← The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers
The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers
159 - Kiss - Alive! - Paul Stanley
01:27:52
Legendary frontman Paul Stanley joins the podcast to discuss their iconic live album, “Alive!”
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- [00:01]
Josh Adam Myers
Next Chapter Podcasts.
- [00:07]
Paul Stanley
When you think about businesses that are selling through the roof.
- [00:10]
Josh Adam Myers
Like Aloe or Allbirds, sure you think about a great product, a cool brand and great marketing.
- [00:16]
Paul Stanley
But an often overlooked secret is actually.
- [00:19]
Josh Adam Myers
The businesses behind the business making, selling and for shoppers buying.
- [00:24]
Paul Stanley
Simple. For millions of businesses, that business is Shopify.
- [00:29]
Josh Adam Myers
Nobody does online business better than Shopify.
- [00:32]
Paul Stanley
It's home of Shop Pay, the number.
- [00:34]
Josh Adam Myers
One checkout in the world.
- [00:36]
Paul Stanley
You can use it to boost conversions.
- [00:38]
Josh Adam Myers
Up to 50%, meaning way less carts going abandoned and way more sales going through.
- [00:44]
Paul Stanley
To checkout, sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com income all lowercase go to shopify.com income to.
- [00:57]
Josh Adam Myers
Upgrade your selling today. That's shopify.com income.
- [01:06]
Paul Stanley
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want is a great feeling. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.
- [01:31]
Josh Adam Myers
This show is brought to you by Distro Kid. Bring your music to the masses. The 500 the 500 JM been walking us down through that 2012 edition so.
- [01:58]
Paul Stanley
It ain't nothing too new.
- [02:00]
Josh Adam Myers
Hundreds more to go in and need of a friend. The king of peace for angelo. Talking the 500 until the end. Talking the 500 until the end with my man JL on the 500 talking the 500 until the end. You wanted the best, you got the best. It's the opening track from one of the best live records of all time, Alive by Kiss. From their 1975 record to double Alive is also number 159 out of 500 on the 500 with Josh Adam Myers. What is up party people? Fleece army unite. Because when we do it right. Big ups Emily. Big ups DJ Morty Coyle. We do it right. And thank you for tuning in. The only podcast that's going through Rolling Stone magazines listed the 500 greatest albums from 500 down to one with a comic. And that is me. I was just getting back from la. Thank you to everybody that came to the goddamn comedy jam. It was magical. And the shimmy shimmy. Yeah, not this weekend, but the 30th and the 31st. You guys can see me at the port in Baltimore, Maryland. Four shows, two Friday to Saturday ticket link at Josh Adam Myers.com come one, come all. It is going to be a party. Also, listen to our Patreon. Me, DJ Morty Coyle and Wayne Fetty, Watt Fetterman and JT Man Bun, man, we're doing a little skadoodle every week. Sometimes we're doing too many, but man, we're having a good time with it. I love those guys. And subscribe to the Patreon because it really does help us. Patreon.com backslash the 500 podcast. Be a part of the Patreon. Join the movement. The 500 podcast is going to finish May 31, 2028. $5 a month. You get the show, you get to ask questions to the guest, and for 25 you get merch. Don't you want to rep the 500 at your block party, your live concert experience? When we see Fleece army out on the street? Man, oh man. Oh, shove it's. We connect. Let's just get to this. So, Emily, this is a new system we've created. The, the. The Kagan Meter. I don't know what he. How Jeremiah called it. We had Portnoy on. This is a. This is, this is a strong orange. This is a strong orange on the Kagan Meter. But I would say as a guest, this code red, code red Kagan scale, blowing it up. She got us for Kiss Alive, the lead guitarist and vocalist from the band Kiss, the one and only Paul Stanley. This is why I love doing the podcast. I love the people I've been able to sit down to talk to and I love this journey and I love listening to these records and sometimes we get the people that worked on the record and I can't thank Morty for helping me prepare for this. Also, big shout out to. Big shout out to Ronnie from the Muffs for a former guest, came off a big star, helped us with this as well. This is one of those all time episodes, guys. Hopefully this is one of those that gets us the numbers and pushes us over the edge because we work really hard on this podcast and I hope you guys enjoy it because this is a trip. Dude. This is one of those, like, I can't believe we're doing this. Raid review and most Importantly, subscribe to the 500 listen free on all platforms or anywhere you get your pods. Follow me at Josh Adam Myers on all social media. Follow the podcasts at the 500 Podcast. Email the podcast@500podcastmail.com Follow the Facebook Room run by Crazy Evan. And for all things 500, go to the website the500podcast.com all right, kiddos, let's just dig into it. Here we go with number 159 out of 500 with Kiss Alive. Well, this is, this is a really. This is. Well, one. Thank you for, for taking time out to just be with us today. I don't know, we've been, we've been doing this podcast for about six and a half years. And, you know, I'm. I'm 45, so because of this podcast, I was, I was lucky enough to, to really, I, I, of course, I loved love the hits of Kiss, but because of the podcast, you know, we did Destroyer first really early on, and I had Jeff Ross, the roastmaster general, as my guest. And his love for the band rubbed off on me. His excitement, like I felt it.
- [07:08]
Paul Stanley
And then I think it's nice for people to allow themselves that kind of excitement, regardless whether it's for us or something else. I think there's a fanboy in all of us for whatever we choose, and.
- [07:22]
Josh Adam Myers
We shouldn't leave that behind 100%. And then it was perfect timing because shortly after that, you did a one nighter at the Whiskey, and I knew a guy that wanted to be a comic that was a door guy there, and he told me, he goes, I want you and Bill Burr to come. Bill was too busy. So I snuck in, had vip, got to watch my first Kiss concert at the Whiskey, one of the most legendary venues ever. And you put on the most. What I would assume is still the exact same show, maybe on, of course, on a smaller stage, but it blew me away, the energy in the room. And then on top of that, you were intro by my now friend Tom Murillo from Rage against the Machine. And I was lucky enough to be able to talk to him about. About Kiss, about his love for Kiss. And then that started our friendship. And now, you know, years later, we, we've been on the podcast and we've worked together, but this has been such a great journey to get to this moment, to be able to sit down and talk to you for what. What is one of the most important records of your career.
- [08:30]
Paul Stanley
So, for sure.
- [08:32]
Josh Adam Myers
So, So I have a little spiel, Paul, so I wanna, I'm gonna read through this to catch the audience up. And I want you at any moment, if you want to cut me off, correct me, you know, this is, this is, this is just to catch everybody up. It's a little bit long winded, but just feel free interject at any moment. Okay. All right. So because we did Destroyer with Jeff Ross earlier, which is the album that followed up today's record. And because once again, we're beyond fortunate to have a guest who can verify or deny any of this, let's get a quick catch up to get us to today's record. Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley and bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons had previously been in a New York City band called Wicked Lester that recorded an album for epic Records in 72. That record was never released due to the dissatisfaction with the sound both by the label and by Paul and Gene, and they left the band shortly thereafter. Their intention was to create a new version of Wicked Lester that would be capable of representing everything they felt was lacking in the current music scene. Go ahead.
- [09:37]
Paul Stanley
I was gonna say, I think what we realized as time went on, as grateful as we were to be in Electric Lady Studios, which is hallowed ground, that was Jimi Hendrix's studio. And to get in there was like to get into the Fort Knox of rock. So what we realized as time went on, as fortunate as we were, was that there was no cohesiveness. There was no. There was nothing about the Wicked Lester album that was done over a course of a year and was done on what we call spec time. We couldn't afford time in a studio. So what would happen is someone would book a session, let's say that was supposed to end at midnight. We would be at the studio at 11pm waiting. And if they left at midnight, we would jump in and go till the next session or we would wind up sitting there all night. Anyway, I think that over the course of the year that we recorded it, we certainly did. Whatever. I don't. I don't want to say anything we were told, but we were so grateful to be there that, you know, if a song had. If a hit song had a banjo, we put a banjo on a song.
- [10:50]
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
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Paul Stanley
If another song had a ukulele, oh, yeah, we put a ukulele on. I think what Gene and I just realized was that this wasn't what we wanted to do. And although it was insane, we basically tried to get rid of the other guys in the band. And they said, well, we're not going. So we said, well, we are. And we left.
- [11:17]
Josh Adam Myers
There you go. Because of that, Then you place ads, and after a bunch of auditions, you added drummer and vocalist Peter Chris and guitarist Ace Fraley. So they. Then you soon changed their name to Kiss. And as a way to buck the trend of bands still looking like hippies and farmers, they adopted the kabuki style makeup and costumes. They have come that have come to define Their image.
- [11:40]
Paul Stanley
I'm sorry to interrupt you.
- [11:42]
Josh Adam Myers
No, please interrupt. Dude.
- [11:44]
Paul Stanley
I'm good at that. You know what, what happened was the. The. There was this amazing fertile rock scene in New York City. Really.
- [11:54]
Josh Adam Myers
It was.
- [11:56]
Paul Stanley
Regardless of whether the music was great, the excitement and the sense of like a renaissance of sorts was going on. So it was the time of Mercer Arts center, which was down in the West Village, and Max's Kansas City and places where a lot of people were hanging out. So it was also a time of kind of like an androgyny. And I remember seeing the Dolls with Gene and we, we too at that point were kind of going for this kind of like weird androgynous look. And we looked like linebackers in drag.
- [12:40]
Josh Adam Myers
At CBGB's or where.
- [12:42]
Paul Stanley
That was at the Hotel Diplomat, which was, I think, 44th Street. And that. That basically was a place where you could rent a ballroom and throw. Throw a dance or a concert. Because we couldn't get booked into clubs. Most of the bands couldn't because they didn't play top 40. So except for a few venues, you know, promote yourselves. But at the Diplomat, we saw the Dolls. And as charismatic and larger than life as they were, they weren't the greatest band, but there was no denying how great they looked for that, that time. And, I mean, my waist is as big as one of their wrists. I mean, it was like we looked at those guys and thought two things. We'll kill them. And we got to get rid of all this glam stuff. And that's where we basically said, go black and black and white and then leather. Yeah.
- [13:51]
Josh Adam Myers
All right, perfect. All right, so. So you, you made a five song demo with famed Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix producer Eddie Kramer. And we're soon signed by Neil Bogart to the burgeoning Casablanca Records label. In little over a year, Casablanca Records put out three Kiss albums. While the records themselves were not selling well, the band was gaining momentum through word of mouth about their live shows. In many established headlining acts who had Kisses openers would refuse to follow them due to kisses on stage prowess. The band. Well, go ahead.
- [14:24]
Paul Stanley
I think some of those bands were smarter than that. They just threw us off the tour. You know that.
- [14:30]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
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Paul Stanley
You don't have to follow anybody. You don't let you know. We, we were.
- [14:34]
Josh Adam Myers
Wow.
- [14:34]
Paul Stanley
We reached a point early on where the dilemma was bands didn't want us playing with them. And, you know, we, we were breaking uncharted territory. We were doing a show with pyro and a Kiss sign behind us. And that was unheard, first of all, it was not, it wasn't the norm. It was unheard of. And I think it threw a lot of headliners off when they saw they were going on with a kiss sign behind them. So, yeah, it reached a point where actually our record company president, Neil Bogart had a meeting with us and said, we can't find anybody who will tour with you. Can't you play worse? So.
- [15:30]
Josh Adam Myers
I mean, it's the same thing in comedy. It's like there's certain, there's certain middle acts that have put the fear of God in the headliners. Like, I've seen headliners pacing. You know, they say that like Burr, and Burr said Dane Cook did that when he was first starting. So it's like you can't stop somebody. That's, that's when the momentum and there's, there's real talent and energy and, you know, it's hard to follow that.
- [15:50]
Paul Stanley
And why should you? You know, once we became a headliner, we became well known for supporting our support acts, our opening acts. I think if, if you have to tie somebody's hand behind their back to beat them in a fight, that doesn't say anything about you. So our mentality once we became a headliner was go out there and be the best you can. We'll give you the lights, we'll give you everything. And then it's up to us to justify why we're the headliner. If we have to handicap you to do that. We didn't learn, we didn't learn our lesson.
- [16:30]
Josh Adam Myers
Exactly, exactly.
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Paul Stanley
I don't want to fast forward past the point that you became a headline.
- [16:37]
Josh Adam Myers
Like, it's interesting to me. So was it DIY kind of the pyro and, and all that, that, that you brought to the table to show.
- [16:46]
Paul Stanley
That you were a headliner at, at.
- [16:48]
Josh Adam Myers
That point or not yet?
- [16:50]
Paul Stanley
I, I, you know, all of that was important, of course, the Personas and the, the pyro and all that. But honestly, you know, you can paint a car with candy apple red and if there's no engine in it, it doesn't go anywhere. So really it was, it was about our connection to the audience. I think in the best of ways we were a wake up call starting up in clubs, but going on, we were wake up call to audiences to not accept apathy or a sense of someone doing you a favor by playing for you. You paid. And as somebody who grew up going to the Fillmore east and seeing everybody from Jimi Hendrix and Zeppelin to the who, Humble Pie, Derek and The dominoes, you know, that was where I came from. But we wanted to, we wanted to acknowledge the audience and make the audience part of the experience. Make them. You know, it's a perfect word is reciprocity. Yeah, you, you feed off as a comic, it's the same thing. You feed off your audience. And by acknowledging and making them important, you keep raising the bar. So that's really. That's really what it all grew out of, was. Was wanting to be the band we never saw.
- [18:26]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. So the band and the label really noticed the popularity that you were getting in the Rust Belt. And. But they couldn't figure out how to translate that energy into record sales. And with all the pyrotechnics and unique stage and light designs every night, the cost to maintain that spectral must have been beyond expensive. And the band was hemorrhaging money. And to top it all off, Casablanca had. Had not been paying them even the meager royalties that they were owed. And then the label made a huge misstep by putting out a double album of highlights from Johnny Carson's Tonight show, which bombed. So not only were Kiss in financial straits, but the record label looked like it might go out of business as well. A lawsuit to breach of contract was filed by the band toward the label for unpaid royalties. So taking one big last risky shot, Neil Bogart and the Ban decided that they should record a live record to try and capture the spirit the concert experience. For those who hadn't seen them yet.
- [19:29]
Paul Stanley
Yes, we were, we were in tremendous debt. You know, luckily, when you have no money, you don't. You don't have the pressure of debt. So, yeah, our manager was, was deep into debt and that showed his commitment to us. He didn't have money to pay his credit card off either, but he was hundreds of thousands into debt. And matter of fact, once we started to become successful, I did an interview and an interviewer said to me, how does it feel to be rich and famous? And I said, I can tell you how it feels to be famous.
- [20:05]
Josh Adam Myers
Being famous and broke.
- [20:07]
Paul Stanley
So really, Bill o' Coyne, who was the closest thing to a fifth member of the band, he was our manager. And much like other things in the band that would take course over time. Bill was not a manager, never managed a band before, but it felt right. It felt. He felt like the right person, like the right chemistry. Anyway, at some point he literally said, we're doing a live album. And really. And you know, he knew more than we did. It was. It was very clear that we were building up this big following, but it wasn't transferring to sales. Record sales, yeah. And it was pretty obvious because the records didn't sound like us. It didn't have the. The ferocity, the piss and vinegar, the bombast. So he showed us an album by a British band, great band, who somehow, over time, has fallen by the wayside. Uriah Heap. And they had a live album in England that became the template for Kiss Alive. And we basically built from there. We rehearsed. We also recorded some of our concerts leading up to the recording of that just to get a better sense of what we were doing live tested out. Yeah, we found out we were really. We played quite fast and that's great in a live experience, but if you go home, what you're. You're basically at the mercy of is a tempo that's a bit jarring. So we slowed, slowed ourselves down and, and honed, honed what we were doing. By no means were we ever under the illusions of being virtuosos. Sure, we were virtuosos, you know.
- [22:23]
Josh Adam Myers
So the reasoning simple. A live album could be cheaply recorded from a few shows with a mobile truck, rather than having to pay for. For the band to be in a For weeks or months with a producer and engineer and staff to make another record, but with no money to go ahead.
- [22:38]
Paul Stanley
I'm going to keep interrupting, but please wasn't a matter of economics. It was another album. A fourth album would have been pointless because the problem would still be there and the problem, our album. Sonically and viscerally. They just didn't. They didn't capture the zeitgeist. There's a word I've never used before. Oh, first time. Of what we were doing. Yes, you have. You have the distinction of having it. Bringing out zeitgeist from it. There you go.
- [23:10]
Josh Adam Myers
There it is. So no money to go on tour. Kiss manager Bill A Coin financed the Dress to kill tour with $300,000 of his own money. With demo producer Eddie Kramer back to produce, four nights at four venues were chosen. Those were May 16 at Cabo arena in Detroit, Michigan, June 21 at Cleveland Music hall in Cleveland, Ohio, July 20 at RKO or Theater in Davenport, Iowa, and July 23 at Convention hall in Wildwood, New Jersey. There had been a notable live albums released, but there had been notable live albums released by rock bands. But this was a double album coming in at almost 80 minutes by a band that had no substantial radio airplay and was only regionally moderately successful. Much has been said, theorized and confessed about how Live, the final record was. But regardless, and along with the many photos of the band on stage and on set, beyond served its purpose of giving the listeners at home the experience of being at a complete Kiss concert. Featuring all the overlooked songs and their first three records, Kiss had arrived and would remain household names to this day. The album went on to sell over 9 million records worldwide and remains the most popular release. And this year, Kiss Alive is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Amazing. And I know that was long, and so, I'm sorry, but we want to give this record the respect you and it deserves. So let's just get right into the songs, and I'm gonna do a little something different because we know we have a limited amount of time. So what I want to do is we're gonna. We're gonna hit the main songs, and if we have more. Go ahead, please. Let me.
- [24:49]
Paul Stanley
Let me interrupt you. You know, when. When people talk about the. You know, the controversy of how much is live and how much. Whatever the absurdity of a band like us doing a live album, meaning putting microphones in front of an amplifier, there's bands who are limited and have nothing to gain by doing more because that's all that they do.
- [25:19]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [25:19]
Paul Stanley
Live albums historically were something that you didn't even know were live until the end. Cash grab some people. Clap.
- [25:27]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, sure. Yeah.
- [25:29]
Paul Stanley
We wanted to create a sonic souvenir. We wanted to. The word that's used so much now is immersed. We wanted an immersive experience, and that was going to take more than just putting microphones in front of a PA system. So, yes, we wanted to put you in the crowd. We wanted to surround you with people. We wanted the explosions, which usually will shut down a microphone. It just kind of compresses. We wanted it to be what you remembered, not fake, but we wanted you to have what you experienced. So did we work on it? Hell, yeah. I mean, and. And nonetheless, it is as honest and accurate a sonic depiction of those shows.
- [26:32]
Josh Adam Myers
I mean, it's. It's, you know, not just getting out of, you know, what I would have read, but it's. I mean, it's a phenomenal live record. I mean, it really does capture everything that you expect from Goods, or at least I was expecting from Kiss. So let's dive into it because there's so many great songs on here. Excuse me. Deuce. This one holds a special place for fans of your Kiss story, because this is reportedly the song that you guys played with Ace. His audition, that cemented the band with a baseline that Jean has said was inspired by. By the Rolling Stones and a guitar part inspired by the Raspberries. Go all the Way. Gene has said that he didn't know what the title actually refers to. Good.
- [27:22]
Paul Stanley
All true.
- [27:23]
Josh Adam Myers
But we know Deuce means two of something. And we know that less than a week after this record's release, your manager, Bill A Coin reportedly went into Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart's office and informed him Kiss was leaving the label, which pushed Neil into writing you guys a check for $2 million.
- [27:44]
Paul Stanley
I don't. I don't. If there was a check for $2 million. I didn't see it. What certainly did happen, fortuitously for Casablanca is that the album took off so that they were able to pay us royalties that they were in arrears from when we signed with Casablanca. Casablanca was a offshoot of Warner Brothers. And unbeknownst initially to Neil or Casablanca, Warner Brothers hated Kiss and sent in a memo saying, screw this, you know? And that was Casablanca's out from Warner Brothers. So as far as Deuce, I'm all over the place because. Because I was there.
- [28:41]
Josh Adam Myers
Please.
- [28:42]
Paul Stanley
But as far as Deuce, Gene had this great. This riff. And a lot of the song. A lot. Most of the song, we were very collaborative. Sorry.
- [29:04]
Josh Adam Myers
So good. So turn this down. Yeah, yeah, you got it. So. So I just. I've got to ask, what's the most.
- [29:19]
Paul Stanley
You're used to having the mic and holding on to it for your life, but my hands are bigger. So. Yes, I. I was a big fan of the Raspberries.
- [29:31]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [29:32]
Paul Stanley
And they had a song go all the way. And the best I could make out of the voicing from the beginning of the song, I built on that. And I said, how about this for a beginning? Because the song had no beginning. So, thankfully, the beginning, in its own way, became very iconic. But the song was terrific. Terrific.
- [29:56]
Josh Adam Myers
Great song. I gotta ask, what's the most ridiculous thing you bought when you got that first big paycheck?
- [30:03]
Paul Stanley
Depends on whose definition of ridiculous you tell us. Actually, when I was 15 or 16, I got a record deal and got a very little money up front, but I bought my parents a washing machine. When Kiss took off, I got my parents a car. Never had they. We used to drive cars until they literally fell apart on the street. Take a license plates off and it's somebody else's problem.
- [30:41]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, yeah.
- [30:44]
Paul Stanley
And the next thing I did was I said to my parents, find a house. And they found a house. I grew up very marginally. I don't even think we were middle class. I didn't. I didn't know what that was. But, you know, my parents never had a house and never had a car, so the first things I did were about taking care of my parents.
- [31:10]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, that's awesome. That's great. That's great. All right. Stutter. I think along with Deuce, these two songs establish the rock and roll swagger of Gene and you, respectively. This is the first song on your debut album, and surprisingly, one of the few that you and Gene wrote together when you rewrote lyrics to his existing song, Stanley the Parrot. I think because of the tight partnership you and Gene, many casual listeners of the band had assumed that you guys had a sort of Lennon and McCartney writing partnership, but you really only had a small handful of songs that you truly wrote together.
- [31:46]
Paul Stanley
I don't want to. That's rarefied air, you know, when you talk about Lennon, McCartney and the Beatles, I will say that in the same way as they worked very often, Gene and I worked on each other's songs and didn't necessarily give each other credit. We just. We just weren't. It didn't matter unless it was very much a co write. We just helped each other out. Strutter was. It was a good set of chords, but his song was nothing like Strutter and wasn't a great song. Yeah, much slower. And when we sped it up and I. I was a huge fan, and still am, of the Stones and Keith Richards, really a big fan of good rhythm guitar players and took it up to a different feel and a different speed. And the New York scene, as I said, was all about fashion and women dressed, you know, in fishnet stockings and satins and all. Mind you, they wanted nothing to do with us, but it was kind of like projecting, putting myself into that kind of life and.
- [33:22]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [33:23]
Paul Stanley
Singing about the women I saw on 8th street in. In the Village. And. Yeah, that was a song. To this day, if you ask Gene who wrote what, that's a point of contention for both of us. Who wrote who?
- [33:38]
Josh Adam Myers
Oh, interesting. Yeah.
- [33:40]
Paul Stanley
Who came up with the name Strider? I did.
- [33:44]
Josh Adam Myers
Did you? Did you. Did you. Did you go over to each other's homes with acoustic guitars like.
- [33:54]
Paul Stanley
We didn't then. As a rule, by then we were. We had a rehearsal space and Gene and I would meet there with two acoustic guitars. Nothing plugged in. Look, you know, if a song can't be played on an acoustic guitar or on a piano, it's a crappy song. If you're going to say, well, wait till you Hear, you know, the sirens in the background or wait till you hear, you know, what we add. That's icing on the cake. So we came from a different, really a different school. We came from, you know, the Carol King, Jerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil.
- [34:43]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [34:44]
Paul Stanley
You know, the songwriters who wrote and crafted songs. We weren't a jam band. We wanted a song with an intro, a verse, a chorus, a pre chorus, a bridge. So yeah, we would get together and that really was both of our mindsets. We were huge fans of certain writers and of the Beatles and a lot of other bands. Anglophiles loved British music.
- [35:16]
Josh Adam Myers
Was there an understanding of who would be the lead singer in the band or was it just a natural? Like whoever wrote the part of the song, oh, they're the lead singer for that was there. How did you decide?
- [35:26]
Paul Stanley
Yeah, as a rule, I'd say that the person whose vision it was more just naturally was the singer. I felt organically, as I think Gene did, that certain songs belonged with a certain voice or a certain point of view. The only place I was adamant was everybody needs to shut up on stage and I'll do the talking.
- [35:56]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we also know that Ace wasn't comfortable singing lead on his songs. But you guys also showcased Peter and we'll get to that in a little bit later. So got to choose. Okay. Every Kiss fan has their favorite songs and there is an unending list of famous Kiss fans. And I just found out about one of the coolest fan project you guys made and you are having some of your biggest fans Curate a quarterly 40 song playlist that they get to choose from from your entire catalog that is available on Spotify and YouTube. The second hand picked playlist titled My Kiss is by renowned host and music journalist Allison Hagendorff who is also a good friend and colleague of our good friend and former guest Matt Penfield, who all we all who we wish the best continued healing wishes doing so much better.
- [36:49]
Paul Stanley
And Allison's good, a. A gem.
- [36:51]
Josh Adam Myers
She really is. Yeah, I've met her a few times when we were working with Spotify and, and she's. She's great RIP too. She's like a big crossfitter. So.
- [36:59]
Paul Stanley
Yeah, yeah, when we get together, you know, we, we show each other our biceps and I think she's got me.
- [37:09]
Josh Adam Myers
Too. So Allison's playlist debuted alongside a Q A with her that is featured on the KISS website in KISS Army Newsletter. Allison conducted the final interview at Madison Square Garden and Kiss his final show and hosted Paul on her show The Allison Hagerdorf show for his first interview post Kiss as she is a high ranking member of the KISS army. As she explains, this playlist is my celebration of Kiss in full. I wanted to create something that touches every era of their career, something that captures the essence of what made them so iconic, but also feels personal to what I love about them. And we give all the links here and in our posts. So I want to make sure, like the fans really want to know something. What are a few of your choices for favorite Kiss songs that you think deserve more recognition and that maybe you love to play out sometime beyond your wealth of hits?
- [38:06]
Paul Stanley
I have to say that the songs that become most popular, arguably are the best songs.
- [38:14]
Josh Adam Myers
Really? Yeah.
- [38:15]
Paul Stanley
See a a well, I went to see the Stones once in LA at the Wilshire Theater, I think it was, and it was a night they were going to play all what was tracks, you know, what are they? What do we call them? Like, you know, like the least known tracks. Oh, you know, deep cuts. Exactly, deep cuts. Well, the reason you have to dig for them is because they're not that great, you know. You know, you're digging. Was it worth it? Was it worth the dig? So no, I, I, I, I kind of stand by most of the songs of ours that have made it. I mean, Love Gun, pretty damn good. Got to choose. Yes, is a great song. Really, really great song. Detroit Rock City Classic and, and you know, God of Thunder and I mean there's just so, so many great songs. Plaster Caster this. There's lots of great songs. And, and I would say that the ones that are most popular. Exactly. You know, popularity comes from the people. Popularity comes from the masses embracing something. Nobody puts a gun to their head. So it's almost like water finds its own level, you know, I mean, the songs that have become the most popular, there's a reason.
- [40:02]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. The set list that you had at the Whiskey was phenomenal. Everything that I was looking forward to that you played. And it's just the sound, it's still, it's just, it's like I'm seeing you guys at this raw rock club. Amazing. I, I hope one day, I mean, maybe if we're lucky to be able to see you in a big arena and who knows? But let's skip ahead to Firehouse. So this is one if not your oldest songs that you first brought to Wicked Lest and then played when Kiss was a trio before Ace joined. This is also famously where Gene has his fire breathing moment in concert as the song ends. I want to Ask you guys. Setting the world on fire in another way. As, as, as I've mentioned, artists had put out live albums before, but nobody had put out an entire live album made up of songs that hadn't been hits in their earlier recorded forms. And then after Alive lit the fuse a year later, Peter Frampton's Phantom Comes Alive did the same thing to massive success and was followed up by artists like Cheap Trick and Billy Joel. Did you feel like. Did you feel like Kiss had blazed a trail in that respect?
- [41:12]
Paul Stanley
I think that we've always adhered to the rule of no rules. I don't know. Certainly a good idea, you know, becomes followed. What's the saying? You know, success has many parents and failures and orphan, you know, so, yeah, we did something and it worked. And you know, whether I, you know, honestly, I remember hearing from people, oh, Frampton's album's not, you know, some of it's been re recorded. Who cares? Yeah, who cares how you get somewhere if you arrive? That's all that matters.
- [42:01]
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
- [42:02]
Paul Stanley
As far as Firehouse, Firehouse came about, it became the vehicle for Gene's fire breathing. Although the song existed, I wrote that. I was still in high school, I think, when I wrote Firehouse. And as I said, I was a huge, huge Anglophile. Loved the British bands, many that never made it in America. And once a week I would take the bus in the subway down to 8th street in the Village and they had an international newsstand and I'd pick up the British music weeklies, Melody Maker, Sounds New Music Express. And I was just enamored and fascinated with bands that looked really cool. Yeah, that really had a style and music. Their music was braver. It was, it was. It was less self indulgent. It was less about. It wasn't insular, it was. It was celebrating. So, yeah, Firehouse was. There was a disc jockey in New York named Scott Muni. And Scott had a radio program once a week called the British Power Hour. And it would pay the play the top 10 from England. And I was glued to listening to that. Most of those songs meant nothing in America. And there were. There was a band called the Movement and the Move, fantastic band. And Roy Wood was really a great writer. And ultimately Jeff Lynn joined the Move and then they started ELO and that all fell apart. Anyway, I digress. What happened was I heard a song by the Move called Fire Brigade. Now Fire Brigade. Basically a fire brigade is a firehouse. And the song was this girl really sets the place, sets me on fire so run and get the Fire Brigade. And I couldn't afford to buy those records, so I started. I wrote my own. So Fire Brigade became Firehouse. And the. The topic was basically. It's just an Americanized version. Has very little in common with. With Fire Brigade except the subject matter. But yeah, I. A lot of songs that I wrote were kind of homages to the bands and songs that I loved.
- [44:51]
Josh Adam Myers
No, totally, totally. And with Alive, it's made up of songs from the first three records. Was there a sense of vindication about the material not having clicked earlier?
- [45:02]
Paul Stanley
We were never going to be a top 40 band.
- [45:05]
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
- [45:06]
Paul Stanley
Going to be a band with hit songs, per se. And again, what Alive was about capturing was the experience. Even Rock and Roll All Night, which was on Dress to Kill, didn't really make any impact. It was a song that needed an audience. It was a song that needed to be a rallying cry. And so many of our songs were about I, you know, shout it out loud, rock and roll all night. We sang songs that were not unlike Sly and the Family Stone, who were singing I want to take you higher, dance to the music. Before, there were anthems there was a need for. And once in a while a song would come out that was a rallying cry. And that's really what we were going for. Were songs about us because us was them.
- [46:16]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. Yeah. All right, moving on to watching you. So I want to use the title of this to bring up a question about the band's visual appeal From a previous 500 guests who we've had on huge KISS Army. Our friend Ronnie Barnett from a band called the Muffs, who is a general in the KISS Army. So he wanted to ask this because we, we, we. We went deep with this. With this. Inter was the first album cover designed by Dennis Wallach. Did I say that right? Wallach. Wallach. He had previously worked for an advertising company and this was the first album cover he designed. He would continue to design every Kiss album cover, including compilations, solo albums and etc through 1988. Donnie wants to know, how important does Paul think he and his visual creations were to your success? Hey, everybody. So you guys have probably heard me talk about how I've been in bands my whole life. I love writing songs and performing in front of crowds. Just like with comedy. As a musician, it can be kind of hard to cut through the noise and really stand out as an artist. I feel like half the music projects I've been in have ended just because we couldn't figure out the answer to that eternal question of how do we get people to hear us. But then again, that was before there was Distrokid. Distrokid is a digital music distribution service that brings your sound to the masses. It's a one stop shop for getting your songs on itunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal and many more. What's dies? I never even heard of Deezer. How many of them are there? I know all that. That's like the holy grail of streaming services though. And, and getting paid. They want to. We want to get you paid for your your music. That's huge because a lot of bands go broke before they get big. But Distrokid collects earnings and payments and sends 100% of these earnings to artists minus banking fees and applicable taxes. And that's just one of the tons of benefits of using Distrokid. You can send big files to anyone with their Instant Share feature. You can use the Hyper Follow feature to promote your release and get pre saves on your song song. You can even create personal landing pages for yourself, your band, your brand and whatever you like. It has a free Spotify Canvas generator too to generate your own Spotify Canvas for your songs. And the Mixia feature instantly masters your tracks for higher quality audio. So if you're ready to bring your band to the next level, it's time to check out Distrokid. The Distrokid app is now available on iOS and Android. Go to the app or Play Store to download it. Listeners of this show can get 30% off their first year by going to distrokid.com VIP the 500 that's distrokid.com VIP the500 for 30% off your first year. Dig it? Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real.
- [49:24]
Paul Stanley
And so is the relief from Ebglis. After an initial dosing phase of 16.
- [49:29]
Josh Adam Myers
Weeks, about 4 in 10 people taking.
- [49:31]
Paul Stanley
EBGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin.
- [49:34]
Josh Adam Myers
And most of those people maintain skin.
- [49:35]
Paul Stanley
That'S still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.
- [49:38]
Josh Adam Myers
EBGLIS Lebricizumab LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection.
- [49:42]
Paul Stanley
Ecjection is a prescription medicine used to.
- [49:44]
Josh Adam Myers
Treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate.
- [49:49]
Paul Stanley
To severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription.
- [49:53]
Josh Adam Myers
Therapies used on the skin or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur.
- [50:03]
Paul Stanley
Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine.
- [50:07]
Josh Adam Myers
When treated with Eglis. Before starting Epglis, tell your doctor if.
- [50:10]
Paul Stanley
You have a parasitic infection searching for real relief.
- [50:13]
Josh Adam Myers
Ask your doctor about epglis and visit epgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.
- [50:20]
Paul Stanley
With no disrespect to Dennis or anyone, there were some album covers that were mine. I mean, the direction was mine. Whether it was Love Gun, Crazy Night, Animal Eyes Asylum, those were all album covers that either came through my direction or my hand actually animalized. For example, I put a bunch of fur piece samples I got down on a piece of. On a tabletop and we shot it. So.
- [51:14]
Josh Adam Myers
I mean, it's legendary.
- [51:16]
Paul Stanley
I certainly. And everything. Yeah, let's see. Yeah. Rock and roll over Love Gun. Crazy Nights. Yeah, those just say I had a big hand in. In those and Love Gun, I spoke with Ken Kelly, who painted it. And the idea was, yeah, let's have us on the front cover with almost like Vampirella type women at our feet. And on the back cover will be the same space with all of us gone. And you're supposed to figure out where we all went. So Dennis. Yeah, Dennis was a conduit. And also, politically, we weren't about putting our. Our individual names on things for what we did. Yeah, look, I designed stages. I designed the Dynasty stage. I designed. Literally drew it out, the spider stage that we had with these trusses that became, like, spider legs. I designed that. I drew it so there was no need for me to go, me, me, me.
- [52:42]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [52:43]
Paul Stanley
I wasn't allowed to either, but, yeah, I've had a good amount of input. Certainly a lot of the. The clothes we've worn.
- [52:54]
Josh Adam Myers
Sure. So. So we wanna. We wanna ask this. We're very, very curious. There's a. There's a rumor that Ronnie wants to know, and he asked. It's rumored that Peter's handwritten note in the booklet was not written by him and that the back cover was not actually shot at a KISS show as there's no audience members in KISS makeup.
- [53:20]
Paul Stanley
To the first point. Yes, that is absolutely Peter's handwriting. Absolutely. I know Peter's handwriting. And yes, that was that. Each one of those were written by each one of us. As far as the back cover. The back cover from KISS Alive.
- [53:39]
Josh Adam Myers
Yes.
- [53:41]
Paul Stanley
With everybody in Cobo Hall.
- [53:44]
Josh Adam Myers
So that is at a KISS concert then.
- [53:46]
Paul Stanley
Oh, hell yeah. I mean, okay. You know, Detroit was the first place we really broke out of. Detroit was so. Has always been so blue collar and so rock and Motown and music. So when we were still an opening act in most parts of the country, we were headlining in Detroit. I often said they opened their arms and legs to us. It was. It was the first place where we really were understood. So hence Detroit Rock city.
- [54:24]
Josh Adam Myers
Sure, sure.
- [54:25]
Paul Stanley
Fantastic. Fantastic connections to different cities. But Detroit was something very, very unique and was there from the get go. But yes, the back cover is Cobo Hall.
- [54:40]
Josh Adam Myers
Okay.
- [54:41]
Paul Stanley
KISS Alive. And yes, that is Peter's handwriting.
- [54:44]
Josh Adam Myers
Okay, there you go. That's. He's gonna be very happy to find that out. All right, moving on to a hundred thousand years. So I want to ask you about a true legacy beyond the millions, billions, platinum and virtual world of KISS in perpetuity. Kids are our closest shot of immortality. And at a recent occurrence, alongside the pairing up of Sean Lennon and James McCartney, writing together is the announcement that your son, Evan and Gene's son Nick have been working on a new project together, seemingly tentatively called Stanley Simmons. My writer Morty, who actually is on the line right now, knows Nick and Evan has played a good time at Davey Waynes, where Morty spins as he vouches for their true talent beyond their part of a dynasty. Obviously, Kiss had Evan's band, Amber Wilde, open during the last leg of their final tour, end of the Road, so fans are already aware of him. But the excitement on social media about this is heating up with each new post. How off the charts is your pride when you hear them? And was there any of the old Jewish parents stereotype of wanting the kids to either go into the family business or become doctors or lawyers or. Or something like that?
- [56:03]
Paul Stanley
I think the. The most we can hope for our children is that they're happy.
- [56:09]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [56:10]
Paul Stanley
That they're content with who they are and don't suffer from a sense of entitlement. You know, to have Evan and Nick together is. I was just talking with Sarah, my daughter, last night, about it. It's wonderful. It's. It's. You know, they've known each other their whole lives, and all of a sudden they're thick as thieves. I mean, the two of them, they. They sound terrific. Nick has a phenomenal voice, which I don't know that most people have heard. And Evan's a great writer, great singer. Crazy, crazy guitar player. And what they've created is organic. What they've created can't be manipulated. It can't be fabricated. And this album they're doing with Rob Cavallo. Who The Green Day and Goo Goo Dolls. And trying to think who else. I mean, he's. Rob is just the good. So it's great.
- [57:31]
Josh Adam Myers
And.
- [57:34]
Paul Stanley
I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled that they're together. And, yeah, when I see them together, it's poignant. There's a word I don't use that often, but to see the two of them together last week, you know, Gene and I were just like, who. Who would have thought? You know?
- [57:53]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [57:53]
Paul Stanley
You know, and it's. That's what makes life so amazing is. Is the surprises along the way, so.
- [58:00]
Josh Adam Myers
Oh, 100%. And. And do you. Are you the kind of dad that gives advice of. With encouragement, or are you. Are you hands off and let them do their own thing.
- [58:10]
Paul Stanley
With this. I'm stepping back, but always, always there for an opinion if asked for Evan, I'll say one of the amazing qualities about him is he's always been, tell me, what do you think? How can this be better? And I've always preface what I tell him with, this is just my opinion, you know, for better or worse. But, you know, to not be defensive puts you in a position to absorb and learn a whole lot more. Sure, he's ridiculous. I mean, his. The scope of his experience with music, listening to music, his guitar playing is gone to a whole different level. I mean, there's good, there's great. And, you know, there again, there's. There's a very special place. And he's there. When he was playing, it was like 16. Somebody said to me, were you that good at his age? I go, I'm not that good. Now.
- [59:29]
Josh Adam Myers
I want to give a shout out because me and my writer Morty worked really hard on this for the last week and a half. But Morty has an Instagram and a Tick Tock page where he and his daughter sing. And they do. They've done more Kiss songs than any other. In fact, you reposted one of their videos that they shot right before they went into their second of three Kiss concerts, including your final one at the Hollywood Bowl. Do you have the picture? Yeah, put the picture up.
- [59:57]
Paul Stanley
Let me pull it up. Hold on.
- [59:59]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. It really meant even more to him because his father had reached, recently passed away, took him to his first concert when he was around her age to see you guys at Magic Mountain to film Kiss meets the Phantom of the Park. So this is just one small example of the legacy that you guys have provided to a grateful fan base. Did you put the picture up, jt?
- [60:23]
Paul Stanley
Yeah, I'm pulling it up one moment. But Morty's here to say hi and thank you. I mean, that's.
- [60:33]
Josh Adam Myers
It was really sweet, which it really was. Yeah. Well, while you're pulling that up, While you're pulling that up, let's dig into Black diamond because I know we only have a little bit more time. Originally the final song on your debut album, this has become and remain the band's last pre encore song and displayed all the stage theatrics, from spinning sparks and fire to a riding hydraulic drum riser where the front line performs, perform their choreographed moves. Although you sing the intro, you then hand off the lead vocals to Peter. And it, along with Beth a few years later, have been a showcase concert moment for each subsequent drummer in the band, which became Eric Carr and finally, Eric Singer. Where. Where did the magnanimous diplomacy to give away the defining spotlight come from?
- [61:22]
Paul Stanley
I'm not afraid of being fired. I'd like to think for the most part, that within the band at its finest, we've always been more concerned with what's best for the band than what's best for the individual. So for me, yeah, initially I was singing Black diamond, but first of all, Peter really wasn't writing songs at that point, and. And he had a very cool voice. So it. I love the contrast sometimes, whether it's Black diamond or I want you to. Songs that start off one way and then blow up into something else. So Black diamond has always been a staple. It's very difficult. Where do you go from there? So why. Yeah, you're certainly not going to do that in the middle of the show. So. Our shows have always tended to be not scripted, but planned for arcs, you know, for reaching peaks and then coming down. You know, it's not a matter of, hey, let's just put together a set list. That's fine for some bands, but that's never been what we were about. It's about the pacing and building to climaxes. So. So Black Diamond, Peter. You know, when Peter was in the band early on, he was. He was possessed. I mean, his playing was just. I still look at some of the footage and he was just on fire and his singing was just so passionate. So it made sense. It worked. It was. Hopefully, you can say, hey, something's better for me not doing it. God of thunder. I was heartbroken when I didn't get to sing that. And we had a producer at the time, and our decision between Gene and me was will let him decide who does what because we could reach impasses at some point. So I brought in God of Thunder, and Bob Ezrin, our producer, goes, oh, that's great. Gene will sing it. And I was like, decision made. Just devastated. But it was right. It was right. I mean, it's Gene's song. And, yeah, I'd like to think that. I'd like to think that ultimately, at our best, regardless of who has been in the band, because you can have people in the band who no longer feel like they once did. So I'd like to say that at its best, when the band is operating as it should, everybody is more concerned with Kiss. What are we going to do? Make Kiss better, Right?
- [64:52]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That has to come first. Right? Here's the image of.
- [64:58]
Paul Stanley
Yeah, you put out there. So cute and so cool.
- [65:03]
Josh Adam Myers
Really.
- [65:03]
Paul Stanley
What's. What's more important than our kids? I mean, what's more important than our kids or children? And I love that connection. Always have. I love that connection of meeting kids at the shows, of getting down to their level so we can look eye level into each other.
- [65:26]
Josh Adam Myers
And.
- [65:28]
Paul Stanley
You know, becoming a parent is. Is. Anybody can be a parent, but being a good parent.
- [65:37]
Josh Adam Myers
Oh, he's great. Morty. Morty's. He's a great dad. And I mean, his daughter has seen more con. More concerts than probably all of us combined. I mean. Well, definitely you, jt, but you're going to, like, Raves in Ibiza. All right. With only a couple other tracks I really want to mention. I mean, rock and roll all night. I mean, if. If you have to name one iconic Kiss song that will live forever, it would be this single from Dress to Kill, via this live single version. Because you have here. And it's rarely talked about with you. I want to bring up the legendary audience encouraging raps at your shows with often being with you, addressing the audience, audiences, people. How did that develop? Like, obviously, you've honed the craft, but starting so early, you really were a cross between a preacher and a cheerleader for rock and roll. So. So how did that develop?
- [66:30]
Paul Stanley
I saw Humble Pie, fantastic band in the late 60s, Steve Marriott, who arguably is one of the greatest rock singers of all time. I saw them in New York, and he was a preacher. He was up there, this guy. He had a Les Paul that looked like. Like a giant Birdland guitar. I mean, it was. He was so little, and this guy was up There. Just singing to the balconies and. And preaching between songs. Just. There was so much in that, and I was just like, I want to. I want to be that. I want to be. I want to be a preacher. I want to be up there. I want to be a game show host. I want to be. I want to be the person who not manipulates, but directs things. And from the. From the stage can. Can feel out the audience and help to bring them to whatever level is possible, to cheer them on. To cheer them on, to have a great time, to, you know. Is it shtick? You know, I think it's. I think it's being a cheerleader. I think it's. It's giving you the license and the. The. Yeah. Giving you the license to. To be yourself. To have.
- [68:15]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [68:16]
Paul Stanley
So, yeah, my wraps and everything. I have no idea where they came from. I. I'm proud of them, and there's certainly enough of them to. To. To make a box set just out of those. But it's all been genuine. It's not like it's. It's. I think, you know, you can embody a part of yourself. It's not creating a. A character as much as magnifying a certain part of who you are. I'm not, you know, I'm not a ham. I'm the whole pig.
- [69:00]
Josh Adam Myers
Well, I know you're a soul fan, too, and I. I have the. The painting of Otis Redding there in the background, and it's like, you know, I think we all take from the. The greats we. We watch. And, you know, it's like, so, like, if you had to name some of the people that you're just besides who you already mentioned. But, like, who. Who are you? An amalgamation of on stage? Like. Like if you really had to pick your. Your Mount Rushmore.
- [69:26]
Paul Stanley
I would say I'm inspired by Robert Plant, Steve Marriott, Sam Cooke.
- [69:37]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. Yes. Oh, love Sam Cooke.
- [69:40]
Paul Stanley
David Ruffin. There's so many and diverse. I mean, it's the idea of just being influenced by people who do what you do. It's. It's more often being influenced by people who don't do what you do.
- [70:02]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, exactly. Sure. All right, let me go. Rock and roll. Speaking of letting go, you've made so many departures from Kiss in your career, including performing in Phantom, the. Of the Opera on Broadway. You have your painting career and putting out a fabulous collection, like we just mentioned, of soul covers and new originals with your side project, Paul Stanley's Soul Station. But the thing that we've repeated here Today about Kiss is your loyalty to the KISS army and never letting your fans down. So even though the tours are over, you guys have recently announced the epic experience KISS Army Storms Vegas. Set to take place at the Las Vegas Virgin Hotels November 14th through the 16th. This year, this ultimate Kiss experience celebrates Kiss Army's 50th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the Kiss of the First Kiss fan convention. Just reading about all the live performances with you guys and other members of this KISS camp, as well as the highlights from the KISS army has come to expect, is going to make this another must see events. Please go to kiss online.com for all information and guarantee you get tickets before they sell out. How excited are you about this? And you know, what's. What should people be expecting or any surprises you can tease here?
- [71:25]
Paul Stanley
This will be, for lack of a better description, it's a KISS cruise in Vegas. You know, it's a KISS cruise without a boat, without a ship will take over the Virgin Hotel and all the things that people have come to expect on a KISS cruise will happen. It's a, it's a. A chance for international fans and friends to convene as they always have. And you know, we'll. There'll be Q&As PM Time spent with each person, pardon me, in the band we will play. Although more looking more like this than. Yeah, like, you know, in, in classic gear. It's going to be really, really cool and a lot of things are being added to it. I would have liked to have perhaps had the menu to give to everybody a long time ago, but it's still evolving. So there'll be great people playing, great bands, all kinds of competitions, all the things that we've done in the past on the cruise. Just like a, a tribal gathering with music and entertainment. And just like I said, it's a landlocked KISS cruise.
- [73:08]
Josh Adam Myers
Nice. I got to ask when and who created the KISS Army?
- [73:14]
Paul Stanley
The KISS army, like the best armies, was volunteer. This KISS army started in Terre Haute, Indiana when Bill Starkey, a resident, and his friends weren't getting any KISS music on their radio station. And they called the radio station as the KISS army and said, if you don't start playing KISS music by a certain time, we'll surround the building. And of course, everybody chuckled until they surrounded the building.
- [73:50]
Josh Adam Myers
Nice.
- [73:50]
Paul Stanley
So that was the start of, of the KISS Army. KISS army started as not a. A calculated fan club, but as an uprising of the army. That's so cool. I just have to ask because you.
- [74:09]
Josh Adam Myers
Had Mentioned New York Dolls, but we had the. The manager. So fortunate to have Alice Cooper's manager, Shep Gordon on the show. Told some great stories. But I just curious, you know, what the connection was, how much. What the relationship was, if there was one with Alice Cooper through the years.
- [74:33]
Paul Stanley
I love Alice. I love Alice. His wife Cheryl is amazing. Really, really, really good people. Really, really good people. Shep Gordon has been with them basically since the beginning.
- [74:48]
Josh Adam Myers
Decades. Yeah.
- [74:50]
Paul Stanley
And they're wonderful. And. And I remember when Kiss was first starting out, I went to Madison Square Garden to see the. And by starting out, I mean, no record deal, we were just in our loft rehearsing. But I. I went to Madison Square Garden and saw the Billion Dollar Babies tour and was just blown away. I mean, it was just. It was the perfect combination at that point. Balance of a theatrical presentation and rock and roll. That to me was the pinnacle. And I just remember being in the audience and just going, wow, this is great stuff. Not too far over the line. And Alice has always been a great guy. More that than anything. Certainly. There's some classic. Classic. 18 under my wheels Elected. And Bob Ezrin, who. Who produced Destroyer and co. Wrote songs with. With Me and. And also did Revenge. Bob was a. A key component in. In the Rise of Alice with, you know, the.
- [76:24]
Josh Adam Myers
Those.
- [76:26]
Paul Stanley
Albums that really opened the door for him. But again, he's one of the. Alice is one of those people who's. Who's a good person who I always.
- [76:39]
Josh Adam Myers
Enjoy seeing still putting on a great show. I just caught the tour with him and Rob Zombie this past summer. And I mean, with. He is the guitarist Nina Nita Strauss. I mean, she is just every. Every pose. Everything is just so rock and roll and planned and I mean, you can't take your eyes off her, but. Because she's gorgeous and an incredible guitar player. But just, you know, at his. You always want to say at his age, but it's like, y' all Rolling Stones. I just saw Paul McCartney at the Bowery. It's like nobody's slowing down. It's like. And then I look at my old Jewish parents and I'm like, why the can't you do that? Like. Like, what did you guys do differently?
- [77:20]
Paul Stanley
Like Alice. Yeah. Alice as Alice is timeless and always has been. Always, always. Even that resurgence with Poison, that was when he did Poison.
- [77:35]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, I remember.
- [77:36]
Paul Stanley
That was. That was great. But yeah, it's. Hey, my dad made it to 101.
- [77:43]
Josh Adam Myers
That's crazy.
- [77:43]
Paul Stanley
Wow. And totally with it to the end. And if we could have taken his head off and put it on another body. He'd still be with us.
- [77:51]
Josh Adam Myers
He'd still be here. Yeah. Whatever you got. Give it to my mom. So. So we. So we want to wrap this up. We have a lightning round that we ask all these questions. I want to throw something in on a little special place. This has been just phenomenal, Paul, and just. The fans are going to love this. We actually. Our fan base is called the Fleece army, because one day I. I. When I was younger, I spent $3,000 on fleeces, and somehow that stuck with our group. But I asked these questions to every artist, and there's gonna be a little caveat in it. So what is your favorite song on this record?
- [78:28]
Paul Stanley
I think that to get caught up in minutia.
- [78:30]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [78:31]
Paul Stanley
Takes away from appreciating the entire experience. That's not what it's about. The impact of. Of it is based on the totality of it, the magnitude of it. And to start. I don't like this one, and I don't like that one. I'm like, who cares? You know, It's. It's Kiss Alive is. Is Kiss Alive is. Is the statement. It's just. It's resounding and. And kudos to us and to Eddie Kramer for doing something groundbreaking, not just another live album. Well, honestly, who could give a shit about. You know, they're as boring a lot of times as some of the bands are.
- [79:26]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
- [79:27]
Paul Stanley
Just as Kiss Alive is like a sonic. You know, a. A sonic representation of the experience. Not to be analyzed, but what does it do for you? How do you feel?
- [79:45]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. So normally here, I would ask, can you. Can you. To this record? But I think that would be odd. So I want to ask you a question about some lyrics. So from Come on and Love Me, I have to say these lyrics are adorable. Horrible. They are, like, macho in the most youthfully naive way. She's a dancer, a romancer. I'm a Capricorn. She's cancer. She saw my picture in a music magazine. When she let me. When she.
- [80:13]
Paul Stanley
When she met me, touched her hips and told me that she'd let me. Yeah, I took her hand. Baby, this is what I said. Baby, baby, don't you hesitate Because I just can't wait. Lady, won't you take me down to my knees? You can do what you please. Come on and love me now. Joie de vivre. That's what that is. That's like just the joy of exaltation of what we were experiencing to actually go from almost fantasizing about something to actually being immersed in it. Yeah, I wrote those lyrics. I can remember, right? I was on 52nd street and the East River. I had an apartment, one bedroom apartment. And those, those lyrics came to me almost as quickly as I'm saying them. It was just stream of consciousness. And it didn't take Moon and June or having to figure out a rhyme scheme. It just, you know, she's a dancer, a romancer. I'm a Capricorn and she's a cancer.
- [81:21]
Josh Adam Myers
I was like, whoa, that's pretty cool. That's rad. So I'm not sure how well you did with the ladies prior to Kiss's popularity, but how long into your career do you think until your real life started matching your aspiring rock star Personas? Braggadocia.
- [81:37]
Paul Stanley
Oh, my gosh. You know, I, I'd say by. Definitely by Kiss Alive, it was full bore. I mean, you know, not to. Certainly before that just being in a band and touring allows you to be a part of something that most people can't even imagine. You know, it's out of the realm of what you can imagine. But certainly by Kiss Alive, it was out of control.
- [82:20]
Josh Adam Myers
I mean, there's such great lyrics. So this has been, you know, song Room Service.
- [82:27]
Paul Stanley
Yeah, that was the same thing. Just singing about being in a hotel and, you know, all the craziness. I mean, it wasn't bragging as much as it was celebrating.
- [82:40]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, well, you're, you know, you're really the, the sex love gov on stage. I mean, you're the only one with red lip lips. And that really represents the Kiss and Kiss. I mean, the music, the, the stage Persona, everything, it's just, it's just phenomenal. And I gotta say, just having you on today has been really a treat. And I think our fans are just gonna go bananas over this. And usually I would ask everybody, what would be your elevator pitch to get someone to listen to this record? But how would you. How would you, Paul Stanley, the man behind this, how would you. What, what would be your elevator pitch to get someone to listen to Kiss Alive?
- [83:17]
Paul Stanley
Oh, boy. You see, look at that. All of a sudden, I'm tongue time. Wherever you are today, you should know where it started. And that's Kiss Alive.
- [83:37]
Josh Adam Myers
It's perfect. Paul, I can't thank you enough so much for coming on. This was just phenomenal. Thank you for taking time out and, and, and please, like, we'll, we'll tell everybody about. Hopefully I'm gonna try to make it out to that Vegas thing. I, I just that just sounds so incredible. There's a little thing that you guys have set up because I perform at the Rio Hotel, and there's this whole. Yeah, there's that whole KISS wing.
- [84:01]
Paul Stanley
Yeah.
- [84:02]
Josh Adam Myers
And it's. And it's phenomenal. But, you know, being that I'm. I am now, like. I'd say I'm like. I'm like a. I'm like a. I'm like a private, you know, or corporal. What's after. What's after Private in the KISS Army. But I'm moving up the ranks. Ranks. Where is Josh?
- [84:16]
Paul Stanley
Fall in the.
- [84:16]
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. Where do you. Where do you give me. Please give me a ranking in the KISS Army.
- [84:21]
Paul Stanley
I would say that you are an honorary lieutenant.
- [84:28]
Josh Adam Myers
There it is, dude. Love it. I'll take it. Thank you so much for coming on today, brother. So great.
- [84:34]
Paul Stanley
You're the best, Paul. Thank you. Appreciate it.
- [84:36]
Josh Adam Myers
What did I tell you? What did I tell you? The one and only Paul Stanley. Thank you again for making that happen, Emily. And thank you, Paul, for sitting down and speaking with us. We got some really great guests coming up, guys. So keep listening, keep supporting. It's only gonna get better. So for new music this week, Distro Kid has brought us Solitary Friends. They got a brand new song called what you gonna do about it? Solitary Friends is my drummer, Nick Span, Nick Libertor, him and his wife. I have an incredible band, Solitary Friends. I love them to death. They got a new LP about to come out called Bite the Hot Wire. Great music, great sounds. They love Kiss. So I said it, man. Let's put it on this episode because there's going to be some years on this. You can find links to their music on the website, the500podcast.com and if you are in a band and were directly influenced by one of these albums or artists and you to want, you want your music featured on the 500 website and album discovery podcast that we do. Send us your song to 500 podcast gmail.com and make sure you put the album and artists that influenced you in the day line. Next week, it's Elton John week as we dig into Captain Fantastic and the Brown dirt cowboy from 1975. Thank you. Thank you for making this so much fun. Everybody. Really digging it. I really love doing it. Tell your friends we'll see you soon. Got to do about it, what you going to do? You can bang me on drum but it's time to go. What you going to do about it? What you going to do? What you going to do about it? What you going to do? Just another day honey turn up, wait to walk down first Avenue. Hey, hey, hey. Your view of the world isn't all that absurd you're spiraling into frustration you're tired of it be injured come on, let's go yeah, try to you run but that's no fun? What you going to do about it? What you got to do is click and scroll is getting old what you going to do about it? What you going to do? What you going to do about it? What you going to do? What you going to do about it? What you going to do? What you gonna do about it? What you gonna do? What you gonna do about it? What you gonna do? What you gonna do about it? What you gonna do? The 500 keeping it, please see.
- [88:48]
Paul Stanley
For.
- [88:48]
Josh Adam Myers
The Fleece Nation on the 500.
- [88:56]
Paul Stanley
The 500.
- [89:05]
Josh Adam Myers
Next Chapter podcast.