In April of 1977, right after the Japanese tour, the band members took their very
first holidays since the band was formed to be away from each other from a
while. Not only their popularity had become huge, so had their egos. Peter and Ace's
substance abuse made things even worse. Only a month or so later, they were all back
in New York City recording the next album. Meanwhile KISS had officialy been chosen
the most popular band in America, according to the Gallup Poll (leaving the Eagles,
The Beatles and Led Zeppelin in the dust). Late May, the new album Love Gun
shipped Platinum to the record stores. In June the first KISS Marvel Comic was
published and a month later the band went out on their biggest tour ever. The new
album peaked at No. 4 in the U.S. charts, with the previous three albums in the Top
100 of the Record World Album Charts as well (making KISS the only band in the U.S.A.
to have four albums in the Top 100). During the tour the second live album, Alive
II, was recorded. To make the album even more special for the fans, new studio
tracks were being recorded for Side 4 of the double elpee. Once again ghost musicians
had to be hired to fill in for Ace on most of these new tracks. By the end of 1977
the album shipped Platinum nevertheless. Meanwhile over 100,000 fans had officially
joined the KISS Army, which had become the biggest fanclub in music history.
After the release of Alive! KISS quickly became the biggest band in the
United States. In January of 1976 the band started recording their fourth album,
during these sessions the news of Alive! having reached Platinum was
announced. So, the band felt the new elpee would be a 'make it or break it' album.
Legendary producer Bob Ezrin was brought in, and it being the first time in their
recording career that they didn't have to worry about money they took the
opportunity to hire studio musicians playing violin, cello, trumpet and such.
On the outside everything looked A-okay, but on the inside troubles started to show.
Ace and Peter more and more disliked the fact that most of their songs were rejected
by Paul and Gene. On top of that Ace didn't get along with Bob Ezrin, who didn't
like Ace's working schedule. Nobody knew that a ghost musician was brought in,
in fact even Ace didn't know that Dick Wagner (a good friend of Ezrin's who played
on Alice Cooper albums) re-did some of his lead tracks. Before winding up the new
elpee, Destroyer, KISS had their feet printed in cement in front of the
Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The album shipped Gold, when it was sent to
record stores on March 15.
In May of 1976 KISS toured Europe for the very first time, just after Ace Frehley
had married his childhood love Jeanette. Late July Detroit Rock City was
released on single with Beth, a ballad sung by Peter, on the B-side (as
that was literally how Gene and Paul rated this song, they originally didn't even
want it to be included on the album). Surprisingly it was Peter's tune that became
a big hit, peaking at No. 7 in the US Top 40. The four masked musicians were awarded
the People's Choice Award for the hitsingle Beth. KISS had now really reached
the masses too! And after more touring, the band decided it was time for another
album again.
In what was very much a live spirit, the elpee Rock And Roll Over was recorded
in New York. The album shipped Platinum when it was released in November of 1976 and
peaked at No. 11 in the U.S. charts, while Destroyer had gone Platinum too.
On the inside however, problems were growing more seriously. The band was changing
into two different camps (Paul/Gene versus Ace/Peter) more and more. Of course this
was kept a secret for the outside world and the band went out on yet another tour as
if nothing was wrong. Their popularity was still rising, and there was even talk of
a Marvel Comic totally dedicated to KISS. A tour of Japan was also being prepared. A
Boeing 747 was re-painted with the KISS logo and re-named the KISS Clipper Special.
In Japan, the band broke attendance records set by The Beatles in the
sixties. KISS had become even more popular in the far east! And still,
nobody knew what the band members looked like without their trademark
(the so called KISS Decision verdict) make-up...
Album number three, Dressed To Kill, was released in February of 1975
only one year after the debut elpee! Even more than the previous album, this one
seemed more of a Stanley/Simmons thing than a band effort. Judging by the song
selection at least: the only song not written/sung by Paul or Gene was Getaway,
written by Ace and sung by Peter. The album became KISS' first Top 40 elpee, peaking
at No. 32 in the U.S. charts. As a live act KISS was now beginning to become quite
legendary. But since the albums still didn't sell spectacularly, there was no money
for a new album. Luckily Eddie Kramer had recorded a few shows during the Dressed To
Kill Tour, so there was the opportunity to release a live album.
Alive! was released on September 10, 1975 and packed in a fold out cover with
all sorts of extras (such as a full color booklet): it was something of a gift to the
fans. The single Rock And Roll All Nite made it to the No. 12 spot in the U.S.
hitparade. According to more and more loyal KISS fans there still wasn't enough KISS
on the radio, so they started phoning and writing the radio stations. From then on the
DJ's and people in other media started referring to the fans as the KISS Army. Early
December the live album had sold 500.000 copies (Gold award) and it went on to peak
at No. 9 in the US charts (eventually selling over 4 million). In Atlanta, Georgia a
record store celebrated the Gold award by having the four band members print their
hand and feet in black cement, while the band name was spelled out in the sidewalk
with silver bricks.
Early January 1974 KISS re-opened the old Fillmore East in New York City,
while Paul (adviced by Neil Bogart) had changed his make up from the now well
known
star on his right eye to a bandit or Lone Ranger-type mask. After the show a huge
party was held for the press, because of the soon te be released debut album. The
record was mixed and pressed on February 1 and in stores less than three weeks later
(and would peak in the U.S. charts at No. 87). Meanwhile Paul, unhappy with his
new make up, changed it back to the star again. When the album came out on February
18, Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records & Filmworks threw a huge party in Los
Angeles at the Century Plaza Hotel where a big room was turned into a replica
of Rick's Cafe from the movie Casablanca. One day later KISS debuted
on television (on the U.S. TV show In Concert).
It was about time they went on a real tour, as so far they had only played in the
State of New York. So they went to Canada to play the entire debut elpee live, and
to treat the audience on some spectacular theatrics including exploding drumsticks
for Peter Criss (a very dangerous act, which they stopped doing after a drumroadie
had lost a hand). Their shows were full of high energy rock 'n' roll, bombs,
firebreathing, bloodspitting, levitating drums, explosions, burning guitars, and
so on. Soon bands began refusing to let KISS open for them, because after seeing
the spectacular live shows put on by KISS the audience wasn't interested in many
of the headlining acts anymore. In May a kiss-contest was held and to promote this
stunt, KISS covered a Bobby Rydell hit: Kissin' Time, which they had already
been playing during their live performances. As soon as radio stations started
playing this song, the record company decided to include this track on future
pressings of the first album (although the band didn't want it). Nowadays, the
original pressing without the cover song is very hard to find.
By September KISS started recording the second album, at the Village Recorder in
Los Angeles far away from home. They were put up in a hotel and getting
homesick, which inspired Ace and Paul to write a tune called Comin' Home.
The album, entitled Hotter Than Hell, saw the light of day in October of 1974.
Again, Paul and Gene had written and sung most of the songs that ended up on the
album. The band quickly started touring full speed again. One day during the tour
manager Bill Aucoin informed the band that the new elpee wasn't selling anymore,
sales of the album didn't even match those of the first album. There was no choice
but to return to New York and start working on the next album immediately. Still
low on budget KISS didn't have much time to record the album. They couldn't afford
to waste any time and being short of new material, they reworked two Wicked Lester
tracks: Love Her All I Can and She.
Around 1970 Gene Simmons (bass/vocals) and Paul Stanley (vocals/rhythm
guitar) - who had been playing together since the late sixties - formed a
band called Rainbow, but the band fell apart before they could record an
album. With their next band, a 5-piece group called Wicked Lester, they
recorded an album in 1972 that however never was officially released as
nobody thought it was any good. The album got shelved, and Gene and Paul
fired the other three musicians and started looking for new musicians. They
saw an advert in Rolling Stone magazine by a drummer "willing to do anything
to make it". A little later Peter Criss
joined the duo. They rehearsed for a few months, but Peter didn't see
any improvements and fell back in his old habit: drugs, trying to escape
from the world around him. At a certain point they came to the conclusion
that the thing that was lacking, was a lead guitarist. An advert was placed
in the Village Voice, in which they said they were looking for
a guitar player with flash and also claimed they had a recording deal.
Out of the many guitarists that auditioned, Ace Frehley
was chosen after Peter who really digged Ace from the moment he
walked in had been pushing for him. Ace, looking for a band doing
original material and also in need of a job, joined the band somewhere
in October of 1972.
It
was a time when New York City was the place to be, and the glam rock
(or shock rock as some people called it) scene was at its peak. British
acts such as David Bowie, T-Rex, Slade and The Sweet were the kings of
the genre, while in New York bands like the New York Dolls, the Harlots
of 42nd Street, Ruby And The Rednecks and Luger were trying to do the
same. In only a few weeks Gene and Paul came up with enough songs to
perform live. The foursome wanted to be the band that they had never
seen, combining heavy rock and theatrics. They decided to wear make-up,
extravagant costumes and high heel boots. So they experimented with
paint on their faces, and were tossing around ideas for the live show
as well as a name for the band. Because they played original material
(and they played it loud!) and looked so weird no club was interested
in booking them. Therefore they had to hire ballrooms themselves to
play live. They set up a packages including two other bands (local
bands that already had a following, so at least there would be fans of
those bands showing up they thought that stealing the audience
from those bands would be the fastest way to build their own
following). Then they would take care of the promotion themselves as
well, but made absolutely sure nobody would find out that they hung up
the posters themselves.
Ik ben jeroen en dit is mijn blog het is nog maar juist op het internet we zijn aan het werken voor een kiss-tribute pagina.
Ik zal me eerst effe voorstellen.
Ik heb veel hobby's mijn Muziek:Rock,Hard-Rock,Heavy-Metal...
gitaar spele:Ik heb een gibson les paul==>een echte geen kopie!!(foto's komen)
computer is ook een grote hobby
als je me nodig hebt hier is mijn e mail adres
ace.frehley@hotmail.com
Voor de rest wil ik jullie een fijne dag verder wensen.
Neen, uw blog moet niet dagelijks worden bijgewerkt. Het is gewoon zoals je het zélf wenst. Indien je geen tijd hebt om dit dagelijks te doen, maar bvb. enkele keren per week, is dit ook goed. Het is op jouw eigen tempo, met andere woorden: vele keren per dag mag dus ook zeker en vast, 1 keer per week ook.
Er hangt geen echte verplichting aan de regelmaat. Enkel is het zo hoe regelmatiger je het blog bijwerkt, hoe meer je bezoekers zullen terugkomen en hoe meer bezoekers je krijgt uiteraard.
Het maken van een blog en het onderhouden is eenvoudig. Hier wordt uitgelegd hoe u dit dient te doen.
Als eerste dient u een blog aan te maken- dit kan sinds 2023 niet meer.
Op die pagina dient u enkele gegevens in te geven. Dit duurt nog geen minuut om dit in te geven. Druk vervolgens op "Volgende pagina".
Nu is uw blog bijna aangemaakt. Ga nu naar uw e-mail en wacht totdat u van Bloggen.be een e-mailtje heeft ontvangen. In dat e-mailtje dient u op het unieke internetadres te klikken.
Ik ben Jeroen, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Ace_Frehley.
Ik ben een man en woon in Gijzegem (België) en mijn beroep is Niks.
Ik ben geboren op 05/02/1992 en ben nu dus 33 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Muziek en al:).
Alive! was released on September 10, 1975 and packed in a fold out cover with
all sorts of extras (such as a full color booklet): it was something of a gift to the
fans. The single Rock And Roll All Nite made it to the No. 12 spot in the U.S.
hitparade. According to more and more loyal KISS fans there still wasn't enough KISS
on the radio, so they started phoning and writing the radio stations. From then on the
DJ's and people in other media started referring to the fans as the KISS Army. Early
December the live album had sold 500.000 copies (Gold award) and it went on to peak
at No. 9 in the US charts (eventually selling over 4 million). In Atlanta, Georgia a
record store celebrated the Gold award by having the four band members print their
hand and feet in black cement, while the band name was spelled out in the sidewalk
with silver bricks.
