Archive for the 'Blood, Fire... KISS' Category
Animated Kiss Meets The Phantom (Segment)
Helps a bit if you’re familiar with the ’70s TV movie this clip references — shot for shot! If you know it by heart, like I do, it’s rather eerie. All audio from the original film.
Hear Ye, O Minions of KISS!
The new album, Sonic Boom, has been released. That is all.
Except for Joel’s anti-climactic experience at the Concord, New Hampshire Walmart while buying a copy. Okay, now THAT is all.
Oh, and I want some of the M&Ms. Seriously, that’s all. I mean it this time.
Yeah, okay, and a video…
Gene Simmons: De Facto Satanist
Although not a card-carrying member of the Church of Satan, nor at any time an admitted Satanist, Mr. Simmons has exhibited enough qualities and conveyed them in enough interviews, video programs, and books (to name a few) that there is little argument against a de facto connection to our philosophy. It’s certainly no accident that he is quoted in Purging Talon’s second book (available here)! Even back in my teens in the ’80s, I knew all too well that Simmons’ personal philosophy gelled way too well with that of the world’s most feared religion. I did and still do have a profound admiration for the man, and the above posted video doesn’t detract me from that in the slightest. So, today and evermore, Diabologue would like to give a horned salute to the Demon himself. Hail Gene! (Given some language, the video might be NSFW.)
KISS Pay Homage To Dark Knight… Sorta
NEW Flickr Set: KISS Collection (Highlights)
The complete Flickr set only constitutes a sampling of my KISS collection — chiefly, the items that were easiest to access. Some of the collection is in storage out-of-state, but these are certainly many of my favorite items.
A few notes…
The bubble gum card collection is the first series, as there were two. Even with all of the duplicates I have, I’m still missing one card to make the collection complete.
The vinyl labels illustrate the first press status of the records by not having the standard Casablanca logo. Instead, the band is pictured, either in the foreground or entirely. I was traded these editions in pristine condition by some kid I knew in high school who swapped them for my cassette versions of the albums. There’s only one word for that, and it is “sucker.”
The Love Gun era tour book was bought in a used record store in Denver in 1988. The man who ran the store told me it was sold to him by a drug addict in need of fix money. I paid $15. Paying so little almost felt like stealing. Almost.
The cassette bootlegs were bought in the mid-1980s through a KISS fanzine. Sadly, I no longer have The Elder demo, the first Ace Frehley solo demo, or the first Vinnie Vincent Invasion demo. Unless they’re hiding at the house of an elderly relative of mine, along with some vintage ’70s KISS posters.
No commentsMark St. John (1956-2007)
(from CNN.com, with my brief thoughts to follow…)
NEW YORK (Billboard) — Former Kiss guitarist Mark St. John died Thursday (5 April) from an apparent brain hemorrhage. He was 51.
Born Mark Norton in Hollywood, St. John was Kiss’ third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent — the substitute for Ace Frehley — in 1984.
By this point, Kiss had done away with its trademark makeup and costumes, but the group was enjoying a career renaissance. The lone Kiss album on which St. John appeared, “Animalize,” re-established the group as one of the world’s top arena metal bands. The album spawned the popular MTV video, “Heaven’s on Fire” (the only Kiss video to feature St. John)…
St. John’s flashy playing reflected the era’s Van Halen-influenced rock guitarists, but it certainly helped spark the material on “Animalize,” which many fans consider one of Kiss’ strongest non-makeup releases. However, right around the time Kiss was to launch a worldwide tour in support of the album, St. John was diagnosed with a form of arthritis called Reiter’s Syndrome, which caused his hands and arms to swell, and prevented him from playing guitar.
Guitarist Bruce Kulick filled in (St. John did manage to play one full show with the group, and portions of a few others) and eventually replaced St. John as Kiss’ permanent guitarist.
His medical condition improved after leaving Kiss, and St. John launched a pop/metal outfit, White Tiger, with ex-Black Sabbath singer David Donato. St. John briefly teamed up with original Kiss drummer Peter Criss in a group that didn’t release any recordings, and appeared as a guest speaker at Kiss conventions. In 2001, he released an all-instrumental album, “Magic Bullet Theory.”
“I wish to express my sympathy to Mark St. John’s family and friends,” Kulick said in a statement. “Though Mark was the guitarist I replaced, I respected his talent and contribution to Kiss. May he rest in peace.” (END OF ARTICLE)
I was 16 when Animalize came out, and although it does fall into the period of the band history when Simmons was partially present at best (and, more especially, off doing movies, signing/managing/recording bands, and various business dealings), you wouldn’t have known it by this album (though, some would argue that the lack of Simmons’ presence would certainly show on the next three albums). When I think of 1984, I think of Animalize without hesitation.
Even aside from the more obvious tragedy of premature death, it has to be one giant smack in the face to have gotten into what was one of the biggest bands in the world, all to lose it in a blink of an eye through some disease most people have never heard of. Initial reports in 1984 described the onset of it as swelling his hand to the size of a softball… the very appendage needed to continue his career. That’s the real tragedy.
Oh, and I did own the White Tiger album, in case you were wondering. He and Donato were the best parts of an otherwise lackluster record. (This is where Bill M. goes… “Hey, I could tell you all about Donato.” And that he could.)
And if needing the urban legend angle, it’s been rumored for the past week or so that it was really Ace Frehley who died, based off a rumor started earlier this year and mentioned here. Some say the culprit was Hal Sparks, but it could have been someone else. Given Frehley’s substance abuse, one would think it plausible, and plausibility is often the mark of a good lie. No, the drug addict lives, and the guy with an unfortunate arthritic condition goes. And Vinnie Vincent’s still kicking, too. Life is kooky that way.
Goofy teen memory of this album: I was 16 and working as a bagboy for a supermarket chain (one that no longer exists). After getting a new boss who was bent on making my shifts a complete nightmare, I finally broke and told him off loudly in his office, expletives included. After storming out of the place, I threw on my Walkman’s headphone, hit play, cranked the volume, and reveled in my otherwise pointless rebel high to the strains of “I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire)” on my walk home. Oh, it was glorious in a way only those precious outsider teen moments can be.
And speaking of spectacles, Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels started its second season a few weeks back. It’s practically the only show worth watching.
No commentsThe Making Of A KISS Fan
New blog category! Break out the bubbly!
For those random strangers who don’t know this about me, I am, without stinting, an ardent KISS fan. And I have the encyclopediac knowledge on the band and a nice collection of KISS stuff (much of which in storage) to back it up… a collection I had to slow down on after it got a little out of hand in the early-90s. I’m sure at least one of my ex-roommates from that time remembers my insistence upon going to Brooklyn to get a $1500 KISS pinball machine in perfect working condition. Had I gone through with it, I still wouldn’t know where I’d put the damn thing. But, anyways…
Here is the abridged tale of how a nice little Greek boy became singularly focused upon “the hottest band in the world” — and never looked back…
I really had to think hard about how it all began. But, in my estimation, there are three prime “events” that led to my KISS fandom, and I will relay them to you fine folks from the best my memory can muster. So, fire up that Flux Capacitor and let’s go…
The year was 1978, I was barely 10 ten years old, and stuck in a casino hotel room in Las Vegas with an in-hotel babysitter. My family was visiting my cousin, who was attending UNLV at the time, and no doubt went off gambling or to see a show or something else the then-unfriendly-to-kids Vegas provided. (Very different from the Disneyfication that’s happened to it in modern day.) Seeing as my sitter was female and a teenager of the 1970s, it followed that she was into KISS. As luck would have it, this was the 28th of October: premiere night on NBC for the now cult classic, KISS Meets The Phantom of the Park movie. So we watched it. And I was glued! Although I wasn’t paying attention to the music, I was captured by the theatrics of the act — straight out of a comic book, which definitely rang my fifth-grade bells. To this day, Vegas still seems the perfect place for my introduction to KISS. Plus, “The Demon” blew me away, even on the small screen, and was probably a little scary to me then. Excellent! I’m sure Mr. Simmons would approve. (In retrospect, the astoundingly poor acting, laughable stunt doubles, ambiguous ending, and Hanna-Barbera sound effects don’t exactly make it an Oscar nominee, but I have this soft spot for it and would probably watch it yet again at the drop of a dime.)
That night stayed somewhere in the back of my mind as other pursuits in my life (whatever the hell those were) took center stage. About a year later, I would have my second KISS moment at the home of my sixth-grade pal, Stephanie (who’s probably reading this, thinking, “REALLY?!”). Steph had two older brothers who were insane KISS fans. And I mean completely out-of-their-heads insane for the band. They lived, breathed, ate (and, no doubt, shat) KISS. Their room was a total shrine — EVERY inch of wallspace covered with KISS pics. They even had one of those limited edition Kramer Axe basses (of which, production estimates are around 500 in existence, and made during one year only). I stared at that thing for what seemed like forever, thinking, “a musical instrument can be a weapon?” Then, I pondered the metaphor behind that statement. Yeah, I was a pretty thinky kid.
But, this was during what many refer to as the band’s “disco” period, so the music didn’t immediately grab me. Plus, I wasn’t yet a teenager and, hence, not getting all ga-ga in general about music. Life at 11 was about reading comic books, jerking off, and sneaking out, though not all three at the same time. I did not truly rock until 1983.
After a long stint in a number of small and barely-on-the-map towns, I was back in the city and getting to have all of the fun that adolescence has to offer. It was also during this time that I would have my third KISS moment and my unquestioning entry into KISS fandom. I was at my friend, Mike K.’s house and we were watching some music video show on either the USA or TBS network, which would either make it Night Flight or Night Tracks, respectively. My guess would be the former. In any case, we were casually watching the show when we were literally assaulted by the video for I Love It Loud (see video at top of post). Both of our heads swung around to the screen and didn’t leave its glare until it was over. It had everything a 15 year old burgeoning metal fan of the 1980s could want: fire, explosions, theatrics, and an undeniably anthemic track. Hook, line, sinker, KISS fan. Over the next so many days, I bought every KISS album I could find, laboriously pored over the lyrics, tried on the makeup (like every KISS fan on the planet has done) and soon after went to my local music store and bought a bass guitar: a slim-necked Peavey Foundation (rosewood frets) in black. Though, I would then splatter it with red paint to look like blood — my goofy, mid-teen homage to Mr. Simmons. My family was rather nonplussed by my tribute. Good times.
There are way too many KISS-related stories in between then and now, so I’ll save them for another time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a certain newly-released KISS DVD set to watch (limited edition version, of course). Given the time, I might even review it here. Until then, enjoy this KISS timeline from answers.com.
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