I’ve been troubled by how I’d handle the transition here. As you know, up to this point, my most significant musical influence had been my mother and her lar
ge collection of 45s. Her main influence being the AM radio of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. In March of 1976, a band called KISS would release an album called Destroyer and would vault into the global headlines. I had just turned 11 and this album seemed to be like turning on a switch that would take all the focus off of Steve Austin, the bionic man and Planet Of The Apes and redirect it to not only KISS but Rock And Roll music in general.
I’m sure that I mentioned that in school we hadn’t really discussed music on the playground. In fact I can recall just a handful of songs that I heard in discussion prior to The KISS Age. They are in no particular order. American Woman, Light My Fire, Play That Funky Music, and of course Bohemian “Monstrosity”. I have to chuckle to myslef when I type Bohemian “Monstrosity”. I wonder where Jeff is today. I’ve looked for him on FaceBook but he seems to be off the grid. Light My Fire interests me in hindsight. I would go on to be quite fan of The Doors and though I was only in first grade when Jim Morrison died, the fact that we were talking about the song Light My Fire makes me feel like I just missed him.
Anyway to get back on point, suddenly there was KISS and not just for me but for KISS too. Destroyer was their 5th album and finally their work was paying off and they were becoming a huge, global phenomenon. I remember the magazine racks a Roger’s grocery store had images of KISS on almost all of them. The make up and the mysterious theatrics were very appealing to an 11 year old kid. I was the perfect age for the KISS explosion. I somehow convinced mom to buy me my very first album. Up until now, all the records that we had belonged to mom. Even The Streak and Shaving Cream that I picked out belonged in the cabinet under the end table with the rest of the Scratchy 45’s. Somehow, Destroyer was mine and was kept up in my room, my first album.
At school, it was like a memo was passed out to all the guys in my grade. KISS was the topic of every discussion. Who had that KISS poster? What Destroyer song was the best? Where did you get that KISS T-shirt. People often give George Lucas credit [or disdain] for how her merchandised Star Wars. I think he copied KISS. They may not have been the first musical group to be on a lunch box but they were definitely the biggest. I went to the Boston Shirt Yard in the mall and got the KISS iron on T-Shirt. That was how they did it back in the 70’s. A big rubbery photo melted onto a T-shirt.
Kiss – Shout It Out Loud
A weird combination. KISS and Paul Lynde. I remember being so excited to actually see KISS in action on Paul Lynde’s Halloween Special. Up to this point, KISS had only existed on magazine pictures and on the record. Here they were actually performing. I can’t remember how this compared to expectation but you can believe that it was the talk of October and well into November. 10 year later, I’d be playing this song on my bass guitar. KISS – Detroit Rock City
KISS – Beth. This one has always held a special meaning for me. My baby sister’s name is Bethany. I’m not sure how I managed to convince everybody but I had worked it out that I’d spend the summers at my Aunt and Uncle’s home in Vermont. This started the summer after 4th grade and was repeated for the summer after fifth grade. So when I left for Vermont in the summer of 1976, I took Destroyer with me and Beth would always make me think of my littlest sister back home. Even now, Beth is my ringtone my baby sister.
KISS – God Of Thunder
KISS – King Of The Night Time World
KISS – Flaming Youth
Needless to say, Destroyer dominated my ears for a long tome. I remember calling WMEE back when it was an AM station and voting for Detroit Rock City and Beth for the viewer’s choice show that aired at 9:00 every night. Then I’d listen in to see how well KISS would do. They always seemed to make it on the show.
I opened up this post talking about having trouble with the transition. The trouble is this, even though KISS had taken center stage, mom’s scratchy 45’s still played a big part in My Musical Evolution so I’m trying to figure out a way to express that. Even though I was listening to KISS a lot, I still listened to the Scratchy 45’s. I might even have been more appreciative. Now that I was 11 and we talked about music on the playground, I might have been more studious with the Scratchy 45’s. Maybe I’ll jump back and forth between The KISS Age and The Scratchy 45 Days for a while. There are still some good tracks there and I don’t want to overlook anything.