Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll - My Ultimate Kiss "Fantasy DVD Set"

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  1. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    LET ME GO, ROCK 'N' ROLL - THE ULTIMATE KISS FANTASY DVD SET
    A Visual And Quotation History Of The Hottest Band In The Land!

    As a companion to my "Fantasy Deluxe Edition" Kiss CD's (which I still need to finish up), I thought I'd share my "Fantasy DVD Set" of the hottest band in the land. What follows is a mock "book" that I would include with this fantasy set. It would serve as kinda a photo and quote summary of Kisstory and would list all the video segments found on the DVD's along with the running times of each segment. This is like viewing the pages of that book in order.

    Because the threads limit me to five photos per post, I can't include this fantasy booklet all at once. So I will continue to unveil it chronologically but in segments. It remains a work in progress and a labor of love.

    My thanks to the many Kiss fans and sites which I have posted these photos from. The quotes appear as excerpts from various books and interviews. It is admittedly slightly biased perhaps as the story is summarized largely through the founders and through my personal favorite Kiss performances and video segments.

    How big would this fantasy DVD set be? I don't yet have a definitive answer. I plan to cut off each DVD at around 2 hours and 15 minutes. I make note where each fictional DVD begins. At this rate, I might be looking at a 10 disc box (just to cover the beginning through 1996's Unplugged Reunion). :)


    THE CUSTOM BOOK FOR THIS FANTASY DVD SET...

    DVD ONE

    "Believe in the magic of a young girl's soul, believe in the magic of rock and roll, believe in the magic that can set you free..." - The Lovin Spoonful 1965

    Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons Interview With Kevin Hurd (2016) 5:22

    Gene and Paul discuss learning to write songs, their chance meeting through a friend and the forming of a group called "Wicked Lester" from the "Kiss X-Treme Close Up" video. 3:00

    [​IMG]

    Paul Stanley: The first real lesson for me was learning to write songs. I figured that "Down In The Valley" needed new lyrics. So I was real ambitious. I figured, there was Bob Dylan, then there'd be me.

    Gene Simmons: I figured I was the only one in the world that knew how to write songs. That if you're in the Stones or the Beatles, then you too can write songs, but they weren't real somehow...

    Gene Simmons: I said to Paul, "Show me what you got". I don't think that comment went down very well with him. He played me a song he wrote called "Sunday Driver", which would eventually become "Let Me Know" on the first Kiss record. I said, "Wow, this is better than my stuff, this guy's really good.

    Paul Stanley: Gene had a very soft, melodic voice. In the beginning his voice was much closer to Paul McCartney and that's who he really wanted to be; that was his idol.

    Gene Simmons: Paul and I shared an aesthetic, an ideal. Paul had a belief that he was going to succeed, which I connected with.

    Paul Stanley: Whatever differences we had in our personalities, Gene was bright and ambitious and willing to work hard to achieve something rather than talk about it. He was also open to direction and input and he was very talented.

    [​IMG]

    Paul Stanley: The guys in Wicked Lester just didn't have the same vision Gene and I did.

    Gene Simmons: Paul and I were aware that the bands we loved not only put out catchy songs but delivered live. The visual was important to us.

    Paul Stanley: Quite simply, we wanted to be the band we never seen onstage. We always felt like we were the ones in the audience being treated poorly by bands we paid to see. We wanted to be the band we never seen. We became our fantasy act.

    Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons discuss the ads they placed for a drummer and a lead guitarist from the "Kiss X-Treme Close Up" video. 2:00

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    Paul Stanley: What came out sonically when we all started playing those first few songs was just ground shaking. Ace just fit the band. He was truly the missing piece. When we started playing I said this will take over the world.

    Gene Simmons: As soon as we plugged in it was like, "this is it, this is the sound".

    Ace Frehley: I remember coming home from the audition, walking into my house, and telling my parents, "I think I found a good band. I think this is it." I just had a feeling that this was gonna be my long-awaited chance. And it was.

    Gene Simmons discusses Paul Stanley coming up with the name "Kiss" and Ace Frehley's design of the eventual trademark logo from "Kiss X-Treme Close Up". 1:00

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    Paul Stanley: I thought of the name "Kiss" because I liked it and thought it was a name everybody could relate to. It was universal. No matter where you go people know that word.

    Gene Simmons: As soon as I heard it, it clicked. I said, "that's the name". It's also romantic and sexy and kind of English.

    Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley discuss their first ever gig as "Kiss" at the Coventry Club outside of Queens, New York and the natural evolution that led to them putting makeup on their faces on the "Kiss X-Treme Close Up" video. 1:30

    Paul Stanley: It just happened. You'd walk into a room and someone would be there in front of a mirror.

    Gene Simmons: It happened very fast. Paul and I went to a department store down the street and bought two four-foot high mirrors for $15. And we leaned them up against the walls in our loft. Our first gig was a week away. By the time we played at Coventry, our look had changed. We started wearing makeup when Alice (Cooper) took it off, when David Bowie left it, when Genesis thought it was uncool to wear it. We wanted to go all the way. We were enchanted by the concept of being able to immerse yourself in your own fantasies.

    [​IMG]

    CONTINUED...

     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2016
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  2. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    UPDATE: Here is the YouTube link to the "Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons Interview With Kevin Hurd" that I would use as sort of a "way, way back" modern introduction to where it all began. I would use it as a five minute intro to set up the fantasy set...



    I'll continue to include YouTube links to all the footage segments I would include on my fantasy set, assuming they are listed of course. If not, I'll just simply reference them in bold type and note which VHS / DVD they can be found on.
     
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  3. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Kiss at Coventry Club (Popcorn) Early 1973 (Let Me Go, Rock n Roll) 4:11



    Lydia Criss: Even though there wasn't anybody there that night, they weren't discouraged. They were happy to play and played their hearts out. They made $30 that night.

    Peter Criss: I used to go around in the early morning hours and hammer ads for our shows all over town. Gene worked in an office and had access to write up a bio and print things up.

    Paul Stanley: It was very hands-on. At night we would put up flyers and posters advertising our gigs, which is interesting because that became the norm for bands later on.

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    Carol Sottill: We were used to the typical bar band and a bunch of guys wearing makeup was a first. But we all came around very fast. We could tell they had something and it was raw and different. I don't know how long it took us to hit the dance floor, but they hadn't played for very long and we were hooked.

    Gene Simmons: It's interesting that the crowds at the Daisy connected with Kiss faster than those in New York City. Kiss broke in the same town where "Jaws" was filmed. We were first embraced by people that weren't affected by style. They either like it or they don't. Kiss was a way to go off and see the Wizard on the Yellow Brick Road.

    Patty Benjamin: From the first song to the last, Kiss had so much energy and excitement. I remember they'd throw out candy kisses to the crowd.

    [​IMG]

    Paul and Gene discuss the New York club scene in 1973 on the "Kiss X-Treme Close Up" video. 1:15

    Eddie Solan: You couldn't compare Kiss to anyone else at that time. If you were a pure glitter band you'd be compared to the Dolls or the Brats. But Kiss was so different. There was no category for them. Paul and I seen the Dolls together and he liked them.

    Paul Stanley: They were great. The Dolls were the biggest band in New York and we wanted to be the biggest band in the world. That was the difference.

    Gene Simmons: It's easier to be a Stones-inspired band. You get your haircut, put on some scarves and the girls will like you and the guys will think you sound just like an English band. And here we are completely turning our back on that and going our way. There isn't much difference between the Dolls, Aerosmith or the Stones. Don't get me wrong, they're all great bands, but we always felt like Kiss had a unique identity.

    Binky Philips: Kiss were viewed as outsiders by the other New York bands. Most people just thought the makeup was ridiculous. There was a certain clique of New York bands like Teenage Lust that circled around the Dolls, and those bands were the cool ones. The fact that Kiss's songs often owed something to the likes of Humble Pie, who were never considered hip or groovy, not to mention their dramatic visuals, made them outsiders. The "problem" with Kiss is that they were significantly better musicians than most of the bands in New York.

    Kiss at the Daisy in Amityville, June 16, 1973 (Nothin To Lose) 5:00

    Kiss - Nothin To Lose (Live at The Daisy) »

    CONTINUED...
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2016
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  4. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Kiss at the Daisy, Amityville, June 16, 1973 (Strutter) 6:15

    Kiss - Strutter (Live at The Daisy) »

    Kiss at the Daisy, Amityville, June 16, 1973 (Sunday Driver) 3:37

    Kiss - Sunday Driver (Live at the Daisy) »

    Watchin You (Demo with Eddie Kramer - Spring of 1973) 3:45



    Black Diamond (Demo with Eddie Kramer - Spring of 1973) 4:00

    KISS - Black Diamond - (Demo 1973) »

    Dina Regine: Since the early 70's I'd been photographing big bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, but I wasn't shooting many local bands. Kiss were friends of mine and that's why I brought my camera to their shows at the Hotel Diplomat in August. Kiss were really professional and organized. Everybody else played and daydreamed but Kiss had a plan. I had a gut feeling that they were gonna make it. I knew it that night.

    Gene Simmons: I was the one who sent Bill Aucoin our promo package and an invitation to the Hotel Diplomat show. I wanted somebody who wasn't possibly going to manage the band but somebody who had a point of view of visuals, television and promotion.

    AnneMarie Hughes: I was sitting up in front with Joanne and Donna and we were wearing our homemade Kiss T-shirts. I told him, "Wait until you see them, you're not going to believe it, they're just incredible."

    Bill Aucoin: When I first saw Kiss at the Hotel Diplomat in 1973 they had the red beacons and a couple of amps. They were essentially wearing jeans - no one could afford leather. They had spontaneity. They wanted to do something different and they wanted it very badly. That kind of devotion is worth more than anything. I saw that magic in them.

    BILL AUCOIN

    [​IMG]

    CONTINUED...





     
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  5. npgchris

    npgchris Forum Resident

    I guess this is your KISS version of The Beatles Anthology? As that is one of my favorite music documentaries, I admire your ambitious enthusiasm! Too bad rights clearances for various clips would probably make this a legal/financial nightmare! But since this is a "fantasy" box set, who cares?

    Looking forward to following the progress of this...
     
  6. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Bill Aucoin Discusses Signing Kiss And The First Album 7:28



    Paul Stanley: Bill was very much a fifth member of the band in more ways than I can emphasize. He was a father figure to us, a mentor and a mirror. We couldn't have done it without him.

    Neil Bogart: I was really into "Casablanca". I must have seen the film 80 times. "Casablanca" represented a whole revolutionary freedom to me ever since I was a kid. That path led me to thinking one night that I'm going to start my own record company. What should the name be? Maybe Emerald City? Or maybe Paradise Records? But Bogart...where does Bogart belong? Bogart belongs in Casablanca! It all came together that night.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    History Of Casablanca Records Interview with John Wikane 10:27

    The History of Casablanca Records »


    Neil Bogart: When I first seen Kiss, their music hit me like a bolt of lightning. Their sound, their image was something I had waited seven years to find. Here was a group whose music and visuals came together in perfect harmony.

    Buck Reingold: I told Neil, "Visually they're amazing but it ain't going to be easy to get them played on the radio".

    Gene Simmons: Casablanca bet the store on a total unknown act and all of that had to do with Neil Bogart, a man with a vision. Casablanca would be unlike other labels. We could walk in, sit down, and have a heart to heart with Neil. Casablanca was the last of its kind.

    [​IMG]

    CONTINUED...
     
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  7. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Thank you very much. You're right that various rights issues means this monstrous history of the band will likely never happen. Yet one can always dream. I love the Kissology sets and other previous videos. This is just my grand attempt to mix n match all the videos together in one massive set. Not to mention adding some live unreleased performances and various interviews, etc.
     
  8. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    A lovely female reporter walks with Gene and Paul as they venture back to New York and the loft where Kiss's dreams began from the "Kiss My A**" video. 2:00

    Maria Contessa: I started working with Kiss in late 1973 making costumes. We made the first professional costumes the band ever wore. The band knew what they wanted and we would sketch out the costumes. I can still see Gene sitting in my office by the fabric-cutting table drawing designs. He used to tell me they were going to be famous and I was going to be famous with them. And I went, "yeah yeah yeah". But he turned out to be right.

    Kenny Kerner: When I first listened to Kiss's demos, what impressed me was the song structures. They also had a spontaneity. We didn't want it to be perfect.

    Richie Wise: The songs that were to be on Kiss's first record were good solid rock and roll. I did simple things like making sure the choruses came in on time and that the verses weren't too long. They were always open to my suggestions.

    Paul Stanley: I remember being very intimidated by the studio. I hadn't yet spent enough time doing it to realize that the studio is your friend.

    [​IMG]

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    Gene Simmons: From day one starting with our first album, our lyrics and music were a celebration of life. We weren't deep and we didn't sing about the secret of life and what it all means. It was all about enjoying yourself and being alive.

    Bruce Foster: I'd recently worked with Richie Wise on an album and he asked me to play on an album by a newly signed band he was producing named Kiss. He wanted me to play a pounding piano part a la Jerry Lee Lewis for a track called "Nothin To Lose". I'm grateful to have performed with some of the greatest artists in pop history, but after people read my bio, the one thing they always say is, "Oh my god, you played with Kiss!"

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    CONTINUED...
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2016
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  9. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Kenny Kerner: The band was totally together. They played everything live on that album. The guitar solos were overdubbed in many cases. The rhythm section was live bass, live drums and electric guitars.

    Paul Stanley: I wrote "Firehouse" in high school. I stole the initial idea from a Move song I liked called "Fire Brigade".

    Gene Simmons: "Deuce" was written in my head on a drive. As soon as the riff came, the first verse came, then I wrote the bridge, then the chorus. Lyrically, I had no idea what I was talking about.

    Paul Stanley: The beginning of "Deuce" is me ripping off the Raspberries. The opening is my take on "Go All The Way".

    Ace Frehley: "Deuce" is my favorite Kiss song.

    [​IMG]

    Bill Aucoin: Kiss was prepared to play their biggest show to date at The Academy Of Music on New Year's Eve. Warner Brothers called Neil and said, "Can you ask Kiss to take off the makeup? We don't believe in it." The four guys had completely puzzled looks on their face when I told them what Warner had requested. I told Kiss, "I believe you stick to the makeup no matter what". The band reassured me it was "all or nothing" with the makeup. I told Warner, "We cannot do that. The makeup is staying on".

    Paul Stanley: Coming from the club venues, I thought the stage at the Academy was huge and the audience enormous. I knew this was the next step for us in taking over the world.

    Scott Asheton: I thought, "Wow. This band is totally different". Where Iggy (Pop) could be outrageous, Kiss were pure entertainers and took no prisoners. The crowd was diggin it and there was also an element of "what the hell is this?"

    Gene Simmons: This show was the first time I had breathed fire onstage. We couldn't believe we were in the same place where we had seen Slade and Argent. We wanted to make an impression and so I used extra amounts of hairspray to make my hair as big as possible. By the third song, we're playing "Firehouse", and as soon as I breathed fire the right side of my hair just went up.

    Paul Stanley: When you see four guys onstage in white makeup, studded outfits and seven inch heels and all the lights are going, if somebody's hair did catch on fire you might not even notice it! And if you did notice it you might just think it was part of the show.

    Buck Dharma: Just the sheer spectacle of this group was something. I seen the fire, the smoke, the big Kiss sign, and their drum riser go ten feet in the air and I just went, "wow". It was just a level of production you didn't expect coming from a fledgling act.

    Harold C. Black: Between the fire and the big Kiss sign, I wondered, "What the hell can we do to top this?" Everyone had a hard time following Kiss that night.

    [​IMG]

    CONTINUED...
     
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  10. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Kiss at Long Beach, CA on 2/17/74, the day before the national release of their self-titled debut album in stores everywhere on Casablanca Records & Tapes (Acrobat / Love Theme From Kiss) 3:20



    Joel Brodsky: I had shot between 500 and 1000 album covers including the Doors "Strange Days" and Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks". I was given the assignment to shoot Kiss's first cover by Casablanca. It was done at my studio in New York. It was arranged as four faces on a square, the band's tribute to a "Meet The Beatles" type of cover. They were draped in black velvet with a black background. If you were a brand new band and you needed to attract attention, the cover did it. And that's certainly a cover that attracts attention.

    KISS (RELEASED FEBRUARY 18, 1974)

    [​IMG]

    Gene Simmons: The first album cover is unapologetic and simply says one thing - "This is Kiss! Take it or leave it."

    Paul Stanley: The release of our first album was the culmination of everything I had worked up to at that point in my life. It was our Declaration Of Independence.

    Ace Frehley: It was one of our best records. We were all very hungry at that point in our lives. I think we all put in 110% on that record. It was the first time I had ever done a real record. In retrospect, Kenny Kerner & Richie Wise were great producers for us because they were as green as we were.

    Peter Criss: That first album was our baby. We all worked hard. I was so amazed that we were in a recording studio and actually had a record contract. But we did it. We really did it. We made our dream come true.

    Gene Simmons: We were totally green. We didn't have a clue what was going on but there it is - the songs stand up.

    [​IMG]

    Warner Brothers Radio Spot Promoting Kiss's Debut Album On Casablanca (Feb 1974) 1:21

    Kiss - Warner Brothers NB 9001 - Radio Spot - 1974 »


    Alison Steele Radio Interview With Kiss (Early 1974) 11:40

    kiss interview 1974 part1 »


    Gene Simmons: I remember going into a store in downtown Manhattan and buying a copy of our first record. It was a surreal thrill because this was the place where I came in and bought Led Zeppelin records and now here I am buying a record of my own group.

    CONTINUED...
     
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  11. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Joyce Bogart: Neil knew Dick Clark going back to the 60's. So when it came time to try and get Kiss on "ABC's In Concert", Neil said, "Dick, Kiss is gonna be a big group. Put 'em on". And he did.

    Dick Clark: When Kiss first appeared on "In Concert", they were unforgettable. I knew at the time we were either going to be making a huge impression or participating in a total fiasco. The reaction was positive and the rest is history.

    Paul Stanley: Dick is an icon and somebody I was thrilled and humbled to meet. I grew up watching "American Bandstand" and now here we are. Dick was gracious enough to put us on "In Concert". It was filmed at the Aquarius Theater on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

    Gene Simmons: Back in those days, there weren't many outlets for bands to get on television. So we did what we could to get on anything and everything. Dick came backstage after we played and shook each one of our hands. He said, "If there's anything I can do for you, please tell me. We're proud to have you on our show". We were a total nobody to just about everybody and he was gracious enough to take the time to do that.

    Paul Stanley: I remember coming back from a show and sitting down with the guys in a hotel so we could tune in and see ourselves on ABC's "In Concert". We had just come from playing a club and here we are on national television for the first time playing to millions of viewers.

    Gene Simmons: If you watch us you can see that the cameramen were completely caught off guard by the onslaught. They didn't have a clue what to shoot, where to shoot. Everyone was just looking around like, what the hell is this? If you watch our performance there is a moment where we go into "Firehouse" and later on in the song, the entire audience rises to their feet for the first and only time during the entire show.

    Kiss on ABC's Dick Clark "In Concert" - 2/21/74 televised in March (Nothin To Lose, Firehouse, Black Diamond) 11:30



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    Thank you, Dick Clark, for being one of the believers from the very beginning. You are missed...

    [​IMG]

    CONTINUED...
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2016
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  12. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

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    I find it a little funny and bizarre that lyrics are written on accounting ledger paper....$$$$$ is never too far from their thoughts even in creative moments.
     
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  13. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Yes. They had their eyes on the ultimate prize from day one - cash! :uhhuh:

    I believe Gene also had an office job at the time the band formed so he may have just "innocently" happened to have access to a lot of bookkeeping paper. :)

    Of course, by 1976, there are memoirs of him writing lyrics on Holiday Inn stationary that are viewable in the Kisstory book (or probably even online as well). But that's still a year or so down the road... :)
     
  14. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

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    Thanks for sharing some of those pics. That’s crazy!!!
     
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  15. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Thanks for browsing through all of this stuff.
     
  16. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

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    I love that In Concert performance. Ace just kills on the Firehouse solo.
     
  17. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Yes he does. His solos fit so well on those early debut album tracks (on all Kiss tracks really).

    The "In Concert" performance is one of my all-time favorites as well. Not just for the historical significance of being Kiss's first national exposure but because the rainbow lights and stage made for a perfect visual backdrop to the band's "in progress" stage outfits. Not to mention Kiss's great performances on those three songs.
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2016
  18. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

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    He's got a lot of great solos on the early stuff, but the one on Firehouse is my favorite. It's just so quintessentially 'Ace'. And he just nails it there, it sounds like the record but with even better tone.
     
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  19. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Kenny Kerner: The first album wasn't getting much air play. It certainly wasn't reviewed favorably by critics. The media looked at it like, "This must be Neil's attempt at a gimmick rock band".

    Dennis Elsas: Kiss had nothing in common with most artists who got the FM stamp of approval. Kiss weren't considered underground, hip or cool. We knew Elton was big and Bowie. I don't think anyone was ready to embrace a band wearing makeup.

    Larry Harris: WSHE in Miami held a kissing contest. I got a call from a Warner Brothers promotion man out of Florida. He called me at home and told be it was a big success. I called Neil that night. Neil came in the next day and said, "Let's spread the kissing contest around the country using the band".

    Paul Stanley: The idea to do "Kissin Time" was one of Neil Bogart's ruses. That was, bless his soul, the thing about Neil. If he could get you a hit today and turn his back on the other stuff, that was okay because you now have a hit. So that's just a different way of looking at things.

    Gene Simmons: Musically, we changed it a bit. Paul came up with the chordal patterns and we rearranged many of the lyrics. We recorded it in two hours and it was out on the shelves.

    Bill Aucoin: Neil was immersed in this promotion and he was going to spend a fortune on it. There are certain things in everyone's career where you realize that it may not be the thing you planned on doing but if you didn't do it you were really stupid.

    Larry Harris: Kissin Time never became a huge hit but it did get Kiss a lot of extra air play on radio.

    Jim Manfred: Their was an announcement that Kiss would be signing copies of their new album in our store, and within minutes the store was packed. We sold several hundred copies and another hundred or so eight tracks. The "Great Kiss-Off" was a huge success as far as I was concerned. The band was in our mall for three hours and made hundreds of new fans that day.

    [​IMG]

    Kissin Time by Kiss (Fan-made video) 3:52



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    Gene Simmons: Long before daytime talk shows, "The Mike Douglas Show" was the afternoon show that set the tone. It was a combination of Johnny Carson, interviews and other personalities. In '74 it was the game-changer. Bill told us, "Look, we can't get into houses with radio alone. 'Rolling Stone' won't put us in their magazine. How do we reach the most people? I'll tell you how. We'll crawl into people's lives with our appearance on 'The Mike Douglas Show', when people least expect it". And that was a brilliant idea. So we're backstage putting on makeup and Bill asks, "Okay, who's gonna go out there and talk with Mike?"

    Kiss on "The Mike Douglas Show" with Gene and Paul Commentary (April 29, 1974) 3:00

    KISS and the Mike Douglas show with commentary! »


    Kiss on "The Mike Douglas Show" - Full Version with "Firehouse" (April 29, 1974) 9:30

    KISS - (Full) Interview & Firehouse - Mike Douglas Show - 1974 »


    CONTINUED...

     
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  20. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    Kiss at Long Beach, CA (5/31/74) 37:15



    Michael Des Barres: In terms of their music, Gene is a real Anglophile and studied bands like Slade. He was a student of what was popular and what he could absorb and give back. The combination of Paul's purism coming from bands like Humble Pie, the Small Faces, Rod Stewart, all of whom he adored along with the pop glam sensibilities - that's how the frisson was created that created Kiss. I thought they were fantastic but the interesting thing is that no higher community would ever admit to it. What they were doing was a complete antithesis to that Warhol loft mentality.

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    Eric Carmen: I'm sitting in the dressing room and in walked all four guys of Kiss. I was always a fan of concept rock and roll and I had never seen anything like this. This was impressive. I remember going out to the side of the stage to watch Kiss perform and I see a roadie pouring some kerosene and scope mouthwash into a Dixie cup. I wondered, "What the heck could that be for? Kerosene and Scope?" Within a couple of minutes, Gene walks to the side of the stage, takes a big slug from the cup and is breathing fire. I was like, "Oh my god, these guys are unbelievable!" I was actually kind of jealous that four guys had that kind of commitment to what they were doing and what they believed in. And there was good music to back up the theatrics. After the show was over, I met Paul and Gene in the hallway and both were extremely friendly. Paul told me, "We used to play your songs to three-part Beatles harmonies, and then this happened (laughs)." I was happy to hear that Paul came to see the Raspberries at Carnegie Hall in 1973 and was very flattered when he showed up at our reunion tour in 2005.

    END OF DISC ONE (TOTAL RUNNING TIME: APPROX 2 HRS, 21 MIN)
     
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  21. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    DISC TWO

    Interview with Larry Harris of Casablanca Records 10:00



    Mike McGurl: Kiss's shows were dramatically exciting relative to groups back then. Even though Kiss was an opening act at that point, they put on literally explosive shows. What was happening is that Kiss was blowing every headliner off the stage, and this caused major problems.

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    Neil Bogart: The debut picked up but I knew we needed more. No matter where the group went, they never had an audience that didn't get on its feet. It was time to do a follow-up.

    Kenny Kerner: Richie and I had moved to L.A. so Neil pulled Kiss off mid-tour to come here to record their second album. We wanted the second album to show development , and it does from a recording perspective. The album was, once again, essentially done live. We just double tracked a few more things. The band felt they were performing even when recording and wanted that to come off on the record. They all played for the song. Kiss were serviceable musicians, but to be successful you don't need to be an Eric Clapton or a Ginger Baker. What made Kiss great was their determination and stick-to-it-ness. They brought an excitement to rock and roll that had never been here before. They were bigger than life. They were like superheroes and gave the audience something to believe in and they extended the myth of rock and roll that goes way beyond talent.

    Richie Wise: Every day there would be new speakers in the room because we were changing them all the time to try and get the sound right. When you do a first album and it's not a huge success, you want to do a second one to try and solve the problem. Yet there really wasn't a problem with the first album. Still, we all said, "to hell with the first album, let's try something a little different."

    Gene Simmons: We had been touring non-stop since the first album came out and by the time we went to L.A. to do "Hotter Than Hell", we were already in the middle of a tour. So much of that album was written on the road and from a few songs left over from the first demos. I quite like "Hotter Than Hell".

    Ace Frehley: That was a tougher record to do but it was fun and it was different. It was the first time we were in L.A.

    Paul Stanley: It was our first extended trip on the West Coast and we were far away from home. We were living the lifestyle of an up and coming rock and roll band at the Ramada Inn on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

    CONTINUED...
     
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  22. edenofflowers

    edenofflowers A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular!

    Location:
    UK
    I've been enjoying this thread even though I'm not a huge Kiss fan.
    Keep up the good work!
     
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  23. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    Thanks! I appreciate it. Thanks for reading! :)
     
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  24. M321115

    M321115 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northern Kentucky
    The new posts are the highlight of my day! Keep em coming!! Great work!!
     
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  25. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    Paul Stanley: "Got To Choose" is one of my favorite Kiss songs I've written. It was inspired by a band named Boomerang, which featured some members from Vanilla Fudge.

    Kenny Kerner: I love "Got To Choose".

    Gene Simmons: "Goin' Blind" goes back to 1970 and is a song I wrote with Stephen Coronel. I originally called it "Little Lady". It is one of my favorite songs. Even the recording works for me with the compression of the drums.

    Gene Simmons: "Let Me Go, Rock n Roll" was actually written at the Puerto Rican Interagency Council. I wrote the lyrics top to bottom and Paul wrote the chordal pattern.

    Gene Simmons: The lyrical notion of a song like "Watchin You" came from an Alfred Hitchcock movie named "Rear Window". It was very quick imagery and most of my lyrics are more stream-of-conscious type stuff. "Limpin as you do, and I'm watchin you" doesn't really make a whole lot of sense lyrically. It's what literally came out.

    Paul Stanley: "Hotter Than Hell" was a song I wrote largely inspired by Free. It had that simplicity, a framework to sing over and certain chord voicings. The song didn't have an end to it but I had this chord pattern and so it became the tag that Ace soloed over.

    Paul Stanley: "Comin Home" was written in the hotel and we were all very homesick.

    Ace Frehley: I love "Strange Ways". I came up with the riff and it was an inspired heavy kind of song. One of my favorite guitar solos is the one on "Strange Ways". It was done in one take. I just closed my eyes and that's what came out.

    Paul Stanley: It was a real eye-opening period coming out to Los Angeles. We were within walking distance of the Rainbow. I couldn't believe my eyes. It became like my church or synagogue. I was there every night because it was full of beautiful women whose only criteria for going back to the hotel with you was that you were in a band.

    Norman Seeff: The "Hotter Than Hell" photo shoot was done in Hollywood, the front and back images the same day. I had gone to Japan with my film crews and one of the artists I met there was Tadanori Yokoo, a profoundly exciting artist. Yokoo wasn't a copyist, he took his imagery out of traditional Japanese art. I was inspired by what he was doing. Kiss had enormous ability to work almost symbolically and graphically. As we went further, I said, "why not put the title and names and everything in Japanese as well?" I called in a brilliant designer, John Van Hamersveld to do the designs around the photos. And he just nailed it. For the photo shoot gathering, I hired wardrobe people who went to Western Costume in Hollywood and we went through everything - "here's something with feathers, let's use it". We wanted a Fantasia or a Fellini's Satyricon imagery for the group. We created a party atmosphere. The whole Casablanca crew was there. I wanted everyone to have the freedom to self-express. I think the beauty of that shoot was creating a space for pure, spontaneous expression. Kiss was doing like a rock and roll ballet where each of the individuals was playing a part. The process of getting imagery out of them was effortless.

    Paul Stanley: Norman was well known for creating atmosphere. It was very akin to the band and it was like walking into a Fellini film. There were beds hanging from the ceiling and silver painted girls whom we got acquainted with and guys in tights or swimsuits. The thought was, let's get loose and be a part of what's going on. I had a drink to loosen up and it got a little too loose.

    Gene Simmons: That session was the only time I've seen Paul drunk. The only thing that was missing was Rod Serling going, "Witness Paul Stanley - entering the Twilight Zone." After that photo shoot, we went back to the Ramada Inn on Sunset Boulevard and for some strange reason I jumped right into the swimming pool in my full costume. That was a big mistake because the next day it shrank (laughs). It was Norman Seeff's idea to do the Japanese lettering and artwork. The result of that was that the Japanese instantly took to the band. Some people at that time even suspected we were Japanese.

    Paul Stanley: "Hotter Than Hell" was an amazing cover that really captured the band. It was the first thing I seen that truly reached beyond the American album covers typical of the time. The Japanese style and imagery was wild and appeared to come out of nowhere. The essence of that cover was so far-reaching and really blew me away.

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    Norman Seeff "Hotter Than Hell" Photo Session Outtakes - August 1974 (Demo of "Let Me Go, Rock n Roll) 4:30



    CONTINUED...
     
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2016
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