It all started back in 1993. It was July 4th in my Uncle Joe’s basement. I was outside playing blackjack with my uncle and winning. After a while he left, so I went in the basement to see what my brother Nick was up to. I came downstairs and sat next to the CD player. Nick had on Alive III and as I sat down, “Detroit Rock City” came on. My ears were peaked, like a dog’s. I wanted to hear more. He then skipped back to “Creatures of the Night” and I was hooked! Night." The sweet seduction of Paul Stanley's breathtaking voice was all it took to take me captive as a KISS fan forever.Any time after that when he had music on, I begged him to put on Alive III. When he didn’t, I would borrow it and play it in my Walkman.
After that point, Nick started to give me his T-shirts of bands that I liked like Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, and Guns N Roses. I would wear Pantera shirts that, unknown to me, had marijuana leaves on them, Guns N Roses shirts with bleeding and rotting skulls on them, etc. I was the only kid in 3rd grade to wear those shirts and I got sent to the counselor’s office often.
Anyways, Nick got so tired of me asking him to play Alive III that he eventually gave it to me. During one of his stays in the hospital, Smashes, Thrashes & Hits came in. I immediately “tested it” for him. I think I played it every day. He didn’t even know until about 2 years ago that it ever came! On one of my visits to see him in the hospital, a kid named Ryan wheeled himself over and gave me his old Hot in the Shade tape. He said that Nick kept telling everybody how his little sister was so cool because she loved KISS and tons of other bands.
Seeing how I told him I was on a quest to finally see my all-time favorite band, Nick made sure he found out anything he could about a possible tour. He heard around April of 1996 of a KISS tour coming to Philly. I was extatic! I was no longer going to be a KISS virgin!
