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Kiss music biography continued...

vocals) and Gene Simmons (b. Chaim Witz-- bass, vocals), who went on to recruit Peter Criss (b. Peter Crisscoula-- drums, vocals) and Ace Frehley (b. Paul Frehley-- lead guitar, vocals). The band's cartoon image, kabuki makeup and 4th-of-July stageshow concept was in place from the start, and they began promoting their own hall shows in NYC. TV director Bill Aucoin saw them, became their manager, and secured a deal for them with Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records within two weeks. Three LPs were released in a year's time, but the live fourth LP, Alive! (1975) contained their first huge hit, a live version of "Rock And Roll All Nite." The success of Alive! not only brought Kiss the breakthrough they had been seeking, but also saved Casablanca, which was close to bankruptcy. Following this success, Kiss partnered with producer Bob Ezrin, who had previously worked with Alice Cooper. The result was Destroyer (released March 1976), Kiss's most musically ambitious studio album to date, which yielded the #7 hit "Beth." Two more highly successful studio albums were released in less than a year—Rock and Roll Over (November 1976) and Love Gun (June 1977). A second live album, Alive II, was released in October1977. All three albums were certified platinum upon or soon after their release. Between 1976 and 1978, Kiss earned $17.7 million from record royalties and music publishing, and a 1977 Gallup poll named Kiss the most popular band in America.



By the end of the 70s, however, Kiss' popularity began to wane and four solo albums from its members fared poorly. Lick It Up (#24, 1983) depicted the group without its makeup and sparked a commercial resurgence. By the early '90s, Kiss had sold more than 70 million albums. The 1994 album, Kiss My Ass, was a big success, as was reunion of the original Kiss for the taping of MTV's Unplugged (#15 1996). In 2008, Stanley announced they would record their first studio album in over ten years. If the outfit has proven anything, it's that in rock & roll anyone with a great live show can become a legend if they stick around long enough.