This "News" page generally only relates to matters of interest to the KISSFAQ. There's no need to replicate news that can be seen on other KISS websites. If you use information appearing on this or any other KISSFAQ page, in print (fanzines) or online (directly quoted or rewritten), please have the courtesy to say where it came from. If printing in fanzines, I'd love a copy sent to the KISSFAQ PO Box. Should you want official announcements please visit the band's official website at: KISSONLINE.COM.
| Tuesday, October 30, 2007 10:39:11 AM - Ace Rocks The Chance! |
| Ace Frehley rocked The Chance in Poughkeepsie last night playing a set that apparently included: Deuce, Strange Ways, Parisite, I Want You, Love Gun, Cold Gin, Hard Times, Rip It Out, Into The Void, Snowblind, Rock Soldiers, Breakout, New York Groove, Shot Full Of Rock, Shock Me, and medley of Who, Zep, and AC/DC tunes (Set notes From Dat577). This show was a rehearsal for Wednesday night's show at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. |
| Tuesday, October 30, 2007 10:39:11 AM - KISSology Vol. 3 Promo Clip |
| KISSonline currently has a promo clip of "Nothin' To Lose" from MTV Unplugged online, HERE. KISS' MTV Unplugged is being reissued in expanded and enhanced format as a part of the KISSology Vol. 3 DVD package due 12/18. |
| Monday, October 29, 2007 5:44:21 AM - Ace at the Chance, Poughkeepsie... |
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Ace Frehley returns to live action at The Chance in Poughkeepsie NY, tonight at 9PM. Tickets are $20 at the door, first come, first serve, with no advance sales! This rehearsal show will see the debut of Ace's new band, though won't be a full set. This will be Ace's first live performance since he played Eddie Trunk's birthday bash at Don Hill's in New York City on August 9, 2002. And only is fourth live solo appearance since the start of the "Reunion" in 1996... The set that night: Rip It Out / Parasite / Strange Ways / She / Into The Void / Medley (Rocket Ride, Snow Blind, Hard Times) / Love Her All I Can / Shock Me / New York Groove / Cold Gin / Deuce... We'll see how tonight and Wednesday compare. Good luck Ace, stay in the groove! |
| Monday, October 29, 2007 5:43:21 AM - Mark St. John, Binghamton, 1984... |
 A new poster on the KISSFAQ message board has shared this rare picture from Mark St. John's only full KISS concert at Binghamton's Broome County Arena in November 1984. As the webmaster grew up in Binghamton he thinks this is way cool shit... |
| Monday, October 29, 2007 5:42:21 AM - The Other Side Of The Coin" @ Ebay (20 Copies)... |
| 20 signed copies of "The Other Side Of The Coin" up on Ebay, HERE. That's all I'll be selling direct... |
| Monday, October 29, 2007 5:21:15 AM - KISSOLOGY Vol. II certifiable... |
| Certified 6X Platinum last week. Congratulations KISS (and those involved in the project)... |
| Monday, October 29, 2007 5:21:15 AM - KISS Touring Australia in '08? |
| There have been some reports, and comments from Paul, suggesting that KISS will be playing the Australian Grand Prix next year, suggesting futher Anitpodean shows. As of yet NOTHING is officially confirmed, so we'll need to wait for the promoter/band/kissonline to make any statement... |
| Monday, October 29, 2007 5:11:03 AM - Gene on Celebrity Apprentice |
 (From TMZ) Gene was spotted in New York last week... Schlepping hot-dogs or trying to pull? |
| Monday, October 29, 2007 5:11:03 AM - New "Concertology" download... |
| The KISSFAQ "KISS Concertology 2003-7" has been updated to reflect last week's show. In Adobe Acrobat format, it can be downloaded, HERE... |
| Sunday, October 28, 2007 2:29:53 AM - KISS Concert 10/26... |
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KISS played The Beach @ Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas, NV on Oct. 26, 2007 marking the return of Paul Stanley to live duties after his health scare in July. The show was part of a private event for the Entrepreneurs' Organization. Brent Fitz replaced Eric Singer in the Alice Cooper Band so that he could do this corporate gig. Setlist: Deuce / Shout It Out Loud / Makin' Love / Calling Dr. Love / Lick It Up / I Love It Loud / Do You Love Me? / Firehouse / Heaven's On Fire / Christine Sixteen / I Was Made For Lovin' You / God Of Thunder / Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll / Love Gun / Black Diamond / Detroit Rock City / Rock And Roll All Nite... |
| Wednesday, October 17, 2007 7:39:32 AM - "The Other Side Of The Coin" @ Amazon *** IN STOCK ***... |
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ISBN # 0-9722253-6-6 336 pages  IS NOW available for order from Amazon.com any day now. I hope that at least one online KISS merchandise vendor will be stocking the book (and that this publisher won't be as difficult as the last!). Synopsis: "The Other Side Of The Coin" is a compilation of previously published interviews and articles from the KISSFAQ website (though some in their original uneditted format). It also includes additions to material previously published in the "KISS Album Focus" trilogy, and some unpublished material. The unpublished material includes unused magazine articles, sections originally cut from the "KISS Album Focus" books, the "Rock And Roll Over" Tour Focus, and updated "KISS Family Trees" and "KISS Concertology, 2002-7"... The "ever-necessary online" corrigendum can be found HERE... |
| Sunday, October 14, 2007 8:01:21 PM - "Detroit Rock City" Reissue |
| The "Detroit Rock City" movie is being reissued in Japan in a limited-time low price edition (GADY-1541) on December 7... |
| Sunday, September 30, 2007 8:19:01 AM - New batch of KISSFAQ Ebay Auctions... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A new batch of KISSFAQ Ebay auctions kick off today, including rare and obscure KISS-related items such as The Others singles (this was a mid-60s band featuring Peter Shepley and Mike Brand, later members of Chelsea), Neil Bogart's recordings, Captain Freak singles (which provide post-Chelsea Shepley/Brand credits), and more!
Check 'em out, and other auctions (magazines, fanzines, printed matter, LPs, CDs) to be listed soon, HERE... |
| Friday, September 28, 2007 1:29:06 PM - Ace Frehley Back in the New York Groove... Kinda |
| (From Ticketmaster) Ace Frehley is apparently scheduled to appear at Eddie Trunk's Halloween Bash '08 on 10/31/07 at the Times Square Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. The "official" announcement is expected tonight on Q104.3 NYC from 11PM-2AM EST. Tickets go on sale Monday... |
| Thursday, September 27, 2007 4:46:55 AM - "Rock And Roll Over" Tour Focus... |
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Note: This article comes from the now abandoned third KISSFAQ "Focus" book, but is presented here in completed and modified form for your reading pleasure (or torture). The KISSFAQ "Live Focus" aimed, as the title suggests, to focus on the band from a live perspective, as a result there's not much about the albums or song histories in this feature. The full version of this article, warts 'n all, will be published in "The Other Side Of The Coin" (ISBN #0-9722253-6-6). "The Other Side Of The Coin" is a compilation of previously published interviews and articles from the KISSFAQ website. It also includes additions to material previously published in the "KISS Album Focus" trilogy and some unpublished material. The unpublished material includes unused magazine articles, sections previously cut from the "KISS Album Focus" books, the "Rock And Roll Over" Tour Focus, and updated "KISS Family Trees" and the "KISS Concertology, 2002-7. It's pretty obvious that "KISS Alive!" was the album that saved KISS, and to no small extent Casablanca Records also. It's also obvious that "Destroyer" nearly killed the band's success before they'd really had more than a taste of fame (no fortune quite yet) prior to a certain "throw-away" ballad becoming something of a savior. The KISS of 1975 into early 1976 was a band whose studio sonic dynamic had changed. An analogy of a caterpillar metamorphosing into a butterfly might be apt, were one writing flowery prose. Discarded was the ethos of trying to capture the band "live" in the studio. Instead, the band had agreed to Bob Ezrin's all-out sonic experimentation and refinement which resulted in "Destroyer." It also resulted in the alienation of a sector of the original 73-5 fans as the band's studio sound became ultra-polished rather than raw and somewhat rushed. It might also be fair to suggest that KISS' success turned some of the original fans off - they now had to share "their" band with apparent bandwagon-hopping newbies (some of those fans are still bitter in 2007). Even the band's members and support personnel weren't absolutely sure about the path they'd taken with "Destroyer," but in the end they probably picked up more new fans than they lost. The humorous point to the overall uncertainty about the product they'd created was obvious by the last minute invitation to Jack Douglas, then Bob Ezrin's assistant, to remix the album and try and salvage something from a perceived mistake. "Rock And Roll Over" reunited the band with Eddie Kramer, with whom they'd done their first studio recordings in March 1973 (Gooch/Suhs) and their breakthrough "Alive!" (and Anaheim '76). His studio work with them provided a taste of what could, and probably should have been, the sound of the first two albums. That cynical voice also suggests that he did exactly that with the band when he re-recorded material that became "Alive!" Eddie had turned down live albums with Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones to work with KISS (in the studio) at this juncture, but it was probably the right time for him to do so. Yet, Ezrin's imprint was still very much present. However tough the recording experience had been, the band had discovered that more variety in the music could be beneficial. Recording officially commenced at "closed" Nanuet Star Theater in Nanuet, NY on Monday, September 20 and was scheduled to be there completed by October 11. The theatre was closed in late-1975 (reopening in May 1978), but rented out for one-off or other events. It was also very conveniently located near New York City, thus not requiring any major relocation for the band and their staff. The weekend of September 18-19 saw the crew and band arriving and acoustic tests being done on the environment and equipment. Recording in a theatre was supposed to help capture the live dynamic that proved so popular with the fans. The album was completed at the Record Plant, back in New York City between October 12-17. Final overdubs and mixing took place between the October 18-24, while the band was in Los Angeles. With Kramer at the helm recording took weeks instead of the months the previous album had taken - though to be fair, there were breaks in the recording schedule. There was no shortage of ideas or material, and the resulting album was released on November 1, which seems completely insane for an album that had only been completed a week earlier! But it seems likely that the material was very spontaneous and specifically lacking in the refinement that Ezrin brought to the sessions. For the first time in their history KISS was not on tour at the time the album was released. In the meantime there were rehearsals to complete and promotional material to produce. KISS and their core entourage flew to Los Angeles on various days to tape the Paul Lynde Halloween special in mid-October. Most of the band arrived on the October 18 (an advance "guard" had arrived on October 12). KISS rehearsed in Hall #5 at ABC Studios in Los Angeles, CA the following day and taped the show on October 20-21. KISS' part of the show included minor dialogue bits and the lip-synched performances of "Detroit Rock City" (taped on 10/20), "Beth," and "King Of The Night Time World" (both taped on 10/21). The band returned to New York the following day. For promotional purposes to support the album band also appeared on the Burns Media radio show "Rock And Roll Over With KISS." It featured interview segments and sound-bites from members of the band and tour personnel, plus clips of various KISS recordings, not only those from the new album. Tour rehearsals were booked at Studio B at Studio Instrument Rentals (S.I.R.) in New York City between November 7 and 13. These were followed by the full production rehearsals held at the Camp Curtis Guild Armory (which became the American Civic Center) in Redding, MA between November 14 and 21, though staff were onsite from the 11/12 for setup and equipment unloading. Eddie Balandas and Joe Gusti drove up from Boston in a truck carrying the costumes and Peter's stage cats on November 13. For the tour there were only minor revisions made to Gene, Ace, and Peter's "Destroyer" costumes. For the early part of the tour Paul continued to use older costumes, before getting his new one. The new costume was essentially a sleeveless version of the "Destroyer" unitard. During their stay the band and entourage took over the Lord Wakefield Motor Hotel on the shores of Lake Quannapowitt. Tour manager and "Artist Representative," a term which could also be read as "babysitter," was Frank Scinlaro. Billy Miller would shortly take over from Frank. Fans are lucky that a couple of recordings of those rehearsals, not just the singular "Take Me" that was included on the "KISS My Ass" video. First is a half-hour tripod shot black and white video that features the band running through "Cold Gin," "God Of Thunder" (including Peter's solo), "Rock And Roll All Nite," "Deuce," "Black Diamond," and "Love 'Em And Leave 'Em." None of that material is particularly staggering, since the band trying to arrange an electric version of "Beth" isn't present, but KISS are without their make-up and costumes. "Love 'Em And Leave 'Em," which was probably filmed separately, wasn't even a performance as such. It's the band working on lip-synching the performance that they'd film for television during the rehearsals. That song, "I Want You," and "Hard Luck Woman" were properly filmed for use on Don Kirshner's "New" Rock Concert during the rehearsals. The audio only version of the tour rehearsals include: "Detroit Rock City" (incomplete), "Take Me," "Let Me Go, Rock N Roll," "Strutter," "Ladies Room," "Firehouse," "Hard Luck Woman" (incomplete), "Do You Love Me?" (incomplete), "Cold Gin" (several attempts), "Makin' Love," "I Want You," and a more complete and fast-tempo 2:34 arrangement of "Hard Luck Woman." This audio version is usually found in very reasonable sound-quality, though there is some fluctuation. The last song, while complete, is more "muddy" than the rest of the recordings. However, cleaned-up with a bit of audience over-dub, presto, that's what "Hard Luck Woman" sounded like live in concert in 1976! The "Winter Tour 1976/77" (that's the official title of the tour, rather than oft mentioned "Spirit of '76 Part II" and other variants) kicked-off in Savannah, Georgia on November 24. The originally intended opening city of Fayetteville, NC was inexplicably changed, though it was rescheduled for later in the tour. The band essentially used the same stage that had been used on the previous tour though it was refined with some stage props not being used. There has been the suggestion that KISS performed "Love 'Em And Leave 'Em" during the early part of the tour. That would have meant during the first five shows of the tour. Even though Gene has asserted that it was performed, it seems unlikely. The one appearance of the song is during a lip-synch rehearsal, and nothing else about the song in concert has ever come to light. It seems more plausible that Gene is misremembering the video rehearsal, but as with all things KISS that statement (opinion) should not be interpreted as "fact." What is clear is that plenty of new material was introduced for the tour. Initially, "Rock And Roll Over" was represented with "Take Me," "Ladies Room," "Hard Luck Woman," "I Want You," and "Makin' Love," which during the early stages of the tour appeared as an encore! These five new tracks add to likelihood that "Love 'Em And Leave 'Em" was not included, simply by representing 50% of the new album ("Calling Dr. Love" joined the set during the "Love Gun" tour). An additional song from the album may have been over-kill for the set which was designed to be around 75 minutes in duration. More importantly was the introduction of "Beth" into the set. By that time the band had no choice but to incorporate the song into the set due to its hit status. Bringing Peter out from behind the drum kit, to sit on a case and sing along to the canned orchestral track, allowed him to connect with the audience in a very personal and somewhat tender way, again changing the overall dynamic of the band's live show. The band was moving on from their early years, not necessarily maturing, but at least evolving. Early standards such as "100,000 Years" and "Deuce" were dropped from the set in order to limit the length of the shows and focus the material on the most popular albums at that point. The band and their advisors were very aware and concerned with the product they were selling. There was also less experimentation with the set, though obviously there were changes, but things became very much stream-lined, or perhaps more scripted than ever before. Opening act for most of December through mid-February was the Uriah Heep. When their stint ended New York punk band and contemporaries of KISS, The Dictators, lead by "Handsome" Dick Manitoba joined to tour. Like KISS, the Dictators had played the Coventry in New York City in their early years and even played on a bill with the Stooges and Blue Oyster Cult months before KISS' Academy Of Music industry debut! However, the bill was very much mismatched. It is interesting to point out that the band had a song, "The Minnesota Strip," on their "Bloodbrothers" album 1978 that has more than a few similarities with KISS' later version of Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance's "War Machine." An interesting coincidence, in addition to the band's other shared histories. Other acts to open for KISS during this tour were Southern Rock band Blackfoot and Sammy Hagar. One particularly interesting show from this period, Johnson City, TN, from February 26, has Paul singing many of Peter's vocal parts. Peter had been involved in a car crash, after the band's show at Nassau Coliseum on February 21. This incident resulted in the cancellation of the tour's next scheduled show in Hampton, VA on February 23. At the Nassau show, which had been an extra date scheduled due to MSG selling out and being unable for further booking, Peter's levitating drum had malfunctioned and nearly tipped him and his kit off while descending unevenly - Peter should have been used to that after what he'd gone through during 1973-4! When the tour reconvened in Johnson City, Peter didn't perform "Beth," though he did complete his drum solo. Apart from this show we pretty much hear and see the "same old, same old." No full set list from this early part of the tour has previously been known, though we can now present at least what it looked like in early December 1976. The 12/2 show featured the following set: "Detroit Rock City," "Take Me," "Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll..." [Read the rest of the article in "The Other Side Of The Coin"] 
More publication details as they become available... |
N E W S A R C H I V E S
The "Way Back" Machine...
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2002: December | November | October | September | August | July | June | May | April | March | February | January
2001: December | November | October | September | August | July
Pre-2001: February '99 | January '99 | December '98 | November '98 | October '98 | January '98 | December '97 | November '97 | October '97 | September '97 | August '97 | October '96 - August '97