Cool Facts About...

Paul Stanley

Here are some things you may or may not know about Stanley Bert Eisen, or who we call Paul Stanley, the "Starchild" of Kiss. OMG, he's so cute!!!!!!!!! I love his eyes, so beautiful!!

Has been suspected of being gay or bisexual
-Back then, his sexual orientation was a hot topic. People often wondered if he was gay or bisexual, because of his almost feminine good looks, the way he acts on stage sometimes, etc.



He looks pretty darn good to me, lol!!

Is a fan of classical opera
-Growing up, his parents listened to opera music, so it instilled a love of opera in him

 

 

 

 

 

Is considered by Gene Simmons to be the brother he never had

-In Kiss, these two share a close almost brotherly bond. And like Simmons, Stanley does not use drugs or alcohol, or even smokes cigarettes

Has many little projects outside of Kiss

-Outside of Kiss, he paints in his spare time and he exhibited his artwork in 2005. Also, he was the last person to play The Phantom in a stage production of The Phantom of the Opera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His mother was born in Berlin, Germany

-Unlike Gene Simmons, who is fully Jewish-born, Paul is only German-Jewish

He was not always known as the "Starchild"

-His look changed over time. In Kiss' early days, he had a Lone Ranger-style bandit mask as his first look until Ace Frehley suggested using a more feminine single star over his eye

Has been in and out of the hospital more times than other musicians
-In 2007, he was hospitalized with tachycardia, or severely fast heartbeat. He missed the July 27, 2007 show and it marks the first time he has ever missed a show in the 34 years he's worked as a musician. He's also been in and out of the hospital for 2 prior hip replacements. The first one went into place in Oct. 2004, after the "Rock the Nation" tour and the second one went in place in Dec. 2004 after complications arose from the first one. And in Oct. 2011, underwent surgery on his vocal cords

Along with the current lineup of Kiss, they provided their voices for cartoons
-They provided their voices for the episode "Road to Europe" on Family Guy, where Peter and Lois go to a Kiss concert and she reveals she knows nothing about them. Also, they provided their voices to 2 episodes of the cartoon Fairly OddParents, Wishology- Part 1: The Big Beginning and Wishology- Part 3: The Final Ending


Fairly OddParents



Fairly OddParents

Family Guy

Sings with a falsetto voice
-This is evident on the track "I Was Made For Loving You"

He has a rare facial deformity
-Suffering from microtia, or underdevelopment of the pinna (outer ear), this left his right ear closed up, leaving him completely deaf in his right ear. He's a supporter of the charity AboutFace, which supports facial deformities and differences.

Despite being in good shape now, he wasn't always as well built

-When he was younger, he often said he was a fat, ugly kid. And in the early days of Kiss, his first costume consisted of a black corset that was supposed to pull his slight "love handles" in and make him skinnier

Has 4 kids
-Has a son, Evan Shane, born in 1994 to Pamela Bowen, a son, Colin Michael Stanley, born 9/6/2006 and a daughter named Sarah Brianna, born 1/2/2009 to Erin Sutton and a daughter, Emily Grace

Things You Never Knew About...

Gene Simmons

Here are some things you may or may not have known about Chaim Witz, who would later go on to be known as Gene Simmons, "The Demon" in Kiss

He's the son of a Nazi camp survivor
-His mother, Florence Klein, was the only one, other than her brother Larry Klein, to survive the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. She worked as a beautician in the camp, tending to the wives of the Nazi officers and was made to watch as her grandmother was sent into the gas chamber. Florence's own mother went in as well because her grandmother did not want to die alone

Was the victim of a cruel prank by Ace and Peter
-Both Ace and Peter, unaware of Gene's personal history with the Holocaust, pulled a very mean prank one night. Ace had a habit of dressing in Nazi garb and he even enlisted Peter on this one. They both dressed as Nazis and did the worst thing possible: THEY KNOCKED ON GENE'S DOOR! When he opened it, Peter said in a mock German accent "Where are your papers otherwise we'll throw your Jewish a-- into the ovens!" He calmly closed the door and when they were back in their room, a very clearly angry Paul Stanley burst in, asking them "What the f--- is wrong with you? Are you insane? Don't you know his grandmother died in the f---ing ovens?" They apologized to him

Is the only member of Kiss who is truly Jewish
-Born in Tirat Carmel, Israel, Gene is the only member of Kiss who is actually Jewish born, while band mate Paul Stanley is only German-Jewish

Learned to speak English by reading comic books
-When Gene was eight, he and his mother moved to Jackson Heights, in Queens, NY. He spoke no English and learned to speak it by reading comic books

Is multi-lingual
-He can speak over 4 languages, including Hebrew, English, High German, Hungarian

His tongue sets a record
-It's measured at over 7'' long

For fun, he showed up without his famous "Demon" persona
-He bought a ticket to one of his own shows, walking in without makeup and costume to see if anyone would recognize him. No one did

Set a record for fire breathing
-The world record is 27 feet. He can shoot a fireball 15 feet

Gave Elijah Allman, son of Gregg Allman and Cher, his first guitar at age 11

Helped Van Halen along with Warner Brothers Records in 1977

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Has been with Shannon Tweed, a former Playboy Playmate, for over 20 years

-Despite only getting married in 2011, they have stuck together through everything and they also have 2 great kids, Nick and Sophie Simmons

Was begged by Eddie Van Halen to join Kiss
-Gene told him to stick things out with Van Halen, that good things would come. This came at a time when things were particularly rocky with Van Halen. Tension was building between David Lee Roth and the two Van Halen brothers

Held a variety of odd jobs
-In his youth, to make money, he had a wide selection of jobs, from male secretary to editor of Vogue Fashion magazine. He also taught 6th grade at an elementary school in Spanish Harlem. The teachers there did not approve of his methods of teaching the kids to read or learn English if some of them couldn't, by telling them to read comic books

Modeled his stage name after Jean Simmons, the actress
-Thinking his Jewish name, Chaim Witz, wouldn't be a good idea, he modeled his stage name after the actress Jean Simmons, only changing it from the female spelling to the male spelling of Gene

Along with the rest of the lineup of Kiss, provided his voice for cartoons
-The current lineup of Kiss provided their voices to the episode of Family Guy titled "Road to Europe", where Peter and Lois go to a Kiss concert and she reveals she knows nothing about the band. Along with the Fairly OddParents episode Wishology- Pt. 1: The Big Beginning and Wishology- Pt. 3: The Final Ending

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started an acting career in the 1980s

-When Kiss was at an almost standstill in the 1980s, he took a variety of small acting jobs, in independent movies and on TV. Some of these include: Miami Vice (Episode: Prodigal Son, playing a drug dealer named Newton Blade), Wanted: Dead or Alive, playing the stereotypical role of a Middle Eastern terrorist named Malak Al Rahim, Trick or Treat, playing a radio DJ named Nuke, Runaway, playing the role of a terrorist named Dr. Charles Luther, appearing on Third Watch, playing a character named Donald Mann

Runaway

Miami Vice



Wanted: Dead or Alive



Third Watch



Trick or Treat

Found out that he has half-siblings
-When his father died in 2002, he found out he had a half-brother named Kobi and 3 half-sisters named Sharon, Ogenia, Drora

During the 1970s, Kiss was thought to stand for "Knights in Satan's Service"
-This highly angered him, along with accusations of being Nazis in disguise because of the lightning bolt "S" in the logo, which was changed to the "backwards Z"

Good friends with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi

 

 

 

 

 

His mother was the reason he does not abuse drugs or alcohol

-After being in a concentration camp, the last thing he would want to do is break his mother's heart by becoming a drug addict

Personal Quotes
-It is time for me to grow up. I'm 62. I've been doing a lot of wacky stuff for an awfully long time... and there's nobody I've ever said 'I love you' to. I even find it difficult to say 'I love you' to my mother. But I love Shannon with all my heart and all my soul, and always will.

-Don't know what to think about this one: "[on the dismissal of his KISS band-mates Peter Criss and Ace Frehley in the early 1980s] They were let go for being into alcohol and worse drugs, pure and simple. I love both those guys to death. But I didn't want them to die on tour."

The first thing I did when I met Shannon Tweed, or Cher, was say: 'Here, there are no skeletons in Gene Simmons's closet.' I refuse to lead a Dr Jekyll-and-Mr Hyde life. There are DJs who get caught with prostitutes, MPs with stockings on their head. It's a waste of time. Just say, 'This is who I am. Take it or leave it'. Then you sleep well.

Things You Never Knew About...

Peter Criss

Here are some things you may or may not have known about Peter George John Criscoula, who would later become Peter Criss, the "Catman" drummer of Kiss

He's a breast cancer survivor
-After discovering his wife Gigi had a cancer in her ovaries in 2008, this made him paranoid about cancer. He was under the impression men could not get breast cancer. So he stripped down and gave himself an inspection to check for anything suspicious. Sure enough, there was a lump on his chest. After going to the doctor, he was told it was breast cancer. After having a successful lumpectomy, he supports the Susan G. Komen Foundation every year by walking in the Walk for a Cure Race and also did an ad on TV, encouraging men to get checked for breast cancer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His makeup was inspired by his life growing up

-Believing he was like a cat, having nine lives growing up in Brooklyn, this inspired him to become the "Catman" in Kiss

Was hired by Kiss because of an ad he placed

-The Village Voice was the East Coast version of Rolling Stone. It was where musicians could place ads to get hired. And Peter placed an ad in there after his band, Lips, fell apart. "EXPD. ROCK & roll drummer looking for orig. grp. doing soft & hard music. Peter, Brooklyn". When Gene Simmons called him, he started asking Criss things like "Are you fat?" "Are you good looking?"

Took up an acting career in his post-Kiss days

-After leaving Kiss, he took up a little acting. Mostly small stuff, like appearing in the 1999 film Detroit Rock City, appearing as a police officer on the episode "Thirteen Years Later" of the TV show Millennium and playing an inmate named Martin 'Marty' Montgomery on the show Oz and appearing in the movie Frame of Mind, about the JFK assassination, where he played a character named Mike

As 'Marty' Montgomery on Oz

Frame of Mind

He's a gun enthusiast
-He collects guns and this clearly made a lot of attention for himself when the band was on the Tomorrow Show. He says he target shoots, and does not hunt

Was abused by the nuns at his Catholic school
-At Transfiguration, his Catholic school, he was abused by the nuns. He was locked in a closet for hours on end, made to sit in his own waste because he was not allowed to go the bathroom and he came home to a severely abusive grandmother who beat him senseless, until he bled from every hole in his body, including his private parts

The song "Beth" was originally titled "Beck"
-Inspired by a woman named Rebecca, the girlfriend of a former band mate, who constantly called, interrupting sessions, Criss was inspired to write a song, and somehow, the words he chose, turned it into a very touching love song

Sued The National Enquirer in 1995
-In 1995, the National Enquirer printed a story stating he was a homeless drunk living on the beach. When in reality, it was someone who claimed to be him. This stunt ruined his life until he had to prove he was the REAL Peter Criss

Loves big band jazz music
-Growing up in a house where this kind of music is popular, being out Kiss gave Criss a chance to focus on the music he loves- big band jazz music, especially Gene Krupa, a musician he loved and was inspired by growing up

Only has 1 child
-Has a daughter named Jennilee, born to Debra Jensen, a former model

Cool Facts About...

Ace Frehley

Here some cool stuff you may or may not have known about Paul Daniel Frehley, better known as "Ace" Frehley, the "Spaceman" of Kiss!

Has two siblings
-Has a sister, Nancy and a brother, Charles, who's a classical guitarist

His nickname comes from a good ability
-The nickname "Ace" came from his ability to get his friends dates

Worked a variety of odd jobs
-Worked as a liquor delivery man, mail carrier, messenger, furniture delivery man

His makeup is inspired by him
-Inspired by his love of all things sci-fi and the belief he's from another planet, this inspired him to become the Spaceman

Was replaced by Vinnie Vincent in 1982
-After leaving the band, Ace went on to form Frehley's Comet. In Dec. 1982, his former band mates had started work on their next album: Creatures of the Night, with Vinnie Vincent playing in place of him

The original lineup of Kiss reunited once more
-In 1996, the original lineup reunited. For their Psycho Circus album. Criss permanently left in 2000, and so did Frehley. Criss was highly upset with whom Gene and Paul had chosen to replace Frehley and him. They chose former Alice Cooper drummer Eric Singer and former Black N' Blue guitarist Tommy Thayer

Says he regrets not becoming clean and sober sooner
-In 2008, he said he learned he plays better clean and sober

Designed the ever famous Kiss logo
-The original logo had lightning bolts as the "S". But it brought too much heat on the band, with accusations of the band being Nazis in disguise, despite the band being half Jewish

Has an IQ of 164

Self-taught guitarist
-Started playing at 13

Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of Kiss

As the title suggests, this is an autobiography of Peter Criss, the former drummer, the "Catman" of Kiss. It was a really good book and luckily for my sister, she now knows what to get me for Christmas, lol

While reading it, I learned a lot of stuff I didn't know about him. Here are some of them

He was abused by the nuns at his Catholic school
-While attending Transfiguration, his Catholic school, he was abused. From things such as refusal to go to the bathroom, so he was made to sit in his own waste, or being locked in a closet for hours at a time or coming home to an extremely abusive grandmother who would beat him senseless, until he bled from almost every hole in his body, including his private parts

Or, that he's a breast cancer survivor
-In 2008, his wife Gigi discovered she had cancer in her ovaries. This made him paranoid about lumps and anything to do with cancer. So he did a self inspection of every inch of his body, because he said that after years of wearing spandex, you immediately know what doesn't belong there when he found a lump on his chest, which turned out to be cancerous. And that he did an ad encouraging men to get checked for breast cancer because, up until then, he believed men couldn't get breast cancer

Or that he and Ace pulled a VERY cruel prank on one of his bandmates
-No one, except Paul Stanley, was aware that Gene Simmons' mother was a concentration camp survivor. Ace, out of a habit he had, dressed up as a Nazi officer and had even enlisted Peter's help in his little prank. They both, dressed as Nazis, did the worst thing imaginable: THEY KNOCKED ON GENE'S DOOR! When he opened it, he was utterly appalled by what he saw. But not before Peter said in a mock German accent "Where are your papers otherwise we'll throw your Jewish a-- into the ovens!" He closed the door, obviously very hurt and when they were back in their room, a clearly angry Paul Stanley burst in, saying "What the f--- is wrong with you? Are you insane? Don't you know his grandmother died in the f---ing ovens?" That's when he told Peter and Ace about Gene telling him that his mother was a Nazi camp survivor, of Auschwitz. How her own grandmother had died in the gas chamber and her own mother died with her so they wouldn't be alone

COOLEST MOVIE EVER!

I finally got to see the movie Detroit Rock City. I watched it yesterday after getting back from some driving practice. The movie was awesome. It's perfect for any Kiss fan. Must explain a lot...

It also features some of the more common problems Kiss faced in the 1970s, most famously, the accusations of being Satanists, that Kiss stood for "Knights in Satan's Service"

Halloween rock songs

I know this is a day late and a dollar short, but I never got a chance to do a post for this. Here are some Halloween rock songs

Season of the Witch
-Donovan
-Sunshine Superman

People Are Strange
-The Doors
-Strange Days

Witchy Woman
-The Eagles
-Eagles

Pet Sematary
-The Ramones
-Brain Drain

Boris the Spider
-The Who
-A Quick One

Werewolves of London
-Warren Zevon
-Excitable Boy

Welcome to My Nightmare
-Alice Cooper
-Welcome to My Nightmare

Bark at the Moon
-Ozzy Osbourne
-Bark at the Moon

(Don't Fear) The Reaper
-Blue Oyster Cult
-Agents of Fortune

Highway to Hell
-AC/DC
-Highway to Hell

Awwww, how cute is this?

I found something cute, and especially awesome for fans of the band Kiss. They're these little plush dolls of your favorite guys :D They're so cute!!! And the funniest thing in the world? I have the Paul Stanley one and my sister was brushing the hair on it, lol!!!


Peter Criss



Gene Simmons



Ace Frehley



All together



Paul Stanley

Is it normal to be embarassed about being yourself?

This is from the 26th of October

This is a question I've asked myself so often I've forgotten the number of times. I often wonder if it's normal to question yourself, question why you like the things you like. I just recently got back from a session with driving school. My instructor Rhonda is awesome. We both love the same music and somehow, both have a slight crush on Paul Stanley of Kiss. Speaking of which, we are also fans of the same bands, including Kiss and Judas Priest. For some reason, if I'm talking about music, I'm like a kid at Christmas. I have so much enthusiasm for that. We both somehow think he's absolutely gorgeous for his age. And we both also think that Robert Plant and David Coverdale look very nice for their age. I, unlike my sometimes unusual mother, think those guys look just fine, that they don't look like they fell off the back of a truck and were run over repeatedly. And while we were driving, we talked about the rock and metal bands we love. I told her about some of the CDs I have, like Black Sabbath's Paranoid album, or how I recently bought Kiss' Monster album, or how I bought a CD of Led Zeppelin, Mothership. Or how I want to see that movie Detroit Rock City, because it takes place in one of my favorite decades, the 70s.


If this guy is somewhere near or exactly 70 years old, wow! He looks good still. He's still cute. Loooooove his cute English accent!! So sexy on guys!!!!




My favorite photo of him. He looks just fine for his age, I think

God, I love his brown eyes and everything attached ;)

But, when I come home, I feel like my mom is making fun of me behind my back. I feel like I sometimes can't be myself around her. She sometimes wonders why I listen to certain musicians, or why I think certain musicians are cute. She basically thinks I'm crazy because I said Paul Stanley was cute, when she calls him, and I quote, a "greedy Jewish a--hole, just like Gene Simmons". As if you can't imagine, my mom is biased, and I mean VERY biased. She seems not to like anyone because of their skin color, religious beliefs, etc. She stereotypes a lot. AND I DON'T LIKE THAT!!!!! That's not how I was raised, thank God. I was raised to treat others the same way I would like to be treated. She thinks their music is good, but that's it. She basically doesn't even like those two because she thinks just because they're Jewish, they're automatically greedy. To me, that is serious stereotyping. She says they're the ugliest guys in all of humanity, whereas if I look at Paul Stanley, if it were a cartoon, there'd be hearts floating around my head, lol.  It makes me sick to know my mom actually stereotypes people. It makes me sad to know she's like this. I guess I never noticed it until I got older. Nowadays, she thinks all black people are lazy, and it's all because of the actions of a few black people that they all get that bad rep

I feel stupid saying I listen to people like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Aerosmith, etc. I feel stupid saying I get excited when I start talking about music I love. I guess some part of me still wants to be liked. I guess that carries on from high school. What's wrong with me? Am I supposed to get excited when I hear my favorite song come on the radio? Am I supposed to get excited at the knowledge of going to see a favorite band in concert, not that that's actually happening? I mean, I feel out of place getting excited for listening to all those old bands. Maybe that's why I'm not popular with anyone. Maybe I should just give up being who I am and listen to what everyone else listens to. But, for some reason, I just can't do that. I just can't listen to rap. To me, rap is crap without the 'c'. Most of the music I listen to is apparently a shocker to her. Because here I am, this everything about the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s loving girl, a total hippie chick, listening to heavy metal like Black Sabbath and Kiss, hard rock like Def Leppard and Aerosmith. Somehow to her it's a shocker I listen to Black Sabbath, known to all as "The Godfathers of British Heavy Metal" or Judas Priest, known as the "Metal Gods". I mean, now I know why I keep to myself a lot. Fear of being judged, I suppose. Also, she asked me if I write short stories. I love to write. I have that creative side of me that's real strong, I love writing. I basically lied and said I did it as an assignment for class


Led Zeppelin



Kiss

 



Black Sabbath. I just bought a book about the guy on the right, Tony Iommi



Aerosmith

I just sometimes wonder if it's normal for someone like me, a now 23 year old girl working in a law firm, to get excited because your favorite band comes on the radio and they just so happen to be from the 60s, 70s or 80s. I mean, when I got home, and my mom asked how the session went, I told her while we were driving, we were talking about some of the music we like and of course, she tells me that I'm not there to socialize, I'm there to learn. Which really put a bummer on me. She loves to make people feel guilty and stupid. And she thinks I'm basically strange because I don't like the same foods as her. Somehow, she loves chicken and dumplings. I tried it, I just can't stomach the sight of it. It makes me want to gag, even the smell of it makes me want to gag. And she never lets it go. She keeps saying "come on, try it. It's good." She must think I'm real stupid. Well, a little hint: I'M NOT! She says it's like chicken noodle soup. Ha! If she thinks that, like the Judas Priest song, "You Got Another Thing Coming". She seems to think I'm some ignorant little kid, makes me feel stupid, makes me feel guilty because I bought something I like. She likes to play the blame game too, always putting the blame on someone else. Well, guess what? She has some faults I could point out, but I'm not that kind of person. I believe in karma. I've had some good karma from doing good things and with that, I've had good luck. I want to keep the good luck ball rolling, and hopefully soon, I will be a licensed driver.

Somehow, every time I buy a CD, she wants to know what it is and if it's a musician she doesn't like, she gives me this look, basically thinking "Why did you buy that?" and usually that's what she'll say right after. When I bought a CD of Seal, because I adore his music, because it's very calming, with the R&B he does, I showed her, and she gave me this look and said "Why do you like him?" I told her I like his music, and she gave me this strange look that said "Ok, whatever." Sometimes, I really don't like my mom. She has this way about her that can instantly piss people off in two seconds flat. She don't like him at all. Says he's ugly. She doesn't realize that scarring on his face is his trademark; he's known for that, and plus the poor guy had lupus. That scarring is a side effect. But that's the way my mom is. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose

Recently, I went to Half Price Books and bought some books, along with this cute little Kiss plush doll I thought was cute. Of course, it was of my favorite one, the 'Starchild'. I kept it hidden from her because I know how she is. And one day, when I got home from work, she found it in the bag I bought the books in and asked what it was and I felt stupid saying I bought a doll of a Kiss member. She probably thinks I'm the strange one in her family, the black sheep, so to speak. But the doll makes me laugh, which in turn cheers me up


It's so cute!! It even has hair on the chest, like the real guy, lol

No one else, at least my age, listens to the stuff I listen to. I feel like a stranger, out of place listening to the music I love. I'm proud to say I listen to Black Sabbath, and all those old rock/metal bands. I'm proud to say I read books about them and know things about them. I'm proud to say I'm a walking, talking rock/metal history book. And it's not just the music tastes either. She questions why I like to read certain types of books. She says I'm just like my dad because I read biographies. My dad used to read biographies about people a lot. Well, a lot of the ones he read were about actors. Me, I like to read books about certain actors, but mostly musicians. Some of the ones I have are on Steven Tyler, Ronnie Wood from the Stones, Mick Jagger from the Stones, 2 on Kiss, one on the Stones, Slash from Guns N' Roses, soon I'll have one on Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath because I ordered it today from Half Price Books, Jet Li, a Chinese actor I like, Robert De Niro, which was my dad's. She also questions why I watch certain stuff on TV. I feel stupid when she asks how Law and Order UK got on the DVR and I tell her it's my recording. She asks me, with that look of hers "Why did you record that?" Usually my response is "I like it. It's a good show." She'll respond by saying "Ok, whatever".