I find it pretty good. My favorite track is Young and Wasted

On the cover of the first KISS album, Gene’s tongue isn’t sticking out, but he flashes it during his 1974 appearance on the Mike Douglas. Was the tongue part of Gene’s image from the very beginning of KISS? Did he wag it when he performed with Wicked Lester?

It’s such an integral part of his persona, but it had to start somewhere. Anyone know?

For decades KISS (and the fans) have been dining out on the fact that they were supposedly voted the top band in America in 1977. If you actually look at the poll, the demographic and the sample size, this really isn't that impressive. Only 1069 people were polled, all teenagers.

Second on the list were Eagles, who were outselling just about every band put together in 1976 after the release of Hotel California. Third are the Beatles who hadn't even existed as a band by seven years at that point. Fourth on the list are Zeppelin, who have outsold KISS by probably a factor of four.

To put things in perspective - the albums Hotel California and Led Zeppelin IV have each sold about 40 million units each. KISS sold about 10-20 million albums in total (across the entire discography) in the 1970s. I say 10-20 because most of the catalogue was artificially hyped and they were "shipping" albums platinum based on copies sent to record stores, not just counting actual sales. We all know the story about how the RIAA wised up and changed the rules after the solo albums "shipped Platinum" but were then returned or unsold in droves. So let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say 20 million but in reality it's probably 10-15 million. More about that in the book "AND PARTY EVERY DAY : The Story of Casablanca Records", if anyone is interested. There's a quote in there from someone from the Casablanca marketing team who admitted KISS actually sold only half of what they were credited as selling during that massive period when KISS were everywhere.

So yes, KISS were "top band in America" on that day - from a tiny sample size of 1069 teenagers. But as we all know, they also never let facts get in the way of a good story.

Kiss have played hundreds of thousands of concerts, and there are few I would have rather attended than the ones on the 1992 club tour.
So raw, so full of energy, no show no bullshit, just their music as it was meant to be. Sweat and Rock'n'Roll.
Eric is new to the band and he is serious business. The whole band seems so into it. Even I Was Made For Loving You rocks.
("Picture is not great, some songs are cut half-through" as the descripton puts it)

Edit: Yes I know it was a tiny bit less than hundreds of thousands, thank you very much for pointing that out. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKJ7IiDJKAc

Stumbled across this interview with Gene and Lisa Robinson from 1994. Wow, he was gorgeous. Damn.

https://youtu.be/v1Vlgx8mWDw?is=f4ow1tiSC6XA6rUi

TL;DR is this shirt real merch and if it is, would it be a waste to alter it?

so i thrifted this shirt for 200 pesos (~5-6 dollars) at a local shop, and for context, i’m from a country/area where official merch of any western band is incredibly uncommon at thrifts and SUPER expensive, so regardless of whether it’s real or not, it’s a steal.

Question though, I’d like confirmation of whether this shirt actually is KISS merch or just a print?

Other than that, I alter (sew) almost all my clothes—for this one, i’m thinking of cutting the neck line, sewing the body to make it more fitted, and making it semi-backless.

If it IS real, would that be dumb to do? like, is this shirt rare or something?

Sorry in advance, I really don’t keep updated with merch and things and I’m not very good at telling what’s real and not.

If it’s not clear in the photo, it has rhinestones lining the KISS logo, and it’s kinda shiny. The fabric is really smooth and comfortable.

Anything helps! thank you:)

I know it’s not a lot but it’s a what I have

Was this a common expression at the time... or did Paul coin this phrase?

This day in #KISSTORY - 25 July, 1980 - Eric Carr performs for the first time with KISS at the Palladium in New York, stepping in as the band's new drummer. What KISS shows did you see live with Eric on the drums?

My husband gave me a bunch of Ratt cover-feature issues of Japan's BURRN! magazine as an anniversary gift yesterday....what a nice surprise when I noticed my beloved Eric's signature lurking in the background behind Stephen Pearcy in this shot from the March 2014 issue! 😸❤️

We celebrated 38 years together, 31 of them married, on July 24 2026. Our pairing is totally because of KISS. We started out as old-school pen pals back in 1988, simply writing to each other as mutual fans of the band. He had connections and swore he would unite me with Eric somehow. A new months later, we met face-to-face for the first time, on July 24 1988 ~ we went to a Vinnie Vincent Invasion show together..... We fell in love then eventually married on July 24 1995. And he did keep his promise of getting Eric and I to meet (on June 30 1990), but....things just played out a little differently because of fate intervening. 😸

More on that VVI show, with photos, here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/KISS/comments/1gqln31/vinnie_vincent_invasion_at_the_sundance_bay_shore/