"Rock And Roll All Night" / KISS / Greatest KISS

Back to the metal again, eh itunes?

If you are my age (35ish), you probably had some kind of KISS encounter in your youth. Literally, a couple of my earliest memories involve KISS.

From the time I was a few months old until I was five, my family lived in the small towm of Barnesville, GA. My earliest years were spent in a little red brick house in this sleepy little town. Up the street there lived an older kid by three or four years named Rip (for real). Well. Rip was the coolest kid in the world in my eyes, because he was an only kid, had some awesome toys, and had a backyard pool. He also had all of the KISS albums, and this was back in their mid 70's heyday.

I can recall going to Rip's house and staring, just...staring at those KISS album covers in wonder. It was exciting, exotic and frightening all at once. Rip and I would play the albums and use his tennis rackets as guitars, and thus began my love of Rock & Roll. The gyp was he always got to be Gene Simmons, and I had to be Ace Frehley. Oddly, neither of us wanted to be Paul Stanley. I distinctly remember Rip playing our favorite, "Calling Dr. Love" and telling me, "Pretend I throw up on this girl and she faints" and then miming vomit. Good times, bro.

Flash to another memory during the same time...I'm sure I bugged my Mom about the KISS stuff leading her to buy me a KISS paint-by-numbers kit. I recall us laying on our floor and coloring in the band in all their black and white glory. God only knows what my Mom was thinking. Then, there was the breathless glory of seeing them in the classic "KISS meets the Phantom of the Park" on TV. How was I supposed to know how bad it was when I was five? It blew my mind back then. Completely.

Caution: 70's awesomeness ahead


I lost touch with KISS over the years, save for the occasional single. I rather randomly recall Caleb Elder and Alan Nimmons arguing during little league practice about how the chorus "went" on "Lick it Up", almost leading to blows. Then there was the time me and some buddies went downtown dressed as "Destroyer" era KISS in ties and all. Yeah, it's kind of played out now, but it was pretty cool in 1995. Oh, and this time I was Paul Stanley. Interesting...

Me, second from the right


Good for KISS for staying around, though. About ten years ago they put the makeup back on and really started to cash in. I guess it was about the time that our generation that first liked them in the 70's became adults with disposable income. I mean, do you really think any young kids these days get into KISS? It's hard to imagine. They are now known for being complete, shameless capatialist whores, but unapologetically, so I guess that's pretty cool.

"Rock And Roll All Nite" is, of course, their signature hit. It's hard to write about KISS' music, because they are more an idea than a band, if that makes any sense. This song, like the rest of their stuff, is pretty unremarkable when merely heard without seeing the accompanying spectacle. I'll give them this, though. This band absolutely deals in cliche, but doesn't give a shit. They have almost zero pretense about them, and when they say their fans are the best and they owe everything to them, I actually tend to believe what they say. My favorite part? Probably the opening drumbeat leading into those unmistakable three opening chords. It's amazing, though, how seeing the classic 70's footage will take me right back to being a kid again.