ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE NINTH EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM NOVEMBER 2006 TO JUNE 2007.
Regarding the "That '70s Show" series finale: That was eerie, the way Eric showed up and how we didn't get to see him at the party greeting his parents. And we didn't even get to see one second of the gang in 1980. I was wondering if we'd hear The Pina Colada Song, since that was the last #1 song of 1979/first #1 song of 1980. And we'll never get to find out Hyde's reaction to Bon Scott of AC/DC dying less than two months after that party, John Bonham dying in September (the same way Bon Scott died, incidentally, by choking on his own vomit while sleeping/passed out), signalling the end of Led Zeppelin, and then the big one - John Lennon being murdered on December 8. Hey, even Peter Criss leaving Kiss in May. Yes, it all happened in 1980!
Me during the broadcast of "Much On Demand" outside in front of the Muchmusic building in Toronto, ON on September 25, 2003.
Showing posts with label Peter Criss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Criss. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Television
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.
I hope in the new and final season of That '70s Show we'll finally get to see the gang, horror of horrors, ENTER 1980!!! You see, they have been in a time warp since Christmas. Let me explain: They did the talking yearbook photos gag at the end of the 2001/02 season with the heading "1978," they graduated high school at the end of the 2002/03 season, so that was 1979, and at the end of 2003 (part of the 2003/04 season) they did the Christmas show. So they must be stuck somewhere between Christmas and New Year's of 1979. 1980 is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!!! They do seem to be playing songs from 1979, and the license plate reads 1979 now, too. I was hoping they would graduate high school in 1980, 'cause that's the year I graduated, but at least Jackie will! Did you see the episode this past season where they accompany her to a high school dance? I had forgotten that she's actually a grade behind the rest of the gang. I remember someone brought it up in the first season. As she's preparing to graduate, someone's gotta burst in shouting, "OH MY GOD!!! PETER CRISS HAS LEFT KISS!!!" I remember that news coming out in May 1980. Americans finish school in May, right? In Canada we finish in June. I would also like to see one of those dream sequences with the four guys doing a parody of Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" video, wearing those Dream Police outfits Cheap Trick also wears on the cover of the DP album. Wouldn't that be nifty?
I hope in the new and final season of That '70s Show we'll finally get to see the gang, horror of horrors, ENTER 1980!!! You see, they have been in a time warp since Christmas. Let me explain: They did the talking yearbook photos gag at the end of the 2001/02 season with the heading "1978," they graduated high school at the end of the 2002/03 season, so that was 1979, and at the end of 2003 (part of the 2003/04 season) they did the Christmas show. So they must be stuck somewhere between Christmas and New Year's of 1979. 1980 is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!!! They do seem to be playing songs from 1979, and the license plate reads 1979 now, too. I was hoping they would graduate high school in 1980, 'cause that's the year I graduated, but at least Jackie will! Did you see the episode this past season where they accompany her to a high school dance? I had forgotten that she's actually a grade behind the rest of the gang. I remember someone brought it up in the first season. As she's preparing to graduate, someone's gotta burst in shouting, "OH MY GOD!!! PETER CRISS HAS LEFT KISS!!!" I remember that news coming out in May 1980. Americans finish school in May, right? In Canada we finish in June. I would also like to see one of those dream sequences with the four guys doing a parody of Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" video, wearing those Dream Police outfits Cheap Trick also wears on the cover of the DP album. Wouldn't that be nifty?
Kiss
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.
Since Kiss is my favorite band, people ask me what my opinions are these days of the band "changing their minds" and carrying on with touring after the farewell tour and without Ace or Peter, but with "imposters" Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer wearing Ace and Peter's makeup. Here's the reason this is happening: This fits in with Gene's natural inclination for entrepreneurship and its' resulting extension towards today's phenomenon known as "branding." (Personally, I think branding is nothing new, it's just a fancy new name for the same old thing.) Kiss is no longer a band, Kiss is now a brand. Gene Simmons understands the concept of branding now, and he recognizes that Kiss had painted themselves into a corner with the reunion and now that they've done the farewell tour, and also with the various Peter and Ace contract problems, probably won't release any more albums of original music and will definitely have temporary or permanent replacement "members" in the original members' makeup and costumes. On the subject of the current tour, Paul said, "Consider this the first in a series of encores." I don't think one-off appearances should be counted, especially TV shows where they're only doing one or two songs. Plus I think Paul & Gene recognize original music from Kiss in makeup and costumes has run its' course. Psycho Circus was a deliberate attempt to construct "A Kiss Album." But they can't do that twice, and they know it. After their 70's albums, what's left? Changes in direction have proven to not work for the makeup version of this band. Personally, I would like to have seen Kiss call the farewell tour the "farewell to the makeup and costumes" tour, and then continue with the orignal lineup but wear whatever they want on stage and play whatever kind of music they wanted to on original albums. If Peter or Ace can't be there, whatever. The albums may remind us of The Beatles' White Album, but whatever. It would honestly be where these men's minds and hearts lie in 2004. But Gene would probably say, "But that's not Kiss." So Kiss becomes a brand; those four makeup designs, those particular songs, that particular show, and it's all reflected on the merchandise Gene puts out. As Gene says, one day there will be no original members in the band and it will really be like a carnival attraction. That would be so many years away, though, it's hard to connect that in the mind with the tribute bands. I can see the carnival attraction attracting, say, the teenagers and 20-somethings of 2043. But the tribute bands today play bars to dwindling audiences. They've burned themselves out. Gene would simply have to order them to cease and desist before Kiss (the corporation called Kiss) does their own "tribute band," that's all. The evolution of all that would certainly be interesting to those of us who live that long, that's for sure.
Since Kiss is my favorite band, people ask me what my opinions are these days of the band "changing their minds" and carrying on with touring after the farewell tour and without Ace or Peter, but with "imposters" Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer wearing Ace and Peter's makeup. Here's the reason this is happening: This fits in with Gene's natural inclination for entrepreneurship and its' resulting extension towards today's phenomenon known as "branding." (Personally, I think branding is nothing new, it's just a fancy new name for the same old thing.) Kiss is no longer a band, Kiss is now a brand. Gene Simmons understands the concept of branding now, and he recognizes that Kiss had painted themselves into a corner with the reunion and now that they've done the farewell tour, and also with the various Peter and Ace contract problems, probably won't release any more albums of original music and will definitely have temporary or permanent replacement "members" in the original members' makeup and costumes. On the subject of the current tour, Paul said, "Consider this the first in a series of encores." I don't think one-off appearances should be counted, especially TV shows where they're only doing one or two songs. Plus I think Paul & Gene recognize original music from Kiss in makeup and costumes has run its' course. Psycho Circus was a deliberate attempt to construct "A Kiss Album." But they can't do that twice, and they know it. After their 70's albums, what's left? Changes in direction have proven to not work for the makeup version of this band. Personally, I would like to have seen Kiss call the farewell tour the "farewell to the makeup and costumes" tour, and then continue with the orignal lineup but wear whatever they want on stage and play whatever kind of music they wanted to on original albums. If Peter or Ace can't be there, whatever. The albums may remind us of The Beatles' White Album, but whatever. It would honestly be where these men's minds and hearts lie in 2004. But Gene would probably say, "But that's not Kiss." So Kiss becomes a brand; those four makeup designs, those particular songs, that particular show, and it's all reflected on the merchandise Gene puts out. As Gene says, one day there will be no original members in the band and it will really be like a carnival attraction. That would be so many years away, though, it's hard to connect that in the mind with the tribute bands. I can see the carnival attraction attracting, say, the teenagers and 20-somethings of 2043. But the tribute bands today play bars to dwindling audiences. They've burned themselves out. Gene would simply have to order them to cease and desist before Kiss (the corporation called Kiss) does their own "tribute band," that's all. The evolution of all that would certainly be interesting to those of us who live that long, that's for sure.
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