Neil Peart bashes Kiss' all out marketing Approach

[Pale Facsimile]

RUSH clearly aren't fans of condoms. They prefer to use The Rhythm Method. :Neil:

[JohnnyBlaze]

Neil could make a comment about a dump he just took and it would create a twenty page thread on here.

With Rush toilet paper for $21.12 a roll to go with dump story.

.....And the story of his massive dump would be written in detail on said roll of toilet paper.

You know that shit would sell...quite literally.

[antiquark]

Agree with Neil. That stuff about bands saying "this crowd is the greatest I've ever seen" is true. Even crappy bar bands say shit like that. And it's basically a lie!

 

Also, while Rush sells stuff, they don't embrace the hero worship aspect of it. I.e. you wont find a t-shirt with Neil sticking out his tongue.

 

Also, a lot of bands portray a bullcrap image of their personal lives. Such as, their life being one big party of booze, drugs, and women. Again, that is basically a lie!

[Xanadu]

Neil could make a comment about a dump he just took and it would create a twenty page thread on here.

With Rush toilet paper for $21.12 a roll to go with dump story.

.....And the story of his massive dump would be written in detail on said roll of toilet paper.

You know that shit would sell...quite literally.

 

Sometimes people love crap!

[circumstantial tree]

comparing Kiss to Rush is like comparing apples to oranges. As someone stated earlier, music is a business, especially when you sign a contract with a record company. You can be an "honest" musician without having to have a recording contract. And with business comes marketing. Neil is too often critical about how other people do things.

 

I for one, liked the Kiss Army thing in the 1970s.

[Xanadu]

comparing Kiss to Rush is like comparing apples to oranges. As someone stated earlier, music is a business, especially when you sign a contract with a record company. You can be an "honest" musician without having to have a recording contract. And with business comes marketing. Neil is too often critical about how other people do things.

 

I for one, liked the Kiss Army thing in the 1970s.

 

I agree. While I wouldn't call myself a huge KISS fan, I always subscribe to the theory that just because someone is not doing it your way, doesn't necessarily mean they are doing it the wrong way.

[Lucas]

The sad part of this is that the people who bash KISS are the ones who know nothing about their beginnings, and the mountain they eventually overcame ..

 

The origin of The KISS Army had nothing to do with band - it was a couple of fans who decided to take it upon themselves to gather outside a radio station until KISS was played - it was a groundswell across blue-collar America, as KISS was NOT accepted or embraced in the chic or trendy locals such as NYC ....

 

KISS' manager was Bill Aucoin, a first time manager who loved what he saw and financed the tours on his credit cards, putting him tens of thousands of dollars in debt until the band finally broke in late 1975, after 3 years of constant unprofitable touring ...

 

Neil Bogart started Casablanca Records, and KISS was his first act to be signed

 

All those involved were doing this for the first time ... There was no big money machine behind KISS

 

Each member created the character, and between them and their faithful 4 member road crew, they took a station wagon and rented truck and built a following ...

 

Up until Alive! broke, band members were making $65-75 dollars a week constantly touring

 

KISS did not create the KISS Army - The fans did

 

Like them or not, no band has ever taken the DIY approach more serious than KISS .. And say what you want about Gene and Paul - but they started it - they did not join a band, they created one

[TexMike]

^ Yep, Geddy said it himself. "There was no harder working band than KISS". And in the beginning at least, there WAS a lot more there than just toys and merchandise. There was genuine chemistry and charisma from 4 guys individually and as a whole. Artistically, Rush are in a class by themselves. But not *all* music needs to be that epic and thought out to be entertaining.

[Lucas]

An example of the "big machine" ( not ) behind KISS:

 

For the photo of the cover of the THRID album - Dressed To Kill - KISS wore suits ... Peter Criss was the only member to own a suit, so the other three members wore suits owned by manager Bill Aucion ..

 

As you can see, Gene Simmons' suit did not fit, as he had to fold up the sleeves on his shirt, and because he did not own dress shoes, wore borrowed clogs ..

 

The second photo shows Casablanca Records CEO Neil Bogart in the studio with the band ... Because there was no money, Bogart acted as producer ... The album was written in the studio and recorded on days off during the tour ....

 

This was not a big machine ... It was a few people putting everything on the line to get music out to the fans

 

By the way .... Dressed To Kill - the album written and recorded in a few days on no budget - did feature Rock And Roll All Night

 

Amazing accomplishment, and they did it from the ground up

 

http://media2.fdncms.com/chronogram/imager/kiss-1974/u/original/2238030/kiss1974_gruen.gif

 

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/ultimateclassicrock.com/files/2013/11/KissCasablanca.jpg

Edited August 19, 2015 by Lucas

[Lucas]

Geddy after being pied by Gene and Paul during the final show of a tour together

 

When it comes down to it - this is what I like to remember about the bands

 

The marketing, the criticism and snide remarks, and the loss of fun are things I try to tune out

 

http://www.rushisaband.com/images/201102/1824.f.jpg

[JohnnyBlaze]

Lucas, thanks for all that. Very interesting history and cool, fun pics.

Personally, Kiss was my FIRST favorite band. I was a 5 year old when Destroyer came out and since my older bros (who I idolized) were into Kiss, I was into Kiss. Everything about them matched my other favorite thing: comic books. Not too many years later, though a lifetime then, Rush became my favorite band (again, influenced by my bros). I was 9.

Edited August 19, 2015 by JohnnyBlaze

[MMCXII]

NEIL !!

 

I can see that magic marker you are trying to hide !!

 

STOP WRITING ON THAT WALL

 

It is politically incorrect as someone will now have to paint over that crap !!!

 

Hope they used oil paint. Because latex will not cover magic marker.

 

No but if you cover it with aluminum spray paint and let it dry good, then you can cover that with latex.. probably two coats.

 

(I did time with Martha Stewart ok lol)

[MMCXII]

Lucas, thanks for all that. Very interesting history and cool, fun pics.

Personally, Kiss was my FIRST favorite band. I was a 5 year old when Destroyer came out and since my older bros (who I idolized) were into Kiss, I was into Kiss. Everything about them matched my other favorite thing: comic books. Not too many years later, though I lifetime then, Rush became my favorite band (again, influenced by my bros). I was 9.

 

Me too pretty much exactly on all that.

 

Although I'm proud to say I grew out of Kiss in 79, I still get nostalgic and can listen to some older stuff

[ReRushed]

I guess I would feel differently if I didn't think Kiss actually wrote some good songs. They have some REALLY good songs, especially 1970s Kiss. Those albums are surprisingly diverse.

[The Cat 3]

I guess I would feel differently if I didn't think Kiss actually wrote some good songs. They have some REALLY good songs, especially 1970s Kiss. Those albums are surprisingly diverse.

 

I couldn't agree more...great post!

[clem]

Neil could make a comment about a dump he just took and it would create a twenty page thread on here.

 

That would be SNA.

Although I'm quite fond of SNA, this one made me pee myself.

 

Thanks for the laugh.

 

Clem

[goose]

comparing Kiss to Rush is like comparing apples to oranges. As someone stated earlier, music is a business, especially when you sign a contract with a record company. You can be an "honest" musician without having to have a recording contract. And with business comes marketing. Neil is too often critical about how other people do things.

 

I for one, liked the Kiss Army thing in the 1970s.

The tattoos, Love Gun's toy gun, the dolls... It was all awesome!

[toymaker]

Just a small taste:

 

http://www.everythingkiss.com/Kollections/index.html

[JohnnyBlaze]

comparing Kiss to Rush is like comparing apples to oranges. As someone stated earlier, music is a business, especially when you sign a contract with a record company. You can be an "honest" musician without having to have a recording contract. And with business comes marketing. Neil is too often critical about how other people do things.

 

I for one, liked the Kiss Army thing in the 1970s.

The tattoos, Love Gun's toy gun, the dolls... It was all awesome!

That 70s comic where they met the Avengers!

 

[Stormtron]

I love Kiss and it's not even skewed by nostalgia...I genuinely like their music and the whole thing is fun. I would've been all over that in the 70s.

[Lucas]

Excellent piece on Chaim Witz aka Gene Klein aka Gene Simmons, and his lifelong obsession with comic books, art and sci-fi, even creating his own fanzines as a kid ...

 

“Seth and I used to publish amateur fanzines about comic books and science fiction. We would write articles, review movies, and talk about characters from television shows. His fanzine was called Exile; mine was called Cosmos"

 

For Simmons, it is a dream come true

 

 

http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2013/04/gene-simmons-and-kiss-channeling-ones-inner-superhero-2/

 

 

http://hoodedutilitarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/illo-03.jpg

[goose]

Excellent piece on Chaim Witz aka Gene Klein aka Gene Simmons, and his lifelong obsession with comic books, art and sci-fi, even creating his own fanzines as a kid ...

 

“Seth and I used to publish amateur fanzines about comic books and science fiction. We would write articles, review movies, and talk about characters from television shows. His fanzine was called Exile; mine was called Cosmos"

 

For Simmons, it is a dream come true

 

 

http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2013/04/gene-simmons-and-kiss-channeling-ones-inner-superhero-2/

 

 

http://hoodedutilitarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/illo-03.jpg

Cool.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Lucas, thanks for all that. Very interesting history and cool, fun pics.

Personally, Kiss was my FIRST favorite band. I was a 5 year old when Destroyer came out and since my older bros (who I idolized) were into Kiss, I was into Kiss. Everything about them matched my other favorite thing: comic books. Not too many years later, though I lifetime then, Rush became my favorite band (again, influenced by my bros). I was 9.

 

Me too pretty much exactly on all that.

 

Although I'm proud to say I grew out of Kiss in 79, I still get nostalgic and can listen to some older stuff

Yeah, I definitely get nostalgic by any of their 70s stuff.

 

I grew out of Kiss when Rush became my favorite band (with Moving Pictures). It wasn't until the 90s when I read an article that stated Rush opened for Kiss and that they were pretty close back in the day. It was a neat thing for me to discover that the ONLY 2 favorite bands I've ever had respected each other and got along well despite all their easily recognizable differences.

Edited August 20, 2015 by JohnnyBlaze

[Jaminbenb]

The sad part of this is that the people who bash KISS are the ones who know nothing about their beginnings, and the mountain they eventually overcame ..

 

The origin of The KISS Army had nothing to do with band - it was a couple of fans who decided to take it upon themselves to gather outside a radio station until KISS was played - it was a groundswell across blue-collar America, as KISS was NOT accepted or embraced in the chic or trendy locals such as NYC ....

 

KISS' manager was Bill Aucoin, a first time manager who loved what he saw and financed the tours on his credit cards, putting him tens of thousands of dollars in debt until the band finally broke in late 1975, after 3 years of constant unprofitable touring ...

 

Neil Bogart started Casablanca Records, and KISS was his first act to be signed

 

All those involved were doing this for the first time ... There was no big money machine behind KISS

 

Each member created the character, and between them and their faithful 4 member road crew, they took a station wagon and rented truck and built a following ...

 

Up until Alive! broke, band members were making $65-75 dollars a week constantly touring

 

KISS did not create the KISS Army - The fans did

 

Like them or not, no band has ever taken the DIY approach more serious than KISS .. And say what you want about Gene and Paul - but they started it - they did not join a band, they created one

 

But what you're saying is no different than 99% of every other band that "made it"! Every band started with "humble beginnings" had to work through the trenches...holding down day jobs...doing "pay to play" gigs..handing out flyers...schlepping their own gear from cruddy bar to cruddy bar for no pay...putting their own cash out to get that demo recorded...whatever...Other people created bands! You make it sound like they did something no one else did....

 

What a lot of people don't like about Kiss is that they are like a lot of other cruddy bands with "hook" music and a gimic! (the makeup). They had a hit, (Rock and Roll all night) made themselves available to the music press like crazy, and took every interview possible (and had entertaining interviews)(I'll admit..I hated their music, but loved it when the next issue of Circus had a Gene Simmons interview in it). And marketed the living CRAP out of their gear! After that the only other memorable song they had was Beth...everything else I heard sucked! I had a friend that worked for them...he couldn't believe that I couldn't stand to listen to their stuff...he even told Gene about me, and you know what Gene said? "We're not for everyone...stop trying to force us on him!" (But he did get a kick out of the fact that I used to love to read the interviews back in the 70's)

 

If ya like the music...good for you...I'm not a fan, will never be one... I thought the make up thing was weird...but whatever....

 

 

 

[djflex]

Kiss, never tried to deny what they were. They came right out and say it. There is some honesty in that