The Enjoyable Misstep. 1981-1982

One of the most controversial and arguably most interesting periods in KISS' history is the 1981-1982 period. A musically transitional phase and experimental in look and concept. It marked a steep drop in popularity, particularly in the USA, though certain quarters around the world still had high regard for the band and in some ways the "(Music From) The Elder" further cemented that. Other folks just thought the change in look and sound proved the band had lost the plot.

For me, it is possibly my favorite period and here's why I think that is. Firstly I think that I was the right age at the right time. I was 10 years old and had just the year before, seen the band live for the first time. Interested in the mystical/adventure/medieval/sci-fi kinda thing fitted in well with the "The Elder" mythos. Also in the the scheme of things I hadn't been a fan for very long, since mid 1978. In the end, I don't think this meant I was any 'less' a fan, in fact at that time I was pretty obsessed. But being in Australia at that time meant KISS were fairly unknown to the mainstream until around 1979. So I wasn't really aware of the somewhat conservative notions or "rules" about what KISS could and couldn't do with their sound, look or career as by the time of their first Australian tour their sound and look had already evolved (or devolved depending on your point of view. I had recently discovered "Destroyer" and the sound on "The Elder" was not that big of a stretch (thanks to Ezrin's involvement). I know KISS themselves have continually gone on record as saying this was a giant misstep and a career low. It's hard to disagree with the band from a sales point of view. To a fan who liked the album it was a high point. Just a difference of opinion. It's also interesting to note that a lot of fans were very pleased that we got something at all. Australia and I suspect other parts of the world had embraced Eric Carr as a bona fide member of the band before and during the 1980 tour. So we were all looking forward to Carr's contribution on vinyl, ( was pleased to see he made some songwriting contributions too). It could be said that despite some peoples misgivings about "The Elder", there seemed to be much more of a band dynamic in the writing, jamming and recording of "The Elder" than the previous two albums, Ace's reluctance not withstanding.

There were also rumors floating around that not only were KISS considering shedding the makeup, but also on the verge of splitting up. These two rumors will be covered in the first scanned article below. These are all articles I collected at the time and a few since. The majority of them are from American magazines, but all are named where possible. '16' was quite a superficial magazine, but it seemed to be quiet supportive of KISS generally and covered quite a bit of this period.
Please click on the images to see them full size. Enjoy!










Rumors! Not sure what the fans thought they could do by writing these letters, but anyway.
'16' Magazine USA. Circa Early 1981













Aftermath of the Aussie tour. 'The Australian' Newspaper circa early 1981















'16' Magazine USA Circa Nov' 1981











'16' Magazine USA Circa Nov/Dec 1981














Evidence that KISS were becoming less concerned about appearing unmasked in public.
With a very young Tom Cruise, Paul almost caught. '16' Magazine USA. December 1981














And caught! At the time I'd only seen one other shot of a KISS member sans makeup (again Paul).
So this was a bit of a shock in 1981. 'New Idea' Magazine Australia. December 1981














A slightly odd photo of Peter with his new family. 'Rockline' Magazine USA. Dec 1981













Review of 'The Elder'. 'Cleo' Magazine (my mums!) Australia. Dec 1981.










'Rockline' Magazine USA. December 1981











First 2 pages of a 4 page article on KISS and the new look. '16' Magazine USA. January 1982










Last 2 pages of above article.










A desperate attempt to get folks to listen to this record?
If my calculations are correct, the album had already been out for about 3 months.
'16' Magazine USA. February 1982.














Ace pinup. '16' Magazine USA. circa February 1982










'Kerrang' Magazine. UK. Early to mid 1982








'Kiss Killers' review. 'Cosmopoliton' Magazine (again my mums!) Australia. Mid 1982














'Kiss Killers' review. 'Kerrang' UK Circa mid 1982














Persistent rumors! 'Kerrang' Magazine UK. Circa Mid 1982













Snippet from 'Kerrang' (I think) UK. Circa July/Aug 1982










Article on 'Creatures' press conference. '16' Magazine. Circa Nov/Dec 1982










Ad for 'Creatures' single. 'Kerrang' Magazine UK. Circa Dec 1982














'Creatures' review. 'Kerrang' Magazine UK. Circa Dec 1982











No Ace on tour? Not sure where this is from, probably 'Kerrang' around Dec 1982.














The replacement is revealed. Interesting text too. Both Vincent and Frehley are 'members'.
'Kerrang' Magazine UK. January 1983














A glimpse of the future. 'Kerrang' Magazine UK. Mid 1983.

Debris

So continuing with the archiving of my deteriorating collection of clippings and stuff I thought I'd post a selection of images. These clippings have been collected from magazines and newspapers in Australia during the period between mid 1979 and mid 1981. Despite that, some images date back as far as 1974. Of course some of these are from larger articles about the band, but have not been included here. I've chosen images that I've rarely (if ever) seen elsewhere or images that are just cool. Click on them to see them larger. Enjoy!

"Hotter Than Hell" era

A great live shot of Paul; "Hotter Than Hell" era

"Dressed to Kill" era

"Dressed to Kill" era posing with Rodney Bingenheimer

If I'm not mistaken. this is a shot from KISS' visit to Cadillac, Michigan,
October 1975. I've never seen this photo elsewhere.

One of my fave pics ever, live on the "Destroyer" tour. Not sure where...anyone?

Another cool "Destroyer" live shot.


I believe this is a shot taken during KISS' appearance on
Paul Lynde's Halloween Special 1976.


Cool shot from the "Dynasty-Return of KISS" tour 1979


Paul live on the "Dynasty-Return of KISS" tour 1979


I believe this was taken during the "Shandi" video shoot 1980.


My apologies for the rough state of this image, but it was too cool
(and rare I think) to not include. Eric Carr, The Palladium NYC. July 25, 1980


Smaller image, but in better condition, another great shot of Eric at
The Palladium NYC. July 25, 1980


Possibly at the Sydney Press Conference,
Australia. November 1980


Mr Frehley, somewhere on the "Unmasked" tour 1980.

Kissteria: "Press Darlings" part 2

We continue with more clippings from papers and magazines from the time.


I think this was the first time I heard the expression "Kissteria". Not sure which magazine this is from, likely TV Week, circa August 1980.

Here is a (less than perfect!) pinup from Australian Women's Weekly - Sept 10, 1980. This was promoted at the time as revealing KISS' new drummer Eric Carr.
I'm pretty sure this was not an exclusive, but I think it may be the earliest image I had seen of Eric at the time. I'm assuming the image comes from Carr's debut at the Palladium in NYC.

Just check out the prices! Not sure if you can still buy Iron On Transfers, but at the time there were quite a few KISS ones available.

Here is the earliest B&W KISS Army notice board listing from TV Week that I have.And the reason the enlisting form is missing is because this is the one I used to join. For a measly $7.50 a year!

A tour report from Australian Women's Weekly - Oct 1, 1980.Great image too (second page is missing sorry).

KISS Army notice board listing from TV Week. Oct 25, 1980.

A snippet from the Ansett Airline (now defunct) inflight magazine. Circa Oct/Nov 1980.

Ah...Norman! Australian satirical comedian Garry MacDonald's character "Norman Gunston" aware of KISS' impending tour and the hysteria the band was creating, released a single "(I'm Marching in the) Kiss Army" sung to a tune not dissimilar to "I Was Made For Loving You". Norman also appeared at the Sydney press conference asking a number of questions (some confusing...some controversial...KISS gave as good as they got!). Below is a (wrinkled) image from the press conference. In Norman's hand is a stamp and pad so he could quickly give KISS his autograph!!!
"Let's face it...it was a pretty smart move...you guys touring Australia just as I had my record out!" Norman Gunston.

Said record. The B-Side was called 'Normdrum' a very funny parody of 'Humdrum', the chat/review part of "Countdown" presented by Molly Meldrum. KISS fans would know him from KISSOLOGY II.

Not sure what magazine this was from, but the rider makes for interesting reading. Circa Oct/Nov 1980.

Not all Australian media had a positive response to KISS' tour. This is from The Post magazine, circa Nov 1980.

Here is a bit of snotty journalism from one John Hindle of the Melbourne Age (I believe) paper in his regular article "It's All Too Much". Late November 1980.

This the first page of the "KISS Souvenir In The Land of Oz 1980" from November 8, 1980. I have a few others bits and pieces from this, but most haven't survived.

Another surviving page from "KISS Souvenir In The Land of Oz 1980" from November 8, 1980.

A brief Kisstory lesson from New Idea magazine; Nov 15, 1980

These are images of my ticket stub (front and back). This was my first KISS concert and the first big show I attended period. I was 9 years old and one of 45,000 people (their largest crowd up to that point). That's jumping in the deep end. It was a very hot day (42 degrees!) and a good time was had by all. Support band was The Eyes (don't remember them being that impressive). I'm pretty sure Gene is incorrect when he said The Eyes opened for them in South America 1983, unless there was another band with the same name in Rio. Tickets for the Aussie Tour were $13.50!!!! If you click on the thumbnail you'll see the approximate size of these larger than average tickets.

Here is a collage of images from a Melbourne paper, the day after the show in Melbourne.


Here are some great images. I can't lay claim to these. A very good friend of mine gave me these about 10 years ago when he worked in a record shop. He didn't take these either but was living in Sydney at the time and attended both shows. The following images are from night 1(Nov 21, 1980). My friend doesn't know who took them, if anyone does, please let me know and I'll be happy to credit them.





And to finish up, an early example the Eric Carr's generosity to KISS' fans. It speaks for itself.