Unit 2 Part 3: KISS Lesson 1: Before the Makeup As with the British Invasion in the sixties, England lit the first heavy metal flames with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. By 1970, a New York band called Wicked Lester - which, three years later, changed its name to KISS - entered the fray. Although the group was never as definitively metal as Sabbath or Priest, it nonetheless altered the face of stadium rock and influenced everyone from Mötley Crüe to Pantera (whose guitarist, Dimebag Darrell Abbott, was buried in a KISS Kasket, the branded casket by the band KISS). Wicked Lester was comprised of bassist Gene Klein (born Chaim Witz, later known as Gene Simmons); his childhood friend, guitarist Stephen Coronel; keyboardist Brooke Ostrander; and drummer Tony Zarrella. At the suggestion of Coronel, they hired Stanley Eisen (later known as Paul Stanley) on rhythm guitar. Gene Simmons (KISS): I was going to college and we were practicing at a loft in New York Citys Chinatown. It was a dump. The stairs were wood and they were covered with carpet, but they werent very sturdy. You could pull out the step of your choice and use it to start a fire. Id go to work in the afternoon, then come right there and wed practice. We were really innocent back then. We were just going forward blindly. Paul Stanley (KISS): It was so hot we left the doors open. One night we were playing and all of a sudden a guy about six feet five was standing there barefoot in a green hospital gown. We said, Can we help you? and he said, I just escaped from the hospital. We didnt know what to do, so we continued playing. Hes dancing around and were rocking, and finally we were able to coax him out the door. For all we knew, he was an escaped murderer. Wed always lock the door after that. We were naÏve, but we werent stupid. We had metal paneling over all the windows, but once, someone very determined clipped the lock and took all our things out the fire escape. We showed up for rehearsal, and it was like a cartoon. The drummer said, Hey, where are my drums? The guitarist went, Wheres my amp? And then we realized wed been robbed. There was nothing left but a microphone, so clearly we were robbed by an instrumental band. Gene Simmons: Paul used to come in with green high-heeled boots and tight leather pants, with his balls lifted and separated. He prided himself on how he looked and he tried to carry himself as a star. We both did. The other guys never got it - especially Coronel. He was more of a musician, and he used to dig into Stanley, and say, Who do you think you are, dressing like that? You think youre some kind of rock star? So Paul turned around one day and said, Yeah. I have an aura shining over me. Paul Stanley: I told Gene that when I walk around, people notice me, and he was ready to strangle me. I wasnt f@#%ing with him or anything, I was serious. I made this happen. I was a tubby young guy that nobody wanted to know. My pants used to rub together when I walked and they used to wear out between the legs. My ass was as big as my stomach. But I made myself into something else, something that I wanted to be and that I was more happy with. I created my dream. Gene Simmons: We always worked hard, and when we didnt have any money Paul and I would busk, singing Beatles and Byrds songs for spare change. We made $9.75 one night and ate like kings when $1.25 could buy you a full Chinese dinner. Paul Stanley: After a couple shows, we were able to convinve this guy Ron Johnsen who worked at Electric Lady Studios to record our demo. Everyone recorded at Electric Lady: the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Bob Dylan. It was incredible. Stevie Wonder used to come in there and take a leak with a girl holding his d@#%. Gene Simmons: That was where we got our first groupie. We were on the corner just watching people walk by and Paul saw this really tall girl coming down the street in high heels. He dared me to go and pick her up. So as she walked by I said everything I could. I mean, tires and kitchen sinks came out. Before long, she came down with us. She didnt have a clue who we were. We were nobody. But within an hour she was in the sound booth blowing two guys. Then she was with five guys at the same time and everybody lined up to take a look, including the producer and his wife. It was like, Wow, were musicians now. This is rock and roll!
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 19:14:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015