Rumours have been running through the rock biz like wildfire. Is KISS breaking up? Have Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley decided to forego their careers--at least temporarily--for other pursuits? Is what was once the biggest rock band in the world finally at the end of the road? The answers seem to be both yes and no. Undeniably, some of the steam has run out of the KISS engine, but the band remains a platinum-selling act with the ability to pack just about any arena in the world. Yes, both Simmons and Stanley have countless outside interests to occupy their time, but KISS remains near and dear to their hearts. Enough of summary, however. Let's explore these issues more fully. The rumors of KISS' demise began last spring, when the group broke away from their longtime management team and cancelled numerous concerts on their "Crazy Nights" world tour. Stories abounded that Simmons and Stanley were disenchanted with the less-than-enthusiastic response the group's live show was getting and were becoming despondent about their inability to transform the success of their MTV videos into album sales. Both Gene and Paul predicted that "Crazy Nights" would be a triple-platinum LP-- restoring any lost luster to the KISS matal crown. But when the album stalled after passing the one million sales plateau confusion and exasperation set in. "We always expect our albums to do well," Stanley said. "Crazy Nights" is one of the best albums we'we ever done. We spent a lot of time writing the songs and recording it, so why shouldn't it sell well? There are three or four songs on it I hear as hit singles." Unfortunately, Stanley's enthusiasm proved a bit premature. Though songs like "Turn On The Night and Reason To Live" garnered incredible fan support on MTV (consistently finishing high on the Dial MTV top 10), the clips failed to rise above "medium rotation " on the music channel and never attained Top 40 radion status. This
caused the band to take a cold, hard look at both their management and their record label, believing the songs' failures lay in those hands. Soon their managers had been replaced and heated discussions with their label began. In fact, at one point Simmons, who was in the midst of starting his own record company, approached PolyGram (which handles all of KISS' product) to aid him in distribution for his new label. According to industry scuttlebutt, PolyGram told Simmons they had no interest in working with him. Simmons subsequently took his new venture to RCA. This new label has been at the heart of many "end of KISS" stories. Simmons Records, as the label is called, is a big-budget operation which has already signed a number of bands including Gregg Giuffria's new group, House Of Lords. Some people close to the scene say that Gene is actually growing tired of the road and may be content to work on his label--as well as his acting career--while settling into a more domestic life with his pregnant girlfriend, former playmate of the Year, Shannon Tweed. Simmons, however, denies that anything will ever replaced KISS in his heart.
"I've always liked to keep myself busy," he said. "The label and my acting are important to me, but they definitely play secondary role to KISS. People have said that I was going to leave KISS for years, ever since I started acting, but I've always been able to work the various interests of my life together. There's never been a problem with that in the past and there won't be a problem in the future." Still after fifteen years atop the rock world, could KISS be content to continue at a mere shadow of their former greatness, albeit a large and imposing shadow? Perhaps the most intriguing fact in this whole scenario has been the group's reluctance even to begin writing new material. After the completion of their on-again, off-again tour--which ended with the band's participation in the European Monsters Of Rock Festivals last August--the band had completed exactly one new song that they felt was album-worthy. Perhaps to test the commercial waters and see if there was still interest in KISS, the group released their greatest hits collection, Smashes,Thrashes And Hits, late last year. When the album soared up the charts, it gave the band motivation to reassess their career decisions. "The simplest way of looking at this whole situation is say that we still owe our record label six records," Simmons stated. " No matter what anyone says, we have to honor that contract. People have talked about KISS breaking up for years. Ever since Ace and Peter left the band, some fans have said that KISS isn't the same. Well, if anything, we're better. It would ba a shame if this group couldn't keep playing for many years to come." Though Simmons, as always, maintains the "company line" about KISS, the next few months will be pivotal in deciding whether this legendary unit will continue or choose to end their glorious career. Always the sharp businessmen, Simmons and Stanley know that there are younger, hungrier bands on the rock circuit. But they also know that contemporaries like Aerosmith have recently come back from the "dead" to enjoy the greatest success of their career. Undoubtedly, the members of KISS are in far better shape, both physically and financially, than the members of Aerosmith. But the drive to stay in the public spotlight is what will motivate Simmons and Stanley in the years ahead. Both are multimillionaires who have invested their money wisely. Both lead active lives away from KISS as producers and actors. (Stanley is currently looking for a role to launch his film career.) Thus, leaving KISS wouln't be the end of the world for either of them. It would, however, bring an end to one of the most fabled eras in heavy metal history. "Don't belive everything people say about us," Stanley said. "People love to talk about you when you're on the top--so i hope the talk keeps going for a long long time."