  I can remember the first time Neil Bogart, the fellow who owned their record company, showed me a photograph of them; "[I said] They're going to perform all over the world in makeup that hides their identity?" - Dick Clark, Kiss My A** Videotape 1974 - Peter Criss, the self-titled debut. Kiss used the all-black background on their first album in honor of their idols, the Beatles, whose first album also had an all-black background. |
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  Kiss headlines for the first time, a sold-out concert of 12,000 at Detroit's Cobo Hall. By the end of the year, The Kiss Army is on the march nationwide. - Peggy Tomarkin, "The Evolution of Kiss" 1975 - Kiss in concert. There was a "meanness" about Kiss that would disappear after 1975. The "confined" live shows, the "home-made" costumes, and the "hard-core" music would all expire. |
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  It's almost like Hitler-rock, because that audience - because of their beat, they're mesmerized by the music. I mean they have that audience hypnotized. They could say "We're going out there and lifting up this building," and they'd just go lift it up. That's the kind of control they have. That's why their following is so strong and indestructible.- Promoter Steve Glantz, Circus 1976 - Kiss in concert, Gene Simmons. Kiss was finally the rock band that they always believed they would be. Kiss metamorphosed into larger-than-life superheroes. |
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  On record, they sound like four accidents in search of a thud. But in concert they sound like the thud - and they look like bats on the lam, with their garish white make-up and their black sequined outfits and their fire-breathing bassist and their onstage explosions and their 60-foot curtain of flame. The effect is like Batman in quadruplicate, exploding in front of your face.- "Kitsch Me Deadly," Village Voice 1977 - Kiss in concert, Ace Frehley. The prominent act in rock 'n roll. Four kids from New York City were now "Kings of the World." | |||
  Promoters were clamoring for Kiss. The band was shattering attendance records throughout the country, gleefully announcing to the press that they had broken the record previously set by Elvis. Kiss was so hot, ATI (Kiss' booking agency) could have booked them for another six months on the road. - Chris Lendt, Kiss and Sell 1977-78 - Alive II, Paul Stanley. Kiss' finest hour. The magic consummated in 1978. |
