Showing posts with label Alice Cooper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alice Cooper. Show all posts

A collector's tale: Randy Haecker

Longtime record industry veteran talks about his collecting obsessions
By Peter Lindblad
A David Bowie photo
signed to Randy Haecker in 2008

When it comes to collecting entertainment memorabilia, Randy Haecker has many loves.

From records to buttons and concert posters, Haecker, a veteran of the music industry who worked his way up from hip indie labels to become part of Sony, is into all kinds of stuff. And it's not just music that he's passionate about. The Golden Age of Hollywood also offers various temptations.

Of all the ephemera he's gathered over the years, his many jobs at record labels affording him the kind of access to such material most of us can only dream of, it seems that autographed items hold the most sway. And Haecker has some fascinating tales to tell regarding how he came into possession of some of his most cherished possessions, as you'll see in this interview. It's the first of a series of talks with people about their collections.

First off, could you give me a little history about your time in the music business?
Randy Haecker: Music has been a lifelong passion. One of my earliest memories is defying my parents by staying up to watch “The Johnny Cash Show.” I was 5 years old. I laid low in my pajamas at the end of the hallway, where I could still see the TV but my parents couldn’t see me. Soon after, I discovered Casey Kasem’s weekly “American Top 40” radio countdown and would pay special attention to the artists’ names and their home countries. By high school, I had acquired a sizable record collection and spent countless hours reading the lyrics and the inner sleeve credits. Music magazines were also key to my development, especially Trouser Press and Creem, which I could find at my local small-town grocery store, as well as UK publications like NME, Melody Maker, The Face and Blitz, which I was only able to buy if an older friend drove me to Austin or San Antonio on a record shopping spree.   

Immersing myself in the music press led me to the idea that “I can do that.” By 1982, I was writing record reviews for my high school newspaper and interviewing local musicians like Joe “King” Carrasco & the Crowns and the Krayolas. My high school writing led to a nearby journalism scholarship and while in college I interviewed acts like Depeche Mode, the Cure, OMD, Run-DMC, and 10,000 Maniacs. I was savvy enough to send clippings of my articles to the record label addresses and management offices I would find on the LP sleeves, and soon I was on every label mailing list in the country. Jackpot! Packages of free LPs started arriving on a daily basis.

Ringo Starr
Soon, I had become friendly with numerous music publicists, and they all were asking what I intended to do after college. They told me if I wanted to be in the heart of the music business, I would have to move to either Los Angeles or New York City. So I took their advice. Shortly after finishing college, I packed what I could fit in my car and drove to Los Angeles. I chose L.A. because the weather was closer to what I was accustomed to in Texas. I got very lucky. Within two weeks, I was hired by Slash Records to be the label’s sole in-house publicist. I won the job based on my thick binder of music writing, and the fact that I had previously written about numerous Slash bands. One of my first projects was Faith No More’s The Real Thing, which became a platinum-seller in the U.S. That job eventually led to a move to New York City in 1994 where I became a publicist for Angel/Guardian/EMI Classics. The music industry was booming and during this period I worked with Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, the Kinks, Alice Cooper, Liza Minnelli, Itzhak Perlman and many others. In 1997, I moved a few blocks across town to Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment. I eventually became Sr. Director of Media Relations and worked for Sony until 2013. 

Forgive the predictability of this question, but what was it that got you into collecting music and other memorabilia and why do you continue with it?
RH: My gateway into the fanaticism of collecting was a bubblegum sticker series called Odd Rods.  Basically you’d get a slab of rock hard gum along with three stickers of monsters driving dragsters. This was 1971. My dad would buy me a package whenever we would pick up milk on the way home. In grade school, everybody was into another bubblegum series, Wacky Packages. All of these cards were brash and lurid, zany and colorful, aspects which continue to have a strong pull on my id. Around this time, I would carefully scan the TV guide each week, circling monster movies and sci-fi TV shows. I was voracious in my quest to see every Universal Monsters, Hammer Films, or American International Pictures b-movie. The first monster film I experienced was “Werewolf of London” (1935), which I watched with my brother on late-night TV in the 1960s. In 1974, age 10, I attended my first comic book and “Star Trek” convention is San Antonio.  

Aside from records, what was the first piece of memorabilia you acquired?
RH: Avengers #76. Marvel Comics, 1970. That was my first comic book. My introduction to Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and the rest of the colorful, heroic team. Cover price was .15 cents. And boy, did I get my money’s worth. It unlocked a whole universe for me. I’ve never counted them, but I would guess my current comic book collection numbers around 10,000 issues. A copy of Avengers #76 in great shape today would land you $60, which is a good return on the original investment.  

Tell me about your autograph collection. Was there a particular autograph that required some intrepid work on your part?
An alternate signed 8x10 photo
of Andy Warhol from his collection,
although it is not the one Haecker
discusses in the Q&A.
RH: While I had always collected autographs from musicians I interviewed, I didn’t become serious about autograph collecting until 1994. My interest coincided with my move to New York City. I was a young gent raised on Marvel Comics, CBGB punk bands and “Saturday Night Live,” so moving to NYC was a dream come true. I decided to celebrate by tracking down an authentic autograph from Andy Warhol, who was already deceased. I started my quest at Argosy Books on E. 59th, an autograph retailer I had located in the Manhattan Yellow Pages. The clerk’s first question was “How much are you willing to pay?,” which is a blunt, no-nonsense way to start any transaction. She admitted that she didn’t have any signed photos of Warhol on hand but she suggested I call an autograph dealer on the Upper West Side. I made the call and arranged a meeting at the dealer’s apartment. His opening question of “Who are you looking for?” was quickly followed by “How much are you willing to pay?” It was obvious that money talked in the NYC autograph market. He had an exquisite, pristine black & white 8x10 photo boldly signed “From Andy Warhol.” We agreed on a price of $180 and I still buy from that dealer today.

Which brings up the question of authenticity. On the road to becoming a serious autograph collector, one has to experience a lot of hard knocks. Just because someone says a signature is authentic, doesn’t mean it is.  The person selling the item may, indeed, truly believe that an item is authentic, but unless you were there to personally witness the signing, you will never know for certain. Which is why a smart collector is a cautious collector. I tend to buy the majority of my items from UACC-certified dealers. These are established dealers who maintain a strict code of ethics and typically offer a money-back guarantee for life on the items they sell. I’ve also learned to be cautious of businesses which offer authentication services. I frequently see items that pass authentication but still look bad to a trained eye. So the bottom line is do your research. If an item’s price seems too good to be true, you’ll likely get stung.

I tend to collect signatures from the Golden Age of Hollywood, back when celebrities had clean penmanship and took the time to personalize items. Signatures from that era are worlds away from the wavy lines and illegible squiggles that pass as legitimate signatures from today’s superstars.  

Is there a funny or maybe even harrowing story behind any of them?
RH: One collecting story that comes to mind involves legendary adult films actress Seka. While attending a Chiller Theatre autograph show at a Secaucus hotel in the mid-1990s, I came across Seka in a small, cramped, dealer’s table room. She cut quite a striking figure. Tanned and hard-bodied, with her patented shock of blonde hair, Seka came across like the adult film equivalent of shock rocker Wendy O. Williams. Definitely a "take no prisoners" type. The room she had been assigned was disgustingly hot. No air conditioning. Now if you’ve ever attended a horror movie convention, you know that a sizable portion of the crowd is going to be bearded, overweight men wearing Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees baseball caps and t-shirts. One such fellow was in the vicinity of Seka’s memorabilia-laden table. He was pale and audibly panting from the heat. Without warning, the fellow doubled over and fainted. But during his fall he managed to grasp the tablecloth of Seka’s table and pulled down all of her photos on top of him. Seka didn’t waste a precious second. She straddled his prostrate body and began performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. In between compressing his chest with her palms, Seka shouted loudly for help. By the time the hotel staff arrived, Seka had successfully brought the guy back to his senses. I hope he had the courtesy to buy a signed photo.  

Do you have a favorite kind of collectible, such as posters or buttons, that you like to seek out?
RH: Autographs are currently my foremost collecting passion. My collection is comprised of music, film, and TV personalities. Specific areas of interest are punk and new wave musicians, Golden Age of Hollywood celebrities and film directors, foreign and cult film stars. I am saddened by the fact that the audience for foreign films, like classical and jazz music, is becoming increasingly more niche. I grew up in arthouse and repertory movie theatres. When I lived in Los Angeles, I would catch classic double features at the New Beverly, the Nuart, and UCLA, and during my time in NYC, I frequented Film Forum, MOMA, BAMcinematek, Lincoln Plaza Cinema, and many others. Foreign film is crucial to increasing an individual’s worldview.

Additionally, I currently collect movie and music posters, Blu-rays and DVDs, compact discs and LPs, music buttons/badges, archival photography, and genre magazines. Previously, I’ve  collected comic books, stamps, bubblegum cards, vintage postcards, and VHS tapes.

What excites you the most about memorabilia collecting?
Haecker said he secured each signature
separately, so it took him a decade to get all five.
From left to right: Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Jackie Fox,
Sandy West and Cherie Currie.
RH: I can’t cite any one thing. It’s wide ranging. It seems fairly obvious that when you’re a child, everything is new and exciting, but you have no money to buy anything. So as you grow older, you seek out those emotionally-charged touchstones from yesteryear. For instance, I vividly recall encountering the sleeve for the Runaways’ 1977 LP Waiting for the Night at K-Mart when I was 13 years old. The cover photograph features four attractive young women in black leather, holding tight to a barbed-wire fence as blood runs down their hands. That LP’s graphic designer knew what he was doing. That’s an image that’s hard to shake, even decades later. And my passion for pop culture has been so fervent that at this point in my life I can say I’ve met three of the young women on that cover — Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Sandy West. 

Recently, I noted a photo on Facebook of some of the buttons you've collected over the years. How many do you think you have and do you have your favorites? 
RH: My button collection is not over the top. I likely have around 300. Most of them I picked up at merch tables at concerts over the years. I don’t really have any favorites. Almost all of them are impossibly cool to me. 

How many records do you figure you own? Are there a few in your collection that mean the most to you or that stand out in any way?
RH: Taking in LPs and extended mixes, I have in the area of 5,000. Plus an additional 600 45 RPM singles. An album that I view as especially important in my collection is simply titled New Wave. It was issued in 1977 on the UK label Vertigo. The sleeve is almost completely crimson except for a vertical color photo of a young punk spewing beer from his mouth at the camera. I bought it at North Star Mall in San Antonio in the late 1970s. This LP introduced me to the short, sharp, shock of the Ramones, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, New York Dolls, the Damned, the Dead Boys, and Richard Hell & the Voidoids. So, yes, that’s a crucial slab of wax.  

Where do you go mostly to find the things you're looking for?
RH: For autographs, I reach out to dealers I trust. They typically have websites on which new items are posted each week. I shop on eBay for just about every facet of my collection. emovieposter.com holds three weekly auctions for all types of posters and movie memorabilia. For archival products to store my collectibles, I buy from BagsUnlimited.com. Regarding LPs, my crate digging days are over. I no longer feel the need to seek out record stores in every city I visit, subjecting my knees to concrete floors and my sinuses to sundry dust and allergy particles.

What's still out there that remains your "white whale" in a sense? Is there a Holy Grail piece that has eluded your grasp?
An autographed 5x7
photo of Charlie Chaplin
from the early 19-teens.
RH: I have an ever-diminishing list of key items for which I am still searching. Of course, most of these items come with high price tags attached, so I can only cross my fingers and say a little prayer in hopes that they find their way into my hands. Right now I’m in the market for autographed items from Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Laurel & Hardy, directors Jean Luc Godard and Erich von Stroheim, Marvin Gaye, Freddie Mercury, guitarist Mick Ronson, and Sex Pistols designer Jamie Reid.  
One “Holy Grail,” a signature that I never thought I would be able to afford actually made it into my collection this year. A 1964 bank check signed by Greta Garbo.  

You collect a lot of different items. How do you store them or showcase them?
I barely have room to store everything, much less showcase anything. Two full room are dedicated to my collection. Air conditioned and humidity controlled. Most items are stored in either Mylar or polypropylene sleeves, inside acid-free, buffered boxes. Almost all of my posters are rolled in extra-thick tubes, so they are unfortunately difficult to access. Framing can quickly become prohibitively expensive. Like most collectors, I’m holding out to win the lottery so I can buy a museum to house everything. The items that are most readily accessible and easy to display are my autographs. I keep them in individual protective sleeves inside Itoya binders.  

What would be the most shocking or surprising story you could tell from your years of collecting?
RH: Turn back the clock to when I was hired at Slash Records in 1988. My first day on the job, label president Bob Biggs called me in his office to give me an assignment. He informed me that due to Slash’s busy upcoming release schedule, we needed to make room for incoming promo LPs. He brought me downstairs to the promo room and pointed out several shelves of boxes. He instructed me to carry everything to the trash dumpster out back. Once he left, I couldn’t help but satisfy my curiosity by looking inside the boxes. Each box was brimming with leftover mementos from legendary Los Angeles fanzine, Slash Magazine. I looked in disbelief. There were archival 8x10 photos of all the bands on the scene, there were hundreds of original page layouts, there were items that had been given away free with the magazine, there were letters to the magazine from punk fans all over the world, there were the original typed manuscripts by the magazine’s writers. I thought to myself, “Is this a test? Does he want to see if I’ll take all this stuff?” My options were limited. If I drove my car near the dumpster and loaded everything in my car, I would likely be fired. And I had only been in L.A. for two weeks and I simply could not lose this cool new job. I also didn’t know anybody in L.A. to call to say, “You’ve got to get over here pronto and get all these boxes out of the dumpster!” In the end, I managed to score a nearly complete run of the original magazine, as well as a dozen or so photos of Buzzcocks, the Jam, and John Foxx-era Ultravox. As for what happened to all those boxes once I had put them in the dumpster, I have my suspicions. My guess is that my fellow Slash employees (none of whom I knew at this point) quickly scooped up those priceless boxes and headed for the hills.  

CD Review: Motor Sister – Ride

CD Review: Motor Sister – Ride
Metal Blade Records
All Access Rating: A

Motor Sister - Ride 2015
Motor Sister is sort of a reincarnation of Mother Superior, a trio from Los Angeles that unabashedly glorified ballsy '70s American hard rock, fiery proto-punk and bluesy soul in the '90s before calling it quits in the early 2000s after a run of eight strong, and sadly under-appreciated, albums.

Mother Superior could never break through the flannel-clad ceiling of the grunge era, but they did catch the ear of Anthrax's Scott Ian, as well as punk icon Henry Rollins. In fact, the Jim Wilson-led outfit once served as Rollins' backup band, with session work for the likes of Alice Cooper, U2 producer Daniel Lanois, Meat Loaf, Iggy Pop and many others also on their lengthy list of credits.

Now comes Motor Sister, a quickly thrown together project that grew out of Ian's burning desire to reunite Mother Superior for his recent 50th birthday party, where the groundwork for the Metal Blade Records release of heady, straightforward rock 'n' roll that is Ride was laid. First, there was a quick rehearsal, and then a blazing performance of Mother Superior material from Ian, drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, White Zombie), bassist Joey Vera (Fates Warning, Armored Saint) and Ian's wife Pearl Aday – a frequent collaborator with Wilson on her own solo work – that left the 25 or so people who witnessed it, including some industry types, gobsmacked.


Wasting no time whatsoever, Motor Sister – still basking in the afterglow of that momentous occasion – went into the studio with producer Jay Ruston and knocked out Ride in a couple of days, the organic spontaneity of those sessions emanating from earthy, soulful rockers like "This Song Reminds Me of You" and the sunny Zeppelin-meets-Sly and The Family Stone funk workout "Pretty in the Morning," as well as the swaggering, meaty riff bonanza "Get That Girl."

Reminiscent of the wild, frenzied punk fury stoked by the MC5 in their heyday, "A Hole" and "Fork in the Road" are conflagrations that burn hot and fast, while the hormonal urges of "Beg Borrow Steal" and "Little Motor Sister" – from which the new band's name was taken – have the crunchy, stomping appeal of early KISS or UFO. These old Mother Superior songs didn't need a kick in the ass, but Motor Sister gives it to them anyway, Tempesta's drumming breaking rocks in the hot sun, the sharply defined tones of the guitars rich and powerful, and the trailer-park desperation in the vocalizing of Pearl and Wilson recalling that of X's John Doe and Exene Cervenka, especially in a catchy little slice of up-tempo, Americana-inspired jangle called "Head Hanging Low." And then there's "Devil Wind," where strummed acoustic guitar lends a sense of mystery before giving way to grinding, rumbling metallic riffs, its dual personality, so vulnerable and angry, a vague harbinger of trouble on the horizon.

Hitch a Ride with Motor Sister, and let them take you to a place and time you thought had disappeared, an era when good, honest, simple songwriting and stacks of amplifiers delivered messages of sexual healing, lusty adventure and hard-earned life lessons.
– Peter Lindblad

In stores on March 11, 2015.
Metal Blade Records: Motor Sister



Live review: Motley Crue, Alice Cooper at Summerfest

Making rock 'n' roll dangerous again
By Peter Lindblad

Motley Crue - The Final Tour
Being that it was the Fourth of July, Motley Crue didn't skimp on the pyrotechnics on the second night of what is being billed as the glam-metal ne'er-do-wells' final tour.

Getting a late start, technical problems reportedly being blamed for the delay, as the crowd was still being herded in right around the scheduled concert start time, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee appeared onstage at Summerfest in Milwaukee after a full blast of loud, dazzling fireworks announced their arrival.

Alice Cooper had already worked his dark, twisted magic on the audience, giving Cooper fanatics exactly what they wanted – a mock electrocution gone horribly wrong, Cooper shackled in a straight jacket and tormented by a demented nurse, flares shooting from Glen Sobel's drumsticks, a boa constrictor draped over Cooper's shoulders, and, of course, a final beheading staged with a guillotine.

The act may be familiar, but like the Harlem Globetrotters' old bag of tricks, it's still a fun, vaudevillian treat for the senses, and the band's tight, rousing renditions of Cooper classics like "I'm Eighteen," "Under My Wheels," "Poison," "No More Mr. Nice Guy," "Feed My Frankenstein" – complete with a 20-foot singing monster – and "Billion Dollar Babies" were performed with theatrical panache, punk energy and vicious playing from a band that now includes new guitarist Nita Strauss. She didn't disappoint, tearing through full-throttle solos and leads that let everyone know there's a new sheriff in town, and when Cooper and company close with a galvanizing "School's Out," he had the whole Marcus Amphitheater in a stranglehold. Cooper was in fine form, acting out every well-worn scene as if he was doing it for the first time, and his durable, switchblade vocals cutting through crowd noise with ease.

Appetites sufficiently whetted, it was time for Crue to come out and bid farewell to Milwaukee with a fiery, defiant send-off. In between explosions, blinding flashes of lights and plumes of fire shooting from every orifice the industrial-designed stage had, the Crue delivered revved-up, razor-sharp versions of "Live Wire," "Too Fast for Love," "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)," "Looks That Kill," "Wild Side" and "Smokin' in the Boys Room," among other favorites, including a stomping march through "Shout at the Devil" that shook the Marcus Amphitheater to its foundation. A "Carnival of Sins"? Perhaps not, this set being somewhat more spartan and business-like, though still elaborate and never threatening to detract from the band's rough-and-ready power. Mars' guitar riffs had that raw, down-and-dirty tone that's so delicious, and Sixx did his best to get everyone to believe Crue's hype, his rock-star swagger still as entertaining as ever. If this is, indeed, the end, it's clear they intend to go out with guns blazing.

With flames shooting from Sixx's bass at one point and scantily-clad back-up singers gyrating all over the place, Crue refused to tone down their lusty bravado, not that anyone there would have wished for that. A non-stop thrill ride from beginning to end, plus a run through a scintillating new song called "All Bad Things Must End" – culminated by a mind-blowing solo from Mars – the show didn't exactly go off without a hitch, though. Neil's vocals were often barely audible, and Lee's punishing drum work busted up a snare drum fairly early on, leading to Lee not-so-sheepishly admitting that perhaps he was hitting his kit "too f--king hard."



Due to the limitations of the venue's facilities, Crue was not able to haul out its most death-defying maneuver, known as "The Cruecify," where Lee's drum set-up is extended out over the crowd. Nevertheless, with all the fire and ear drum-shattering bangs surely scrambling their senses, Crue seemed to be courting danger at every turn. Say what you will about their music – and critics have lobbed plenty of insults their way, as Sixx so eloquently dismissed in an expletive-laden rant – nobody can accuse them of playing it safe, and on this night, they put on a display of dangerous rock 'n' roll that left the paying customers breathless.


Keep calm and ask Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper - Super Duper
Alice Cooper 2014
New documentary on shock-rock icon comes with fan Q&A

Alice Cooper is coming to the silver screen. Hide the women and children, and the boa constrictors. 

Due to premiere at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, "Super Duper Alice Cooper" is a new documentary on the shock-rock superstar that's purported to be the first-ever "doc opera," combining animation, archival footage and rock opera tropes to tell the story of rock 'n' roll's first true villain. It will hit theaters nationwide beginning May 30. Here's a trailer:





Wanting to make the experience an interactive one, Cooper is compiling a pre-recorded "Keep Calm & Go Ask Alice" Q&A that will run following each theatrical screening. Fans are being asked to go to www.SuperDuperAliceCooper.com (click the "Keep Calm and Go Ask Alice" graphic) and ask the man himself whatever questions they want, as long as the submission period runs. He'll then handpick select questions and answer them via video. 

As for the film, it's another Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn joint, those same guys from Banger Films that brought you "Iron Maiden: Flight 666" and "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage." It traces the career arc of a preacher's son who became Public Enemy No. 1 to parents nationwide as Alice Cooper, following his career from its freaky Phoenix roots through his band's groundbreaking, demented theatrics and into the destructive decadence of the '70s, which set the stage for his rebirth as an '80s glam-metal icon.


Iggy Pop, John Lydon, Dee Snider and Elton John weigh on the art and life of Vincent Furnier, a man who fought to overcome his demons, all while trying to maintain the image of his crazed alter-ego, Alice. 


Looking for information on what Alice Cooper is up to, visit www.alicecooper.com, www.facebook.com/AliceCooper, or www.twitter.com/realalicecooper.

DVD Review: Black Sabbath – Live ... Gathered in Their Masses

DVD Review: Black Sabbath – Live … Gathered in Their Masses
Vertigo/Republic
All Access Rating: B+

Black Sabbath - Live ... Gathered in Their
Masses 2013
Darkness had spread across Australia in the spring of 2013, as the originators of doom metal, Black Sabbath, brought their live, and fairly ancient considering their advanced age, evil to the land "Down Under." 

Meteorologists may not have had an explanation for the atmospheric anomaly, but the reunited original Sabbath lineup – except drummer Bill Ward, that is – did. They had embarked on a world tour in support of their comeback album 13, one of 2013's most critically acclaimed metal albums, and Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Ward's replacement, ex-Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper tub-thumper Tommy Clufetos, rode into Melbourne like the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." 

It wasn't the end of days. Grizzled, yet fully capable of churning through and grinding out old sonic blasphemies and new abominations alike with a tenacious spirit, Sabbath just needed a place to practice their dark arts. On April 29 and May 1, Melbourne audiences were able to witness what might be their last chance to see Sabbath's unholy trinity do their worst. The filmmakers who shot the amplified, electrifying "Live … Gathered in Their Masses" must have been thinking along those lines as well.

As is the case with most, but not all, concert DVDs these days, high-definition cameras were used to sharply and vividly capture Sabbath, awash in purple and blue hues, rolling through its set list like a Sherman tank. While briefly shedding a light on what goes on behind the scenes at the start, the film slams forward, with Sabbath diving headlong into "War Pigs" with an appropriate amount of blood lust. Slogging through the heavy sludge of "Loner" and raging through "God Is Dead," off the new LP, with the sinewy muscle of men half their age, Butler and Iommi plunder their blackened past with confident and brutal efficiency, relentlessly kicking with scuffed boots at the still red-hot embers of "Iron Man," "Symptom of the Universe," "Snowblind," "N.I.B." and "Fairies Wear Boots" and slowly coaxing them into burning conflagrations of oily, industrialized metal that Sabbath bulldozes into piles of smoldering ruins as the fires die down.

Lenses smartly seek out Butler and Iommi, instinctively catching them in action as the bassist thunders and gallops along to every bludgeoned, crusty riff or every spell of solo wizardry that blasts its way out of Iommi's bottomless bag of tricks. And yet when they want to build the kind of gallows drama that plays out in a condemned man's head the night before his execution, the pair tease, in the most torturous manner possible, the haunted "Black Sabbath" as it crawls along like a death sentence, as does this viscous, "head pounding against a wall" version of "Into the Void."

Still a deranged cheerleader, Ozzy, on the other hand, is not the strongest vocalist anymore, and his incessant yammering on about not being able to hear the crowd roar its appreciation becomes somewhat distracting, grating and tiresome. Still, there is some demonic life left in that ravaged, frail voice, and when it comes to interpreting Sabbath's most horrific Satanic verses in his uniquely insane manner, nobody compares to Ozzy. All in all, "Live ... Gathered in Their Masses," available as a single DVD or a CD/DVD version, finds Sabbath possibly making a last punishing stand as Butler, Iommi and Ozzy confront their own mortality. If they are nearing the end, this powerhouse concert DVD will testify to their explosive potency as a live act, even as most of their contemporaries have long since retired. http://www.republicrecords.com/
– Peter Lindblad




Vanilla Fudge in Rock Hall? Cactus, too?

Carmine Appice thinks his bands aren't getting a fair shake
By Peter Lindblad

Carmine Appice 2013
Like so many others, Carmine Appice has a bone to pick with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voters. 

And he's not shy about doing a little politicking for his own bands.

In a recent interview, the drumming guru, who just started his own record label, Rocker Records, made the case for both Vanilla Fudge and Cactus.

"Why neither one of them are ever even mentioned in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I’ll never know, especially Vanilla Fudge," said Appice. "We took out everybody with us. Frank Zappa opened up for us. I mean, Cactus had Bruce Springsteen open up for us. You know what I mean? It’s just crazy."

Having Zappa and Springsteen as support acts is pretty impressive all right, but does that alone qualify Vanilla Fudge and Cactus as Hall of Fame material? Appice takes another tack in his fairly good-natured, but still passionate, argument.

"And then they worry that Alice Cooper didn’t get in (that was before he actually got in, of course)," said Appice. "Okay, they’re right. Alice Cooper should be in there. Certainly the freaking rap artists shouldn’t be in there. If they throw those kinds of acts in there, they should call it the Music Hall of Fame, not the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But then Jeff Beck is in there twice. I mean, the Yardbirds are in there. Why are the Yardbirds in there and Vanilla Fudge isn’t in there? The Yardbirds were never that big here. Is it because they spawned the three guitar players? Vanilla Fudge spawned me and Timmy (Bogert) (laughs)."

While there isn't a great push among rock fans to get Fudge or Cactus into the Rock Hall, like there is with other hard-rock heroes Deep Purple  or KISS, maybe they do merit strong consideration.

Mixing up a heavy psychedelic and soulful rock brew, Fudge re-imagined a host of popular songs in the late '60s, including The Supremes' hit "You Keep Me Hangin' On." Fudge's tripped-out version, with vocalist/keyboardist Mark Stein's baroque organ making the track a warped little aural funhouse, went all the way to No. 6 on the US Hot 100. That's also where their 1967 self-titled album landed on the US Top 200.

A weird sophomore effort, titled The Beat Goes On and filled with sound collages rather than actual songs, derailed Fudge, although the record went all the way to No. 17 on the charts. Fudge's third album, Renaissance, was more in line with their first album, and it did well, hitting No. 20. In all, the prolific Fudge, often cited as the missing link between psychedelia and heavy metal, put out five albums between 1966 and 1969, and in the process, probably helped paved the way for the stoner-metal movement.

Appice and Bogert, Fudge's bassist, left in 1970 to start Cactus, leaving Stein to forge onward with Fudge. Known as the "American Led Zeppelin," Cactus stuck around for only two years, but their brand of high-energy boogie-rock influenced a number of high-profile artists, including Van Halen, the Black Crowes, Montrose and the Black Keys. 

But it was Fudge that made Appice and Bogert, who later formed a trio with guitar god Jeff Beck called Beck, Bogert & Appice, household names. And it was Fudge that sparked a reaction by reworking Beatles' songs like "Eleanor Rigby" and "Ticket to Ride," not to mention Donovan's "Season of the Witch," with a thick, lugubrious kind of soul approach that was more glassy-eyed than blue-eyed.

They were not playing by anybody's rules.

"The Rascals were big at the time, and we sort of blew them away with what they were doing to the extreme," said Appice. "And it’s just like Led Zeppelin took everybody else who influenced them, from Hendrix to Vanilla Fudge to the Cream and everybody else, and took what they were doing – especially The Jeff Beck Group – to the extreme. And that’s why they were so big, but 'You Keep Me Hangin’ On,' it was such a shock, because nobody really did covers in those days. If they did, they were doing them the same way as the original. But the way we did it, we shocked so many people."

Count some of the biggest names in rock among those stunned by what Vanilla Fudge was doing.

"I remember reading things that Eric Clapton and George Harrison and Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck and all these people knew exactly where they were the first time they heard that, because it left such an impression on them," said Appice. "And why? Because it was a white group playing really heavy, but soulful – so heavy soul wasn’t really in yet. White, blue-eyed soul was cool. That was what The Rascals did and the Righteous Brothers did, but nobody did it heavy – with big amps and the big drums, the powerful drum sounds."

These days, both bands are back touring, and Appice's new label is just itching to put some Cactus and Vanilla Fudge product that Appice has just sitting around collecting dust. Visit www.rocker-records.com for more information.

And stay tuned for more from our interview with one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock 'n' roll.


More KISS memories with Lydia Criss


Former wife of Peter Criss releases expanded, revised version of “Sealed with a KISS,” readies auction items

By Peter Lindblad

1977 was the best year of Lydia Criss’s life. KISS was riding high, and she was there to witness it all, experiencing some of the greatest moments in the band’s history as the wife of drummer Peter Criss. And
Lydia and Peter Criss
then came 1978 and things began to unravel.

Trouble was brewing within her marriage. Peter’s infidelity, drug abuse and increasing paranoia began to take its toll. Eventually, they divorced.

All of the good and bad times are captured in Lydia’s book “Sealed with a KISS,” now in its second printing (visit www.lydiacriss.com for more information). The new expanded and revised version includes more photos and memorabilia, as well as Lydia’s engaging insider’s view of the KISS story and the rock ‘n’ roll industry of the 1970s and her acclaimed work as a music photographer. In addition, she is planning to auction off KISS-related items that appear in the book through Backstage Auctions.

Part I of our interview with Lydia appeared last week. Here is the rest of our chat with a woman who was instrumental in helping KISS become “the hottest band in the land.”

You met Alice Cooper at the Casablanca Records bash celebrating the creation of the label. What was he like at that point?
LC: Very quiet and very shy. At that point, he was like … it’s funny because [KISS] took whatever he was doing and made it five times bigger. But he was very gracious, very sweet. I met him years later, and he was the same way.

At that time, was he still struggling with alcoholism?
LC: I’m sure he was the first time, maybe not the second. We … I say “we” because I considered myself a part of KISS. Anyway, KISS had the same manager at one point, Frankie Scinlaro. He was a character, and he used to manage – well, not manage, but road manage – Alice and he used to tell stories about Alice, about his alcoholism. You know, those were the days when you could drink and it wasn’t looked down upon as much as it is now. Not that it’s looked down upon, but in those days, you weren’t an alcoholic. Now, you’re an alcoholic.

Take us back to 1977. That was a big year for KISS.
LC: That was one of the best years of my life. Okay, first I did the People’s Choice Awards. Then I did an interview for Rock Scene I think it was. It was just myself. It was just me and I didn’t have time to because I was on my way to Japan.

That was the one Gene got so mad at.
Peter Criss - May 1977
Mercedes to be Sold at Auction
LC: Yeah. He didn’t like the photo I took. He said, “We were going to do a photo session for you.” It was Liz Derringer. She actually became my neighbor. Where I live right now, she used to live right down the block with Rick [Derringer], but then they got divorced and they moved out. But, yeah, he said he didn’t like the photo that I used, but I used something that I already had. I had just sent it to her. It was a snapshot and I mailed it to her to put it in the magazine. And then I went to Japan and when I got back, the management company said you better look for a home outside of New York.

Lydia and Peter Criss' House 1977

So, we started looking [and] not only did we find a house, but we found a sheepdog that we bought along with [it]. It was born in the house. So we
bought [the dog] from the owners, and then we bought a Mercedes. ’77, yeah, they played the Garden. I mean, it was the best year of my life. It was all uphill. We bought a house in Greenwich, Conn. We moved in, [and] I had a big, big birthday on the same day we had a big housewarming party. And then everything in ’78 went downhill.


Amazing what can happen in one year.
LC: Not even a year. You know, it was like maybe it was the first quarter of ’78. We went to Japan and the whole thing. In the book, you know, Peter and I had the fight where he threw the book, the chair, and all I said to him was, “You know, you went through the garbage and then you weren’t going to take me to
Lydia Criss (second from left) Japan 1978
Japan.” He actually had a limo come up to the house in Greenwich from Manhattan, which is an hour away, just to turn around and go back, because we made up by the time the limo got there. You know, we wasted like a hundred bucks just to run him off or whatever. And then I wound up going to Japan, but then after that, everything went downhill when I came home, because that’s when he went and met Debbie [Svensk, Peter Criss’s second wife]. He went to a Rod Stewart party and met Debbie there. And everything after that was … I felt like we got this house for nothing. We ended keeping the house for eight years, which I loved, I loved. I moved out of it. I rented it for two years or a year and a half and then I moved back into it. 

It looks beautiful from the photos in the book.
LC: It was.

You mentioned Liz. Were you friends with any other rock-star wives outside of KISS?
LC: Um, not really. I would have liked to have been. Oh, the only one I was a little friendly with was Penny McCall, who was Peter Frampton’s girlfriend. I mentioned her in the book. I really didn’t get the opportunity to meet a lot of the wives, and when you do … you know, I was close to [Ace Frehley’s wife] Jeanette, and whoever Gene was with at the time or whoever Paul was with at the time. But, no I wasn’t and it’s sad. It’s really sad because I wanted to. I mean, I’ve met famous wives like Bianca Jagger and Angela Bowie, but I wasn’t friends with them.

Was there a favorite show of yours from the early days that was special to you for some reason? Maybe it was wilder than others.
LC: Well, I do remember one show in Evansville, Indiana, and I used to always sit by the sound board … not the sound board, but the monitors, the monitor mixer, which was onstage. But there was a time when the truss that holds the lights fell on me. And I thought somebody was playing with my hair. I’m going, “What the hell? Leave my hair alone. Don’t touch my hair. I’m at a concert, please.” And then all of a sudden, I realized something was falling on me. And I had to go to the hospital. They made me go. I didn’t feel like I needed to, but they made me go. And whoever was on the truck at the time … because the truck was tall and somebody sat on top of it, so whoever was on there went to the hospital with me. But they released me. I should have sued, but I didn’t (laughs).

Did it come close to doing some real damage?
LC: Not with me. Well, it could have. It really could have. They had to stop the show, because the truss fell right onto the middle of the stage, with Paul dancing. But luckily, I was okay. I kept saying, “I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay.” They kept saying, “You’ve got to go to the hospital. Go to the hospital.” And they checked me out and I was fine.

When it came to assembling all the graphic material – the memorabilia, the photos, etc. – did you do that yourself?
LC: Yes, and it was a horror (laughs). It was a horror. It was so much work I told my family and friends, “You will not see me or hear from me for one year. Don’t even invite me to anything for the next year.” And basically, that’s what happened. It was one year. They would call me, but they were only allowed to talk with me for 10 minutes, because I have girlfriends you can be on the phone with for two hours. You’re only allowed 10 minutes and that’s it – just to see that I’m okay. But I would stay up until the sun came up, which would be about 7 a.m. And then I would go to sleep and wake up at 2 p.m. and start all over again. I lived and breathed this book for one entire year. And pulling all that stuff out, I did it with the first publisher. I pulled all the stuff out and it was already scanned, and so it was already done, but I did pull a lot more. Once I started doing the book, I want certain photos. There was a lot more stuff that I wanted that I had, that I had acquired, since like five years earlier when it was originally started. I mean, I had acquired the dolls … you know, the big KISS dolls, the big ones. I had acquired those. I acquired certain things that I wanted in the book, and then there were certain things that I had sold but yet a friend had them. You know, like maybe the Victrola … you know, the record player. I had sold that years before, so I used his. So, you know, there were certain things, like the guitar that I sold, and he had the KISS guitar. So I wanted a lot more photos in there, and the guy that scanned everything came up from Maryland and took photos. Do you know Dave Snowden? He worked on the book with me – one of the guys, yeah.

One of the things I like about books like this one is that you get to see what it was like in the early days and the small places they played, and things that didn’t go so well. I’m looking at a photo of Peter playing and the perspiration has washed his makeup completely off.
LC: Oh yeah. It happened a lot in the early days.

How did they fix that?
LC: I think they might have changed their makeup. 

I suppose, being guys, they didn’t know what makeup to use for it.
LC: Yeah, well the thing was, they didn’t have a lot of money, so they bought the cheap stuff in the beginning. And then eventually, you get to the better stuff when you have the money. You know, people research it for you.

I think there was a photo where Peter had split his pants.
Peter Criss split pants
Too Big for his Britches?
LC: Oh yeah. I actually sold those pants (laughs). For five hundred dollars, I think. I don’t know. I made those pants, but my mother sewed them after he split them. My mother was able to repair them, but still, you could see the repair. But I still sold them for $500 in one of Jacques’s auctions [for Backstage Auctions].

One of the things I was going to ask you about was you actually had tickets to Woodstock, but you couldn’t go.
LC: Yeah, we didn’t go, because Peter booked something else in Maine.

Any regrets about that?
LC: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Who knew? But you know what? Peter said, “There’s no way I would have wanted to be there,” because Peter hates camping. And this was all camping. So he said there’s no way I would have wanted to be there with the rain. My mother thought I was at Woodstock. These were the days when you had to lie to your parents (laughs). She thought we were going to Woodstock, and she saw it on the news, and she’s going, “Oh my God, my little girl (laughs),” even though I really wasn’t. And I wasn’t wet. I was dry.

And that was when Peter was playing with Nautilus, I believe.
LC: Yes. Yes, he was with Nautilus. So I actually took the bus up there with my girlfriend, Carol, who was going out with the lead guitar player.

They did covers, too, then.
LC: Yeah, they were nice guys. The lead guitarist, he was adorable, but they weren’t songwriters and they weren’t creative.

Looking back, what was your favorite part of being involved with the whole KISS phenomenon?
LC: That’s a hard one. I just think it was the pride that I had. And I still have it. I still have it. I’m so proud that they’re still famous all these years. I just remember one day standing on a corner waiting for the light to turn, and I just said, “I feel like we just won the lottery.” You really feel like you won the lottery. I’m very proud of them – Gene and Paul and me (laughs), the whole band, that they’ve kept it alive all these years.

You also had a friendship with Peter Frampton that was very interesting.
LC: Yeah, yeah. I was friends with Peter Frampton. He was a sweetheart. I haven’t seen him in years, but I was friends with him at two different points in my life. And he was a great guy.

You were a big fan of his before you met him.
LC: Oh yeah. Yeah, the first time … yeah.

That was after Frampton Comes Alive!
LC: Well, I actually saw him in Humble Pie.

Oh, you did?
LC: Yeah, I saw him in Humble Pie. And then, I saw him at the Fillmore, I believe. It was either the Fillmore or the Academy of Music. Both get me very confused. I don’t know which one, but I saw him as Frampton, and then I saw him at the Garden, but I also saw him between them as a person.

You’ve seen hundreds of bands over the years. I know Queen was your favorite. And you saw Led Zeppelin, too. What was that experience like?
LC: I saw Led Zeppelin a couple of times, but the best thing was … I mean, I met Jimmy Page twice, two different times. Once at the A.R.M.S. concert, and there was a party afterwards, and then I also met him at my girlfriend’s home. But anyway, Zeppelin’s great.

Peter met him, too, and they were going to go back to your place, but [Led Zeppelin manager] Peter Grant stopped it.
LC: Oh yeah. He was going to come back to my place. We were at TRAX, and he was going to come back, but Peter Grant wouldn’t let him come. He had just had an OD. He’d Od’ed from heroin I guess. And [Grant] said, “How do you know that’s Peter Criss?” And [Page] said, “Oh, he has a limo.” And [Grant] goes, “That doesn’t mean anything.” So he wouldn’t let him come. But, I was kind of afraid, ‘cause I was saying, “Don’t tell me Jimmy Page is going to wreck my apartment.”

They did have quite the reputation back then.
LC: I was afraid. You didn’t ask me who my favorite solo artist was, did you?

I don’t remember.
LC: You didn’t ask me that. My favorite solo artist is Rod Stewart.

Did you meet him?
LC: Oh, of course – many times. 

What is he like?
LC: He’s nice, but he stays distant. He stays away. I’ve seen him a lot backstage and that type of stuff, but I’ve seen him where I could actually talk to him at CD signings, where he’s selling something. Yeah, he was supposed to come to this party, and I go, “Rod, you were supposed to come to this party. What the hell happened to you? You didn’t call me and I went to sleep.” I went to sleep, because I was friends with Carmine Rojas’s cousin. Carmine Rojas was his musical director in those days, and it was Rojas’s birthday. He was supposed to show up at the China Club, and I said, “I fell asleep.” But I met Rod a few times, yeah.

You guys got kicked out of a few places. Was there one time that was a little crazier than the rest?
LC: I don’t remember … I wasn’t with them, maybe. Did I mention getting kicked out of some places in the book?

Yeah, I thought there were some in the book – either restaurants or hotels.
LC: Huh. Well, there was one time in Sweden. We were in Sweden and oh, the hotel they took our passports … yeah. We didn’t get kicked out, but yeah, they took our passports because they were fighting in the lobby. That was the roadies. They were fighting. Not the band, it was the roadies, but they took our passports. And then there was also … we were in Sweden and we were at a restaurant, and it was called the Shrimp Bar or something, or the Shrimp Boat. You had to remote your shrimp … the shrimp were on a boat, and you had to remote them to you. There was like a pool in the middle of the restaurant and then tables all around, and they would send your food out, and you had to remote it with a remote control to your table. And Ace got so annoyed with it that he just walked in the pool, and they said, “You can’t walk in the pool!” And it was because the bottom wasn’t walk-able. It was just something you could swim in. And they said, “You’re going to wreck the bottom of the pool.” So they threw us out (laughs).

There were so many characters within and surrounding KISS. What was Bill Aucoin like?
LC: Bill Aucoin was a character. He loved doing everything … at that same restaurant we tried throwing him
Peter & Lydia with Bill Aucoin
in the pool. But he caught us right before. He knew what we were up to. We were getting him really drunk and then we were going to throw him in the pool (laughs). He realized what we were doing.

He really was one of those managers in rock history that you really remember. What was he like as a professional?
LC: He was very, very professional. He used to love to have fun. That was the thing you loved about Bill. I love him. I miss him to this day. Me and Richie … Richie was closer to him at one point. (Laughs) Richie and him have stories. Richie could tell you those.

How did you meet Richie?
LC: Well, Richie was managed by Bill Aucoin. He was in Piper. And actually, me and Jeanette were on our way to see KISS. I think we went down to Georgia. And then right after that, it was supposed to be New Year’s Eve. So, [we were going to spend] New Year’s Eve like in [this] North Carolina town, but we wanted to go to Georgia, to Atlanta, because it was a big gig. We went and we were waiting for our limo to pick us up at the airport and we were standing outside, and all of a sudden, there’s Richie. And there were the other guys in his band waiting to be picked up also. So, I said, “Wow, he’s cute, but I’m married, so I can look but I can’t touch.” That was it. But then years later … many, many years later, actually 10 years ago … let’s see, that was back in the ‘70s, and then I saw him in the ‘90s at one of the KISS parties at Studio 54, but he thought I was still married to Peter, so he didn’t approach me. We said, “Hello,” and we kissed, but that was it. Then, back around 2001, Sean Delaney was staying at my apartment, and he invited somebody over named Richie. And I thought it was Richie Ranno from Starz. I’m going, “Who did you invite to my apartment on New Year’s Eve?” And he said, “Richie Fontana.” And I said, “I love Richie Fontana.” And then about a month later, we were talking on the phone, and he’s calling me and e-mailing … well, within the month, we were talking right away. So within the month, we had a date, we made a date. And we’ve been together ever since. I actually invited him over. I said, “Come over and have some spaghetti,” but he was working on his CD. And he says, “I’ll have to take a rain check.” That was some time later.

Were you apprehensive about getting involved with a musician again?
LC: No way. That’s what I’m attracted to. Well, now I am. Years ago, I wasn’t, but now I am. I’m always attracted to musicians, and I’m always attracted to drummers and bass players. That’s what I usually go out with – drummers and bass players, the rhythm section.

You mentioned the creativity of Sean Delaney, that he was integral to the band’s success.
LC: Absolutely. He was very, very responsible for a lot of their choreography, a lot of their theatrics, and he
Sean Delaney, Jeanette Frehley,
Bill Aucoin, Lydia Criss 
didn’t get the appreciation he was due. Gene and Paul sometimes ignore Sean Delaney … they’re really very, business-wise, it’s like, “Okay, you did this for me. We paid you, on to the next thing.” That’s how they are.

What do you remember about meeting Sean for the first time?
LC: Well, I’ve always been attracted to gay guys. I guess I’m a fag hag, or whatever. I had cousins that were gay when I was little, and also at my first job, at school, there was a guy named Raymond that we loved. And he was one of the first gay friends I ever had. And then I worked in Abercrombie & Fitch and there was a guy named Rudy. Oh, he was so flamboyant it was unbelievable. He’d come off the elevator and we could hear him on the other end of the floor. He’d come up and we’d go, “Oh, Rudy’s here.” But I was always attracted to gay people because they’re so creative and funny, and they just love women. Gay guys love women. You know, maybe a guy might be apprehensive, but women aren’t. We just loved them, and then years later, we were friends with Frank Dugan, who gave us that million dollar check
Frank Dugan's Million $$ Check
[described in Lydia’s book]. He was gay, and we’ve just always had gay friends all of our lives. Since I was a little girl, I’ve had gays in my life, even though at times I didn’t know what gay was. I had gay relatives. I didn’t know they were gay. I didn’t know what that was. I just thought they were funny and they were great to hang out with. And then when you grow up, you realize what it is. Even when I was in school, I didn’t know Raymond was gay. I just thought he was a character. You know, we just loved him. I used to play games with him, like “What songs can you sing?” We’d listen to the radio, and we’d get all the words to every song. And it was, “Okay, what song did you get last night?” And I’d sit at the radio in my mother’s bedroom and just write all the lyrics to all the songs.

How did your family get along with Peter? Did they like Peter from the start?
LC: No, at the beginning, no. But, you know, they eventually got to love him, even before he made it. You know, once we got married, they loved him. At one point, I said, “I might elope,” and my mother said, “If you elope, you’ll be disowned.” It was [my parents’] initial meeting [with] him with the long hair, ‘caused I lived in projects. I grew up with blacks and Puerto Ricans in a neighborhood that was lower class. And Peter was from an even lower-class neighborhood. The thing is, he had long hair, and my mother never knew what that was. They never had that. Peter was the first long-haired guy I brought home. Actually, he was the first guy I brought home. Oh yeah. I only had two boyfriends before him, so they never met them. They saw me walking with my first boyfriend when I was living with the projects. But Peter, we had already moved out of the projects when I met Peter. We had just moved out of the projects when I met Peter, within 40 days of moving out of the projects. And I didn’t bring him home right away. I brought him home eventually, and they weren’t too happy, because of – like I said – the long hair, but they liked him, like I said at the beginning of the interview, because of his personality.

What were Peter’s parents like?
LC: Peter’s family was great. They were sweethearts. I’m telling you, you could say anything to his mother … not like my mother. [You could say] anything to his mother and his mother was the greatest. I mean, I’ve actually even smoked pot with his mother.

Is there anybody from the old days you hang out with and if so, have they read the book? What do they think of it?
LC: Well, I don’t hang out with anybody from the old days, but I just talk to them. I talk to Elvera [Capetta], who was one of my bridesmaids. I talk to Joey Lucenti. He was in Peter’s band before KISS. I talk to Pepe Gennarelli. He was in Peter’s band. I’m trying to think … there’s not many left. A lot of the people are just gone. We can’t reach them.

We should talk about what you’re doing now.
LC: Well, my book is in the second printing.

And you’ve expanded it, right?
LC: Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. It’s revised and expanded. What I’ve done is I’ve corrected a few errors, changed a few things, I’ve made some pictures bigger, changed colors and stuff … not many, but a few. And then I also expanded it by 16 pages, with 22 more photos, and that’s it. It’s in its second printing. And the other thing is I’m working on an auction … I’m going to sell stuff that’s in the book, but more stuff, more personal stuff – like if Paul Stanley gave me a gift, it might be in the auction. A lot of the clothes I’m wearing might be in the auction. Certain things, like if Gene gave me a gift … Gene gave me a clock, Paul gave me a clock, they might both be in the auction.

I remember seeing that in the book, that they both gave you the same clock.
LC: Not the same, but they both gave me clocks. But, anyway, there will be a lot of things that are in the book, personal things, like if you see … like my crazy bathroom in Brooklyn, with the Mickey Mouse. I still have those towels and stuff, so that’s going to be in the auction (laughs). I can’t really say exactly what’s going to be in the auction, but there’s going to be a lot of personal stuff.

Well, it would cool to see those platform boots of yours from the old days (laughs). Those are cool.
LC: Yep, those big platform boots. Oh, definitely … (laughs). I found two pairs already. There might be a third. I’m not sure. I’ll find the other pair.

###

Lydia has completed the last and final selection of her treasures and will be doing one more final auction with Backstage Auctions. There will be plenty of KISS memorabilia including the Mercedes as well as other music related relics. Register for your VIP All Access to receive auction notifications.

To purchase Lydia's second printing and expanded version of Sealed With A KISS, you can buy it directly from Lydia by visiting her website: http://www.lydiacriss.com/

Sealed with a KISS by Lydia Criss

Marky Ramone remembers Dust ... and tries to solve a mystery


Sony/Legacy reissues proto-metal band’s two cult albums

By Peter Lindblad

Dust - Dust/Hard Attack 2013
The trail has gone cold ... ice cold. Any evidence of the crime is, in all likelihood, gone forever, and yet Marc Bell, aka Marky Ramone, is still determined to catch the culprit and find justice.

For context, when the incident happened, Bell was a founding member of Dust in the late ’60s and ’70s, a band that simply could not catch a break in its all-too-brief existence.

Management was at a loss as to how to market the pioneering proto-metal outfit and few, if any, American producers had any idea how to get the most out of them in the studio. Meanwhile, their record label, Kama Sutra, was focusing its energies on promoting its more commercial folk-rock acts, like the Lovin’ Spoonful.

All of these things, according to Ramone, combined to doom Dust. One thing that did go right for them was a tour with Alice Cooper as the supporting act, although he’d like to get to the bottom of something that happened to him while on the road with the shock-rock sensations.

On the one hand, there was “the fact that people were giving us two encores,” says Ramone, something opening acts don’t usually receive.

“And then came initiation,” says Ramone, setting the scene. “I go to my hotel room … I mean, this is stuff that teenagers do I guess, but we were teenagers I suppose. Somebody took a dump in one of my drawers in the hotel room. And I knew something smelled pretty strange. I opened it up and there it was, and I never knew who did it, but I look back at it now, and I thought it was pretty funny. Would I do it? No, I wouldn’t do it, but somebody did do it, and whoever it is, I wish I could find them.”

It’s a mystery that probably will never be solved. And though Ramone may never ferret out the offending party, there is renewed interest in Dust, now that their only two albums, the self-titled debut from 1971 and their 1972 sophomore LP, Hard Attack, are being reissued – with a fantastic remastering job – by Sony Legacy on April 16. A Record Store Day vinyl version is being released on April 20.

“Maybe these reissues will make that person come forward (laughs),” jokes Ramone.

Prized by collectors for years, Dust’s records were the stuff of legend, their gale-force blues-based hard-rock sound tempered by touches of folk and progressive-rock in a formula that Led Zeppelin was perfecting overseas. Although they disbanded not long after the release of Hard Attack, the members of Dust would go on to bigger and better things.

Bell hooked on with a various U.S. punk rock icons, including Wayne County and Richard Hell & the Voidoids and, of course, The Ramones, the band he joined in 1978. Kenny Aaronson was Dust’s bassist, and he would later play with the likes of Joan Jett, Bob Dylan, Foghat, Brian Setzer and a host of other rock luminaries. As for Richie Wise, the band’s guitarist and main songwriter, he and Kenny Kerner – who wrote lyrics for Dust and helped out with songwriting and production duties – ended up producing the first two KISS records.

Ramone thinks that it is high time these two long-out-of-print Dust records see the light of day again.
Explaining why the reissues are coming out now, he said, in a rather matter-of-fact manner, that “the contract was finally up with the other record company that really didn’t do [Dust] justice. So, Sony/Legacy … we remastered it, packaged it in numbered vinyl, collectible vinyl, and the packaging is unbelievable. And when you hear the remastering, it sounds twice as big as the original recording. So we were very happy to put it out again to show the public what we were doing 40 years ago in America, which was heavy metal, ‘cause at the time there was hardly any metal in America in 1970. It was all coming from England. And also in America, there weren’t that many producers who knew how to produce this genre of music. So, now it has a second chance.”

After all this time, Ramone still sees the influential Dust, cult favorites for years, as trailblazers in the metal genre.

“Well, one of the few, yes,” says Ramone. “Black Sabbath in England solidified it there, and then when we started in ’70, we got our record deal in ’70 and recorded the album and it came out in ’71. So we were kind of ahead of the game in America, along with a few other bands. There weren’t that many, and the term ‘heavy metal’ wasn’t even a phrase yet.”

As for the Cooper tour, Ramone thinks of it as the highlight of Dust’s short life. Another one was playing Cobo Hall, the site of many great concerts by Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and, of course, KISS. “I mean that place was packed,” says Ramone. “And also St. Louis … they really took a liking to Dust. And I think that if we continued to play to the Midwest, and we’d spread out to the East and West … but again, we just stopped that quick.”

We’ll have more of our interview with Marky Ramone and his memories of Dust in future posts, so keep watching this space for that. In the meantime, visit http://www.legacyrecordings.com for more information.
  

Lydia Criss shares more of her KISStory



Wife of former KISS drummer releases 2nd printing of "Sealed with a KISS", featuring additional photos and stories.

By Peter Lindblad

Lydia and Peter Criss -The 70s
Their splashy divorce made headlines in New York City and across the world. In 1978, Lydia Criss and KISS drummer Peter Criss split up for good. There were irreconcilable differences. His alleged infidelity, drug and alcohol abuse and violent temper – all of it detailed in Lydia’s recently revised and expanded biography “Sealed with a Kiss,” the first edition of which was published in 2006 – drove a permanent wedge between the couple, who first met in 1966.

In her book, "Sealed with a KISS", Lydia relates how she stood by Peter and provided financial support as he attempted to jump start his music career with long-forgotten bands such as Nautilus, the Sounds of Soul, Lips, The Barracudas, and Chelsea. Then, along came Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, members of Wicked Lester when their paths crossed with Peter’s. It was Simmons who answered Peter’s ad looking for musicians playing original music who needed an experienced drummer. Soon after, KISS was born.

 "Sealed with a Kiss"
by Lydia Criss
KISS grew to become one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands the world has ever seen, and Lydia – who became a respected rock ‘n’ roll photographer – did more than go along for the ride, often supplying some of their clothes in the early days with the help of her mother, the seamstress. She was there when KISS played The Coventry and the 54 Bleeker Street loft that was home to The Brats. She was there when they brought their theatrical rock circus to Madison Square Garden for the first time and toured Japan. And she accepted a 1977 People’s Choice Award on their behalf for the song “Beth,” which she inspired.  Telling the story of KISS’s rise to fame from the perspective of a rock ‘n’ roll wife, Lydia’s book is packed with photos of KISS in concert and at play, behind the scenes. It is loaded with KISS memorabilia, including the newspaper and magazine clippings she meticulously collected, KISS clothing, concert tickets, etc. And it should be required reading for KISS fans. 


This is Part 1 of our interview with Lydia Criss.

Looking at the photos from the early years, you and Peter were a stylish couple back then.
Lydia Criss: Oh, we were the two that were more stylish than the rest. We were the two dressers. You know what it is? My mother was a seamstress. So, she made him a lot of his jackets. She made me most of
my clothes. I did buy a lot, but she did make a lot, too. So my mother was a big help for me because my mother would get mad at me if I’d spend $50 on a blouse. [I’d say,] “Okay then, I’ll find a pattern and material for us and you’ll make it for us.” And she’d make it … for $10 (laughs) or maybe $5 even. That’s why she made my wedding gown. She made all the bridesmaids’ [gowns]. She was amazing.

But you made stuff, too, right? I think there was a KISS jacket [in the book] with what looked like rhinestones on the back …
LC: I made that. That’s a regular denim jacket that I bought in the store. And I did everything on that. I’m actually selling that in the auction, which I said, “Why am I doing this?” But people said to me it’s because you’re never going to wear it and if you really, really, really … first of all, it looks like it’s made for a child. I was so small then. And I just said, “You know what? If you ever want something like that again, you can just make another one.” And I did, because I have all the stuff. It just takes time. It is rhinestones, and I have the rhinestones,

  
I have the studs … I have all that stuff. And I used to like say if I was sitting at home doing nothing one night, I would do like the left side of the jacket, and then I would make sure the right side [was done] so I could wear the jacket. And then, I was bad, because I would keep adding but I would always add balance. You know, I would always make the right and the left … you know, I wouldn’t work on it if I could only make half a side, where I’d do just one side and not the other side. The jacket was always wearable, but it just kept getting more and more glitter – more bling to it (laughs).

So much of KISS’s clothing and stage show early on was put together in do-it-yourself fashion, with everybody pulling together. It must have been thrilling to be a part of it. Talk about how their look evolved.
LC: Yeah, in the beginning, my mother actually made some of his stuff, some of his jackets, like there’s a picture of him in the loft – it’s one my lithographs, I’m not sure if you’re familiar with that. It’s a picture of all four of them back in the loft, and it’s not even their loft. It’s the Bleeker Street loft, which was The Brats’ [loft]. You know, The Brats, which was a band from New York. It was their loft. And it was way before [famed KISS manager Bill] Aucoin, and they were all dressed in different things. Ace’s mother made him a shirt, and Peter’s mother made him a shirt. I made him his hot pants and my mother made him the jacket. My mother made a lot of his stuff in the early days, too, but not once it came to Aucoin. When Aucoin stepped in, [everything] was done by a professional – a real professional.
KISS - Backstage at the Bleeker Street Loft - June 1, 1973
Lydia Criss 


I know you made that KISS shirt that’s in the book, too. Is that your favorite piece?
LC: Yeah, believe it or not, I sold that in the previous auction. Oh, the KISS shirt. I made one for Peter. I made one for Gene. I used to make them for his family. You know what it is? I had a stencil that was used for the bass drum. And I used it on the shirt. And I just used glue and glitter. It was so easy to make.

Oh, yeah.
LC: Yeah, I mean it was just put the stencil on, put the glue on and then put on the glitter and it was done. And it went through the wash. That’s why it looks like it does. It looks like that stuff is coming off.

It gave it kind of a cool distressed look.
LC: Yeah.

What was the hardest thing about doing this book?
LC: The memories, the memories. You know, I’m an organization freak. I’m a Scorpio, so you know, we’re like really organized. I had to have everything right. I had to have it in order. In the book, there are three sections: there’s before KISS, KISS, and then after KISS. But the hardest part was having to deal with some of the things that were painful at the time, and they became painful again. There were times where I would sit and read. I did my manuscript many, many years before I decided to [publish it]. I mean, I decided to do the book, but my publisher went bankrupt. He was a small-time guy, and he went bankrupt, and I got all my stuff back. That was basically in the ‘90s. I had started that at the end of the ‘90s … like ’99 I think I had given my manuscript over to him. And then he didn’t do anything, so in 2004, I got everything back, and that’s when I became serious, when Jacques van Gool of Backstage Auctions did the auction. And I just said, “Well, what do I need all this stuff for? It’s going to be in my book. I can always look at it in my book. I can’t hold it physically, but it’s in my book.” So, basically, I sold everything and I wanted to do the book, but the thing that really, really hurt was when I’d sit home at night – because I didn’t have editors at the time; I’d have editors later on, but at the beginning I just had a manuscript and then the editors kind of went through the manuscript, and they would correct things. Not much though. Believe it or not, they were surprised that I wrote my book. They just corrected like punctuation and grammar and stuff like that, and maybe a little bit of the things we fought about, like say they’d say something happened this way, I would say it happened that way. But they weren’t there. I was there. But they’re talking to other people and other people are telling them, “Well, you know, no it was Sean Delaney.” And I’d say, “No it wasn’t. It was Neil Bogart.” Or, they’re saying it’s Neil Bogart, and I’m saying, “No, it was Sean Delaney.” That was one thing we disagreed with, but the thing is, we decided to word it where it says we disagree: “Well, I feel it happened this way. Other people feel it happened this way.” But anyway, the hard parts … you know, getting divorced, finding letters where Peter is cheating on me, having to have an abortion … those are the things. I would sit at night, and you know, after I’d be on the computer all day, working on the book, I’d sit at night, on my couch, with a little light on, and I’d read all their corrections, and I’m telling you, sometimes I’d be hysterical, crying, and then a paragraph later, I’d be hysterical, laughing.
The Big Day

What was it do you think that originally attracted you to Peter?
LC: His character, his personality. Anyone that knows Peter from those days will tell you Peter was a great guy – especially when he wanted to be a great guy. Like, he’s a schizophrenic or he’s got split personalities, but Peter had something magical about him. It was definitely not his looks that attracted me. I wasn’t attracted to that, and he surely didn’t have money. So, it was definitely his personality.

What were your dates like? He seems like he’d be a fun date.
LC: We really wouldn’t do much. We would go to friends’ houses, we would go to the Village, we would go to Central Park … maybe we’d go to the movies. We didn’t really have like [dates]. I mean, he didn’t take me out to dinner much. Like I said, he didn’t have money. I was still living at home. I couldn’t cook, so I wasn’t cooking him dinners. He had a friend who lived in my neighborhood, Jerry Nolan, his best friend, who was the drummer for the New York Dolls. Coincidentally, he lived in my neighborhood, and Peter would sleep over and stay over there, or we’d go over and hang out at Jerry’s. Or, most of the time, we’d go to see Peter play.

At first, you didn’t think much about dating a musician. Everybody always says how tough it is. Was it difficult for the two of you early on?
LC: I really wasn’t even aware what went on dating a musician or what went into that. I dated a sailor before him, but before that … I only had two boyfriends before him, and before that there was a guy, but we were only 16, so we didn’t work – we were like still going to school. And so, I didn’t know what it was like to date a musician. I mean, I thought it was okay at the time. Then, when I read some of his book, I was definitely … the wool was being pulled over my eyes. And that’s another thing that hurt, reading his book. I’m sure him reading my book hurt also. And I think that’s his way of getting back or getting even with me, ‘cause that’s how Peter is. Peter can be a real sweetheart in front of you, but he can stab you in the back when you’re not looking.

You write about some of the financial issues you had while Peter tried to get his music career going.
LC: I mean I worked; he didn’t work. You know what he paid for? He paid for his drugs, and he paid for some of the clothes he might have bought and maybe the gifts for his family. But I paid all the household bills – you know, for all the furniture. I paid for the vacations. I paid for our honeymoon. I paid for our wedding. Even though the wedding – you get gifts and it pays for itself – but I initially paid for the wedding. But I paid for the honeymoon … you know what he used to do, which I found out later also? And I’m talking about maybe two years ago, I might have found out. He was making $50 a night and he’d tell me he’d only be making $35 or he’d only be making $25. The guy that worked with him, the guitar player, he says, “We never made less than $50 a night.” I’ve got records. I’ve got records that I kept, and it’s in a composition notebook – the picture of the book. But I kept records of all the jobs he worked and what salary he came home with. And either he was spending it on girlfriends or he was spending it on drugs. So that’s another thing that I found out way later, way after I was divorced – like 25 years after I was divorced.

Was there a low point early on with Peter where you asked yourself, is this ever going to get any better or perhaps Peter isn’t going to make it?
LC: Not really, because we were only married two years when he met KISS, when he met Gene and Paul. He met them in ’72. So that was only two years. Two years is nothing. There was a point where we had just moved to our second apartment, I was kept busy with moving, working every day; then, I’d sell Avon during the day at my job, and then I’d also make macramé – different things, chokers, belts, bracelets, and I would sell them, you know, to supplement the income. So, there was none from him, or very little.

Pre-Kiss, did you think any of the bands he was in up to that point was going to be big?
LC: Chelsea. Chelsea was the only one, because they had a record deal. Everybody else did cover songs, so they weren’t looking for a deal. There was a time when Peter did do something. He was in a contest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music that they won. And they got a record deal, but it didn’t do anything – like one single I think they did. It really went nowhere. But Chelsea … at least Chelsea had an album. They worked with some pretty important people at the time, like the producers and the engineers and stuff like that. I had no idea who these people were, and eventually, years later, you realize they were somebody. Even Eddie Kramer was somewhere involved in there. I’m not sure how, and there was different people. And I thought that might have made it, even though that wasn’t my type of music, but at least when he joined KISS, at one point it got to the point where he would just … working with Stan Penridge and they were just doing drugs, it was back to the old days where they were just doing cover songs and some original stuff back in the same old clubs. He was playing, you know, the King’s Lounge, like when he was with some other bands earlier than when he was with Stan, it was called Lips. And he had played the King’s Lounge with Joey Lucenti. He was in a band with him when KISS came to audition Peter … not audition, because Peter would audition at the loft, but they wanted to see him play with the band, so they came to see him at the King’s Lounge. He played with a few bands in that one club, not too far from where I used to live in Brooklyn.  

Meeting the men from Wicked Lester, you talked about how shabbily they dressed, but they had big plans. Did you sense right away that this was going to be something different for Peter?
LC: Well, when I saw their attitude and their professionalism … I mean, they were unprofessional in certain ways and were professional in other ways – you know, trying to bust Peter’s balls in flirting with me. But I saw right through that. But I just said, I like the songs; I loved “She” and “Deuce” and there were just songs where I just said, “Wow! This is more my style than Chelsea.”

Even at that time it seemed like they had grand designs on putting together a big stage show, huh?
LC: Um, I’m not sure if they had that in mind. I think Sean Delaney was that … that was all Sean Delaney’s ideas, from what I can remember. You know, I’m sure once they realized there’s money … [that] you could do something with a lot of money then you’re not limited. Then your mind expands and you can see things you never thought you’d be able to do. I don’t think they saw that in the early days. They just wanted to be big, like … yeah, The Beatles were big, but they didn’t have the stage that KISS had. They were basically all Beatles fans, so that’s what they were looking at. Ace was a Jimi Hendrix fan, so, you know, Jimi Hendrix didn’t have anything elaborate. In those days, it was basically [David] Bowie, Alice Cooper and the New York Dolls that they took everything from. And Sean Delaney incorporated it and went even further.   

The Coventry was where the band got its start. It wasn’t an auspicious beginning for them. What do you remember about the place and those first shows?
KISS - Coventry Show Flier
LC: The Coventry was very small. It was a neighborhood club, but it was the club to play. It was right over the bridge from Manhattan in Queens, and that’s where the Dolls played, that’s where there were bands like Luger and Street Punk … with Street Punk and Luger, [they] eventually played with them at the Diplomat. I think the Brats played at the Coventry. That was the place to play. And Gene and Paul went and talked to the owner and got a gig. I think it was Paul. I’m not even sure it was Gene, but I think Paul.

I thought it was interesting where one of the pictures of KISS playing at 54 Bleeker Street with the Brats showed them behind what looked like a rope that was separating the band from the crowd.
LC: I know (laughs). I know. We thought it was hard to believe then (laughs).

It was interesting that the Brats were holding their own shows there.
LC: You know, I’m still friends with Dominique, the lead singer; he calls himself Keith West. We always knew him as Dom from The Brats. I’m still friends with him. He still lives on the same block as my boyfriend [Richie Fontana, who used to play in Piper with Billy Squier].

Oh, is that right?
LC: Yeah. We live in the same housing … it’s really nice like Tudor-type houses out in Queens, and they have the same management company that manages the houses. It’s not low housing. It’s expensive. But they live about three doors down from each other.

Is that place still around, that 54 Bleeker Street loft?
LC: It’s still there. I don’t know what’s being held there, but I actually … somebody asked me about that like, “What’s the number? I [went] on Bleeker Street and I can’t find anything.” I’m going, “You’re not going to find anything. It looks like a doorway.” So, I gave her the number, 54.

I wanted to ask you about some of the big events in your life and that of KISS, starting with the Casablanca launch party. That looks like it a great time.
LC: Oh, it really was. I flew out with Gene’s girlfriend, Jan. I think we were staying at the Chateau Marmont at the time. And we shared a room with Gene. And my mother made me that outfit [shown in the book]. Like I said, she was a seamstress. She made the black velvet jacket. I made the hot pants. She would make the tops and I would make the bottoms. They’re easy to make – for girls they’re easy, not for guys. But I used to make the same pants for Peter, just bigger. I mean, it wasn’t done professionally, but it looked good. Anyway, I would make the bottoms, and she made the tops, and she made me a vest, a silver lame like vest and a bow tie, and it looked like a tuxedo. And I rented a top hat, and I remember meeting David Janssen [who starred in the television series “The Fugitive”] and Alice Cooper. I met Alice Cooper that night. That was amazing. Oh, and the other thing about that night was that I was drinking Black Russians, and that’s not the thing to drink on an empty stomach, ‘cause I don’t remember food being there. I was drinking Black Russians and all I remember is the limo driver carrying me out over his shoulder, both of us hysterically laughing. I wound up staying in the limo while everyone went out to have something to eat … and well, see there wasn’t any food. Everybody went into restaurant, and I stayed in the limo ‘cause I was too bombed. And the next day, I stayed in my room until about 6 o’clock at night. I could not get out of bed. I should have eaten before. I finally ended up having some soup at around 8 o’clock at night.

They really did it up that night.
LC: It was great. I have some pictures. I did take pictures. They didn’t come out that great, because I had a little tiny Insta-Matic camera. It wasn’t anything professional. And I’m just glad I got something, but it wasn’t what I would have liked.

Yeah, because they really did it up. They had a guy dressed like Humphrey Bogart …
LC: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I have pictures of him. I think I put that in the book … they had a fake camel, and there were all these gambling tables, like a casino, but it was old-fashioned looking, like from “Casablanca.” It was amazing. Neil Bogart even dressed as Humphrey Bogart, and he was wearing Humphrey Bogart’s real jacket [from the movie]. So it was amazing. And then the offices of Casablanca … there were palm trees and camels and arched doorways … they made it all look like the Middle East (laughs).

What do you remember about some of the shows KISS would play in Detroit? That was the town that was really into KISS.
LC: Above all, they loved the band. They just loved them. I don’t know why, but maybe because of “Detroit Rock City,” or maybe they did “Detroit Rock City” because they’d loved them there. I don’t know which came first, the chicken or the egg. But for some reason … the promoter really liked them. I think it was Steve Glantz, who was the promoter. Him and Bill Aucoin got along great, and they booked them there a lot. And that’s kind of where they really made their mark. You know, they played the Michigan Palace first, and I think they even played with Aerosmith at one point. They played with Mott the Hoople at one point. It was interesting. It was really interesting how they climbed the ladder. And then they’re playing Cobo Hall, and then they decided to do a live album, with the remote trucks outside to capture it, to tape it. And it was a great place to do that, because it was a place where they were really loved.

Did it seem like it was … I don’t want to say an overnight success, but that it was moving quickly for KISS at that point?
LC: Well, let’s see, I supported Peter for six years, and then three years before we got married, so nine years. It wasn’t an overnight success (laughs). Let’s see … we met in ’66, and then Alive! went gold in ’75, so that’s nine years. So, it was about time. At that time when it happened, it was a great point. Things were starting to happen. Peter would come home and say kids are like jumping on the limos … and the other thing is, they had limos (laughs)! In the early days, KISS would be pulling up [to venues] in a station wagon (laughs). I don’t remember really them being in tour buses in those days. They would fly everywhere. They would fly and that was one of the other amazing things, that we would just ask for a plane ticket and we’d get it, you know. It was like, whoa. Call the travel agent (laughs).

 What do you remember from that first show at Madison Square Garden?
LC: Madison Square Garden, of course, touched my heart in a way no other venue could, because I grew up there. I saw the [Concert for] Bangladesh there, you know, George Harrison. I saw some of the biggest acts I will ever see at Madison Square Garden. And just to be able to see … I mean, the Rolling Stones were at the Garden.

You saw everyone.
LC: I saw Bianca Jagger. There was Bianca Jagger, and I was sitting in the same seats where she was sitting when the Rolling Stones played. And everybody asks me, “What was the best thing in your KISS life?” There’s not one; there are three. Madison Square Garden is one of them, the People’s Choice Awards was the other, and going to Japan was the other. At Madison Square Garden, I stood on the stage and there were people that knew my name and were calling me. I would go on the stage before the band, and I actually looked out into the crowd and saw a banner – actually, Jacques sold it in the last auction. And it said, “We love Lydia,” and I’m going, “Oh my God.” And then there was a little banner back by itself, hanging from the rafters in the back of the Garden, and all I did was cry. I could not stop. The tears were just pouring down my face. When they played, the ovation that the audience gave them, the claps for encores and everything … it was just amazing. I mean, my family was there, my friends, my relatives … it was just an amazing … I mean, Bill Aucoin was right near me, and I was crying on his shoulder (laughs).

After all you’d been through those nine years, hearing “Beth” for the first time must have brought out a flood of emotions.
LC: Well, that was more like 11 years by that time (laughs). It was more like ’76, I guess. They played the Garden in ’76 or ’77 … no, ’77. So maybe it was about 10 years. It was just unbelievable. Him singing “Beth,” every time he’d come out, he’d bow to me (laughs). He’d actually stop at the sound board, because I’d be standing at the sound board, and he would bow to me and then go. But he would never throw a rose to me. He would always want to give them to the fans. And he would never let me stand in the pit. That was another thing. I could have had a lot more photos if he would have let me be in the pit. The pit is right below the stage where all the photographers stayed. He would not let me go because it was too dangerous.

He did have a paranoid side to him, didn’t he?
LC: Very paranoid, yes.

I wanted to ask you about going overseas. What was your favorite memory of going to Japan?
LC: Just being in Japan. I’ve been to Japan twice – once in ’77 and once in ’78. But just being in Japan was
amazing because I never in my life ever thought … I never dreamed of being married to a rock star. I just dreamed of being a little Italian housewife that raised four kids and grew up and all I did was cook all day. I never dreamed of going to Japan. That wasn’t one of my dreams. I never dreamed of being an author. I never dreamed of publishing my own book – never dreamt that, but I did it, and I believe if I put my mind to anything, I can do it. Going to Japan was one of my favorite, favorite things because you just see how the other side of the world lives. And you think it’s so much different than the way you do, and sometimes it really isn’t. It’s like they still have the same … you think they’re so far behind the times, and really, they’re more ahead of the times than we are. I mean, just the fact that I could buy cameras so much cheaper than you can buy them here … you know, I bought my Nikon and that was my first camera that was a professional camera. I bought that there. Peter told me to go out and buy a $2,000 fur coat, so instead I went out and bought a $500 Nikon.

It paid off for you.
LC: I know it did, because eventually, I wind up working in a photo agency. She was also my agent. I was her friend. We used to travel together, the boss that owned the photo agency. And I was also her bookkeeper.

Oh, is that right?
LC: And now, I’m [rock photographer] Bob Gruen’s bookkeeper. You know, Bob Gruen? The John Lennon New York City t-shirt?

Sure, sure.
LC: You know, he did Dressed to Kill.

That’s right.
LC: I’m his bookkeeper. Well, actually, right now I’m panicking, because it is tax time and I have to get back to bookkeeping.

I have to ask you about the People’s Choice Awards. That must have been a nerve-wracking experience.
LC: That was such a nerve-wracking experience, you have no idea. Okay, they knew they were getting the People’s Choice Award. That’s one award that you’re told beforehand. That’s why everybody who gets it usually shows up. For some reason, KISS only found out 10 days before, so they couldn’t show up. They were already booked in Fargo, North Dakota. They said, what are we going to do, sit in the audience with makeup on? We’re going to feel ridiculous and blah, blah, blah … so I’m sitting at a table backstage in Detroit with Gene, Peter and Bill Aucoin, and I just said, “Well, I’ll accept the award,” just joking. And Gene turned out and said, “Okay.” And once I knew he said, “Okay,” I said, “Oh my God.” I lost 10 pounds in 10 days. I was a nervous wreck. I had to get a dress, I had to get hair, I had to figure out what to do with my hair, I had to get nails … I didn’t even have long nails. I had to get them, fake nails. I had to do the whole thing, and I was a nervous wreck. I had to give a speech. Not only that, but they stuck me in the audience and they never told me when to walk up. They never told us. There was nothing. They never told
"Beth" - Peter Criss
me anything. And Bill Aucoin was sitting next to me and he just pushes me out. I was sitting on the aisle. He just pushes me out, and he goes, “Good luck.” And I’m going, “Bill, I’m going to kill you (laughs).”

Were you able to do the entire speech as written?
LC: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I’ve done this speech so much, I know it by heart: “Honestly, ‘Beth’ is my favorite song, not only because it’s how Peter feels about me, but it’s how everyone feels when he’s away from the woman he loves. KISS is performing tonight and they just want me to thank you for this great honor, and I want to thank KISS.” And then I blew a little kiss.

That was a nice touch.
LC: Yeah, I think Carl Glickman or Howard Marks wrote it for me. He wrote that for me. And I practiced. I said it over and over again on the plane. The week before, I used to carry it around with me, practicing it for 10 days. All I ate for 10 days was an egg a day.

Is that right?
LC: I was nauseous. I couldn’t eat anything, and I was stuck … I would try to eat something, so I would have a hard-boiled egg, and I was like full just from eating that. And I was a nervous wreck. And I think I went down to 103 pounds the day of the People’s Choice Awards. 

What was the most frustrating thing for Peter about being in KISS?
LC: Well, he was frustrated because he couldn’t get enough songs on the albums, but the thing was, Peter’s songs are not as good as Gene’s and Paul’s. That’s the problem Peter doesn’t realize. He thinks his songs are great and they’re not. I mean, I’m sorry to say it, but I mean, “Beth” is good and some of the songs were good, but he also wrote them with Stan Penridge. And Penridge was really the writer. You know, for some reason I think you have to know music … not really, no – because Richie [Fontana, formerly of Piper] doesn’t. You don’t have to read music, but you know … playing guitar might help. I don’t know, but my boyfriend, Richie, he’s an amazing writer. Peter wasn’t – sorry, sorry.

How would you characterize your marriage to Peter? It seemed like you had to play psychologist quite a bit.
LC: Well, to be honest with you, I thought we had a good marriage. We did fight, but I thought everybody fought. And you know what it is? I realize now everybody doesn’t fight, because I think you fight when you’re younger because you’re just too immature. Richie and I, we’ve been together 11 years, and we’ve had two fights. That’s it. Two fights in 11 years. And they weren’t major … well, one was major, and one, neither one of us know what the fight was about (laughs). “Why did we have that fight?” We don’t even remember. Anyway, one was a major fight, but the thing is when you’re young, you fight a lot more. You’re jealous. You’re immature. Richie’s been through … do you know who Richie is?

Richie Fontana?
LC: Yes. He’s been on the road with a major band, Piper. He was with the Skatt Bros., which was Sean
Richie Fontana - Piper
Delaney. He’s had a great career. He was on Paul Stanley’s album, the solo album. And he was a drummer, but he also plays every other instrument. He’s like a McCartney, like a McCartney of the Aucoin people. You know, we don’t fight. We’ve both been through it all, we both know … hey, we’re mature. I know he’s gone out with girls. He knows I’ve gone out with guys. What are you going to do, fight about the past? But that’s the thing: Peter was always jealous, and he says I was jealous, but of course, I was jealous because he admits he was cheating on me. Why shouldn’t I be jealous?

Was it the drugs that changed Peter? Or was it the success? Or was it all of it?
LC: No, that’s what broke up our marriage. You know what I used to say to Peter? I’ll be honest with you. I used to say to Peter, “Look, I know you’re a rock star now. And I know you’ve got lots of girls all over, hanging all over you. And I’m sure you sleep with some of them. Just don’t take them to breakfast.” In other words, “Don’t flaunt them in front of your band members. Do your thing and get rid of them.” Debbie, obviously, he didn’t get rid of. And he wound up marrying her. I believe that it was all … at that point, drugs were a major part of our life, and that’s what really broke us up. I really believe that. It wasn’t the girls, because I knew he was with girls. It was the drugs.

It seems like him and Ace … I don’t know if they kind of ran together, but they seemed to be interested in the same things.
LC: The thing is … it’s not that they ran together, because they kind of didn’t. Yeah, Peter hung out with Paul a lot. We went on vacation together, twice. Once we went to Rockport, Mass., which is kind of like Martha’s Vineyard in a way. It’s near there. And then we also met in Hawaii together – me, Paul and Peter and whatever girl he was with at the time. I never actually went on vacation with Ace. So, it wasn’t like … I was closer to Jeanette [Trerotola, Ace Frehley’s former wife] than … well, actually, Paul had a girlfriend I was close to as well. But I’m not sure. I know we used to go out to clubs with Paul, because Paul lived in the city, but we were actually closer to Paul at one point. But I think that people think that Ace and Peter were close, but just because they both drank but it wasn’t necessarily that way.

Peter did have his wild friends like John Belushi.
LC: Yeah, we had John, but so did Ace. Ace knew John, but the thing is we were introduced by another friend of mine that used to do videos for KISS. We were introduced to John, and also, Sean Delaney worked with John Belushi. Yeah, Sean did work on “Saturday Night Live.”

What was the scariest moment for you with Peter?
LC: Um, when he would get violent. There were a few times. There was a time where I got hit by him. Three o’clock in the morning, we’re living in Brooklyn, KISS is doing their first album. Richie Wise and Kenny Kerner [the producers on KISS’s debut album] were joking with him, and they said, “Oh, Lydia’s flirting with Paul,” just because I was taking pictures and because they wanted to bust his balls. But he came home drunk and he wanted to beat me up, so he did. He punched me in the lip, and I had to go to work the next day and make an excuse for that one. That was scary. The other scary one was in my apartment in Manhattan, when we moved to the east side of Manhattan. I don’t know, we were having some sort of fight, and I wound up leaving and I checked into a hotel. And the other time was … there was another time he was hitting me, but basically … oh, we were on the road and I actually left the room and knocked on Bill Aucoin’s door and said, “Can I sleep in here,” and I did. At that point, Peter was wrecking the room, and I have photos of it.

In the end, you didn’t end up divorcing just Peter. You divorced KISS pretty much and your previous life.
LC: That’s the hardest part of getting divorced. You don’t leave a person. You leave their family, you end up losing their friends, and their business associates. Fortunately, I kept in touch with Ace. I’m not in touch with Gene or Paul. I see them occasionally, maybe once every 20 years … I don’t know (laughs). But I do talk to his family. I’m close to his family, his brother. I’m closer to his brother now than he is. He hasn’t talked to his brother in about 15 years. He only talks to one of his sisters, and the last time I saw Peter, which was at Bill Aucoin’s memorial, I had to tell him it was his sister’s … the one sister that he does keep in touch with I had to tell him it was her birthday.

Oh, is that right?
LC: I said, “You should call your sister.” The family is always complaining, “We don’t hear from him. We don’t hear from him.” So I tell him, and I have seen him in 16 years and I’m reprimanding him (laughs).

Learning how to be a photographer, did you ever think that would help you stand on your own two feet?
LC: Well, absolutely. I always loved being a photographer. My mother took pictures and my uncle was a professional photographer. My uncle actually built his own camera and he was in a photography magazine. He always had a Leica, which I wound up getting when he passed away. But my mother always used to go, “Oh no. Here comes aunt Mary with the camera.” And that was my mother. So I always had a camera, and when I finally was getting divorced, I’m going to go for lessons, because we had finally gotten professional cameras. And you know, you can learn a little bit through … you know, once we were in Japan they were telling me what to do with this camera and I’m going,”Ugh. I’m like lost.” But I went to school. I went to school, to the New School in New York City, and I took a couple of classes. Jeanette was supposed to go with me, but she bailed out. And so I took a couple of classes, and I learned how to use the camera. And I just said to myself … I just remember walking in my home in Greenwich, and I thought, “You know what? Your life is not over. You can do whatever you want to do, and you’re going to do it.” I just said, “I want to be a photographer.” And that’s what I became.

Who was your favorite band to photograph?
LC: Ah, Queen. Queen. Well, KISS would have been if they’d allowed me to be in the pit, but I wasn’t allowed because of Peter. It wasn’t KISS; it was Peter who didn’t want me there. But Queen has the best lighting. I loved their lighting. I mean, I’m not sure, but I’m sure KISS had great lighting also. I mean, I love to photograph KISS. They’re so visual. But other than KISS, it would be Queen.

Was there a photo that you’ve taken over the years, maybe of Freddie [Mercury] or somebody, that’s your favorite?
LC: Oh yeah. I got a picture of Freddie where he’s standing with his fist out and he’s standing sideways and the lights from something on the stage just keep going. It’s an amazing photo and the weirdest thing about it is [famed rock photographer] Barry Levine asked me for a copy of that photo.

Oh, is that right?
LC: So, you know who Barry is, right?

He taught you a few tricks, right?
LC: Barry is my inspiration, and so is Bob Gruen. They both inspired me. Barry inspired me with his professionalism and his creativity. Bob Gruen inspired me with respect to you can do anything and they’ll love it (laughs). I said to Bob Gruen, “I have a photo in my book … some of them are dark, some of them are out of focus.” He goes, “It doesn’t matter. They’ll love them anyway.” I didn’t want them in my book, but my editors said, “Put them in the book. They’re history. They’re part of history (laughs).”

Do you have a favorite Ace story you could tell? It seems like there is a lot of them.
LC: Well, you know the one of him with the girl on the balcony.

Right.
LC: Jesus, I don’t know. I think Ace is a story in himself. He’s a character. Oh, all right. I’ve got a story about Ace. I probably don’t have it in the book. Okay … well, maybe I do. I’m not sure. Anyway, Ace is here one day. He’s at my apartment, and he’s going over to see this girl Linda, who lives on 72nd. I’m like a couple of blocks away from there. A few blocks from the Dakota. So he’s going over to see Linda, and he goes, “Lydia, could you lend me $20?” I said, “$20? What the hell are you going to do with $20?” And he says, “Oh, you know, just in case I need $20.” I said, “Ace, I’ll give you $50.” So I went over the safe and got $50 out of the safe and I gave him $50, and he goes, “Hey, you got a lot of money?” And I said, “No, but I’ve got money.” And he goes, “Will you marry me?”

And he likes to gamble.
LC: Needless to say, I never got the $50 back (laughs). He loves to gamble. I was at his apartment once. It was me and Jeanette. We were at the apartment, and he took a Lear jet to Atlantic City, and he called up Jeanette. And he says, “Jeanette, I’m not coming home tonight.” She goes, “What do you mean?” We were in his Manhattan apartment. He had a house at that point I think up it was up in Irvington, New York. It was just a rental. Or maybe he owned it. I’m not sure. He might have owned it. I’m not sure, but it wasn’t the big house that he bought in Wilson, New York. He goes, “I’m not coming home.” And she goes, “Why not?” And he says, “Because I’m winning $40,000. I’m up $40,000. And I’m not coming home. We’re rained in.” And she goes, “Okay, fine.” He winds up … the next day he takes the plane out and comes home with $25,000. She goes, “What happened to the other $15,000?” And he goes, “Well, I lost it. And I also bought you a mink coat (laughs).” He’s hysterical.

He hasn’t changed much, except for the sobriety I suppose.
LC: Yeah.

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Look for more of our interview with Lydia Criss in the coming days. In the meantime, visit http://www.lydiacriss.com/ for more information on Lydia and the revised and expanded edition of her book, “Sealed with a KISS.”