“You show us everything youve got
You keep on dancin and the room gets hot
You drive us wild, well drive you crazy…”

KISS – “Rock and Roll All Nite”

For almost four decades, rock fans have been delighted by the riffs and on-stage antics of KISS.  Though their makeup was black and white, this colorful group found international fame in the 70s with their catchy hooks and intense, often pyrotechnic, stage shows.  Each member of the band is identified by their face paint and various costumes, each member representing a different comic book ‘superhero.’  KISS was larger than life, attracting fans of all ages, of all generations, giving them an iconic status that has rarely been duplicated.

The seeds of KISS were sewn with Wicked Lester, a NYC-based band that featured Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.  By 1972, the idea for Wicked Lester was dropped in favor of a new, dramatic musical direction.  After spotting an ad placed by drummer Peter Criss in Rolling Stone, Simmons called him in for an audition, and immediately they were rehearsing as a trio.  By 1973, they’d found lead guitarist Ace Frehley, dropped their old name and started going by KISS.  Together, they would take the world by storm.

Now settled with their line-up and name, KISS started putting together killer tunes that put together a pop sensibility with a heavy metal edge.  It was during this time that their comic personas started coming through.  Though they’d played with the idea of stage paint prior to this, it was in these earlier years that they would don a specific look with black leather to become a character.  Stanley was the Starchild, ever romantic.  Criss was the Catman; with his rough-and-tumble childhood in Brooklyn, he felt he’d had nine lives.  Simmons became the Demon, dark and cynical.  Ace Frehley, always ‘spaced out’ according to others, became Spaceman, who was from another planet.

Their self-titled debut was released in 1974.  It was certainly an excellent start, demonstrating their sense of raucous songwriting style with songs like “Deuce” and “100,000 Years” songs that would become classic to professional air guitarists around the world.  KISS followed their debut release with a relentless tour that would build their reputation in the rock community as they developed stage tricks, such as Gene Simmons’ fire- and blood-spitting antics, smoke bombs that would go off and dry ice, for a cool, misty effect.  When KISS wasn’t touring, they were recording.  Follow up albums, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill were the stones upon which the band sharpened their sound, as they prepared to marry their live act with their recording career with KISS Alive.  Released in late summer 1965, KISS Alive, a double-live album, found tremendous success with their single, “Rock and Roll All Nite.”  The party anthem soared to #12 on the rock charts with its sing-along anthem and pure party time fun. 

With the success of KISS Alive, which would eventually go on to sell over 4 million copies and become Rolling Stone’s 156th greatest album of all time, the band felt it was time to break new ground, musically, with 1976’s Destroyer.  Produced by Alice Cooper’s producer, Bob Ezrin, this rock and roll classic came chock full of monster hits like “Detroit Rock City” and “Shout It Out Loud.”  The album found sales enough to bring it to gold, but sales soon slumped for the intricate album.  “Beth” exposed the softer side of KISS and featured vocals from Peter Criss against an orchestral ballad.  “Beth” became a Top-10 hit, sending Destroyer sales up once again, and by the end of ’76, Destroyer was certified platinum. 

By the end of 1977, the band would release three more albums, two from the studio, Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun, and one from the road, Alive II.  Their earnings were bigger than ever during this period, with all three albums going platinum just after their released dates.  That same year, Gallup named KISS the most popular band in America, and their international star was on the rise as well.  In Japan, KISS played five sold-out shows at famed Budokan Hall, beating out The Beatles (whom KISS had aspired to be the 70s answer to), who had only done four.  Their stage show became increasingly elaborate as the band began using their status to get bigger, better, and badder designs made for their live spectacles.  Flying bassists, guitars that would shoot out rockets and smoke and drum kits that would magically rise into the smoke-filled air were all incorporated into the KISS stage show, turning into a true circus for the rock-and-roll family.

By 1978, in a world that had seen the first signs of media mass merchandising thanks to the George Lucas and Star Wars, KISS was easily the most merchandised band on the planet.  Their dolls, makeup kits, posters and such lined the shelves of department and toy stores in the late 70s.  Even a comic book was created, for which KISS members donated a vial of their own blood to be used in the creation of the red ink, allowing Marvel to tout it as “printed in real KISS blood!”  The band even made a foray into Hollywood with KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, a surrealistic made-for-TV movie. 

After taking some time (not much, apparently) to record solo albums, KISS hit the recording studios once more to create 1979’s Dynasty.  Dynasty found a hit with the single, “I Was Made for Loving You” a rock-disco fusion that would climb to #11 in the U.S.  Creative tensions began rising in the band, as Dynasty’s drums were recorded without Criss, whose only participation on the album was “Dirty Livin’” a song that he co-wrote and sang.  The Dynasty Tour, which was often called “The Return of KISS,” was supposed to be even bigger than their previous tours, though it saw a decline in attendance.  At the same time, an attempt to build a KISS-themed traveling amusement park was scrapped due to the tremendous costs involved with its production. 

Though he would be credited as a part of the band for 1980’s Unmasked, (an uncredited Anton Fig was on drums) Criss had left the band following their final performance on the Dynasty Tour.  After Unmasked saw droopy sales, the band officially announced Criss’ departure and that they were auditioning for a replacement.  The position would be given to Eric Carr, who would tour with them for the duration of the Unmasked Tour. 

In, perhaps, the most usual turn of their career, KISS re-teamed with Ezrin to produce Music from the Elder, an artsy concept album based on Gene Simmon’s fantasy film idea.  The album, like KISS’s other Ezrin-produced album, Destroyer, would feature orchestral backing, as well as “A World Without Heroes” co-written by Simmons and Lou Reed.  1982 saw a return to straightforward rock for KISS and their album Creatures of the Night, which was end-to-end with heavy-hitting rockers like the title track and “War Machine.”  Ace Frehley left the band shortly after recording, and KISS picked up Vinnie Vincent just in time for the Creatures Tour. 

By the time their follow-up album was ready to be released, KISS decided it was again time for a change, making their first non-makeup appearance on MTV in 1983 for Lick It Up.  Throughout the 80s, KISS went makeup-less through a number of guitarists, and produced a number of albums, including 1984’s Animalize, which featured “Heaven’s On Fire” a frequent MTV hit; 1985’s Asylum, which produced another MTV favorite, “Tears are Falling”; 1987’s Crazy Nights and finally, a greatest hits compilation, Smashes, Thrashes & Hits.  At the end of the decade, KISS released Hot in the Shade, which featured the ballad “Forever” written by long-and-curly haired adult contemporary star, Michael Bolton. 

The decade would leave KISS a very different band than the one they were before the 80s.  Fans were devastated by the loss of Eric Carr, who had only shortly before his death on November 24, 1991, (which was incidentally the same day Freddie Mercury of Queen passed away) been diagnosed with a tumor in his heart.  Surgery and chemotherapy proved to be not enough, and the band would dedicate their next album, Revenge, to his memory.  They followed the success of Revenge with a tour, which would become the basis for Alive III.  During this time, Simmons faced the loss of his Demon persona, a loss that would lead to less involvement on his part with the band.  Despite this, he held on, which led to a great many things down the road for everyone involved.

KISS would see a resurgence of popularity in the mid-90s, thanks in part to many of the artists who have been influenced and have been inspired by them.  In June of 1994, KISS My A**: Classic Kiss Regrooved, was released.  The album featured Lenny Kravitz performing “Deuce” (which featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica), The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones and even country-legend Garth Brooks, who has long professed his love of KISS.  The following year, KISS released Kisstory, chronicling the group’s history to that point.  The Worldwide Kiss Convention Tour was held, as were acoustic performances that brought back former member Peter Criss to sing “Hard Luck Woman” and “Nothin’ to Lose.”  In 1995, KISS also performed on MTV's hit show, Unplugged, for which they invited both Criss and Frehley to participate.  They both came for a number of songs at the end of their set, bringing up speculation that an original line-up tour was in the works.  Carnival of Souls, recorded with Kulick and Singer, was completed in 1996, though it wouldn’t see release for two years.  There was something bigger in store for the band.

The summer of 1996 saw a full-fledged reunion of KISS for their Alive/Worldwide Tour.  192 shows, 11 months, and a whole lot of face paint later, KISS had become the top-drawing concert act of the year, beating out attendance records from the band’s entire history.  Together again, KISS released Psycho Circus in 1998.  It went to debut at #3 on the charts, spawning the Psycho Circus Tour, which was the first ever to bring 3D imagery into a stage performance.  In the summer of ’99, KISS got their very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as a feature-length film, Detroit Rock City, the story of four teens willing to do anything to get to a KISS show in the Motor City

The new millennium saw the Farewell Tour, as well as a videogame, Kiss: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child.  Rock fans were stunned by the news of this being their final tour, which came at a time when their success couldn’t have seemed greater.   This swan song didn’t last long, however, as KISS released KISS Symphony: Alive IV with the Melbourne Symphony, which was followed with a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, a band that had previously opened for KISS.  The Rock the Nation 2004 World Tour would become their final tour, the band only performing sporadically following it. 

KISS fans, take heart and take comfort in knowing that their hard-rockin’ sounds have influenced a new generation of musicians.  In 2006, KISS was honored at the very first “VH1 Rock Honors” event, along with other rock and roll greats, Queen, Def Leppard and Judas Priest, leaving us a legacy of hits to which we can sing, shout and air guitar our hearts out to.