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 every other KISS website. Should you want official announcements please visit the band's official website at: KISSONLINE.COM. 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.

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Monday, September 30, 2002 9:31:16 AM - An insanely odd, but possibly cool rumor...
MelodicRock.com is reporting that KISS will be playing Australia in March 2003 for a one-off concert at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium. The strange part is that the band will allegedly feature KISS playing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (can anyone say Metallica or Deep Purple), who will be all wearing Kiss make-up. Apparently the show will be filmed and recorded for DVD & CD releases. Even more interesting is that allegedly Peter Criss has been signed to do the show. There is no word on Ace Frehley participating. AS USUAL, THIS SHOULD BE TREATED AS A COMPLETELY WILD AND UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMOR UNTIL CONFIRMED/DENIED BY THE BAND'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE AT KISSONLINE... «Post A Comment»


Saturday, September 28, 2002 1:05:57 PM - Gene & Paul Recently...
Paul Stanley attended "Jaguar's Tribute to Style on Rodeo Drive" Benefit in Beverly Hills on September 23rd, while Gene Simmons with son Nicholas attended the premiere of "The Tuxedo", with a copy of Tongue #2 in hand, at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on the 19th... «Post A Comment»


Friday, September 27, 2002 2:10:42 PM - Vinnie's "Warrior" Demo Samples...
New awesome SQ samples of Vinnie's Warrior demos added to the audio page. Too bad I killed Song Of The Moment, eh... «Post A Comment»


Thursday, September 26, 2002 3:34:12 PM - "That 70's Show" KISS Billboard...

This billboard seems to have just gone up since I haven't noticed it all week at 17th/Geary in San Francisco... «Post A Comment»


Thursday, September 26, 2002 5:15:08 AM - Los Angeles KISS Expo...
Attempts are underway to put an Expo together for the West Coast, in Los Angeles. Doncha think the Midwest and East Coast get enough of these great fan gatherings? No date has been set, but you can check out the progress and news at KISS Expo Los Angeles... «Post A Comment»


Thursday, September 26, 2002 5:15:08 AM - Gene song on Jesse Damon album...
Jesse Damon, of Silent Rage, is releasing a solo album, "The Hand That Rocks" on Fire Records (OF 115280-2) in November. It will include the Gene Simmons co-written song "Everybody Needs Somebody"... «Post A Comment»


Thursday, September 26, 2002 5:15:08 AM - Live In Vegas DVD - Not Stopped yet!
While Gene has suggested that the people behind the "Live In Las Vegas" DVD have been stopped and punished, the DVD is set for release in Japan on November 21. It will apparently include a sticker... «Post A Comment»


Thursday, September 26, 2002 5:15:08 AM - Eric Singer and upcoming Alice Cooper Tour
Eric Singer will be behind the drum kit for the upcoming Alice Cooper tour of the US and Europe. Full lineup will be: Alice, Eric, Teddy Andreadis, Pete Friesen, Eric Dover, Calico Cooper, and Chuck Wright... «Post A Comment»


Tuesday, September 17, 2002 7:35:13 AM - Ace to play "Rocktoberfest"...
I've spoken with the organizers and confirmed that Ace is scheduled to appear on the lineup of bands playing the Rocktoberfest on Saturday, October 19th, 2002. The festival will run 11:00 am - 11:00pm at FANTASY OF FLIGHT at 1400 Broadway Blvd. Polk City, FL 33868. Tickets are available through Pollstar. Other bands on the lineup include David Lee Roth, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, Joan Jett, Vince Neil, Warrant, Firehouse, Quiet Riot, and Dokken. Be warned, I guess things can change. Confirm for yoursellf that the Ace Frehley Band is really playing... «Post A Comment»


Monday, September 16, 2002 8:50:42 PM - More New Samples Added To Audio Page...
Can't believe I skipped over these... Gene demos 1982-5, usually referred to as "The Asylum Demos" added to the audio page... «Post A Comment»


Saturday, September 14, 2002 7:11:35 AM - New Samples Added To Audio Page...
I've added samples of the 10 Gene Simmons produced Van Halen demos, and two pre-Chelsea Mike Brand/Pete Shepley songs, to the audio page. Enjoy... «Post A Comment»


Thursday, September 12, 2002 8:06:27 AM - "The Very Best Of KISS" drops out of Top-100...
In its second week of release, "The Very Best Of KISS" dropped out of the top-100 on the US charts... «Post A Comment»


Wednesday, September 11, 2002 3:34:27 PM - Last 5 copies of the KISS Album Focus Book...
Down to the last 5, copies #491-494, and #500, the only copy from the print run with a manufacturing fault which is currently up on Ebay. All of these final copies come with the printed Corrigendum (post-publication corrections), the printed "Universal Disaster - The Very Best Of KISS" additional chapter (which brings the story of the band up to the end of August 2002), and are personalized to the buyer and autographed. If you want one, Email me including your country for the calculation of postage... «Post A Comment»


Wednesday, September 11, 2002 3:34:27 PM - Sneak Preview from "KISS Alive Forever"...
KISSASYLUM has added a sneak-preview of the Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs book KISS Alive Forever's Chapter 2 (The Clubs) which is well worth checking out for those drooling over the prospect of the publication of this book. Read more, HERE... «Post A Comment»


Wednesday, September 11, 2002 3:34:27 PM - KISS Alumni on Pink Floyd Tribute...
Eric Singer, Bob and Bruce Kulick turn up on "A Tribute To Pink Floyd" due for release in November... «Post A Comment»


Wednesday, September 11, 2002 3:34:27 PM - Eric on semi-new Alice Cooper release?
Due September 24th, a special edition of Alice Cooper's "Dragontown" will be released in a 2 CD format. The first CD is the album, the second includes "Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me" (Studio Bonus Track), "Go To Hell" (Live 2000), "Ballad Of Dwight Fry" (Live 2000), "Brutal Planet 2002 Descent Mix", some of which may feature Eric on drums... «Post A Comment»


Wednesday, September 11, 2002 3:34:27 PM - Scream MP3...
The Scream, which featured (ex?) Union vocalist John Corabi have all of their recorded material online, including the second, unreleased album, "Taking It To The Limit", HERE... «Post A Comment»


Tuesday, September 10, 2002 9:07:37 AM - New FAQ Article: Pre-Chelsea History...
Wanna know some of the history of the member's of Chelsea, prior to the band's formation in 1969? I've uploaded the first draft of an article, which covers the core relationship of Mike Brand and Peter Shepley, HERE... «Post A Comment»


Monday, September 09, 2002 10:48:45 AM - "KISS Alive Forever" Book Update...
Due to overwhelming demand, Billboard Books is rush releasing their newest title, the 288-page, KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. The book will now be released on Tuesday, October 1, a full three weeks ahead of schedule.

Seven years in the making, KISS Alive Forever was written by authors Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs and the book has nearly sold out it's entire first print run in advance—a true rarity for first time authors. Anyone wishing to read several excerpts from KISS Alive Forever may do so at the book's official Web site: www.kissaliveforever.com

KISS Alive Forever is already getting rave reviews and was recently one of only two books included in a New York Post's "Things That Are IN This Fall" piece.

The KISSFAQ would like to add - this book is definately a "MUST OWN", for the detail and data which is covered is staggering!


«Post A Comment»


Sunday, September 08, 2002 7:18:20 PM - Website issues recently...
Apologies for the disruptions to the site recently - the KISSFAQ has been moving to a new website hosting company. The message board and guestbook will return in due course. The "Song Of The Moment" won't be returing since it's become too much of a bandwith hog... «Post A Comment»


Saturday, September 07, 2002 4:23:55 PM - KISS on Rockline 9/4 precis...
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley appeared on the rock radio show "Rockline" on September 4th to promote the release of "The Very Best Of KISS". Few reports of this event's details have been available online, so far, so here's a precis of what was said during the event, with some paraphrasing since I'm not about to transcrible the whole thing. Should you want to, you can access Rockline's archive, for a small charge, and listen to the full show, HERE.

The show started off with the usual merchandising blurbs, notably Paul's new condom and Gene's Tongue magazine. Hmm, Paul talks about the infamous Creem "Unmasked" photo shoot and how the band were tricked into being photographed without makeup... Gene, "people so caught up in the mystique and magic", as the reason they hid their identities...

Vintage shows to be released on DVD? We guard them and treasure them, but are trying to come up with a way of releasing them rather than releasing whole shows, such as a "Greatest Hits Live"...

Plans for the 30th Anniversay of KISS? Paul - it's something worth celebrating...

Favorite piece of merchandise? Gene - nothing like seeing someone walk down the street wearing a KISS T-shirt...

Paul played a bit a Byrd's song on an acoustic (he play bits and pieces of other songs during the show)... Paul talked about his writing of "God Of Thunder". How it was about him and Bob Ezrin was there to tell them what to do and referee arguments during the recording sessions. After playing it to Bob he said it was great and Gene was going to sing it!

Gene talked about the three versions of the box set... 1-866-KISSBOX

Robert Plant recorded a question for them with the theme: Plaster Caster... "Little Rock" Connie was a "friend to all"... More about the history of Plaster Caster and where the theme came from... Talked about groupies a bit...

Why didn't "Dontcha Hesitate" appear on "Dressed To Kill"... We had so many songs by that time... It sounded like another song...

How did they get involved in "That 70's Show"? Paul - we'll try anything once. It came at an interesting time for us. Paul then talked about the Dick Clark special...

What won't you endorse? (Gene) Cigarettes... I don't think we associate ourselves with anything hardcore (Gene). Paul talked about the responsibility of artists not to misrepresent themseleves because of being an influence on the young...

How did you manage to hook up with Eric Carr when Peter quit... yawn. Paul went off on a tangent about the band being bigger than any one individual, etc., and the story of the auditions which resulted in Paul Caravello joining... He was instrumental in keeping the band moving forward. He sometimes believed in the band more than we (G&P) did...

What's your current relationship with Ace and Peter. Gene - we're a family, yadda yadda yadda. If you're not up to the challenge, you're not playing, but you're not necessarily off the team. Paul - Peter called me last week. There's a relationship there that can't break. There's always the possibility that we'll play together or spend time together... We did some of our best shows with Ace and Eric Singer in Japan and Australia. The idea of KISS is bigger than any one of us. Paul - Tommy Thayer is a great guy and in the other room, but Tommy's not in the band. He's been a great help to the band, he sat with Ace to help him remember his parts. And helped Peter relearn his parts... Paul - We asked Ace many many times to appear on the Dick Clark show but he said no...

What subjects did Gene teach in school? Gene talked about the sort of school it was, and how there was a little of everything...

What was the meaning behind "Goin' Blind"? How it started as "Little Lady" and how he stole a bass riff from Mountain and a how Paul came up with "I'm 93 and you're 16"... Paul - the more you know about music, the more you can bring to the music you do...

Paul played a bit of "It Don't Come Easy" and "Badge" with some technical issues... Paul: A poor workman blames his tools; Gene: But you're not poor...

What is Paul going to be doing after its all said and done? Right now it's all KISS, but in the future there may be Broadway, plays, solo records, tours...

Paul played a very bit of "Let It Rain"...

Gene justifies the release of another compilation and how fans may have just gotten into the band and how the new compilation represents 30 years. This went into setlists and why they don't really change the sets...

What did John Edwards have to say to Gene? It didn't go very well (the show) and Gene was very obviously skeptical (Ed. bet his appearance gets cut)...

If you tour again would you be into allowing the fans to have some say in chosing the set list? We tried something like that once (Ed. remember the KISSONLINE voting prior to the FAREWELL tour), but the diehards wanted to here the obscure songs that 99% of people at the concerts wouldn't necessarily want to hear. We can't be playing Just A Boy, Great Expectations (Gene guffaws that it's a great song), or The Oath 'cause most of the audience wouldn't know them...

It was a great thing to have Ace and Peter playing non-makeup songs on the Farewell Tour. We have to give the whole audience the best show we can but can't cater to a minority... (Ed. BUGGER!)

Anything new? Paul "we're looking at each other and thinking, what now"! We're looking at all the options. Gene - Now we're going to go on a welfare tour...

All in all it was a pretty good show. The songs played from the new compilation were pretty predictable including "Rock And Roll All Nite", "I Was Made For Lovin' You", "Shout It Out Loud", "Strutter", "Deuce", "New York Groove", "I Stole Your Love", and "Love Gun". However, Gene, while in semi-merchandising mode was humorous. Paul was affable and well-spoken, and the calls were not the usuall boring ones. There's nothing particularly shocking about what was said, but Gene and Paul did at least try and clarify the band's situation. A shame no mention was made of the Ramones tribute... «Post A Comment»


Thursday, September 05, 2002 5:25:15 AM - "The Very Best of KISS" Chart Action...
(From Billboard) "The Very Best Of KISS" debuted on the US top-200 album charts at #52... «Post A Comment»


Wednesday, September 04, 2002 7:16:22 AM - Gene & Psychic John Edward's Crossing Over...
(From Donna Freydkin - USA Today) Just a brief mention about Gene's appearance on Crossing Over, interesting considering Gene's views as presented on his own website, but...

"NEW YORK -- When it comes to psychics, quite a few celebrities are finding a happy medium. "It's not a fad. This has been going on for years", says psychic John Edward, the host of Crossing Over With John Edward. Edward, of course, is daytime's spiritual sensation whose celebrity-laden and completely overhauled syndicated show kicks off its third season on Tuesday. (The series will premiere first in daytime syndication and later on cable's Sci Fi channel.) Perhaps because of competing clairvoyant James Van Praagh (another psychic whose daytime talk show starts airing the week of Sept. 16), Edward has a brand-new set, a viewer gallery that's been doubled in size and a slate of at-home readings with various stars, as well as their families and friends.

"I was kind of tricked into going, but I am so glad that I went,'' says rapper Coolio, one of Edward's guests in the new season. ''My aunt was there and she seemed to get some closure on the recent death of her husband. That made me feel better for her. I don't believe that people tell the future or anything, but I do believe there are people who can get a vibe from the other side." Says Edward, "Coolio was in my face before the reading. He wasn't told up front what this was about and he was shocked. But he and I had an intense dialogue and you could feel the energy in the room." The first celebrity episode will air in late September. Even Edward is surprised that singers and actors are agreeing to be on his show. "They are the most skeptical", says Edward. "I have celebrities that come to me privately, it's never discussed or made public, and they have anonymity. But think about it -- if they go on television, they take such a major risk. Their family lives are open game." Nevertheless, Edward, whose first celebrity guest was soap star Linda Dano, has communed with Kirsten Dunst, Roma Downey, Ricki Lake and Gene Simmons. And in his new season, he has readings with Jenny McCarthy, Backstreet Boys ( news - web sites) A.J. McLean and Brian Littrell, and former teen icon-turned-TV-star Anthony Michael Hall.

Edward admits that not all celebrity encounters have left him starry-eyed. He says that he couldn't connect at all with former Mayflower Madame Sidney Biddle Barrows and had to stop the session. And My Wife and Kids' Tisha Campbell exuded an unyielding skepticism throughout her reading. "She sat in front of me looking like at me I was insane, smiling and thinking that I wasn't getting anything right." Edward freely acknowledges that he often makes mistakes, adding that no profession is foolproof. He refuses to respond to naysayers. To help boost his credibility, Edward says his producers never tell him ahead of time what celebrity he'll be reading..." «Post A Comment»


Tuesday, September 03, 2002 7:47:38 PM - KISS Album Focus Copies 486-494 and 500 of 500 printed...
OK, some of the people who reserved the final copies of the KISS Album Focus Book welched. So... Copies 486 through 494, and 500/500, which is the only print manufacturing error copy (it's complete, but was improperly trimmed leaving half of the pages looking like an old-fashioned book) are still available for order. As was the case with these copies previously offered all will be personally dedicated to the purchaser, autographed, and include the printed corrigendum (post-publication corrections) and a special printed copy of the latest chapter of the Album Focus, "Universal Disaster - The Very Best Of KISS" which brings the KISS story up to August 2002. Because of the problems with the previous "reserves", payment will only be accepted by PayPal invoice. You must reserve a copy. Postage remains: $6.50 for the USA; $7 for Canada/Mexico; $15 for Italy, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Slovenia, Slovak Rep., Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Central & South America, and other countries not serviced by USPS GPM; and $10 for all countries served by USPS Global Priority Large Flat Rate Envelope. Email the webmaster to reserve... «Post A Comment»


Tuesday, September 03, 2002 7:37:06 AM - New FAQ Article: Gene Simmons & Van Halen...
Wanna know more about Gene's "discovery" of Van Halen? I've uploaded the first draft of an article on the matter, HERE. Incidentally, some of the Gene Simmons produced Van Halen demos have recently started circulating in awesome Sound Quality - they're easy to track down online and are well worth a listen if you want to hear what Gene did with the excellent VH material... «Post A Comment»


Saturday, August 31, 2002 8:49:01 PM - New Shamless CD release...
Shamless, who've had guest appearances by Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick on their recordings in the past, release a new studio CD in October titled "Splashed". Bonus video material on the CD includes Bruce Kulick and the band playing "Lick It Up". The album will include the following tracks: "Don't Hesitate", "Love Game", "Goodbye 2 U", "Toy Human", "She's Not Comin' Home", "I Love The Way (U Make Me Sick)", "U & I", "Change Your World", "Operator", "Wild In The Night", "Getaway". Alexx and the band should have two KISS covers released on the KISS Undressed Tribute due in 2003... «Post A Comment»


Saturday, August 31, 2002 7:28:38 AM - Ace Frehley to play San Diego?
According to pollstar.com Ace Frehley has been added to the list of artists playing San Diego's Street Scene 2002 on Saturday September 7th. According to the event's official site, Ace's appearance will be part of the "Jimi Hendrix Tribute (anchored by the Band of Gypsys and Double Trouble with Slash, Dave Navarro, Stephen Stills, Ace Frehley, Robert Randolph, Bernard Allison, Mick Taylor, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Res, Doyle Bramhall II, & Eric Gales)" on the Ford Stage. Hope Ace doesn't tell any Hendrix "jokes"... «Post A Comment»


Monday, August 26, 2002 6:01:44 PM - KISS Album Focus Book SOLD-OUT @ KISSFAQ.COM
Well, just over three months since publication and I'm sold out of the "KISS Album Focus" book. Thank you to everyone who has supported the project by purchasing the book! Copies are (may be) still available from two of the most reputable online KISS merchandise dealers who usually also frequent KISS Expos. «Post A Comment»


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