The Mavens of Avon...5 Yrs I won't get back

KI$$-

Busted my BALLS for these guys, thrown out of Rock Radio repeatedly, finally got them on Top40 using Jukebox stats! I did everything in my power for this act and all I got was kicked in the same place I ‘busted’.

I was always found it interesting that they would use the Thunderbolt ‘S’s in their logo, as these guys are Jewish and those ‘S’s raises the specter of the Nasties from WW2, and all the shit that they did. The origin of the Thunderbolt ‘S’ comes from Scandinavia and is designated as the ‘Sig’ sign many years before it became the Sig in ‘Sieg Heil!’ and Sig-nister.

Gene is not a stupid man, KISS is a cash cow and always was; they were heavy into merchandising before a lot of other people caught on to it, so the Thunderbolt ‘S’s didn’t Rune it, they made them richer.

In Germany, however, KISS are not allowed to use their trademark logo, they have to go with the conventional ‘S’, Ghosts of Holocausts past and all, and this applies to their Albums as well as on stage.

My final involvement with them was a concert at The Coliseum which was a big deal but Quality was strangely low profile on this. I went to the concert and after some effort got backstage to meet the band who to a man, ignored me. Very confusing, until I bumped into the Polygram Rep who asked what I was doing there and told me KISS had signed with their Mercury label (in an effort to bankrupt them) that afternoon; somebody might have had the courtesy…..

The silver lining is that I got to see the opening act Cheap Trick which was MORE relatable to me, not being a 12 year old any longer, and the only prop I saw was Bun E Carlos oversized drumsticks

Pyrotechnics aside, in my opinion, KISS light up a room when they leave it.