10 Things You Never Knew About KISS: The Hottest Band Of The 1970s
By | September 8, 2022
KISS is an American rock band that emerged in 1973, created by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. The band was well known and easily recognized for their unique face paint and on-stage costumes. KISS personified comic book style characters; a star-child, a demon, a spaceman and a cat-man. Their costumes and performances were elaborate, to say the least. The group did not have one single average characteristic.
Why the extravagant makeup and costumes? During the time that the band was competing to make a name for itself, other bands were wearing makeup and sporting elaborate outfits; giving them notoriety. The group decided to jump on the bandwagon, only more extreme! They decided to go above and beyond to be noticed. In theory, the more extreme, the more noticeable! That decision proved to be an effective and successful marketing tool. The group could NOT be ignored!
Obviously, it just wouldn’t do to go on stage in eccentric costumes and painted faces without an equally unusual, if not unexpected act. In time, though, audiences learned to expect the unexpected. KISS’ elaborate performances were electric! Fire breathing, blood spitting, shooting rockets, levitating drums and smoking guitars were some of the special effects the iconic group employed for our entertainment. As if that were not enough, KISS could always be counted on for a sensational pyrotechnic display at their shows. It was the icing on the cake!
The band got their start as Wicked Lester, a New York City rock band featuring Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. That band broke up in 1972 and it didn't take long for Simmons and Stanley to find drummer Peter Criss through an ad placed in Rolling Stone, in January of 1973 they added Ace Frehley to the line up and the fearsome foursome was in place.
The guys pretty much immediately began experimenting with their look, but they came up with their name while driving around the city. Criss said something about having been in a band called "Lips" and Stanley figured they might as well call themselves KISS.
With their first full length album under their silver and black belts in early 1974, Kiss set out on tour in February of that year and they didn't stop criss-crossing the country for about a decade.
Simmons later wrote about his worries of the band not working out:
Being in Kiss in the very first year and touring around the United States, we felt like we were taking off. It was like somebody pushing you into the deep end of the pool whether you can swim or not. The early years of Kiss were far from glamorous. We rode in a station wagon hundreds of miles every day. We would take turns driving and sleeping in the back. We ate burgers at roadside taverns. We stopped and peed on the side of long stretches of a highway when we couldn't find a town anywhere near. We ate beans and franks because we couldn't afford better food as we were on an $85 a week salary! Becoming a rock star was better than anything and beyond anything I ever imagined. There were moments of doubt for me that we were gonna make it.
Even though Kiss had a killer live show and awesome songs they weren't moving units. That all changed when the band released the double live album "Alive" in 1975. Stanley later said the idea came to him after the band started selling out venues everywhere they went:
I saw a pattern emerging with us on the road. Every night, I'd ask somebody before the show, 'How are we doing?' which meant, 'What's the attendance?' One night they said, 'It's sold out,' and then the next night I'd hear the same thing. All of a sudden it was becoming the norm. For me the first realization that things were on an upswing was when we played the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Before the show I went on stage, looked out through the curtain and saw this big crowd, and said to myself, 'My God, this is really happening!'
KISS was always all about the hype! Their fans didn’t only view them as musicians but as superstars. Performance after performance, audiences were physically, mentally and visually stimulated. American teenagers and adults alike went crazy for them; often mimicking their style. Chances are that if you were a diehard KISS fan in the 1970’s, you still are today!
Band members were very passionate about their craft. KISS was overly methodical. Their style was their famous trademark and that came first. Priorities from first to last included makeup, costumes complete with aluminum studs and platform shoes and then staging. Staging included 40 amplifiers and 150 speakers for a deafening, yet exhilarating, experience.
Over the years, the group has gone through some changes in members. The most famous KISS line up, however, is the original one with Stanley, Simmons, Criss and Frehley. In 1983, the group toyed with the idea of losing the makeup. Fans wouldn’t have it…it was part of the whole package. Without the makeup, it just wasn’t the same, so they threw that idea right out of the window.
Recounting all of the band’s successes and awards over the years would be daunting. The highly acclaimed group was no doubt one of the most popular rock and roll groups of our time; even earning more gold album record awards than any other band in America. The distinguished group was a key part of American music history.
KISS was most definitely in the “fantasy business." Their characters were fascinating and mysterious. Each band member embodied their individual alter egos with precise perfection. In the beginning, they set out to be distinguishable from other groups. I would say they hit their mark!