The early '80s were not great for KISS. The band’s album sales were down and original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss had left. 40 years ago today, in an attempt to resurrect their career, and plug their ‘Lick it Up’ album, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent went on MTV for an interview with J.J. Jackson without their signature makeup.
Here’s an excerpt from the conversation:
J.J.: "Everyone in America wants to know, especially anybody whose been a KISS fan and there are many of those over all these years, very first time out, how does it feel now without make-up appearing for the very first time?
GS: "It feels good. We've always been close to our fans. In fact, in a lot of the shows, we'd walk out into the crowd to sort of get a feel of what everybody was feeling like, and, most often, they really wouldn't know it was us. So, we've always felt closer and I think it's time for them to sort of know us a little bit more. It feels very very comfortable. I mean I hope it seems that way. I feel fine about it. GASP! No. (Laughs)"
PS: "Well actually it feels great. I mean to me it doesn't feel all that different because I've seen these guys more often without make-up than I have with make-up."
Lick It Up eventually reached platinum status, but the tour tanked The legendary band kept the makeup off until the original lineup announced their reunion in 1996. Simmons and Stanley are still with KISS, and the makeup schemes created by Ace and Peter live on on the faces of Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]