Mr Nice GuyKISS - and the wake call I didn't need!
December 20th 2010 00:28
Formed officially back in New York City in January 1973 the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics.
The 1973-'80 lineup which some of us remember with fondness comprised of Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and the birthday boy himself Peter Criss (drums, percussion and vocals)
Glam rock in the extreme they took on the personas of the Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and Catman (Criss).
Kiss was named 10th, by VH1, on their list of the '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and 9th on 'The Greatest Metal Bands' list by MTV.
The Kiss logo and name came as a result of Criss mentioning to Simmons and Staneley that he was once in a band called Lips, so Stanley said something to the effect of "What about Kiss?"
Frehley created the now-iconic logo, making the "SS" look like lightning bolts however the runic letters happened to look similar to the insignia of the Nazi SS, a symbol that is now illegal to display in Germany. Therefore, to avoid controversy, since 1979 most of the band's album covers and merchandise in Germany have used a modified version of the logo instead.
The band's name – which is often spelled in all capital letters – has been rumored to have many secret meanings, among them an acronym for "Knights In Satan's Service" but in reality - this is quite simply a case of too many feeble minds with too much time on their hands.
The first Kiss performance was on January 30, 1973, for an audience of three at the Popcorn Club
The band's rise to fame, fall from grace and resurgence again in the 90s is well documented including the tensions between Criss and the rest of the band in early 1980 which saw the drummer axed from the line-up.
Though Kiss has been eligible for enshrinement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (whose rules state that an act is eligible 25 years after its first release) since 1999/2000, they were not nominated until 2009.
On December 15, 2009 it was announced that Kiss would not be among the Hall's 2010 inductees.
Plaudits (or lack of them) aside - KISS stand tall among devotees and closet admirers of all that was good about the 70's and early 80's.
They personified an era in so many ways and are icons in their own right.
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