New KISS Book Told By The Men And Women Of Rock

Going totally against my parents vocal commands and religious wishes...I became a proud member of the KISS Army during the Summer of 1977. That's all the permission I needed to pump up the 8-track tape volume and poster every corner of my bedroom walls with painted faces while sporting the coolest, shiniest belt buckle known to man. I grew up in a pair of Montana boots. The land of Rodeo Buckles the size of Canada. Walking into a bowling alley with KISS said one thing, "Oh crap. One of them Rock lovin freaks is here." I really got into KISS merchandising! To this very moment; 36 years deep and this collecting disease has yet to cease. Before Paul and Gene authorized the sale of KISS concerts on VHS tapes I was buying bootlegs. I favored import albums over Americanized releases. Just because the tracks were set up differently.

I'm a big whacked out KISS Hoarder. It's my fantasy to take every trunk of KISS junk and dump it on the front steps of Pawn Stars in Vegas and say, "It's got to be worth 10 cents maybe a quarter." When you think Simmons and company have completed their Rock pollution; out pops something even more unique to add to the library. Simmons and Paul Stanley are writing yet another book. The new title ‘Nothin’ to Lose: The Making of Kiss (1972-75),’ is due out on August 20, and will find the duo working with co-author Ken Sharp to compile an oral history of the band’s early years. According to the press release announcing the book, “the 544-page hardcover draws on more than 200 interviews, offering a captivating and intimate fly-on-the-wall account of their launch, charting the struggles and ultimate victories that led them to the threshold of superstardom.” The release, which goes on to promise “an indelible and irresistible portrait of a band on the rise and the music scene they changed forever,” also includes an undeniably impressive list of interviewees such as Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, and members of Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and Rush. It all adds up to an awful lot of literary activity — particularly for Stanley, who recently announced that he’s working on an autobiography of his own. As he put it in an equally funny and cocky statement, “with the three other guys from the original lineup having written books, it’s kind of like, ‘OK, have you all said your piece? OK? Now let me tell you what happened.’”