Saturday, October 18, 2008

Influences: Kiss



















I first saw the album cover above when I was seven years old. My parents were having dinner with friends and their son was in high school. He had two posters on his wall, Farah Fawcett and Kiss: Destroyer. I bought this record for $6.99 at the local drug store. In the months that followed I learned every word of every song. I also made a cassette tape of myself singing it and imitating all the instruments with my voice. Yes I actually did that. I traced the cover art until I could draw it freehand, and became somewhat skilled in the art of theatrical make up.



By the time I was eight I owned most of the Kiss catalog. The last album I remember buying was "Love Gun" and my sweet grandmother was with me. She took one look at the women on the cover and said "honey, that's not nice." I suppose she was right, but honestly I hadn't noticed the girls. I was more interested in obtaining a kid sized pair of Gene Simmon's dragon boots.

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