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II11IJackMusic' By JACK KEG GTl1IIIMENTION “KISS” to any young teenager and he or she will simply flip out. Kiss is the latest fad among our nation’s youth. Who or what is Kiss? It is the nation’s number one rockgroup and the music is not the total drawing card for its youth-ful followers.Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Space” Ace Frehiey and Peter Criss are the members of Kiss and their act consists of black and silver makeup on their faces, silk, leather and feathers on their bodies, and a plethora of special effects onstage, ranging from fire pods which shoot flames 15 feet into the air to a hydrauliealiy levitated drum stand and a guitar thatbelches skyrockets.KISS WAS formed threeJ years ago when Stanley ancl Simmons, unhappy with the group they were playing in, decided to form a theatrical band that would be the next step beyond the best bands they had seen, which included the Who, Rolling Stones, and JimiHendr ix Experience.■ Peter Criss joined after the breakup of his group Chelsea and the group was dubbed “Kiss” by Stanley, after several other names were rejected.THEY MADE a disastrous debut on May 4,1973 in the 23rd Street Loft in New York City. They put on makeup, but it resembled that used by the New York Dolls, another New York band, and not Kiss. ■.Later in the summer, NeilBogart, starting his fledglingCasablanca Records, signedKiss as the first act. Their debut \single, “Kissm* Time,” was released late in-1973 and their first album hit the stores in Feb. 1974. The big push was underway, and it paid off.KISS WAS the.Jeadoff band for such headliners as Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep. .The groupdeveloped a small-following, and by last year Kissmania had spread from coast to coast.It can be expected that older folks, even those in their 20s, cut down the group and what it stands for. Kiss simply plays good, hard rock and roll that Will make you move and there is not a weak cut on any Kiss album.IF YOU still want'to*-criticizethem, give a listen to “Beth,” a haunting ballad that' has made the top ten. Penned by Peter Criss, the group is backed by a lull orchestra on this number. The flip side, “Detroit Rock City,” is typical Kiss but.the “Beth” side sold the record.Recently the group appeared on ABC-TV’s Paul Lynde Halloween Special and a Marvel comic featuring Kiss is in the planning.ALL FIVE of their albumsand singles sales have helped them sell 20 million dollars worth of records in the United States alone and Kiss fan clubs have sprung up all over the world. The U.S. fan club, The Kiss Army, was formed in Terra Haute, Ind., when a group of youths staged a protest march on a local radio station irt .defiance of lack of Kiss records on their playlist.The new album, “Rock and Roll Over,” is in the national top ten and contains ten rockers and'one of them, “Hard LuckWoman,” is the latest single(No. 41 and moving up) and Peter Criss sings it in a Rod Stewart manner.-Let’s face it, Kiss has arrived.Question of the Week: Who had the big hit of “Haunted House” in 1964? (Answer Next Week)Answer to Last Week’s Question: Kiss had the hit of “Kissin’ Time” in 1974^, but Bobby Rydeli first hitbig with it fifteen summersbefore.
Newspaper Details
Cumberland News
Cumberland, Maryland, US
Sat, Jan 08, 1977
Page 16
Full Page
Clipped by
Olav S.
NO 03 Jul 2021
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