Kiss

Kiss scared me. I remember seeing these creepy men in my teen magazines. I was wondering why they were in MY magazines. My magazines were filled with the loveliness of Leif Garrett, Scott Baio, Shaun Cassidy, Matt Dillon, and all those other handsome pretty boys. It seemed like the Kiss guys should have been in monster magazines or something. And what was with the make up? I hate wearing make-up. I can’t imagine having my face always covered in that goo. Gross. They always had to cover up when they went out because they didn’t want anyone to see them. Were they about music or a gimmick? Whatever. I guess it worked.

I did like some of the songs Kiss recorded. The Kiss songs I liked were more of the pop smooth sounding stuff. I liked the song Beth which was co-written by drummer Peter Criss and was kind of written for his wife…..whose name was Lydia. I liked Rock and Roll All Nite (as sung by Joey Tribbiani on Friends) and I Was Made for Lovin’ You.

Solo Albums

Remember in the late 70’s when the members of KISS all came out with solo albums?  I walked into my local K-Mart one day and the record section was decorated all in KISS stuff. I think this solo album thing was very highly publicized but kind of failed. The albums didn’t sell well and ended up in the bargain bin. I think Ace Frehley’s sold the best, but my favorite was Paul Stanley’s. I would listen to his cassette each night while I fell asleep in the summer of 1979 while staying with my grandpa in North Dakota. My favorite song on that cassette was “Hold Me, Touch Me”.

Gene Simmons kind of always freaked me out until I started watching his show Family Jewels on A&E. He’s a really cool guy. It’s weird, but I kind of love everything about him. I know a lot of that show was scripted, but he seemed like a very mellow person. He’s a very hard worker and he’s obsessed with making money. Sounds just like me. I have new respect (had none before) for Gene Simmons after seeing his show.

I know there are many KISS fanatics out there. There are some fans who have everything ever made about KISS. They have the magazines, the posters, the dolls, the comic books, the pinball machine, the board games, the butt plugs…. I made that last one up.

There’s a lot of KISS history that I could go into with my blog, but I kind of just wanted to give you my opinion on them. They creeped me out in my teen mags, I liked some of their music, and I now love Gene Simmons. The end.