judging by his comments posted in reply to the last entry, dan's knowledge of kisstory is indeed far more extensive than my own. furthermore, it appears that dan has attended at least one kiss concert (which year?) which is more than i can say for myself.
i remember when they visited australia (for the first time, perhaps??) in 1980. their brisbane gig was at the illustrious lang park. admission prcie was i believe $17.50. i didn't go; i was nine years old and lived hundreds of kilometres away. i had to settle with recruitment as a foot-soldier into the kiss army (for $7.50) which brought with it a swanky dossier with numerous kiss pictures/postcards and stickers and the like. there were also many buble-gum cards, posters, dolls and the like (not included in the kiss army membership package) with which i could occupy my time. i believe that eric carr toured then, in his first year with the band. (did the fox smell his own scent?)
all the publicity associated with kiss' 1980 australian tour did bring some form of minor benefit or relief for myself. this was a time when rumours were rife that kiss were at the vanguard of a rapidly-growing satanic cult, or similar. everyone was saying that the band's name was an acronym for 'knights in satan's service', etc. (there was also the rumour that gene had had a cow's tongue sown into his mouth, but that was somewhat less beleivable or disconcerting, at least for parents.) my own mother was, quite predictably, somewhat concerned about my growing fascination with kiss. perhaps she was afraid i might sacrifice the family cat late one night in the middle of a five-pointed star drawn on my bedroom floor and ringed by candles. in any case, it seems that a kiss appearance on a daytime tv show allayed my mother's fears, at least to some degree. one of the band memebers, almost certainly gene or paul, evidently denied the satan-related rumours and said that instead they were aiming at superhero status in the eyes of the kids. fair enough - harmless fun, thought the parents.
if i had known back then that you could get kiss comics printed in red ink which contained, allegedly, portions of kiss band members' blood, i would have been throwing money over the newsagent counter quicker than you can say 'you're good looking and you're looking like your pretty good' (from 'come on and love me').
~
i remember when they visited australia (for the first time, perhaps??) in 1980. their brisbane gig was at the illustrious lang park. admission prcie was i believe $17.50. i didn't go; i was nine years old and lived hundreds of kilometres away. i had to settle with recruitment as a foot-soldier into the kiss army (for $7.50) which brought with it a swanky dossier with numerous kiss pictures/postcards and stickers and the like. there were also many buble-gum cards, posters, dolls and the like (not included in the kiss army membership package) with which i could occupy my time. i believe that eric carr toured then, in his first year with the band. (did the fox smell his own scent?)
all the publicity associated with kiss' 1980 australian tour did bring some form of minor benefit or relief for myself. this was a time when rumours were rife that kiss were at the vanguard of a rapidly-growing satanic cult, or similar. everyone was saying that the band's name was an acronym for 'knights in satan's service', etc. (there was also the rumour that gene had had a cow's tongue sown into his mouth, but that was somewhat less beleivable or disconcerting, at least for parents.) my own mother was, quite predictably, somewhat concerned about my growing fascination with kiss. perhaps she was afraid i might sacrifice the family cat late one night in the middle of a five-pointed star drawn on my bedroom floor and ringed by candles. in any case, it seems that a kiss appearance on a daytime tv show allayed my mother's fears, at least to some degree. one of the band memebers, almost certainly gene or paul, evidently denied the satan-related rumours and said that instead they were aiming at superhero status in the eyes of the kids. fair enough - harmless fun, thought the parents.
if i had known back then that you could get kiss comics printed in red ink which contained, allegedly, portions of kiss band members' blood, i would have been throwing money over the newsagent counter quicker than you can say 'you're good looking and you're looking like your pretty good' (from 'come on and love me').
~
posted by fergal at 7:34 PM
2 Comments:
A wave of KISS hysteria swept Rangeville State School in 1980. I was in grade four. I believed the rumours about Gene's tongue being surgically lengthened. All the cool kids said they were going to the KISS concert.
The Monday after the big event, someone produced a photocopied piece of paper which was alleged to have been a first-generation copy of a napkin which the members of KISS had signed. I was pretty impressed.
Strangely enough, (given they were nine, and living in Toowoomba) few of my peers were, in the end, able to boast they attended. I remember a friend whose big brother went, and said there were poos on the seats. On the television news that night, the concert was reputedly as loud as a 747 on takeoff!
I did not join the KISS Army, but I knew kids who did. I visited the house in Honour Street in 1995, I believe, and was shown all the KISS ephemeral, beautifully preserved in plastic. The KISS dolls are the best.
i must take a photo of the dolls (& perhaps their boxes) just for you guys, to thank you for you reflections.
at $4.95 plus gst and postage & handling, this will be great value; plus for no extra charge you will get a photo of the kiss towel!
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