Jump to content

Neil Peart bashes Kiss' all out marketing Approach


Self-Indulgence
 Share

Recommended Posts

In Rush‘s early years, they opened for a number of major acts, learning the tricks of the trade from older masters – among them Kiss.

They say everyone got along, up until a point. “We would get high with Ace Frehley in his hotel room and make him laugh,” Geddy Lee tells Rolling Stone, “and they were a really good influence on us in terms of learning to put on a show.”

But Neil Peart recoiled from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley‘s larger approach to marketing their band as a product. “I don’t want to knock them,” he says. “But once I was in a little restaurant in Kansas, and a guy with Kiss Army tattoos kept playing Kiss songs on the jukebox. He believed in a marketing campaign, swallowed it as religion. He was like a convert to Scientology.”

Peart says it went against the kind of musical purism that surrounded him as a youngster. “It’s about being your own hero,” he says. “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”

That includes the on-stage rap that seems to surround most rock shows. “We would hear them give the same rap to the audience every night,” Peart says of bands they supported. “‘This is the greatest rock city in the world, man!’ That was creepy. I despise the cynical dishonesty.”

Edited by Self-Indulgence
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plenty of Rush fans all tatted up that worship the music like a religion. Neil really needs to have a good look at this board, and FB.

 

Not knocking it, to each his own. My point is that Pratt should take a good look at his own fanbase.. Who were all those nuts at the RRHOF pissing off Qunicy Jones and Oprah? The most devoted fanbase , second only to The Dead, that's who.

 

Rush may not have a lot of material product like KISS Kaskets and all that outrageous stuff, but the band IS a brand. Sure, more based on the music and the image the guys have.

 

But Rush fans are not all that different than the KISS guys in terms of devotion.

Edited by grep
  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That includes the on-stage rap that seems to surround most rock shows. “We would hear them give the same rap to the audience every night,” Peart says of bands they supported. “‘This is the greatest rock city in the world, man!’ That was creepy. I despise the cynical dishonesty.”

 

Geddy said pretty much the same thing, night to night, on the R40 tour.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Neil, but I think it would've benefitted him to lighten up a little over the years. Especially in regard to fan appreciation. As already mentioned, there are tons of people with Rush related tattoos. Some even on this board. :) It's like Neil judges every person's fandom behavior based on whether or not it's something HE would do and deems them idiots if they go outside the box that HE has always lived in.
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All out marketing...

 

...like selling everything from Rush underwear, Rush bar stools and overpriced books with his signature on them.

 

Do you have any idea how much of RobertRobyn's money this band has taken over the years?! :)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"We've got about a gazillion songs" said some frontman at just about every tour for the last decade.

 

Yes.

 

And with that repition, is it any wonder why we get all excited by guys running around on stage in chicken suits? The shows are spectacles and all that... but we need something more fun. Like Van Halen... they fracking ROCK. But the shows are fun too. Because Dave is the party. (Yes, he's less of a party these days, but still the party)

 

Where's our Party? Our man Lerxst. He's our party... but he hasn't done a rant in 8 years. We need more of that. Hit me baby!

Edited by grep
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to remember the Neil Peart I imagined when I was 14 years old - an intellectual and musiclal genius. A man that inspires and motivates.

 

Now, he's just another "entertainer" who is not as smart as imagined.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well oddly, as long as this band RUSH has been creating and playing music they're NOT among the richest musicians in rock. All three are waaaaaaaay, waaaaaaaay down on the list. They do push their product/merchandise as much as any other rock band, AS THEY SHOULD.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault.

 

They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money.

 

True...

 

...but at least Kiss is honest about their marketing.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault.

 

They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money.

 

You're right of course. He and the boys have earned every penny - worked damned hard for it too.

 

The only reason this topic is even being discussed is because of the Neil story. He disagrees with the marketing and all that....

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault.

 

They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money.

 

True...

 

...but at least Kiss is honest about their marketing.

It's what Kiss does. They never steered away from or strayed from the mercendise. Heck, I loved it when I was a kid. I liked my Kiss stuff better than my Star Wars stuff.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault.

 

They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money.

 

True...

 

...but at least Kiss is honest about their marketing.

It's what Kiss does. They never steered away from or strayed from the mercendise. Heck, I loved it when I was a kid. I liked my Kiss stuff better than my Star Wars stuff.

 

Same here, I actually still have most of my Kiss memorabilia from the 70s up to Dynasty.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...