It’s the follow-up to 2009’s acclaimed Sonic Boom, and should be released towards the end of the year.

What can we expect? Paul Stanley has no doubts.

Talking to DJ JC Green of Alfra Rock 105.7FM and Metal Messiah Radio, the bassist had this to say about getting back together with guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss:

“There will be one more time when we play together. Sometime in the future there’s going to be a last show. Sometime in the future we’ll be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. There will be one more time when we do it together to honour the beginning.”

The current Kiss incarnation – Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer – are working on a new album, for release later in the year.

Find out more at www.kissonline.com

Blabbermouth report that guitarist Tommy Thayer confirmed that the band will start recording in March, with Paul Stanley producing as he did for 2009’s Sonic Boom.

Says Thayer: “We are starting to work on writing some songs, and we wil] approach it just like we did with Sonic Boom and keep it all in the band in terms of the writing, with no agenda besides writing great rock ’n’ roll songs that we love, then rehearsing them before recording them. It really felt good to us so we’ll go the same way this time”.

Find out more at http://www.kissonline.com/

He never spat blood like Gene Simmons. He didn’t croon Beth like Peter Criss. And he was never seen in garish make-up – well almost never. But, there’s little doubt that Kiss owe much of their enormous, unique success and value to the shrewd work of Bill Aucoin who, throughout the 1970s, was regarded as the fifth member of a band that showed how to turn libidos into hard cash, and songs about priapic overdrive into profits.

As crucial to Kiss as Peter Grant was to Led Zeppelin, in many ways Aucoin laid the fundamentals for the way the modern manager is perceived.

Born in Ayer, Massachusetts, he didn’t come from an entertainment background – “My father owned a small food market” – but quickly became fascinated by television.

“I had my own mock studio, made out of cardboard boxes. Me and my friends would put on productions. I loved the medium.”

Going to college in Boston, Aucoin got the chance to do camera work for New York TV production company Teletapes. On graduation, he headed for the Big Apple and fame – or, rather poverty.

“I expected to be offered a job with Teletapes, but nothing happened. I was living with a friend, and down to my last five dollars, when I made a fateful decision. I worked out that, if I bought a glass of orange juice in the morning, and a hamburger at night, then I could survive for three more days in New York. That became my deadline: 72 hours to get a job. On the second day, Teletapes called; I was in!”

At this point, enter Kiss…

“I developed a music programme called Flipside, which featured artists like John Lennon and Stevie Wonder. This guy called Gene Simmons had been writing me notes, saying that he was in a band, and asking if I’d like to check them out. So, one day I went down to see them play at this seedy hotel in New York, a hangout for drug dealers and pimps.”

Aucoin was sufficiently impressed to make them an offer…

“I asked the guys to give me 30 days to get them a record deal. If I succeeded, then I’d become their manager. If not, we’d review where things stood. Well, I did it. Neil Bogart, who’d made his name marketing singles for a label called Buddha, had just set up his own operation backed by Warner Brothers: Casablanca. He took a chance and signed Kiss.”

The year was 1973. Bogart quickly moved his operation to Los Angeles, taking Kiss and Aucoin with him. Hanging out with movie stars and seduced by the glamour of Tinsel Town, the band performed a showcase for the parent company, Warners, at Century Plaza. And they all lived happily ever after…hell, no, this is real life!

“The band were awful. And Warners decided they didn’t want us on Casablanca. Neil came under pressure to ditch Kiss, but he backed us up, and walked away from his own deal.”

So, Casablanca and Kiss went from the comfort of major financial backing to near poverty.

“In the early years we really struggled badly. To keep things going, Neil mortgaged all he owned, and I put in all the money I’d made. And there’s also the famous story about how I bankrolled the Dressed To Kill tour in 1975, via my American Express card.

“After our third album, which was te aforementioned Dressed To Kill, we didn’t have the money to do a fourth one. Neil then suggested a live album, as it was a lot cheaper. I agreed, as long as it was in a gatefold sleeve and had a booklet. So Alive! came out in 1975, and just exploded. It sold over three million copies. We went from poverty to luxury.”

Apart from the vibrancy of the music, what helped to sell Kiss was the unmistakable image. So, how much of this was down to Aucoin?

They all came up with own ideas. My contribution was to insist the guys kept the basic white background to their face paint, and coming from a visual background, I wanted a huge stage show.”

Aucoin developed ideas for major marketing strategies, as he saw the clear potential in selling the recognizable images.

“To me, it was obvious. And it was so successful that, in 1978, the band made $119 million, which nearly put us into the top 500 companies list in America. About $55 million of that came from merchandising.”

There were Kiss pinball machines. Kiss lunchboxes. Kiss lawnmowers. Kiss dolls. And Kiss comics. There were two specials of the last-named, published by Marvel in 1977 and 1978. For Aucoin, these were logical extensions of the Kiss brand.

“Stan Lee, the main man at Marvel, was really good to us. And to have the guys as superheroes in comic form made sense. For the first special, we mixed in Kiss’ own blood with the red ink. We took this to the printing press, and poured it in ourselves. But…it wasn’t for the Kiss comic! That wasn’t being printed the day we went up. It was Sports Illustrated!”

Naturally, any smooth, well oiled machine eventually starts to hit problems. And for Aucoin the beginning of the end came in 1980, when Criss was fired.

“Peter did struggle with huge problems. But both Ace and I felt that we should stick by him. Gene and Paul disagreed. The moment of truth came when we had a big meeting. Ace, myself and our lawyer sat on one side of a huge table, with Gene, Paul, all their lawyers and business managers on the other. We knew it was a hopeless cause.”

The end for Criss somehow was a watershed. And the manager was about to get another shock.

“It was always important to me to protect the Kiss franchise, so I spent literally four years getting the individual make-up trademarked. But I did it, and then the band immediately stunned me by saying they wanted to ditch the make-up altogether. The problem was that they’d seen all their contemporaries grow up and get more adult audiences, and they were still stuck as a marketing ploy for kids! I couldn’t dissuade them from that decision. It was then that I decided to end our relationship (1981).”

In 1983 Kiss did remove the make-up, but Aucoin finds it slightly ironic that they eventually saw his viewpoint, getting back into make-up for the re-union tour in ’96.

“The guys did ask me then to manage them again, but it didn’t appeal to me. But I do smile at the way they’ve thrown themselves into marketing everything – the very point that split us up as a team!”

But Aucoin wasn’t exclusively involved with Kiss. During the 1970s, he briefly looked after Piper (featuring the fledgling Billy Squier) and cult heroes Starz. In 1981, he successfully took up the cudgels for Billy Idol.

“In a way, I had the same credibility problem as with Kiss. With the latter it was the make-up. With Billy, it was the spikey hair and punk reputation.”

Aucoin and Idol parted in ’84. But, if he’s not been high profile since, the man’s still heavily involved in music. And the hot news that he’s just signed on to manage the band many see as the 21^st Century Kiss…

“You know that (singer) Mr. Lordi used to run the Finnish branch of the Kiss fan club? Anyway, they excite me, so I’ve agreed to manage them.”

The circle, it would seem, is complete.

RIP, Bill Aucoin.

With the second week of Roxy Music rehearsals over, I’ve sneaked away to my hideaway in Berlin for a week! Just having breakfast listening to old records – currently playing Rolling Stones’ Love You Live recorded in Paris and Toronto 1976-1977.

I found an amazing secondhand shop around the corner from my flat where I bought a huge bag of records for about 10 euros, and this baby was in it – complete with artwork by Andy Warhol. Nice!  Next to be played include ZZ Top’s AfterBurner, T.Rex’s Solid Gold and Ike & Tina Turner, from the Italian collection of La Grande Storia del Rock.

On the flight over here I was reading the new Classic Rock issue. The letters page is usually something I glance over and then move on, but this time I actually read all of them; among the letters were a few complaining about Kiss’s entrepreneurial spirit when it comes to the business of music. One complained about Bad Company’s disappointingly short set and that it wasn’t value for money, and interestingly enough there were two who defended Aerosmith’s high ticket prices.  It seems that when it comes to live shows, ‘good value for money’ is dependent on not only the quality of the band, but also the production of the stage show, the length of set and the cost of the tickets.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a band that I’ve been part of for the last six years is an excellent example of business model where they pitch everything just right – the tickets are cheap when compared with other arena acts, the lighting/stage rig is one of the biggest in the world (in fact, we use the same production team as Kiss, Motley Crue, Aerosmith, etc.) the length of set is just under three hours and we do a free meet and greet at the end of every show. What audience member could ask for more?

Trans-Siberian Orchestra is probably the only arena act which does the free meet and greet at the end of the show – the band come off stage, we have time to shower and change, and then we head up to the upper levels of the arena where they set up tables and chairs for us to sit. The audience (sometimes thousands) will stand in line to come and say hello. We give out autographs, accept gifts, take photos and sign merchandise for up to an hour. Yes, it is exhausting when you come off stage; often the only place you want to go to is straight to your bunk and curl up asleep. However, no matter how tired you are, meeting the fans who support your career is one of the most rewarding parts of the job, and can be an incredibly humbling experience.

Paul Stanley is attacked for saying that they’re too tired for a meet and greet after the shows. I can sympathise. Running around an arena stage for over two hours is exhausting, especially after a couple of months on the road. But I think it is despicable to say you’re too tired to meet anyone after the show unless they spend lots of money for the privilege. The most rewarding fans you meet after the show are exactly the ones who could never afford it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the two letters which defended Aerosmith’s high ticket prices for the O2 Arena show in London on June 15. Al from Edinburgh wrote: ‘Going to see gigs has been a huge part of my life since 1975 and I’m not complaining about high prices – it’s all about your priorities. The day rock or metal becomes some altruistic art form pandering to the greedy, lazy herd will be a sad day indeed!’ Quite right too!

The music industry has reverted back to the 70s where money has to be made from touring live since everyone expects recorded music to come for free. But this expectation that creative people should produce art simply for the love of it is not a new argument. The phrase ‘Ars Gratia Artis’ comes from the Romans, translating as ‘art is its own reward’. It’s been floating around in various guises ever since as an excuse to exploit creative people, by paying them as little as possible (or nothing) for producing art/literature/music.

Most musicians would agree that you don’t go into the music business because it will make you rich; you play music because it’s the only thing you can ever imagine doing. However, once you’ve accepted this ‘golden ball and chain’ and you find yourself part of the music industry, it is nice to make a bit of cash and earn a respectable living. And if you can combine being a musician with being a sensible business person, good for you! Kiss are a band of excellent entrepreneurs. Love or hate them, they know about marketing, about branding and about selling, and are not ashamed to flaunt it to its full potential.

Footballers and the football industry probably make far more money than the music industry here in the UK. Football fans don’t expect to get their entertainment fix for free – they spend hundreds (if not thousands) per year on satellite subscriptions to sport channels, on season tickets to clubs, and on the latest kit. And after 90 minutes on the football pitch, no-one expects the footballers to turn up for a meet and greet. Footballers play football for the love of the game, and yet nobody expects to be entertained by them for free. Why should music fans’ expectations be any different?

Right. Unpaid hours of violin practice beckon.

AP x

Inspiration Track of The Week: Rolling Stones You Can’t Always Get What You Want

www.annaphoebe.com

What a week! Four days of solid Roxy Music rehearsals, solo band rehearsals and gig, a gig with Jurojin, a radio show on TotalRock, a dinner party for friends, photo shoot and interview for Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine, a house party for 50 guests and a trip to see Kiss at Wembley.

Sitting on the tube on my way to Roxy Music rehearsals. Almost done a full week of rehearsals – each day, for almost seven hours. So much fun. Was absolutely nervous before the first day – felt like the first day at school, arriving at the studio with my suitcase full of effects pedals and leads, my two violins and a folder of sheet music.

Although exhausting, it is musically the most rewarding band I’ve  played with – the ample rehearsal time is spent not only playing the music, but delving into a sonic world in a way I never experienced before.

Most bands I’ve played for it’s been a case of ‘plug in and go’ – where my role as ‘a violinist’ is limited to playing the notes and running around the stage performing them, rather than building any kind of sound effects. In previous bands I’ve played for, the time I’m  dedicating to developing sounds with the violin has only really been reserved for the guitar players.  With Roxy, there is so much to take in and so many decisions to be made about how things are played and how they sound. On Saturday, the musical director and I spent a good six-and-a-half hours programming keyboard/organ sounds for four songs!

Much of this attention to detail stems from the fact we are trying to replicate the album sounds as closely as possible.  This would be easier if the sounds didn’t stem from random genius moments, played on instruments in the 70s and 80s which don’t actually exist anymore (or still do , but are far too old and unreliable to take out on tour).

Most notable are the sounds Brian Eno created on the old synths, and  the specific organ sounds Eddie Jobson got.  On top of this, there are some tracks where the whole track has then been treated with a variety of effects, making absolute replication pretty much impossible! Anyway, it’s a steep learning curve which is challenging and using up brain cells I never knew I had!

Phil Manzanera joined the rehearsals towards the end of the week -  again, his guitar playing is so different to other guitarists I’ve played with – I guess mainly because the musical style is different. Suddenly the whole sound of the band changed. I kept looking over at his fingers, which didn’t seem like they were moving much. But there were all these intricate soundscapes coming from his amp. Incredible stuff!

From intricate sonics to complete over-the-top everything – Kiss at Wembley Arena was more of a physical and visual bombardment! Travelling with 17 trucks of lights, explosives, flying lifts, costumes and platform boots, they put on an amazing show which lasted for around two hours.

My sister, a friend and I had a great time dancing the entire time, giggling at Gene Simmons’ ever-present tongue and Paul Stanley’s incessant bum-wiggling.  We were standing behind the sound and lighting desk, and directly behind what must have been Gene Simmons’ ’wife’. She was a voluptuous, full-bodied, full-lipped pouting blonde beauty wearing enough bling to redirect and shoot the lasers directly back  onto the stage. .She kept standing up and giving a royal wave to the  adoring middle-aged male fans who fumbled excitedly to get the cameras out of their pockets every time she looked their way. Hilarious.

Right. Time to get off the tube at the next station and get to work!
‘Til next week!

AP x

Inspiration Track For The Week:

Kiss Rock And Roll All Nite

www.annaphoebe.com

With the imminent arrival of Kiss on UK shores, have we got a prize for you.

To celebrate Kiss’s UK tour – Sheffield Arena, May 1, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, May 2, Liverpool Arena, May 4, Birmingham LG Arena, May 5, Dublin O2 Arena, May 7, Glasgow SECC, May 9, Manchester MEN Arena, May 10, London Wembley Arena, May 12/13 – we’re giving away one of the strictly limited edition Kiss Kollector’s Flightcases (pictured below).

It’s stuffed to the hinges with 46(!) live double albums recorded on the US leg of the recent Kiss Alive 35 tour.

Also included are four exclusive Kiss leather USB wristbands and a certificate of authenticity. There are only 200 of these boxes in existence, and each one is numbered and has been signed by Gene, Paul, Tommy and Eric. And it’d set you back $1,200 if you bought one! What’s more, if you win, it’ll be presented to you by the band at a Kiss UK date of your choosing…

To enter this killer comp, go here.

As Paul Stanley himself says:

“You wanted the best. You got the best! What a great opportunity this is for Kiss to pay tribute to many of the bands that have been key to our development, to shine a spotlight on the artists that have been such an inspiration for us.

“So many of the artists in this issue are major influences on Kiss, and me in particular. Be it The Who, Humble Pie, Paul Rodgers, Led Zeppelin… the list goes on and on.

“Our thanks go out to Classic Rock for making this special issue possible.”

Here’s a taster of what’s inside Classic Rock issue 144:

KISS Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer may have had control of this issue – but for their interview, we gave control to you, the Classic Rock readers: cue reader-inspired questions about bisexuality, Michael Jackson, sex tapes and… squirrel make-up.

ARGENT More than 30 years after they split, the band that bridged the gap between 60s pop and hard rock are back – and ready to reclaim the song that Kiss pinched from them.

HUMBLE PIE One minute they were cooking, the next they were falling apart. So how and why did the Pie crumble?

THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN ROCK Ever wondered who really pulls the strings in the global industry that we call rock? We asked rock’s most powerful people – and Gene Simmons – to vote for their choice of rock’s power brokers. This is the result.

LED ZEPPELIN The Stories Behind The Songs: Kashmir. “It’s so right; there’s nothing overblown, no vocal hysterics. Perfect Zeppelin,” says Robert Plant of the song he claims is also the best thing they ever recorded.

SCORPIONS Guitarist Rudolf Schenker talks about why his band are saying goodbye.

PARLIAMENT/FUNKADELIC George Clinton on the formation of the band – ‘The Black Kiss’ – that put one nation under a groove.

That’s not all! The new issue of Classic Rock also comes with a FREE DVD: one hour of extracts from the best new rockumentaries featuring AC/DC, Tom Petty, Saxon, Mick Ronson, Dr Feelgood and more.

Plus we’re giving away a FREE JIMI HENDRIX POSTER MAG!

The May 2010 edition of Classic Rock is in the stores now.

Xavier first saw Kiss way back in 1976 when they headlined the Hammersmith Odeon and hadn’t clapped eyes on them for some 30 odd years. This week he finally saw Kiss again, when they did a their low-key club gig at London’s Islington O2 Academy.

THEN

Venue: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Date: May 15, 1976

Kiss first came to my attention when I heard Kiss Alive, the classic double album recorded at Detroit’s legendry Cobo Hall in 1975. I remember being blown away by the rawness of the production, and by the whole look and concept of Kiss. I just had to see them LIVE. As luck had it they were due to play two nights at the Hammy Odeon (as it was affectionately known back then) but could I get a ticket? No chance. Both gigs sold out in two hours flat!

I turned up on the night without a ticket and casually asked a tout what price he was charging. “£25 for the circle, or £50 for the stalls.” This was way out of my price range. So I decided to play a patient waiting game. I knew that once Kiss were on stage, the touts would get desperate.

Kiss were loud, even from outside the venue, I could clearly hear Deuce, Strutter and Flaming Youth from the just-released Destroyer album. A tout approached. ”How much have you got mate?” ”A fiver,” I replied. ”Oh, go on then’.” And I was in. A stalls ticket near the front, what a bargain. As I made my way through the foyer, a rather embarrassed lady offered me a promotional Kiss mask. ”Oh, go on please take one, I’ve got a bus to catch, and I’ve still got two boxes to get rid of!”

As I made my way down to the front, Kiss were launching into Hotter Than Hell, complete with flame bolts and Gene Simmons’ funny leg routine. And, yes, the great man spat out fireballs. Paul Stanley, meanwhile, donned a fireman’s helmet, complete with flashing light, during Firehouse.

Sadly a lot of the special effects and pyro Kiss had planned were booted into touch by the then GLC (Greater London Council); they were deemed too dangerous. So most of the special effects came courtesy of Gene Simmons. The houselights dimmed and all one could see was his eerie face, and a hideous thumping bass. God, he looked evil. He slowly opened his mouth and out came this oozing red blood that
took an eternity to hit the ground, a feat only recently repeated by Tom Williams, the Harlequins wing, in the infamous Blood Capsule rugby scandal!

Kiss were very entertaining, Ace Frehley was all over the place, and certainly lived up to his name of Space Cowboy. Peter Criss’s drum kit slowly rose to the heavens, and Paul Stanley’s raps were, let’s just say a tad predictable. Stuff like: ”Come on London, shout it out loud!” But there was no denying Kiss’s singalong appeal, especially during the likes of Black Diamond and the anthemic Rock And Roll All Nite. A great show, despite the GLC!

NOW

Venue: Islington O2 Academy, London

Date: March 2, 2010

So jump forward in time some 30-odd years and here I am seeing Kiss for the first time since Hammy Odeon in 1976. Kiss in a small venue, now this I gotta see. But just like Hammersmith all those years ago I had trouble getting in.

This time, though, it wasn’t the touts’ fault, it was the bloody guest list! Simply, my name wasn’t on it. Frantic text messages went unanswered, as once again I could clearly hear Kiss on stage in the background. Modern Day Delilah from Sonic Boom was thumping its way down to the box office. Cold Gin and Let Me Go Rock ‘N’ Roll came and went before the band’s press officer, Paul Elliott, finally emerged having read my 20 texts pleading to get me in.

It was like Groundhog Day. It seems that if I’m prepared to miss the first three numbers of a Kiss set, I will eventually get in, and so it proved. With a much-needed beer I headed toward the middle of the Kiss Army and they were lapping up every chord that Kiss could throw at them. Say Yeah, another stomping newie, got the thumbs up.

This was my first look at Kiss without Criss and Frehley. Although with the make-up on it could be anybody up there on stage. But Eric Singer (drums) and Tommy Thayer (guitar) seemed to slot right in to the Kiss groove. Although I’m not so sure about Thayer’s barnet – the ‘matted’ look was, erm, odd!

It was refreshing to see Simmons and Stanley looking virtually the same as they did all those years ago at the Odeon. They clearly both still love playing live, and genuinely seemed to be having a ball. So were the lucky 800 Kiss fanatics who sang along to every tune. Gene Simmons snarled his autobigraphical Calling Dr. Love before the band went into overdrive on 100,000 Years, pre-historic Kiss
complete with nifty guitar solos.

Other highlights included Love Gun, Black Diamond (still as fresh today as it was at the Odeon in 1976) and the inevitable Rock And Roll All Nite complete with the one special effect of the night – a confetti shower! Encore? of course, it could only be Detroit Rock City – an absolute barnstormer.

Although the set was relatively short it was great to see Kiss close up in a venue this size. Something had to give, and in this case it was the stage show. But Kiss have such a good back catalogue of music, so are the effects really necessary? If you wanna see the full show then Kiss are coming back in May for the Sonic Boom tour.

Overall, I think the Hammersmith show had the edge mainly because Kiss were younger and hungrier back then, and it was the original line-up. But what I liked about the Islington show was the warmth and genuine love that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons still put in into this monster that is called Kiss.

After 35 years of solid touring, Kiss are still very much ALIVE.

Next week Classic Rock is talking to all four members of Kiss – Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer – and instead of the usual journalistic waffle we want to ask them special questions posed by YOU, the esteemed CR reader.

So if you’ve got something you’ve always wanted to ask Kiss, here’s the chance to get it off your chest.

Just add your question – or questions, if you’ve got more than one – in the comments section below. Or email it/them to: classicrock@futurenet.co.uk

In further Kiss news, the band will be guest editing a future edition of Classic Rock! (As long as the lifts are working; we wouldn’t want them to traipse up to the 4th floor in those platforms.) Stay tuned to this website for more details.