KISS: ANOTHER MISUNDERSTANDING?

Kiss—I’ve seen it happen before, but never on this scale. Every couple of years a band arises that is ignored by the press, passed over by radio stations, harumped at by chicsters, and absolutely adored by millions of young people. It happened with Elvis, the Stones, Beatles, Dead, Bowie, Grand Funk, Rollers, Alice Cooper, and Kiss.

Now don’t tell me that everybody loves Elvis and the Beatles, because I’ll turn around and tell you that everybody loves the Sex Pistols. The truth is, that large segments of the population felt the same way about Elvis and the Beatles when they started playing as large segments of their children, who are now parents, feel about Kiss and the Sex Pistols.

Most people are intolerant of new musical ideas except for a few golden years when they’re young enough not to be frightened by the energy of rock & roll. Perhaps this intolerance stems not so much from the actual chords (since they’re continually the same three) as to the fact that new music usually represents a change in culture styles.

If you’d told a Sinatra fan in 1947 that Sinatra would be replaced by a greased, gold-lamed, hip-wiggler in 1957, that the wiggler would be replaced by long haired British kids in 1967, and that by 1977 they’d be replaced by a guy dressed up like an armadillo, a guy with his face painted like a cat, and a spaceman and superstudstar, well...

As much as I see Kiss’s roots in the early 70’s efforts of Alice Cooper, the New York Dolls, and * David Bowie, I know that they have established themselves as the start of a new era in commercial rock & roll. You may not like their look or their music (usually the same thing), but it’s difficult to deny the cold facts that Kiss have sold several million albums, toured the world to sell-out crowds, and created a new kind of

rock concert theatrics, never dreamed of in the proportions to which they’ve had the vision to take it.

And, in case you continue to deny it, consider that even the outrageous and talented Sex Pistols have had a lot of hype going for them, compared to Kiss who were virtually ignored by the media (shame on radio stations especially) and sold their first million records by going directly to the fans who accepted them to the point where they formed a Kiss Army to get their records played on the radio.

Kiss is not a joke. They may be the Barnum & Bailey of rock experiences, but what they look like, the words they sing, and how their audience inter-reacts are the most important things going on in contemporary commercial rock.

Of course Kiss is just one of many new groups like Angel, Starz, P/Funk, and others who know that the future of rock is going to be different from anything that has ever happened before. And, as the Coasters so aptly put it, “Baby, that is rock and roll.”

This second issue of CREEM’s Special Edition examines the Kiss generation: the bands, the personalities, the fans., and the music. Perhaps, more important, it presents the present reality of big time rock & roll. Like it or not, this is what it is.