Love ‘em, hate ‘em. You either get them or you don’t. The founding members of the ionic rock group KIss once said, “We always wanted to be the band we never got to see,”
In their day, music was undergoing a transformation after America was hit by Beatlemania. The emergence of the early seventies ushered in a new trend in bands, particularly bands willing to push the envelope with onstage antics not seen since The Who destroyed their instruments, yet even they would be a spring board and another group would take it another extreme.
Out on the east coast in New York, a budding soon-to-be rock band rehearsed tirelessly to perfect their sound, but they needed a gimmick and their image had to hit audiences so hard and fast with a barrage of pyrotechnics, smoke, and loud music that they wouldn’t forget them.
Kiss evoked all kinds of imagery from sensual to strange I’m sure. Their name had the potential for being rough, yet there was a feminine ring to their name that also created some confusion for the next generation who didn’t know who Kiss were by the eighties. Kiss‘ first self-titled album was released in 1974, shipped coast to coast and airplay on the radio was almost nil in the beginning.
Promotion in these days was by word of mouth, appearing live on TV for The Midnight Special, ABC’s In Concert, even doing a few talk shows that made ultra-straight laced daytime audiences shake their heads in dismay, rose eyebrows, and made people wonder, Who was Kiss? They gained a widespread reputation for not being photographed without their signature makeup. Thus fueling the mystery and allure behind their real identities.
Until the seventies, no band wore Kabuki-like grease paint on their faces or took the stage personas as a Star child, a demon, a cat, and a space alien while playing rock music with a knack for shocking theatrics. Blood spitting, fire breathing onstage displays were just part of the show. The other part was their energetic music and musical chemistry. Clad in leather studded costumes and high heel platform boots, this dynamic foursome became a hit by 1975 and saw their rise to fame.
What set Kiss apart was their look. It was very mysterious and shocking (for the day). This was not your great grandmother’s music and the rock group definitely gained a reputation that catapulted them into infamy made famous by their excesses and rumors about them flourished like wildfire.
Their fan club was known as the KISS Army. Actually, the original “KA” was started by a young fan Bill Starkey, who demanded airplay for Kiss in Terre Haute, Indiana back in ’75. The local radio station refused to play Kiss. With the help of his friends, they went on a letter writing campaign to their local radio station, called the d.j.’s until finally, the station manager gave in and let Bill Starkey bring his albums to the station to be played on the air. Thus Bill Starkey and his friend, Jay Evans went down in this rock band’s history as being the start of their fan club. The first KISS Army membership to be mass-marketed was trademarked and distributed by Boutwell Enterprises in agreement with Aucoin management. Kiss’ first manager, the late Bill Aucoin.
The Kiss Army seemed to quietly disappear even though the band was still active by the tale end of the eighties. By that time though the Kiss Army (as I heard about it) was pretty much non-existent. The days of sending off a five dollar money order and getting an envelope stuffed with fan club information, photos, certificate, iron-on, and folder were long gone. To Be Continued…