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.
Thursday, November 29, 2001 7:42:44 AM - Expect new Mark St. John album in early 2002
[From Stephen] "Mark's new album "MAGIC BULLET THEORY" will be out in the new year. It is a full instrumental 9 track CD with various music styles (mainly hard rock)". This album will be Mark's first full-length release since the Mark St. John Project in 1999. No doubt, expect to experience Mark's diversity... «Post A Comment»
Thursday, November 29, 2001 7:42:44 AM - Ace Frehley Back In The New York Groove
The Ace Frehley Band played a set at the New York Steel Benefit last night, the band's first performance together since late 1995. The lineup consisting of Frehley/Scarlet/Cochran/Werner blasted through "Rip It Out", "Parasite", "Strange Ways", "Medley: Rock Soliders/Snowblind/Hard Times", "Breakout", "Shock Me (Partial Solo)", "Rocket Ride", "Cold Gin", "New York Groove", and "Deuce"... «Post A Comment»
Wednesday, November 28, 2001 9:14:22 AM - Box Set Chart Results - Week 1
From Soundscan/Billboard: In its first week of release the standard edition of the KISS Box set has sold some 20,000 copies resulting in a chart position of #128. That is a pretty decent figure, and nets the band their first 100,000 records on the Box's road to Gold Cretification (I see the typo there, but I find it mildly amusing!)... «Post A Comment»
Monday, November 26, 2001 10:18:46 AM - A Monster KISS: Ice Magazine Article on Box
From ICE Magazine: "FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS, hard-rock gods KISS have been notorious for their trademark face paint, lavish costumes and larger-than-life concerts. Often overlooked, however, is the band’s gargantuan back catalog — one that includes roughly 35 releases, 26 charting singles and more than 100 hours of music. On November 20, Island/Universal lumps together 64 classics and 30 previously unheard tracks into KISS: The Boxed Set, a mammoth project spanning the group’s entire history"... For more, read the whole article from the ICE link... «Post A Comment»
Monday, November 26, 2001 9:51:15 AM - GENESIMMONSDRAGONFLY.COM Defaced
Looks like there's a disgruntled fan out there somewhere... GENESIMMONSDRAGONFLY.COM, the site setup to host Gene's forthcoming clothing line had a fake home page setup stating, "I mean I'm only pissed off because in the last 10 years as a fan I keep getting albums of the same old rehashed tunes. I mean hell at least you could put out something new. No, just 3 albums that had new material. Most of the others are a joke. This is unacceptable. As a fan who stuck with the band through the 80's and all the other fans who stuck with the band. We deserve better. Boycott IV!!!!". Looks like someone think's that they're owed something. It's the music, stupid. Furthermore, it looks like this site is not connected with the official clothing site, since genesimmonsdragonfly tld's for .net (Dragonfly Clothing) and .org (Dragonfly Clothing) are registered by the same entity while .com is by someone else, so this may be a setup on an error by GeneSimmons.com listing the website name. «Post A Comment»
Friday, November 23, 2001 11:34:57 PM - KISS Auction II
The second KISS auction, featuring many items previously offered during last year's Butterfields auction has started at Lelands, who require registration and references, HERE. There are some very high starting bids. Anyone wanting some serious memorobilia can make me a serious offer on the "Stanley The Parrot" / "Leeta" 1969 Richcraft acetate! «Post A Comment»
Friday, November 23, 2001 10:32:05 PM - Tom Snyder Interview Online
I've put the infamouse Tom Snyder KISS interview from 10/31/79 online in three parts on the audio page. During this interview, Peter and Ace steal the show from a resigned Paul and Gene who try in vain to keep things under control. It's on the audio page, HERE in both 56k MP3 and 16K ASF formats. «Post A Comment»
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 9:18:51 PM - International Releases
Japanese fans will have to wait until December 19th for that country's domestic release of the box set. The standard edition called "Cigar Box" (Universal UICY-7088/92) will sell for ¥12,000 while the "Super Duper Edition" (Universal UICY-7093/97) will sell for ¥30,000. There is no word on whether there are any additional or alternative tracks for this release, but I'd doubt it. Meanwhile the deluxe and standard editions of the box will be released in the UK on November 26th and December 3rd respecitvely, and as usual UK CD pricing sucks shit (another of the reasons I fled my homeland apart from the job market in '97!). Gene's "KISS And Make Up" will be published in the UK in hardback on February 7, 2002. «Post A Comment»
Tuesday, November 20, 2001 9:45:38 PM - KISS FAQ Reviews the "KISS Box"
The KISSFAQ IV review of the Box Set is up HERE. «Post A Comment»
Wednesday, November 14, 2001 2:57:36 PM - Gene Simmons Comes Clean...
YAHOO.COM (by COLIN DEVENISH) The smell of dirty laundry will fill the air December 11th when Kiss and Make-Up, the autobiography of Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, hits shelves. "It's time for our children to find out that all was not well with mom and dad," says Simmons. "From afar, Gene looks like the evil mean one; Paul looks like the romantic, thoughtful loving one; Ace looks like the spacey kind of innocent guy; Peter's just cute and cuddly. Kiss and Make-Up is here to tell you that what you see is not necessarily what you get -- that, behind the scenes, chemicals do in fact change people from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. In the very same breath of me loving Ace and Peter with all my heart, I hate them when they're high."
The book begins with Simmons' birth in Israel -- he was born Chaim Witz -- and details his emigration to America with his mother, as well as the formation of Kiss and choice turbulent moments throughout the band's thirty-year career. Also readily chronicled were Simmons' relationships with Cher, Diana Ross and Shannon Tweed -- his current companion and mother of his two children -- as well as a host of much briefer romantic encounters.
Lead guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss take the hardest hits from Simmons. "He never showed up on time, never did his work, hardly ever showed up in the studio and it was pulling teeth every step of the way," he says of Frehley. "Having said all that, I wouldn't have had anyone else in the band. He was the right guy for Kiss."
As for Criss, "his nickname was the 'Ayatollah Criscuola,'" says Simmons. "And 'The Moaner.' If the sun was up, Peter complained, 'Why wasn't it dark?' When it was dark, Peter would complain, 'Where's the sun?' Peter would enter the room and he brought the whole room down. And was there any other drummer for the band? No. He was the drummer for the band."
Rounding out Kiss's longtime-coming retirement, the band will release Kiss: The Box Set on November 20th. The ninety-four-track, five-disc compilation combines thirty previously unreleased demos, outtakes and live songs with album tracks from 1968 through 2001. Guitarist Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons waded through a wealth of material in assembling the anthology.
"It is the weirdest thing in the world," says Simmons of the anthology process. "Because when you're moving ahead in life and you take snapshots of where you've been and then someone turns around and says, 'Take the last thirty years and pick six hours of highlights,' the hardest thing is how to figure out what to put in not what to leave out."
Kiss plan to plug the upcoming release Kiss: The Box Set with an in-store appearance at Tower Records on November 20th in Hollywood. Guitarist Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons will don the make-up to sign autographs and greet fans from 7 to 9 p.m. During the day, four forty-feet-tall blow-up dolls of Stanley, Simmons, Criss and Frehley will stand tall in the Tower parking lot, and, in the evening, Kiss tribute band Larger Than Live: The Ultimate Tribute to Kiss will play a free show at the Key Club, just down the street.
Staying as busy in his retirement as he ever did with Kiss, Simmons will also host the Court TV documentary The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll. The show, which includes as its subjects Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, Suge Knight, Ricky Martin and Guns n' Roses, will air December 4th.
"It doesn't just begin and end with robbery or stolen copyrights and so on," says Simmons of the show. "It really goes to murder, pedophilia and all sorts of things." «Post A Comment»
Wednesday, November 14, 2001 2:57:36 PM - Kiss's Stanley Says He's Happy With Criss-less Lineup...
YAHOO.COM (by Bruce Simon) The members of Kiss have previously revealed to LAUNCH their intentions to continue the farewell tour they began last year into 2002, with no firm end yet in sight, although bassist Gene Simmons writes in his autobiography, Kiss And Make-Up, that there will be a final show at New York City's Shea Stadium someday soon. The question Kiss fans want answered is: Who will play drums on those dates?
Original skin-pounder Peter Criss was booted earlier this year because of financial disagreements and replaced by latter-day Kiss drummer Eric Singer, who also donned Criss's trademark cat makeup for spring dates in Australia and Japan. Singer-guitarist Paul Stanley tells LAUNCH that he would be happy to see the revised lineup continue. "As we've said before, the team is more important than the individual players, and if somebody doesn't want to play ball, then the team doesn't go home," he says. "The shows in Australia and Japan featured sometimes five encores, and I couldn't have been more proud of the band or more happy to be in it. Were that the lineup that would continue, I'd be more than happy with it."
The group is preparing for the release of Kiss: The Box Set on Tuesday (November 20). Simmons's memoir will be published on December 11. «Post A Comment»
Wednesday, November 14, 2001 7:20:58 AM - NASCAR video...
NASCAR.COM has a streaming video clip of the KISS/NASCAR event in Real Media format, CLICK HERE. «Post A Comment»
Wednesday, November 14, 2001 5:51:38 AM - Paul on Honda Commecrical?
Watching the news this morning on KPIX in San Francisco, when the new Honda commerical came on. It sure sounded like a sample of Paul Stanley yelling, "YEAH!". «Post A Comment»
Monday, November 12, 2001 10:15:20 AM - Kiss's Paul Stanley Still Waiting For Hip Surgery...
From Yahoo, "(11/9/01, 7 a.m. ET) -- Kiss had to pull out of the October 21 United We Stand benefit concert in Washington, D.C., because of singer-guitarist Paul Stanley's need for hip surgery. However, Stanley tells LAUNCH the surgery has not yet happened.
'I wound up postponing my hip surgery and, you know, it's like reading in the newspaper your own death, you know, when you keep reading about your hip surgery, and I haven't done it, but I'm just postponing it for awhile. I have, you know, every intention of continuing doing what I've been doing, but little by little I'm turning bionic', he says.
Stanley says the hip has simply degenerated from years of high-energy performances with Kiss.
Stanley adds that, as a native New Yorker, he was disappointed the band couldn't play at a concert dedicated to helping victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks there and in Washington, D.C.
'We had originally spoken about playing in Washington, D.C., and there are times when, lately, my hip has just been too painful. I mean, I've done shows with a busted rib, but this was just not something that was doable, and there are many other ways to make contributions', he says.
The band is preparing for the November 20 release of Kiss: The Box Set, as well as the December 11 publication of singer-bassist Gene Simmons's memoir, Kiss And Make-Up.
In addition, Stanley and Simmons will be on hand at the Homestead-Miami (Florida) Speedway this weekend. On Saturday (November 10), the duo will ride in the pace car and act as grand marshals for the GNC Live Well 300, part of NASCAR (news - web sites)'s Busch Series of races. Sunday (November 11) brings the debut of driver Sterling Martin's Kiss-adorned #40 car in the Pennzoil 400, a NASCAR Winston Cup event. The car's hood features the faces of Stanley, Simmons, lead guitarist Ace Frehley, and former drummer Peter Criss on a black background.
-- Gary Graff, Detroit and Bruce Simon, New York". «Post A Comment»
Monday, November 12, 2001 7:37:34 AM - Sterling's Car Closeup...
From www.jayski.com «Post A Comment»
Sunday, November 11, 2001 5:08:14 PM - FOCUS: Chapter 46...
Back up in the Focus, Chapter 46 - Discarded? Bruce Kulick Post-KISS. «Post A Comment»
Saturday, November 10, 2001 9:27:14 PM - Gene & Paul on the NASCAR show...
From NASCAR.COM Listen to Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Sterling Marlin on the NASCAR Live show. «Post A Comment»
Saturday, November 10, 2001 9:05:16 AM - Gene comments on new recordings/touring...
From NASCAR.COM On Travel/Farewell Tour: "Now is not a good time to travel internationally, so KISS is taking a year off. We have yet to play South America, Europe, Asia and Africa and are looking forward to doing so sometime in the future." On Recording: "As for more recording, we will have to wait and see."
Read the whole thing for other vignettes. Paul Stanley was not there, nor was his absence explanied. «Post A Comment»
Thursday, November 08, 2001 12:11:49 PM - Ace Comments On New Album...
From VH1.COM "I'm in the process of building a multimedia studio on seven and a half acres in upstate New York," Frehley said. "I have three albums worth of material right now in the can, and I plan to record another five or 10 songs once my studio is completed. Then I'm gonna sit down to decide which are the best songs to put out as the next Ace Frehley solo album."
The record has a working title, The Baldest Baby on the Block, and Frehley said he hopes to have it out by spring but added that it's too early to predict the musical tone of the disc. It's also too early to tell if and when the long-rumored last-ever Kiss show will take place. «Post A Comment»
Thursday, November 08, 2001 6:21:35 AM - Song Of The Moment
Full MP3's of the best KISS and related demos, not available long, so catch 'em while you can. «Post A Comment»
Wednesday, November 07, 2001 7:54:49 PM - "Detroit Rock City" Movie Script Online
While hardly current, those wanting to read the script to "Detroit Rock City" can find it here. This one has an interesting ending twist that differs from the movie. «Post A Comment»
Tuesday, November 06, 2001 12:53:31 PM - Bonfire's "Sword And Stone" on new compilation
Bonfire, the German band which covered the 1987 KISS "Crazy Nights" out-take "Sword And Stone" on the 1989 "Shocker" soundtrack have included the track on their new compilation, "29 Golden Bullets" (BMG 74321-89346-2). «Post A Comment»