The KISSFAQ - June '07 News

This "News" page generally only relates to matters of interest to the KISSFAQ. There's no need to replicate news that can be seen on other KISS websites. If you use information appearing on this or any other KISSFAQ page, in print (fanzines) or online (directly quoted or rewritten), please have the courtesy to say where it came from. If printing in fanzines, I'd love a copy sent to the KISSFAQ PO Box. Should you want official announcements please visit the band's official website at: KISSONLINE.COM.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 5:33:23 AM - 10 Questions For... Peter Criss

(From Goldmine Magazine - Susan Sliwicki) "There’s so much more to Peter “The Catman” Criss than the layer of black and white stage makeup that he wore as the drummer and a founding member of the legendary rock band KISS. He hates it when people make illegal music downloads, because it’s stealing. He’s a voracious reader who loves to read about the theater, history, music and biographies — especially the success stories. He’s an aspiring author who is writing his own book. He’s an actor, probably best known for his role on the HBO prison drama “Oz.”

And then, of course, there is Peter’s life’s passion: music. He loves to make “records” (he’s old school, after all). His latest record, One for All, drops July 26 on Silvercat Records. Goldmine caught up with Peter to find out more about his experience producing One for All, why he chose to be “The Catman,” which KISS collectibles are his favorites and what his musical future holds.

Goldmine: So, tell me about your new album.
Peter Criss: I’m very excited about it, because I haven’t done a solo project since oh, maybe 12 years ago when the band got back to play. It’s really kind of an autobiographical CD. It’s about me and kind of what’s going on in my life and life in general — the goods, the bads, the loss and the gains, the loves you lose and the loves you get. I got to write some songs for the fans, who have given me the most wonderful damn life, as Jimmy Stewart would say. I have everything a guy could want today. The dream I once had has now been a reality for years. If not for the fans, I would not be here. I got to really write some great songs from the heart for them..."

Read the whole feature, HERE.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 5:33:23 AM - LIVE TO DREAM!

(From Film Foetus) "LIVE TO DREAM! is an insider’s glimpse into the creative process of Paul Stanley and his concert film titled “Live to Win Live” which was directed by filmmaker Louis Antonelli. The cameras shadow Antonelli as he works behind the scenes to capture Stanley’s solo performance in Chicago. Stanley’s back-up band for the tour is the House Band featured on CBS TV’s Rock Star.

LIVE TO DREAM! features interviews with Paul Stanley, Louis Antonelli, Manager Doc McGhee, band members Jimmy McGorman, Rafael Moreira and Nate Morton, as well as a dozen fans from the Chicago show.

View the video clip, HERE

Directed By - D.P. Carlson
Produced, Shot & Edited By - D.P. Carlson & Mike Weber
On-Screen Graphics Design & Animation - Brian Kobeluch
LA Crew - Sean McKinney

Monday, June 25, 2007 4:40:19 AM - KISSology Vol. 2 Available For Pre-Order

KISSology Vol. 2 is available for pre-order, via Amazon.com, HERE.

Thursday, June 21, 2007 6:22:29 PM - KISSology Vol. 2 Sell Sheet

(Thanks KISSMAD)

Click on pictures for full size.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 7:21:33 PM - Tribute Album Cover Artist Wanted!

(via Blabbermouth) "Versailles Records is seeking submissions from KISS fans for original album cover designs for the label's forthcoming "Lick It Up: A Millennium Tribute to Kiss", due in the spring of 2008. Any submissions should be e-mailed in JPEG (300 DPI) format to Versaillesrecords2006@yahoo.com. A final decision on the official album cover selection will be made in September 2007."

KISSFAQ Says: Versailles Records have also just released Chris Catena's "Booze, Brawds and Rockin' Hard" album, which includes the Bruce Kulick involved tracks "Freak Out Tonight" and "Stronger You Are, The Harder You Fall." The album appears to be a mix of previously released Catena material plus live and additional tracks.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 2:54:23 PM - Happy Birthday, KissHQ!

The KISS Army HQ celebrates its first birthday today. Check 'em out, HERE...

Saturday, June 16, 2007 10:39:17 AM - Peter Criss "One For All"...

Click on cover to preorder from Amazon.

Amazon is currently listing Peter Criss' "One For All" available for pre-order with the following track-list:

1. One For All
2. Doesn't Get Better Than This
3. Last Night
4. What A Difference A Day Makes
5. Hope
6. Faces In The Crowd
7. Send In The Clowns
8. Falling All Over Again
9. Whisper
10. Heart Behind These Hands
11. Memories
12. Space Ace

Due for release on July 24, "One For All" will mark Peter's first solo release since 1994's "Cat #1." "Hope" was a song that Peter brought to the "Psycho Circus" album sessions in 1998, though it was rejected. According to co-writer Mike McLaughlin, "I originally wrote the music back in around '97 and sent it to Peter, and he liked it and wrote the melody and lyrics. We went in an recorded it with the intention of using it for the 'Psycho Circus' album. But the rest of the band rejected it. Peter and I were both really bummed cause we both loved this song, so it just seemed natural to bring this one back for the new CD" (JG). Peter considered the song to be an excellent piece of work, naturally a ballad, which was written in a similar vein to the song Bob Ezrin and Paul Stanley eventually gave him to sing. As the title implies, the song was about Peter facing the numerous challenges in his life in a positive manner...

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 1:45:31 PM - Ace Frehley Archives website updates...

Bill Baker's Ace Frehley Archive's website has been updated with some great new photos of Ace & his Memorabilia. 35 new pictures have just been uploaded to the Archive with various live shots of Ace without make-up - throughout the KISS era, Frehley's Comet & Ace's solo career in the 90s. The Memorabilia page has been updated with various Ace memorabilia photos.

New videos are up on the Archive! - Check out the making of 'Do Ya' and Ace live at the 'Cat Club' NY, September 24th 1986. Bill's review and photos from the the '21st Annual NY Kiss Expo' is also online.

Monday, June 11, 2007 4:55:12 AM - Paul Stanley "Live To Win" DVD Preview @ St. Louis KISS Expo!

(From KISS Army Warehouse) "Paul Stanley has authorized a special sneak peak of his upcoming LIVE TO WIN Concert DVD! "I'm really proud of this film and there's no reason to wait for the DVD release to share it with the fans," Paul stated. “Everyone at KISS Expo are in for a treat that will leave them wanting and waiting for more." Director Louis Antonelli has put together a wonderful 30 minute piece including a trailer from Paul's Chicago House of Blues Show. Antonelli will be on hand to intro the film and will hold a Q & A directly after the screening.

The St. Louis KISS Expo will be a special tribute to Mark St. John. Special guests include Bruce Kulick (KISS, Grand Funk Railroad and ESP) and KISS Army Founder Bill Starkey. Bruce and Bill will be answering questions and will be available for autographs and photos.

The 2007 St. Louis KISS Expo will be held Sunday June 24th from 1:00PM to 8:00PM (12:00PM for VIP holders)
Holiday Inn Southwest & Viking Conference Center
10709 Watson Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63127
For hotel rooms - call 1-800-682-6338
Ask for the KISS Expo rate!

Children 12 and under get in free! KISS merchandise and collectibles will be on sale throughout the day. There will be giveaways and contests too. This is the first KISS Expo ever in St. Louis, so let’s make it awesome!

VIP ticket holders will be able to get in one hour early (12pm) and get a FREE Mark St. John collectible. The first 250 people to pay for their VIP tickets will receive a special Mark St. John VIP laminate, so order your’s early! VIP tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Regular admission is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets will start being mailed out 4/23/07.

For vendor information contact us at: sstierwalt@getalifeinc.com
For more info keep checking in at KISS Army Warehouse for details.

Sunday, June 10, 2007 4:27:00 PM - KISS add San Jacinto Summer date...

(From KISS Online) KISS will perform Friday July 27 at the Soboba Casino Arena in San Jacinto, California. Tickets for the show go on sale at 10 am (Pacific Time) Monday June 11 at the Soboba box office or Ticketmaster. Ticket prices range from $50 - $150 for the 8 PM show. Soboba Arena is adjacent to the Casino, and is an all ages venue. To purchase tickets for KISS (starting Monday June 11) click here or call the Soboba box office at 951-665-1311.

Sunday, June 10, 2007 4:27:00 PM - Wicked Lester Keyboard Player Retires...

(From KACX - Kate Dufy, Swanton, Vermont - June 6, 2007) "A noteworthy concert was held Wednesday night at Missisquoi Valley Union High School. It's the final performance for band director Brooke Ostrander, who is retiring after 23 years at the school. "It's such a legacy he's leaving behind," said senior Annie Hartman, who plays the flute. "He's just such a creative, outstanding person."

"He just had this driving effect with all his students -- not just one student but all of them," said former student Armand Messier, who is now the band director at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans. "He inspired us to do our best and put good music out." Ostrander was in a rock band back in the early 1970s, but quit to return to his first love: teaching. He went on to teach hundreds of kids in New Jersey, Kansas, Montana and Vermont. The band went on to become KISS.

"You wouldn't be able to tell he was a member of KISS," joked senior Wesley Kempton, who plays the French horn. "He's really dulled down a little, I guess would be the best way to say it." "That's a way to meet people, to say my band teacher was in KISS," he added. Long before the iconic KISS makeup, the band was incarnated as Wicked Lester, headed by famed frontman Gene Simmons and a young Brooke Ostrander. Life as a rock star seems a galaxy away from teaching in small town Vermont. But Ostrander said he has no regrets. "I think about it," he said. "People have asked if I regretted leaving, and I haven't, other than the fact that every now and then ... I think it would be nice to have $30 million in the bank. But other than that, I think I made the right decision when I did."

His own two kids were proud to have him as their favorite teacher, as well as their dad. They surprised him by inviting dozens of his former students to return for "Mr. O's" final concert. "It's been so emotional for us to hear how many people were affected by our father," Katy Ostrander said. Some of Ostrander's former students have even become music teachers themselves. That legacy -- a love of music that has endured long after that good-bye "kiss" decades ago.

KISSFAQ Says: Brooke was never a member of KISS, but he was a member of Rainbow, the band that became Wicked Lester. More importantly, before either band, he helped young Gene Simmons record some of his first demos and played piano on some...

Wednesday, June 06, 2007 6:35:51 AM - "KISSology Vol. II" DVD Cover?

KISS fan Joe took these pictures of a promo for the "KISSology Vol. II" DVD at the In-Motion store on Concourse B at Chicago's O'HAre International Airport. No "official" details concerning the DVD are listed or currently known for sure, nor is it known whether this is the final cover. Thanks Joe.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007 6:35:51 AM - Another Gene Simmons book on the horizon?

We all know what happened, or more precisely what did not happen (YET), with a proposed Gene Simmons book, titled "History of Prostitution: A Historical and Personal Perspective of the First and Oldest Profession." Now Phoenix books is listing for possible release in November 2007, "Gene Simmons' the Art of War" (ISBN-13: 978-1597775564). According to PR, this 208 page work, is a "modern updating, by the current King of Rock and Roll, of the work widely regarded as 'The Oldest Military Treatise in the World.' This revision of the landmark work brings a present-day focus to the principles of strategy, tactics, maneuvering, communication, and supplies discussed in Sun Tzu's classic." That classic Chinese military strategy & international relations treatise was written around 510BC and has been influentional accross the millenia. Read more about Sun Tzu, HERE. Whether this work keeps to schedule is another matter. Pre-order the book via Amazon. You can also still pre-order "History of Prostitution" with a suggested publication date of October 2007, HERE.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007 7:32:20 AM - Third Season of "Family Jewels"...

(From: washingtontimes.com/) "A&E has said yes to a third season of "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels," upping its order to 24 half-hour episodes from last season's 20 installments. According to Variety, the decision was an easy one: "Jewels" is A&E's second-highest-rated series ever in the 18-to-49 and 25-to-54 adult demographics, behind only "Dog the Bounty Hunter." "Jewels" did even better in its second season than in its first, leaping by 15 percent in total viewers to a 1.5 million average and climbing by 11 percent in adults 18 to 49 and by 8 percent in adults 25 to 54.

A&E's relationship with Mr. Simmons started with a one-shot "Biography" hour of the rock legend and Kiss frontman. That "Biography" episode scored so well in the Nielsens that A&E negotiated with Mr. Simmons and "Jewels' " executive producer Leslie Grief to create a 13-episode weekly half-hour series that would delve into the rock star's life with his common-law partner, former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed, and their teenage son and daughter.

Unlike the stars of MTV's "The Osbournes," the model for reality shows built around a dysfunctional rock performer and his family, Mr. Simmons and his household "are highly functional, intelligent and witty," says Rob Sharenow, senior vice president of nonfiction and alternative programming for A&E and a co-executive producer of "Jewels." "They're in constant motion, and Gene is always working on dozens of projects. It's more like a scripted series than a reality show," Mr. Sharenow told Variety.

While reruns of "CSI Miami" and "The Sopranos" are harvesting lots of viewers for A&E, "Jewels" is one of the weekly first-run series that have propelled A&E into the ranks of the 10 highest-rated cable networks. The others are "Dog the Bounty Hunter," "The First 48," "Intervention" and "Criss Angel: Mindfreak." During the first quarter, A&E shot up by 54 percent in total viewers and more than 40 percent in the three key adult demos (18 to 49, 25 to 54 and 18 to 34), Variety said."

Tuesday, June 05, 2007 4:56:34 AM - "One For All" Album Cover...

(From: http://www.petercriss.net/)

The album cover for Peter Criss' "One For All"...

Monday, June 04, 2007 1:19:55 PM - Sydney '80 confirmed for KISSology Volume II...

(From: http://www.getalifeinc.com/) (File under anything can still change!) "We have just added a special surprise from VH1 Classic and KISS Catalogue Ltd. a special screening of the Sydney, Australia 11/22/80 show. This special DVD is part of the upcoming release of KISSology 2 DVD Set which will be released in the fall of 2007. The Sydney show will feature digitally restored video and 5.1 audio mix to stunning sound and picture quality on a 9 foot screen! Relive this fantastic moment in KISStory as KISSteria takes over the Inner Sanctum! Track list includes the following: Detroit Rock City, Cold Gin, Strutter, Shandi, Calling Dr. Love, Firehouse, Talk To Me, Is That You, I Was Made For Lovin' You, Love Gun, Rock And Roll All Nite and Black Diamond." Lucky those who'll be attending the St. Louis KISS Expo on June 24, 2007!

Additionally, Bruce Kulick recently told Jim Ousley in an interview: "I do have some news on the upcoming KISSology 2 DVD; it's really going to be incredible. I recently got a sneak preview of some of it. A couple of the guys from MTV came over and I recorded a commentary track for a couple of the concerts that I appeared on. The first KISSology went from 1974 to 1977. KISSology 2 picks up in 1978 and goes to 1995 for the reunion. So basically it starts on the solo records, and goes into the Vinnie Vincent era, taking off the makeup, then on to the time I joined the band. Some of the concerts featured are from the Creatures of the Night tour and the Hot in the Shade tour, and they're really well shot. So much better than the bootlegs out there."

There's also some unconfirmed suggestion that there will be bonus discs with this set leading to all sorts of possibilities for partial shows! Time will tell...

Monday, June 04, 2007 1:19:55 PM - Early Bruce Kulick material surfaces...

(From: http://www.livecream.net/) Before touring with Andrea True, Meat Loaf, or recording with Michael Wendroff or Blackjack, Bruce Kulick was a member of KKB, comprising of Mike Katz (Bass, Vocals), Bruce on, well duh, guitar, and drummer Guy Bois. Out of a Cream-meets-Yes power-trio mould, the band recorded some material that hasn't surfaced until now!

Bruce recalls the band/material: "There was a guy in Queens were I grew up who was a big Jack Bruce fan. He wrote some original material and was quite creative a bit progressive actually. Kind of Yes-meets-Cream. We were just a trio and our drummer was named Guy. We did do originals. I wrote one song that I co-wrote with him and I do have the tape of that. It was very interesting material and some of the songs would even hold up today. It never went anywhere and we never even gigged. We rehearsed really hard and when we recorded it we never used over dubs. We just went live in a room. We didn't even have a name for the band it was just me, Guy and Mike Katz. I gotta find those tapes. I remember one time when I was touring with KISS, I heard from Mike, and I pulled the tape out for Gary Corbett. He said yeah this stuff is cool. This tape was done in the very early seventies and it’s still really cool."

You can hear samples of two songs, No, Never and Hold On Me, at http://www.livecream.net/.

A CD featuring this material is expected to be released soon via Bruce's website...

Wednesday, May 30, 2007 8:21:54 AM - KISS Song on new compilation...

"Rock And Roll All Nite" is included on the "Best Of The '70s" compilation released by Madacy on May 22. Other artists include Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Free, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Goldern Earing, and more... The song was also included on the American Beat compilation "Hard Rockin' 70's Vol. 1" released in March.