KISS Denied Hall of Fame

What a freakin' joke!! These guys have been rocking this planet for 35 years, yet once again they're denied their rightful place in rock'n'roll immortality. We're talking about a band that has garnered more gold records than any other American band.

Look, I don't hold anything against this year's inductees (Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack-is a cool tune) and you really can't argue the success of Genesis or Iggy Pop or even Abba (although an argument can be made that they were disco and not rock'n'roll) but I most certainly hold the judges responsible. These would include Bob Ezrin, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Oscar nominee Thavi Phrasavath, Anastasia Brown and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Terry Stewart. I doubt if Ezrin cast a "nay" vote against KISS, since he did produce three of their albums. Those being 1976's Destroyer, 1981's (albeit confusing and crappy) Music from The Elder and 1992's Revenge. You would figure them being inducted would also make him look good; perhaps even a bit proud of his own accomplishments.

Seriously, this is an outrage. How many contemporary artists have these guys influenced, from Garth Brooks to how many people are they still playing to? Recently they sold out a Quebec City concert that 90, 000 people attended. In Brazil, they recently played to another 60, 000. And the beauty of them is they don't discriminate. They'll play to huge crowds in open-air stadiums or to an intimate crowd of 5,000 as they did last summer in Windsor, Ontario. Another distinguishing characteristic of the band (besides their longevity and success) is their sincere appreciation of their fans. For over 30 years, they have made no secret that their success is entirely due to the support of their KISS Army world-wide. At every concert they have, Paul Stanley ensures that he lets the crowd know they're the reason for the band's success and how much they're appreciated. He once said when asked what he would say to bands that are striving for elusive success, "They can make it. Why not? We did. The only people that say you can't make it are the people that are unwilling to try, or that have tried once and failed. You have to want it."

It undoubtedly didn't do them any good by pretty much insulting the institution that is the Hall a few years back, but really, should that matter? Their accomplishments and fan-base world-wide should be painfully obvious to anyone with half a brain that they deserve the recognition.

What a travesty of justice.

Tiger Woods

WHO CARES??? That is all.

Sesame Street's 40th

Who out there can say that Sesame Street, that is celebrating it's 40th birthday on November 10th, was not their utmost favourite television show growing up. I still remember watching it at Auntie Nita's Nursery School in Winnipeg during the early 70's. My schoolmates and I would watch it in between naptime and playtime howling (even though not really getting the gags meant for adults and parents-which was and is part of it's charm)

Someone with the blog entitled, The Mommy Files has a good take on the show and a good question. Does Sesame Street still have legs?

All those great memories and laughs: the Golden "AN," Grover as a lovable, yet incompetent waiter, as well as his alter-ego, Super Grover, Oscar the Grouch (and don't forget his pet worm, Slimey) Big Bird and his "imaginary friend" Snuffelupagus, The Count, Cookie Monster, Kermit the Frog and of course, Bert & Ernie (who can forget the time they went to the Egyptian pyramid and Ernie performed a song & dance with a look-a-like statue? Bert, condescendingly treating him as if he were insane was the funniest part)

Up here in Canada, it is now called Sesame Park. The Cookie Monster is now the "Carrot Monster?" Oscar no longer lives in the trash can (out of respect for the homeless, apparently) and Bert & Ernie are M.I.A. for the most part. It sure isn't the Sesame Street I remember.

Does anybody remember these?



































Have I missed anything?

More Sesame Street Vids

Too many vids on one page slowed them down too much, so voila, page 2:


The music:

Marge Simpson in Playboy

D'Oh! You're kidding. Giggidy (I know, wrong show)

Marge Simpson in Playboy??

Whattya think?




Weird, huh?

KISS on Letterman

Here are the boys on The Late Show with David Letterman on the day of Sonic Boom's release, Oct. 6th.



Awesome!!

KISS Sonic Boom Tracks-One by One

Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer talk Sonic Boom.



In stores in three days, Oct. 6th. WOO HOO!

And lifted directly from their website, kissonline.com, here are some Sonic Boom recording studio clips, via YouTube:







And since apparently only "rock journalists" get to listen to albums (sorry, CDs) before they are officially released to the public here is a review by journalist/author Sterling Whitaker:

September 16, 2009

For those of you who have been living on another planet for the past few months, Kiss is celebrating its 35th anniversary by releasing a new album entitled Sonic Boom in October, and the band has been hyping the new disc as the best Kiss has recorded since the heyday of its classic lineup with albums like Rock And Roll Over and Destroyer. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when I first heard that. After all, Kiss is a band whose output has been, uh, "somewhat uneven" over the years, to put it diplomatically, and Kiss hasn't exactly been shy about over-selling its work in the past, whether it was deserving or not.

Okay, okay, I admit it... I was wrong. It turns out Sonic Boom really is the album Kiss fans have been waiting for all these years. From its no-frills production (no apparent Pro Tools trickery here) to its uber-classic put-your-fist-in-the-air rock anthems, Sonic Boom is the most satisfying album by a "classic rock" artist I've heard since... honestly, since I don't know when. Sadly, it's kind of accepted that most bands that are 35 years into their career are going to release new work that is in no way comparable to the albums that made their legacy. Sonic Boom destroys that pre-conception by delivering an album as raw and vital as the best of Kiss' back catalog.

The main thing that sets this record from some of Kiss' uneven later studio efforts is that it has a true band identity. There are no pop songs from slick outside writers, and there isn't a cast of thousands providing instrumental augmentation to the members of Kiss. This is a record that was written and performed by the members of Kiss, for better or worse. In this case it's very much for the better. Sonic Boom has all of the hallmarks of a classic Kiss record; heavy guitar riffs informed by the melodic and harmonic pop craftsmanship of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, powerful rock drumming, strong bass lines, and lyrical, well-crafted guitar solos. Gene Simmons' public persona and marketing savvy often overshadow the fact that he's a great bass player, and Sonic Boom is a return to the kind of melodic stylings that characterized the best of early Kiss. "Never Enough" and "Hot And Cold" contain some of Simmons' best work in decades.

As for Tommy Thayer, every track contains the kind of deliberate Ace Frehley-isms that could only come from someone who loves Kiss music as a fan first. Thayer's take on these songs is such a tasteful amalgam of classic Kiss licks, stylings, tone and phrasing that it will have some fans wondering what year it is. It's an approach that isn't so much gimmicky as it is timeless. Paul Stanley and Eric Singer round out the album's classic performances with contributions that are perfectly suited to each track. I'm sure there are going to be those naysaying critics who carp that with Sonic Boom, Kiss is shamelessly pandering to a particular demographic base by deliberately tailor-making a record to fit its needs. In fact, maybe that's exactly what they did. If so, then more power to 'em. If more bands would bother to make great records that their fans will actually like, then maybe guys like me wouldn't have to dread getting sent new work by older bands so much. I've been a Kiss fan since the mid-Seventies, and I can't imagine any Kiss fan not liking Sonic Boom.

KISS Nominated (Finally) For Rock 'n' Roll Hall

Well, KISS has finally been nominated to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. It's their first nomination since thier eligility began in 1999, if you can believe that?

Via The New York Times

By Ben Sisario

Could Kiss finally make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? After being snubbed for years - the band has been eligible for the honor since 1999 - Kiss has finally been nominated, along with Genesis, the Stooges, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others, the organization has announced. Votes will be cast by a group of more than 500 musicians and industry professionals; of the 12 nominees, the five that get the most votes will be announced in January and inducted into the Hall of Fame at its 25th annual ceremony on March 15 at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. Acts become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record.

Paul Stanley comments on Hall of Fame nomination:

KISS is a first-time nominee among a dozen finalists for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to a list released this morning by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.

Five of the 12 nominees will be chosen for induction from ballots cast by more than 500 music industry voters. An announcement of the inductees is expected in January, and the Hall's 25th Annual Induction Ceremony will take place March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. Broadcast plans have not yet been announced.

This year's big story could turn out to be KISS, which has been eligible since 1999 but has famously been snubbed by the Hall's nominating committee and has made some harsh comments about the organization in the past. But the group's Paul Stanley recently noted that a Rock Hall induction would cause he and his longtime KISS partner Gene Simmons to consider which of the group's members they'd like to have enter with them.

"There's been a lot of people who've been a part of this, some longer than others..and some who deserve recognition more than others," Stanley explained. "Even the non-makeup years produced some platinum and double-platinum albums, and we had some very healthy sales in terms of albums and concerts through the '80s and '90s. So if we should ever be asked to accept induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it would be something to think about." The Foundation determines which members of a band are inducted into the Hall, and the ballot lists the four founding members of KISS, including Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

All I can say is, it's about damn time. But, the final decision goes to perennial KISS-hater, Rolling Stone Editor-in-Chief, Jann S. Wenner. So, after 10 years of frustration and disappointment, I won't be holding my breath.

I Couldn't Agree More Mr. President

Kanye West is a jackass!! And still a punk, too.
Kudos to Beyonce for letting Swift have her moment do-over.

Patrick Swayze Dies at 57

What is it with all these celebrities dying recently? I'd expect ones that are in their 70s or 80s, but these ones of late are the ones I grew up with in the seventies and eighties; Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett (even the 90's if you count the untimely demise of Heath Ledger) what is going on?

Now the star of 80's favourites; Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Roadhouse and two of my personal favourites, Point Break (yes, even with Mr. No Charisma, Keeanu Reeves) and Red Dawn, Patrick Swayze has died from cancer at the age of 57.

This Whole Star Wars/Skywalker Genealogy Thing...

Yeah, it's really making me scratch my head. I mean, I saw STAR WARS in it's original 1977 theatrical release when it was just that, STAR WARS. No Episode IV, no New Hope, just STAR WARS. And back then you knew who was who. Ben Kenobi was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Darth Vader was The Dark Lord of the Sith (of course back then we had no idea about Anakin Skywalker being Vader or that Luke and Leia were siblings and that Anakin/Vader was their father-and we were just fine with that, thank you)

So now I come to find that there is a whole slew of Skywalkers in the expanded Star Wars Universe. Now I read the awesome Heir to the Empire trilogy by Timothy Zahn and the follow-up Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson, where Luke meets and ultimately falls in love with and marries his would-be assassin, the former Emperor's Hand, Mara Jade. They eventually have a child who they name Ben (after Obi-Wan)

From there it gets a little fuzzy.

Apparently in the Expanded Universe, in the following comics and novels, there is a new generation of Skywalkers. Now if you've read the outline/plot of a supposed new trilogy that would become Episode's seven through nine, Luke Skywalker lives to be around 100 years old. Mara has long since died at the hands of her nephew Jacen Solo (the second-born-by five minutes-he's a twin to his sister, Jaina-of the married Han Solo and Leia Organa/Skywalker. They also have a third child, Anakin; named after the children's grandfather, Anakin Skywalker) when he turns to the dark side of the force and becomes the Sith Lord, Darth Caedus.

I had no clue to any of this until recently. I thought I was caught up on the back stories, but with Del-Ray Books pumping out 10 books a week, it seems; how can anybody? For instance, it is well-established now that Chewbacca is dead. That's right, Chewie was killed in an apparant self-sacrifice to save Han and Liea's youngest, Anakin.

But, the biggest thing is that there are further generations of the Skywalker name that I also had no idea about. There is the grandson (or great-grandson-I'm still not sure) of Ben Skywalker-who's spouse's name is also still unknown-Cole, who, with a woman by the name of Morrigan Corde produced their offspring, Cade; who himself is purported to be the last remaining Skywalker.

Luke's sister, Leia Organa-Solo had three children as mentioned. One of them, Jacen/Darth Caedus met Tenel Ka and had a daughter, Allana. It seems that Jacen (who was later killed by his Jedi sister, Jaina) followed in his grandfather, Anakin's footsteps just a little too closely.

Are you with me so far? No? I don't balme you.

To add more confusion, if you read this interview from Supershadow.com (assuming it's even real) George Lucas has indicated three more movies to come. Or has he? (see follow-up below)Episodes seven, eight and nine, with the first due out in 2016. Awesome if true, but the confusing part is, the aforementioned deaths of little Anakin and Jacen Solo are ignored. That would put the whole "interweaving of book and movie storylines" right out of whack.

However this may be all for not because...
However the live-action television series that has been long-talked about and rumored may becoming closer to fruition.

Ted DiBiase Worried About Current Status Of His Million Dollars

I guess the economy is affecting everyone.

Ain't It the Truth

When you want it, you want it. They really have to change this stupid rule. Especially when there's one minute to go.
Gotta love The Onion.

It's Almost Here!!

SONIC BOOM, Kiss's first studio album in 11 years, is here. I've waited a long time for this, even before they announced it online. It's even got some little bonuses, like another re-recorded Greatest Hits CD and a 6-song DVD of a concert in Venezuela from earlier this year.
It's due out October 6 exclusively at Wal-MArt. I know where I'll be that morning.

Vick Gets Signed

So apparently the Philadelphia Eagles don't care about morals or decency. Like most businesses, it's all about the money. They have decided to take a chance on the disgraced quarterback.
I don't don't know why? He isn't even that good, comparatively:

I wonder if the boos will ring out in his first game, which can only be until week six, according to the provisions of his "indefinite" suspension. Boy, did NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell ever change the meaning of that definition.

Hey, if your a Steelers fan, I guess it's another reason to hate the Eagles, huh?

It Still May Happen

After my whining with this post, I still always thought it was possible that the Winnipeg Jets could return to the Manitoba capital (actually it was a stubborn dream) but now it looks like there might be a real possibility, should a nother team re-locate to Canada. That in and of itself is a major hurdle given the politics of the NHL these days (actually it's been that way since the 90's-one of the reasons why the Jets left in the first place, aside form economic reasons)

But it appears that even the league itself says that should a team move to Canada, Winnipeg is not only at the top of the list, but the first choice.

Oh, please, please, please!!

Be sure to check out http://www.jetsowner.com/

Ghost Busters 3

It's not official yet, although this cool little trailer had me fooled for about 10 seconds. As scenes from GhostBusters 1 & 2, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Independence Day and Constantine are clearly evident.



Still a good job, though. As well as this other fan-film trailer:



But they are talking about it.

Seinfeld Returns

No way! A reunion!
Well, sort of...

Taco Bell Chihuahua Dies

No more "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" from Gidget, the chihuahua that made that line famous and helped to sell not only millions of tacos throughout the 1990's, but merchandise bearing her likeness as well. She died today from a stroke at the age of 15.

Eskimo's Jones Good Samaritan

Kitwana Jones of the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos tackled a would-be purse-snatcher and gave the assailant (read: punk) a punch in the head for good measure.

Good for him. I doubt if the cops will be talking to him about any assault charges.

Chris Brown Finally Apologizes

Chris brown has finally apologized for beating up Rihanna. He claims he was muzzled by his attourney. That don't cut it with me. It's all well and good that he has publicly apologized, but to me a guy like this and his actions mark him as a life-long punk. Once a beater, always a beater. It'll happen again. And shame on Rihanna for staying with him.

KISS in Windsor...The SHOW!

So I just got back from seeing KISS with my best friend, Holly at the Coliseum inside Caesar's Palace Casino-Windsor. In one word...awesome! From the opening of Deuce to the closing of Detroit Rock City (thank God no Shandi) it was a rock'n'roll clinic.

Before I begin, I must speak on the whole "it's not really KISS without Ace Frehley and Peter Criss," stuff. Look, I agree that Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer perhaps should have donned new make-up and created new "characters," but it was a great show regardless. It had all the same elements that has made the KISS Army grow in the millions world-wide. Paul Stanley did his dancing around, Gene Simmons did his fire-breathing and blood-spitting, Thayer had a great solo (with rockets out of his guitar and all) and Singer impressed me with his 5-minute drum solo during 100,000 Years. So screw all that! It was unforgettable, at least to me.

We got there with about half an hour to go (we thought we were in danger of being tardy, but alas, like most concerts, it started a bit late) So we sat down, looked around and took in the ambiance of the 5,000-seat auditorium. It was the first time I had been to this venue and it was impressive. It was not very big, but just enough to be intimate. It was only then that I realized I hadn't gotten my souvenir shirt yet. I hummed and I hawed about whether I would have enough time to grab one before the show started. I decided that I had to go for it. I was hoping that the line would not be too bad and that it wouldn't prevent me from missing the start of the show. You can't miss that! It's one of the best parts. Well, it was all wicked, so that's neither here nor there.

Anyways, I got to the line and thankfully there weren't that many people there. I found the smallest gathering I could, which was about four or five people ahead of me. I saw what I wanted, the black tee that had the four band members on it with the KISS logo in silver at the top, "ALIVE 35" across the bottom with the true claim of "living legends...1973-2009," underneath that and the tour dates on the back. Before that though, I had to endure a couple ahead of me that simply couldn't make up their minds about what they wanted. I was getting more and more impatient at these two as they looked at item after item. "Oh, I don't like that one," "That's too expensive," "Does this come in another colour?" I mean just get something already!! Like I said, I had my mind made up before I even got there. You would think they could have done the same. I could see by the look on the merch guy's face that he was growing impatient as well. To add to my growing frustration was the fact that the woman spent the next three minutes looking for her money (after whining about the price, of course) I mean, what did they expect? It's a concert, of course things were going to be expensive! After those headache enablers left, I told the guy what I wanted (with *ahem*money in hand) got my $40.00 shirt and headed back to my seat.

On stage, they had the big curtain with the band logo on it. It was then that I thought I should get a picture of it. So, I take out my camera, got set to take my first picture of the evening, pressed the shutter button and...it shut off with the message across my view-finder, "change batteries." Yeah. Can you believe it? I go to a concert of my all-time favourite band, the band I grew up with and hadn't seen in over 12 years and the batteries in my camera die before I can even take my first picture. You could say I was a more than a little upset. I cursed my bad luck, as well as my own stupidity for not checking such a thing ahead of time. So no pictures of the night I had been waiting for the past six months (that was until we ran into a friend of ours after the show who took over 100 of his own that I "borrowed" off of his Facebook page and downloaded onto my own computer for printing later (whew!) You can see I reproduced a few of them here.

About 10 minutes later the lights finally dimmed, the crowed roared and a voice came over the house P.A. that millions of KISS fans long to hear:
"All right (insert name of city here) You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world...KIIISSSSS!! And with that the curtain dropped, the pyro exploded and the boys slowly came down on their elevated platform to the opening salvo of "Deuce" (which I called, by the way. It's usually either Deuce, Let Me Go Rock'n'Roll or I believe Detroit Rock City)

Holly isn't the biggest KISS fan in the world (I was thinking originally, she better become one quick for a $138 ticket! But I brought her free of charge because she has done many, many things for me) and she sat the entire show ("I like being able to sit down and still see," she said) but she seemed to dig it. I stood for the greater majority singing to every song and enjoying every second of it. At least she didn't do this...

Without going into detail about every tune (with a couple of exceptions) and how they totally rocked, here is the set list (not necessarily in this order-but pretty close)

Deuce
Strutter
Got To Choose (never heard this one live)
Hotter Than Hell
Nothin' To Lose
C'Mon And Love Me
Parasite
She (Tommy's Solo)
100,000 Years (Eric's Drum Solo)
Cold Gin
Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll
Black Diamond
Rock And Roll All Nite

This is where you can always tell who the first-time concert-goers are, because they leave before the encore. There's always an encore people! Well, unless of course you live in Springfield and you go to see Spinal Tap.

Encore:

Shout It Out Loud

Lick It Up (the 7-minute version due to Stanley's crowd-rousing) and I didn't expect this song, although for some reason I did expect Heaven's on Fire)

I Love It Loud

I Was Made For Lovin' You (before they played it, Stanley said, "Some people didn't like this song when it first came out because you can dance to it. I don't care I like it" I agree. Although it is rather disco-ish, I still like it)

Love Gun

Detroit Rock CityUsually this is where I would say "All in all, a pretty good show." No. It was great from start to finish. Definitely worth the price of admission. I would probably even pay more next time. Speaking of next time the boys said their first album in 12 years is due out in October and they'll be touring for that, too. Unfortunately, it won't be here, it will probably be over the bridge in Detroit. Yep, a whole 10 minutes away. What a hassle. That means I'll have to shell out about $150 bucks per ticket in American dollars. Yikes! But like I said, it'll be worth it.

Awesome show, awesome band.

KISS RULES, baby!!

Spits Win Cup

The Windsor Spitfires, my adopted city's OHL team are the 2009 Memorial Cup champions. It was a tough road and at times it didn't seem to be in the cards for the Spits. They lost their first two games of the tournament, to the Rimouski Oceanic 3-2 in overtime and to the Drummondville Voltirgeurs 5-4, respectively.

This shouldn't have been. The Spitfires were the best team in the country all season long and although they were facing Canada's other two champions from the WHL (Kelowna Rockets) and QMJHL (Voltigeurs) plus the automatically qualifying host team (Rimouski)
They should have won their first two out of three games and received a bye into the championship final.

In fact it took them to win the final game of the round-robin and earn a birth into the tie-breaker qualifier game to even have a shot at the semi-final game. But reality settled in, as well as the Spits themselves and all ended up well. They beat the host Oceanic in the tie-breaker, 6-4 thanks to Dale Mitchell's natural hat trick.

So now the Spits were in the tournament semi-final against the Voltigeurs. The Spitfires blew an early 2-0 lead, but won 3-2 in overtime thanks to Adam Henrique's goal of destiny, as I'd like to think of it. This made the Spits omly the second team ever to play in the Memorial Cup final after playing in the tie-breaker game.

In the championship final, the Spitfires cruised to a 4-1 win after scoring on their first three shots. This was the Spitfires first Memorial Cup championship and well-earned one after a thrilling 2009 season.

The last time the Spitfires were in the Memorial Cup tournament was in 1988 when they swept every round of the OHL playoffs, as well as the round-robin portion of the Memorial Cup, only to lose 7-6 in the championship game to the Medicine Hat Tigers. In other words they lost just one game in the entire playoffs, including the Memorial Cup tournament and still had to go home as finalists and not champions. If you ask me, they should have simply been handed the cup after the round-robin concluded that year. The better team most definitely did not win.

But, that has been rectified (21 years later) and the Windsor Spitfires are OHL and Memorial Cup champions and this time the better team did win. It was scary at first, but the job got done.
Way to go Spits!

The entire breakdown of the OHL, WHL and QMJHL playoff brackets, the memorial Cup tourny as well as game results can be found here.

Spits One Win Away from National Championship

After dispensing the Drummondville Voltigeurs 3-2 in overtime in the tie-breaker game (after dropping their first two games of the tournament) thanks to Adam Henrique's overtime goal in the Memorial Cup Semi Final game, the Windsor Spitfires are just one win away from clinching the Memorial Cup. Canada's junior hockey Holy Grail. The game takes place tomorrow, Sunday, May 24.

Just one more win. Will the ghosts of 1988 finally be excorcised? A whole city is hoping that's the case.

KISS in Windsor

So, about 10 years ago, when I moved from Winnipeg, MB to Windsor, ON, I never thought I'd be able to attend another concert of my all-time favorite band, KISS. (If you had to read that to know their history-SHAME ON YOU! And I hope you checked out every single link) That is of course, unless I was willing to go over the Ambassador Bridge, and catch them in Detroit. Well, that opportunity had never arisen until now and it's right here in town.
Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and the boys will be putting on a show July 11 for their KISS ALIVE 35 World Tour-in full make-up and pyro and everything, awesome!
But the difference being, this time they'll be right here in Windsor. I won't even have to leave town, not even over to Detroit. Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid the scammers at TicketMaster.

Although the ticket prices were pretty steep ($276 CDN for two, after fees and taxes) and they were without a doubt the most I have ever paid for any type of event (except for WrestleMania 23 in Detroit where I paid $250 American-and that was just for one ticket) I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass me by. I think this is the one true case where money was not an issue. It's not that money was no object, mind you, but definitely not an issue this time. I HAVE to be there.

I first got a taste of the "hottest band in the world" when I was about seven or eight when one day just hanging around in my basement, I found someones 45 rpm single of Rock'n'Roll All Nite. So naturally, being a kid, of course I'm was going to take liberties with someone else's property. I gave it a spin and instantly fell in love with these weird guys with the make-up, but that guy with the tongue kinda freaked me out.

I would use a tennis racket, or my brother's T-square right off his drafting table down the hall, and air-guitar to every KISS tune I had. Seduced by the power of The Demon, TheStarchild, Space Ace and The Cat perhaps. My concerts rocked!

One night I saw them on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special, that was on Oct. 29, 1976. I only know that date now because of my recent purchase of the KISSOLOGY DVD set, which is totally awesome! (I still have to pick up volumes two and three) But I remember watching that Lynde special. But that had to be the moment that I first saw them appear other than on posters, album covers or magazines (not that I could read them.)
Ah, television.

My envelopment to KISS must have really transpired when I found Destroyer at a neighborhood yard sale (yeah, I know, why anyone would "throw out" a KISS album is waaaay beyond me, too) not to long afterward. Then it was Love Gun and Dressed to Kill at my local Sam the Record Man. I got Rock'n'Roll Over, ALIVE! and Hotter Than Hell for the next couple of Christmases. Of course my mother fell for that old Knights In Satan's Service bit, but that didn't last long and she just let me enjoy them, God bless her.

Years later, I got Dynasty, Creatures of the Night, Lick It Up and Asylum for Christmas. Animalize, Double Platinum, ALIVE II and Crazy Nights came indiscriminately in between this and that. And of course, there was ALIVE III, Unplugged, Revenge, Psycho Circus and several compilation albums much later on, such as the aforementioned Double Platinum plus You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best and Smashes, Thrashes and Hits (I simply taped that one off of a buddy of mine mainly for the Eric Carr version of "Beth.") Kiss Symphony: Alive IV just isn't my cup of tea. However, I may still get the DVD. Ah, what the heck, maybe actually watching them perform with a symphony would be better than just listening to it.

I would love to get a copy of Jigoku-Retsuden, a Japanese-only compilation release, if just for the cover-art alone. Of course I must purchase the new, upcoming studio album (more on that later) To be honest, I never have heard one track from Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (Again, some fan, huh?) And come Hell or high water, I am going to pick up their latest LIVE release, Alive 35. It's a compilation of the songs that are on the tour that I'm going to in July. They were recorded on the European leg of the tour. By the way, the title doesn't represent how may "Alive" albums they've released, it represents their 35 years in existence, silly.

Remember these were all vinyl LPs, except for Lick It Up, Asylum and Alive III; they were bought in the cassette format (and Smashes, Thrashes and Hits was, as mentioned recorded onto a blank cassette tape) Unplugged, Revenge and You Wanted the Best were the first KISS releases that were purchased on CD. If I try real hard, I can probably tell you exactly which one came first and probably even from what store. To this day , even though I am a loyal and true KISS Army soldier, I refuse to buy Unmasked and Music from The Elder. I think the KISS Army consensus world-wide is those two albums, unfortunately, blow dog. And for some reason,
I never did pick up the solo albums, wherein each member (Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter) recorded an album without any of the other members. Each album represented half an album of a five album commitment. Of course, Ace's sold the most. If I did any up (and I'm sure I'll cave) I'd probably only get Ace's. I've heard the others and except for a couple of exceptions, I just don't think they cut it.

My first exposure to them live was on March 9, 1985. It was for the Animalize tour and it was awesome! Not only was it my first KISS concert, but my first concert ever. My mother had gotten me the tickets for an early birthday gift. I went with my step-brother, who left me alone for most of the night to fend for myself against the unsavory types that frequent these types of shows. Okay, nothing happened, but still...

Most of the show was old stuff, so I was satisfied. They played cuts from... well, let's just say they played everything on Double Platinum, and of course "Heavens On Fire" from Animalize, as well as songs from Creatures of the Night, Dynasty and Lick It Up. Like I said, awesome. The line-up included Eric Carr (RIP) and Bruce Kulick (who did actually don the make-up himself for a very short time, adopting the persona of The Dog-a take, of course, on The Cat and a stretch to be sure) It was just three years (officially) after Ace's departure from the band. It also showcased Gene's wicked battle axe bass and Paul's mirror guitar. When the spotlight hit it, rays of light would go everywhere in every direction. Mint!
Gene did his blood-spitting and fire-breathing, of course.

The next time I saw them live was for the 1997 World Reunion Tour. I would finally get to see my heroes as they were to meant to be-Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter together again in full make-up and costumes. They played their classics, as well as some stuff from Psycho Circus. It was a big deal. I went to this one with my girlfriend of the time (she took me to Ozzy, so I paid for this)
It was pure adrenalin. She enjoyed it as well (as well she should have or I would have had to disown her) but I definitely was more appreciative of exactly what we were witnessing.

So you'd figure that once I saw the original, best line-up, I wouldn't, couldn't or shouldn't settle for anything or anybody less.But I think you'd be missing the point, this is a KISS concert, not a Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons concert. As both Gene and Paul have said multiple times in multiple interviews, KISS is an entity all it's own. They're not just a band, they're a brand (kings of merchandising) they're Americana, they're all things to all rockin' people. Now, having said that, would I support say, a "KISS II" with an all new line-up? Of course not. But since Simmons and Stanley are the founding members, and if they want to keep this going as long as they can, I'll be there and rock out as long as I can as well. And yes, it is for the money and a status check.

Now, I just saw an interview with Peter Criss in which he blasts the band for puting another man in the Catman's persona. I can't say I blame him, he is the Catman. The one and only Catman. Eric Singer is not the Catman and never will be. Nothing against Singer, he's a very good drummer and he's been a member of KISS since 1992, but both he and Tommy Thayer should have been designated with all new personas, just like Eric Carr did in 1981 when he joined the band. He didn't become a cheap ripoff of Criss (not that Singer and Thayer are) he was The Fox. I mean they couldn't have gotten worse than Vinnie Vincent's make-up. He was supposed to be an "Ankh Warrior," whatever that is. The boys actually had Vincent in Ace's make-up for a short time. Ace Frehley is not too happy with Gene Simmons nowadays either, but for an entirely different reason. By the way, here's a clip from May of last year on what Space Ace has been up to these days:

And I can't believe I almost didn't mention this, but I would be totally amiss if I didn't mention the one and only time KISS were featured in their own movie. In Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park aka Attack of the Phantoms (a 1978 CBS television production) The plot revolves around, according to the Internet Movie Database, "... rock band KISS and their efforts to thwart a diabolical plan by mad scientist Abner Devereaux." It is a baaad movie. The kind of movie that is so bad, you love the hell out of it and strangely find yourself watching it again. Of course, no one would ever admit to that. The members of the band hated the outcome so much in fact, that they didn't want anyone to even mention it in their presence. Much like George Lucas and the the whole STAR WARS Holiday Special (on NBC, also in 1978) there's a reason they don't like to discuss it. In Lucas's case, he would rather wish that it didn't exist at all. You can catch Phantom on YouTube in nine parts (although the opening credits are missing) or order it on DVD from Amazon, finally.

I've also read that the band is releasing a new studio album, slated for release in the summer. It would be their first studio album in 12 years. Waaaay overdue. But it would indeed be, you guessed it...awesome! On that, here is a juicy tidbit from Wikipedia. Informative site, but not the gospel. However, I have heard confirmation on it from both Gene and Paul in two separate interviews:

Late 2008 saw the band take another unexpected turn. Over ten years after their last studio album, and following years of denials about ever wanting to do a new album, Stanley and Simmons seemed to have changed their minds. In November 2008, Paul Stanley stated to rock photographer Ross Halfin that a new Kiss album is in the works, which Stanley would produce. Stanley also stated that the album would have a "real 70's Kiss sound" to it. On November 26 2008, Gene Simmons confirmed the information about a new Kiss album and said he expected it to be released in Summer 2009. On November 29, Paul Stanley confirmed to the official Kiss website that the band will be entering the studio soon, repeating the assertion that the new record will be modeled on the band's classic 1970s sound.Gene Simmons stated on the Kiss official website:

*Sorry about the white space. Since I lifted it from the Wikipedia site, for some reason, I can't close the gap.

"We've [also] been recording our first New Studio Album in 11 years!!!. Produced by Paul Stanley. And, having Paul simply decide things, works better. Democracy is highly overrated. Paul is kickin' ass. The material sounds great and Tommy and Eric are in great form. We have 4 tunes recorded. If you're a fan of our stuff from about 1977, you'll feel right at home. All of us have taken up the songwriting call to arms in the same spirit we once did -- without a care in the world and without outside writers. Nothing to prove to anyone. Just doing what comes naturally.

Ignoring fashions, trends and with a personal vow from all of us: no rapping. There are plenty of people out there doing this and they don't need four pale-faced guys pretending they're from the hood. Besides, I'm not sure how to correctly pronounce 'wassup."

Tommy is finishing his solo tune. Sounds great, I can tell you. And Eric is going to sing on the album. See you all there...Or maybe later!"


WOO-HOO!! And because I can't control my enthusiasm, here a re a few random videos, many of which, I have never seen:

"Goodbye Peter" "Goodbye Ace, Hello Vinnie" "Unmasking on MTV" Gene and Paul interview-Part 1: Gene and Paul interview-Part 2: Here's that Paul Lynde Halloween Special I was talking about (God bless YouTube): Here's Paul giving some a-hole "fan" the riot act. Hey, they get pissed off too. Geez, I hate to see their bad side: My God, do you remember these? Or even this commercial? A-W-E-S-O-M-E! MSG Interview with Gene and Paul on KISSOLOGY-Part 1 MSG Interview with Gene and Paul on KISSOLOGY-Part 2 BBC Gene and Paul interview- Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: KISS rules! That is all.

Macho Man Scares Make-A-Wish Kid?

I know this is from The Onion site, therefore not real. I fell for one of them last year, when, believe it or not, I didn't know of The Onion's practices, or even its existence. You may start chuckling now.
But even though this is satirical, it still breaks my heart to see the Macho Man in such a loony light.

But you must realize, Macho Madness will never die.

Chad Vader is Back!

The boys at Blame Society Productions, Aaron Yonda and Matt Slone, are back with Season 2 of Chad Vader. The hilarious tribute/spoof of the greatest cinematic villain of all time.

As before, I won't let you miss an episode, as I will be posting every one right here as soon as I can (or do)

Starting with Season 2, Episode 1: "The Takeover"



And Episode 2: Laser Trouble



And and an added Return of Chad special, here is Chad Vader and the Security Gate





Episode 3: Into the Basement

Vanity Fair Says Lucas is Dead Wrong

This little article by Vanity Fair's Julian Sancton caught my eye. And my ire at first, I must admit.

Maybe she's right, but I don't think she is. I believe Lucas will be right, if not on everything, within the next 20 years. Although I think both Lucas and Sancton miss the point of the movie experience altogether. I believe the big screen, great sound and the reaction of the entertained, appreciative audience is what keeps people going out to movies. I think it always has been. family night, first dates, insomniac hang-outs; these are ageless traditions.

And I think that with all his accomplishments, she can let the Howard the Duck thing go anytime.
Yeah it sucked, move on.

Love is Stupid

Not that I care what celebrities do in their personal lives (even less when they tell us how to live ours) but this Rhianna chick is just S-T-U-P-I-D if this report is to be believed.

Remember, this is what he did to her not that long ago-as in a few weeks:


If she thinks she is going to have a "fairy tale" (other than being treated like Cinderella life with this punk she supposedly "loves," then she is a complete moron and I'm sorry, but she'll get what she deserves. Not physically, of course, God forbid.

UPDATE: Chris Brown plead "Not guilty" to the charge of felony assault and criminal threats. He didn't choose "no contest," but "Not guilty." He wants or expects people to believe he didn't do this? What a punk! He's actually going to try and defend his actions and then try and avoid any responsibility and consequences. Wow.

As a friend of mine said not to long ago,
"These people are crazy!"

Just in Case You Forgot

When will they meet again? It could happen at any time...

Round 1



Round 2



Round 3

Ledger Wins the Oscar

It had to happen. Like I said earlier, if Heath Ledger didn't win a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, Hollywood was gonna burn.

It was destiny.

Chris Jericho Attacked, Understandably Freaks Out

These people need to be arrested and beaten. I mean more than just the simple pie-face and punch that these idiots received. I've seen Chris Jericho in person (and don't just mean at a wrestling show) and he is a decent, stand-up guy. He does care about the fans. As I work for an independent wrestling company up here in Canada, and we had Jericho come into town as he and his band, Fozzy had a concert here. He went out of his way to accommodate everyone he could, and then some. Some of these fans are just simply nuts. You should see the lengths they go through just to get an autograph or picture.

Yeah, some wrestlers are dicks (I've seen that too)Jericho is not one of them. I see this stuff all the time. These people clearly deserved what they got, female or no female. It was self-defense, pure and simple. If he gets any legal troubles for this, it would be a travesty and a joke.

The Joker

It had to happen. Since the Joker is now my second favorite comic book villain behind Electro (don't ask me why, I just find him cool) I had to post a tribute of some sort to Batman's arch-nemesis; and yes it is because of Heath Ledger's recent resurrection of the character. What can I say, it was brilliant. And, by now, you know I'm not the only one.

But since I'm a Spiderman guy mostly, I haven't paid all that much attention to other superheros. Although, like anybody else, I do know the basics on most of them. Certainly the major ones. So of course I know the history of the Caped Crusader and most of his enemies like most people, but I just lack the knowledge of the character to do so.

But I ran across this column by someone with the user name, Achilles over at RetroJunk.com, a cool little site that is chalked full of memories from my pre-teen years-especially the commercial clips.

I enjoyed it and learned a few things. This guy clearly did his research and his intricate knowledge shines through.

Phantom of the Paradise

When I was a kid, around 10 or 11, I was sleeping over at a friend's house and we stayed up til around 2 A.M. just to watch this movie that was coming on called Phantom of the Paradise. All we knew was that it was (probably) about some guy with a cool, silver helmet that wore a lot of mascara.

To make a long story short, we were a little confused at the end, not totally understanding the adult-theme premise. But we thought it was one of the coolest movies ever! By the way, this buddy of mine, Todd, who I haven't seen for 30 years-last I heard he was in Calgary; is the same guy I saw my earliest, coolest movies with-all on VHS of course. Conan the Barbarian, The Warriors and This flick come to mind. This guy even had Planet of the Apes dolls. How cool is that?

Anywho, I thought nothing of my (what I thought was) normal appreciation for the movie since.
I even liked the soundtrack-nothing wrong with that.

So skip ahead 30 years and I'm at a friends house just shootin' the shite, and the subject of Phantom came up. My buddy asks me, "You know the only two cities where that did well; where it made a lot of money?"
"Where," I said.
"Winnipeg and Paris, France"

So naturally being from Winnipeg, I thought, "Hmm." But basically just thought it was a cool coincidence, and maybe he didn't know what he was talking about.

That is until I see this. Read it. If nothing else it's just a good little article on some strange occurrence in the realm of entertainment. Or it could be a source of pride that not only am I just one of 450,000 or so people that actually like this movie (cause it's cool) but that this so-called "phenomenon" happened in my hometown.

I'm good either way.