• KISS pinball spotted in the background of a roadside diner on the A-Team on UK Gold!
• [From: Matthew Harrison]
  I just saw  a great KISS video of Crazy Nights on MTV2 on the program titled 'Andrew WK's A - Z of Partying' which is sure to be repeated

Inside front cover reads:
"Here for the first time Gene Simmons, leading man of the explosive KISS, tells his story.

Delivered in Gene's own honest, outrageous, uncensored and often hilarious voice, he tells of his early beginnings in Israel of his arrival in New York at the age of eight under the wing of his fiercely protective mother; his first taste of comic books and 1950's pop culture; his developing thirst for fame, fun, and girls and his realisation that playing in a rock band was the key to it all.

Undoubtedly one of the most infamous rock and roll legends alive, Gene tells the inside story of KISS's reign as the biggest, most fiercely adulated band in the world. A story both extraordinary and controversial, Kiss and Make-up reveals at last the truth behind this larger-than-life personality and contains dozens of previously unpublished photographs from Gene's private collection.

Finally the real story of the man behind the make-up."

Back cover:
"From Gene Simmons, the notorious mainman of the supergroup KISS, comes the whole wild, shocking, and never-before-revealed story of how an immigrant kid from Israel became an American rock icon, and created a band whose influence and aura has endured for three decades"

Inside back cover:
"KISS has released 37 records and has sold 80 million albums worldwide. Gene Simmons has also acted in films and television, has written and produced albums for other recording artists, has managed the recording career of, among others, Liza Minelli, and was founder and president of his own record label, Simmons Records/RCA. He has recently launched his film and TV producing career with 'Detroit Rock City' for New Line Cinema. Gene Simmons lives in Beverley Hills, California. KISS will continue well into the 21st century."
 

[From: Curveboy@aol.com]
Gene Simmons autobiography, "KISS and Make-Up", like most things KISS over the last 10 years, just slightly misses the mark. Does he dish dirt? Yeah, but is it the right dirt?

Several times I lifted my eyes from the pages in disgust. The man is a pig. His views on women are a step above third world. Though he does have some interesting things to say on the nature of relationships later in the book, the first half is less titillating and more disturbing. When he finally gets to the real interesting stuff, the KISS back story, he gives us some but not enough. Gene Simmons is a rock legend. We know this, he tells us so, over and over again in case you forget.

He spends a good 1/4 of the book raging on Peter, and another 1/4 raging on Ace. This is good stuff. It goes a long way towards explaining how Gene and Paul were KISS. But there are items he never quite gets to. His romances with Cher, Diana Ross, and Shannon Tweed are all well detailed yet we never really hear what he thinks about Paul Stanley personally or professionally. Here is arguably the third biggest rock duo of all time (behind Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards) and he never gets to why they've worked so well for almost 30 years.

He also breezes though the Vinnie Vincent years, which given all the high's and lows that came with it should have made for several pages of good reading and not just the few paragraphs that made it in.

He gets a few things wrong too. "She" was never, and will never be on the Hotter Than Hell album. He talks about writing with Bob Dylan for the Psycho Circus album, and while this may have happened, he actually wrote with Bob around the Revenge album. As it turns out the average KISS fan may have a better grasp on KISStory than one of the founders.
 

[From: AIM4ME/John]
I wanted to share with the U.K. Kiss Army the two Kiss billboard signs that were recently put up in Hollywood, California.  For those U.K. Kiss Army members that know the Hollywood area the first one is located on the South East corner of Sunset Boulevard and Laurel. The second one is on the South West corner of Santa Monica and La Cienega. Both of them are several blocks from where the Gene and Paul box set autograph session took place. Both signs look great. Click pictures to enlarge.
 

I have a very limited number of Steve Werners new album Jesse Evans and The Crash 'Hunger' available at £12.99 incl p+p

Best Wishes / Paul Newcomb
Trigger Happy Music Co.
paultrigger@ntlworld.com 
 

[From: Thomas Shannon]

The second edition will have a more international flavor. Collectors from around the globe have volunteered to contribute photos of unique KISS memorabilia from their area of the world. The price guide section will be increased by several hundred new listings, both new and vintage.

I am extremely happy to report that I have arranged preliminary discussions between my publisher and KISS’ license representative, Signatures Network. All sides are interested at this time in making the book an officially licensed KISS item. While I cannot predict the future, I am personally going to do all that is within my power to make this happen. If the deal is completed, I intend to include a VERY cool KISS collectible in each copy.

I am looking for contributors in the areas of picture sleeve singles, promotional materials, Australian memorabilia and recordings, other non-American recordings, as well as general KISS items. If anyone is interested in being a contributor for the second edition, please contact me at shannonkissbook@hotmail.com 

I can be reached by mail at: Tom Shannon P.O. Box 25056 Lexington, KY. 40524

If you have sent me an email in the past regarding omissions from the first edition, please contact me again. I had a catastrophic computer melt down, and lost all of my emails concerning the book. I especially would like to hear from the person that emailed me about the song Kissin’ Time (I want to give you credit), and the guys in Australia that wanted to be contributors.

The publisher’s inventory of the first edition is nearly gone. If you prefer to purchase a copy on the internet check out a great website www.kissshop.com .Tell them Tom Shannon sent you. If you are interested in obtaining a signed copy with free shipping (In the United States), contact me.