KISS, Wild Turkey, and Hot in the Shade
Saying farewell to the “hottest band in the world” as they conclude their 50-year touring career.
Tonight and Saturday, December 1st and 2nd 2023, KISS plays their final shows, at New York's Madison Square Garden, in the city where they began 50 years ago.
My introduction to KISS
I was born in the year of Destroyer and Rock and Roll Over, KISS' 4th and 5th studio albums, so I missed out on most of KISS-mania, save for a segment of the kids show 3-2-1 Contact, which may have planted a seed in my mind that would sprout a decade or so later.
Discovering KISS' music
It wasn't until around 1988 or 1989 that I really started to listen to KISS. I bought the Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits greatest hits album as a part of a Columbia House order that I wasn't supposed to make as a minor. But I wore that tape out, listening to Detroit Rock City, Deuce, Tears are Falling, Heaven's on Fire, Shout it Out Loud, I Love It Loud, Lick it Up, and many more. The first time I heard Beth, which was the band's biggest radio hit at the time, it was the version sung by Eric Carr, not Peter Criss.
The Album "Hot in the Shade"
It was a series of events in 1989, 90, and 91 that solidified my fandom in KISS and made me a permanent member of the KISS Army. First, the album Hot in the Shade came out. Now, many KISS fans, particularly the older ones, aren't big fans of this record.
For 13-year-old me, it was perfect. The cover featured a sphinx wearing sunglasses - something that fit right in with the aesthetic of the late 80s. It also featured big rocking songs with aggressive lyrics and some sexual innuendo that I'm sure I found hilarious and something I was "getting away with" as I spun that record on my Magnavox stereo.
Hot in the Shade on vinyl
That’s right. I did own it on vinyl. I'm a huge vinyl fan now, but at the time, records were on their way out in favor of the cassette and CD. They were a bit cheaper. I bought my copy at Pickles Records and Tapes in Millard, Nebraska, which is a suburban part of Omaha.
Sadly, I didn't care for my records well back then and it's cracked. I've got the record in a frame in my basement and have since replaced it with a new copy. But I loved that record. I still do. A few months later, KISS announced that they were going to perform at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. At this time, I was still 13 - almost 14 - and hadn't been to a concert save for a couple of country concerts that I went to with my parents in the early 80s and a very strange concert by the Miami Sound Machine in a little amphitheater at a county fair before Gloria Estefan became a superstar. So, I count the KISS show as my first concert.
My first KISS concert experience
I went with my friends Tim and Matt, and my dad, who had to come because I was too young and couldn't drive.
He didn't like it. But we did.
Opening acts and first impressions
We sat up near the top of the auditorium and watched Slaughter perform on their first tour. Matt and I even got to meet Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum that day. I got them to sign my wrinkled library card because I didn't have anything else. Matt gave them some of his nachos.
Then Faster Pussycat came on. Now, this band has some history in Omaha. The previous year, when they opened for Motley Crue in Omaha, their drummer got arrested for FedExing himself drugs. So, there was that. And then they came out and gave a performance that you really shouldn't watch with a parent. On one song they came out in what I guess was an homage to Public Enemy and started to rap – at least one of them – singer Taime Downe (pronounced “tie me”) – having a toilet seat hanging from his neck rather than a clock.
Awkwardness aside, I loved it all, and even though they're not the greatest band ever, they're still a lot of fun and I always see Faster Pussycat when they come through on tour.
The KISS performance
Then came KISS. The lights went down. These chromatic, ancient Egyptian chromatic tones started to blast through the PA. The sphinx appeared, who we later learned they'd nicknamed Leon after the famous boxer (Leon Spinks). Lasers shot out into the arena - something that's common now but blew my 1990 13-year-old mind. And the band - Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick, and Eric Carr, appeared in the middle of the stage.
I was hooked.
They opened with I Stole Your Love, a song that I don't think I had heard yet at this point. But I loved it. They proceeded to run through all kinds of their hits, ranging from the 70s through their 1980s pop metal hits, and of course, music from Hot in the Shade.
NSFGWP: Not Safe for Going with your Parents
KISS, not to be outdone by Faster Pussycat, wasn't without their share of sexual innuendo either. Paul Stanley is infamous for his strange and interesting moments between songs - the vodka and "arrange" juice one from Alive! Being his most infamous. This one from the Hot in the Shad tour I don't remember exactly, but I think that was the point in my life where I realized what "Lick It Up" might actually mean.
Awkward - especially with your dad sitting a couple of seats over from you.
Drum solos
And then there was the drum solo. Now, I kind of don't like drum solos anymore. Unless the drummer is truly great or does something really entertaining - see Zoltan Chaney who's played with Slaughter and Vince Neil, or Arejay Hale from Halestorm with his giant drumsticks and marching band toms and everything else he does - but otherwise I can really do without them altogether.
This, again, may have been because of my age, but Eric Carr's solo blew my mind. The drumming was great. The lasers and stage shows were great. He had electronic drums and triggers that made all kinds of crazy, unique sounds - something that is now normal, but it was a revelation in 1990.
It was all so great that we went to see KISS again when they came back to nearby Lincoln 5 months later, this time with Vixen and Winger. My friend Tim's dad took us to that one. He liked it just as little as my dad did and still talks about it to this day.
Kiss tours through the years
KISS' Paul Stanley, live, 2019 in Sioux Falls, SD
The rest is kind of history. I got to see KISS many times after that, including twice on their reunion tour with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss - the tour where they put their makeup back on. I saw them on their Psycho Circus tour that featured a 3D glasses component. Big gimmick.
I saw them co-headline with Aerosmith. I saw them co-headline with Def Leppard. I saw them on their first farewell tour.
I got to see them in a club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, playing an Unplugged show for charity. That's one of my favorite KISS moments.
Then I saw them three times on their End of the Road tour. Twice in 2019 and once in February 2020 - right before the pandemic, which is why the tour is still going on and finally ending this weekend in New York City.
The end of KISS's touring era
Will KISS continue in some way? I would think so. Gene and Paul say that this WILL be the end of the band as a makeup wearing touring act, but will see Gene out there with his solo band? Paul with his band or his other projects? Definitely. Will there be countless more compilations and releases of live shows for fans to buy? Absolutely, and I love it. I don't buy everything they put out anymore because there's just so much of it, but I love that it's there.
Whiskey pairing: Wild Turkey 101
To commemorate not only the conclusion of nearly 50 years as the "Hottest Band in the World," but also of the beginning of my KISS fandom, I want to get into Hot in the Shade. Before we do that, I want to pour a whiskey.
I've chosen a commercially successful, strong, powerful whiskey that has a certain reputation, but when you look deeper, you'll find some really nice things about it. Kind of like KISS, actually. I'm talking about Wild Turkey 101.
Wild Turkey 101 is among my favorite go-to whiskeys for taking to a party or a football tailgate. Is it the best bourbon? No. Do a lot of people hate it because they had a bad experience with it when they were younger? Yes. Have I gone onto drink more rich, more complex, more nuanced whiskey? Absolutely. But through all of that, Wild Turkey stands up well. It's good as a mixer, with its 101-proof standing up to ice, or soda, or a Coke. And it's got enough of your typical bourbon sweetness and caramel palate that it's damned good neat as well.
Unlike KISS, Wild Turkey wasn't my first Bourbon, but it was one of the first bourbons that I tried that I truly enjoyed. It had a little complexity but was still very accessible. I found flavors in the whiskey that I hadn't noticed in other whiskies before. It was almost entertaining. It truly got me into bourbon. I should add that I had a similar experience with Evan Williams Black Label so don't call me out if I tell a similar story whenever it's time to talk about that one.
Pairing KISS with Wild Turkey 101 bourbon is quite fitting. Wild Turkey 101, known for its bold and spicy profile with hints of sweetness, mirrors the band's blend of hard rock edge and melodic hooks. The bourbon's robust character complements the energetic live show. But there is more to it than what is found on its label, or its reputation. When you look deeper, it's got a pedigree. A history. It's got some nuance to it. Is there more nuance when you get into Wild Turkey's other offerings like Rare Breed, or the Russel's Reserve whiskies? Sure. But 101 is a great whiskey that you can find at just about any bar or liquor store for a reasonable price.
That's why I've paired Wild Turkey 101 with KISS this week, and in particular, Hot in the Shade. So, let's talk about that now.
Brief analysis of “Hot in the Shade”
I'm not going through every track on this record because it's a long one. But despite the problems with this record - and there are some, there are also moments that are truly KISS. This was a record that saw Gene starting to come back to the KISS fold a little. He'd been splitting his focus between the band and other pursuits like acting. It was evident. His contributions to Asylum and Crazy Nights were lacking at best, and while I do like some things on both of those records - namely Bruce Kulick's leads and some catchy Paul Stanley-led numbers, in general those records don't stand up to the rest of the catalog.
Hot in the Shade was a first step towards righting the ship, which would culminate in their reunion with producer Bob Ezrin for the great Revenge album in 1992, and eventually their reunion with the original band, which launched them back into the mainstream - at least on some level.
Your best songs on Hot in the Shade tend to be the singles on the record. Rise to It is a cool KISS song with great guitar work from Stanley and Kulick. Hide Your Heart is an interesting tune - you could call it a ballad in the sense that it tells a story. Kind of a West Side Story-inspired theme. It was penned by Stanley in collaboration with Desmond Child and Holly Knight - two songwriters who had a hand in many of the big songs of the 1980s. Bonnie Tyler even recorded this song. Apparently, she needed another song about doing something to a heart.
Ace Frehley also recorded this song. It's bad. Southern Rockers Molly Hatchet also recorded this song. It's even worse.
Forever is a sappy love ballad that's very listenable, and it features a nice acoustic solo by Kulick, which sets it apart just a bit from your "Every Rose Has Its Thorns” and your "Don't Know What You've Got till It's Gones” of the era.
I've always liked Little Caesar too. It's sung by Eric Carr, which is a nice moment for him. Carr would sadly die of cancer in November 1991, so every moment we got that featured Eric was very welcomed, in hindsight.
The record closes with a tune called Boomerang, which is fast and heavy. Reminds me a little of Motörhead's Overkill in terms of the drums and pounding baseline. It's a lot of fun.
There are a ton of other good songs on this album, and a few clunkers too. It's 58 minutes long and probably would have been better at around 45 minutes, but that was the era. Everybody wanted to put as much as they could on to the new longer-format CD, and it wasn't always a good idea.
KISS was my gateway to rock and roll
But Hot in the Shade is an album I love. I probably love it because it hit me right at the time I was getting into rock & roll. This, along with Hysteria-era Def Leppard, Slippery When Wet and New Jersey-era Bon Jovi, OU812-era Van Halen, Skid Row, Tesla, Warrant, and others.
These were the bands that got me into rock & roll. Then I went from there, going heavier with Metallica, Anthrax, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. Getting into Southern Rock with Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band. Getting into 70s glam with Bowie and Alice Cooper. And so many other directions to the point where now I have a really hard time figuring out who my favorite band is.
But KISS is always there. No matter how deep I get into 70s prog rock epics - see last episode - I can always put on a KISS record and have a great time. I know their catalog more completely than I know any band's catalog. It's always there.
I toyed with going to the show at Madison Square Garden this weekend, but the airfares to NYC were a little higher than I could justify. So, I'm just going to enjoy all my memories of seeing KISS live. I've bought the pay per view tomorrow night, and I'll be watching that in my garage on the projector screen. Should be fun.
Raise your glasses to KISS!
So, I invite you to get out your bottle of Wild Turkey 101 this weekend and raise your glass to one of the greatest spectacles, and greatest bands in rock history, as we say goodnight for the last time to the hottest band in the world: KISS.
Listening Homework:
Listen to Hot in the Shade by KISS (Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube Music)