meanwhile the serious business side was represented by the British Consul General, the Regional Director of UKTI and a multitude of influential bosses. The BABC LA is part of the largest transatlantic business network, with 23 chapters, 2,500 member companies and some of the world’s largest multinationals, based in major business centres throughout North America and the UK.

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RTT News

KISS have unveiled their latest foray into the merchandising world — an officially licensed version of Sega’s iOS game Demon Tribe.

The painted rockers shared the new game online this week, boasting that it blends of the best of several spheres of the gaming world.

In an official statement, band reps say that the game is “an intense real-time blend of MOBA, Card Collection and RPG gaming,” which requires players to “build a powerful team of fighters by capturing demons and fusing them into the ultimate power: magic that transforms you and your tribe into the very demons you must vanquish.”

Online gaming is relatively new to KISS. Gene Simmons previously said that they’ve “stayed out of the marketplace because the ideas simply weren’t exciting enough.”

Sterling Whitaker

Kiss were one of the top arena draws of the ’70s, staging some of the most impressive concert spectacles of that era with their over-the-top theatrical performances. But the power of their live production almost cost guitarist Ace Frehley his life at a gig on Dec. 12, 1976, at the Lakeland Civic Center in Florida, when an unforeseen technical glitch caused him to nearly be electrocuted onstage.

The near-fatal production snafu occurred early in the group’s set, after ‘Detroit Rock City.’ Kiss performed that song atop their set before descending to the stage for the next song. As Frehley came down from the top of the set, he grabbed onto a metal rail to steady himself — inadvertently completing an electrical circuit with his guitar. He was seized by the electrical current and unable to move, but finally broke free and fell several feet to the stage below. “If I hadn’t been able to let go, I would have died,” Frehley told theLakeland Ledger shortly thereafter. “My life passed in front of my eyes.”

Shaken, but not seriously hurt, the Spaceman took a 10-minute break in the dressing room before returning to the stage to a standing ovation, finishing the night’s set. “I knew it for an instant and then I blacked out. I woke up behind the amplifiers,” the guitarist told the Morton Report. “I said, ‘I can’t play.’ Then the fans started chanting my name and I finished the show. But I had no feeling in my hands. I don’t know how I even did it. I guess it was all adrenaline.”

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Something Else!

Should Kiss earn a belated induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Gene Simmons has made it clear he’s not participating in a reunion with his fellow original members. That won’t keep Ace Frehley away. “There’s no way Gene can put a lid on it,” Frehley tells Eddie Trunk. “I mean, what’s he going to do?”

Kiss has grown increasingly fractured over the 15 years since it became eligible, as the good feelings engendered bya long-awaited 1990s-era reunion of Frehley, Paul Stanley, Simmons and Peter Criss have been completely forgotten. Kiss continues these days with replacements Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, even as the remaining founders making increasingly inflammatory remarks.

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Examiner

Rock Legend and media mogul, Gene Simmonswill mentor and jam with campers along with fellow rock star friends at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp offering an opportunity of a lifetime at itsLas Vegas studios. The camp will also feature Tommy Thayer (KISS), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Dave Ellefson (Megadeth). Together alongside Simmons, they will help musicians of all levels form bands, learn or perfect their knowledge of an instrument, write and record a song. The four-day camp will culminate with a live performance at the House of Blues at theMandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas March 27-30, 2014. This March marks Simmons’ return to Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp for the first time since his October 2012.

“Mentoring adult and young rockers at the fantasy camp has always been an amazingly rewarding experience for me,” said Simmons. “I enjoy teaching and handing over lessons I’ve learned from the business to young and upcoming talent’’

Space for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp is extremely limited. To sign-up or for more information, please visit www.RockCamp.com, or call (888) 762-2263.

Formed in New York City in 1973, KISS is one of the most successful rock bands of all time and was recently nominated this year for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Simmons, the band’s original bass player and co-founder, is credited with writing many of the band’s songs including “Nothing To Lose,” “We Are One,” “Shout It Out Loud,” and “Domino” to name a few. He also owns a record label, Simmons Records, and is known for his innovative marketing of his band and his TV series, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels.”

The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is located at 3950 S. Las Vegas Blvd in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, please visit www.mandalaybay.com.

KISSmuseum.com

Or shipment arrived today and we are shipping all orders, (including pre-orders), out within one business day. Order now to have them in time for Christmas.

The new KISS Dressed to Kill figures are a step up in detail, molding and quality. The suits are made of stitched fabric and the facial expressions are phenomenal!

Postage is always only $3.95 for any size U.S. order when you order from KISSmuseum.com!

Buy the new figures HERE at KISSmuseum.com

Musicnews.com

Rock Legend and media mogul, Gene Simmons will mentor and jam with campers along with fellow rock star friends at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp offering an opportunity of a lifetime at its Las Vegas studios.

The camp will also feature Tommy Thayer (KISS), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Dave Ellefson (Megadeth). Together alongside Simmons, they will help musicians of all levels form bands, learn or perfect their knowledge of an instrument, write and record a song. The four-day camp will culminate with a live performance at House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas March 27-30, 2014. This March marks Simmons’ return to Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp for the first time since his October 2012.

‘Mentoring adult and young rockers at the fantasy camp has always been an amazingly rewarding experience for me,’ said Simmons. ‘I enjoy teaching and handing over lessons I’ve learned from the business to musicians and upcoming talent’

Space for Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp is extremely limited. To sign-up or for more information, please visit www.rockcamp.com