KISS: Shout it out
Published 1985
About:
A lot like “On fire” but thicker and a little more content. I really liked the book when it came out. There are quite a few photos of the european version of the Animalize stage. A stage that it’s pretty difficult to find pictures of elsewhere.
The book was a collaboration between Kiss Fan-Club and Melody Line (a store in Gothenburg).
Verdict: 5/10
KISS: On Fire
Published 1984
About:
Not really a book. But a cool swedish collectable from the Animalize area. A lot of cool B/W pictures from the swedish part of the Animalize tour. There are not that many good shots of the available so just that makes the “book” quite interesting.
I know there were a Finnish edition of “On Fire” and maybe an English on also?
This “book” I believe was made by the Swedish fan-club at the time? If you have any information about this please let me know.
Verdict: 5/10
KISS: The Real Story
By: Tomarkin, Peggy
Published April 1980, 112 pages
ASIN: 0440048346
About:
As the first two books I have really problems viewing this as a book. To me it’s more or less a collectable. A really cool collectable by the way. It’s the first real Kisstory we ever got. Even if the layout isn’t that great the story is quite cool. So if your abel to get your hands on the book, then buy it. It’s worth having in your collection.
Verdict: 6/10
KISS: The Real Story
By: Tomarkin, Peggy
Published April 1981
About:
The ‘same book’ as above. But published by the dutch fan club in 1981. Much smaller format, different layout and pictures. But most of the what cool about the official version is not used in this edition. Some cool bw pictures but nothing that you really need if your not a real completist.
Verdict: 4/10
KISS
by: Duncan, Robert
Published 1978
Second edition
Kiss (A Savoy Rock’n'roll Book)
Published: March 1980
ISBN: 0861300408
KISS: Headliners
by: Swenson, John
Published 1978, 186 pages
Second edition
Published January 1979
ASIN: 0441319408
About:
These two books are really quite difficult to say much about. They are more or less cool collectibles. if your looking for real information about Kiss then you have to go somewhere else. The books are a mix between fact and fiction. Some of the content are very dramatized by the writer.
Most of the pictures are really cool and have not been seen many other places. The first time I read the “Headliners” book in 1981 I could not remember anything afterwards. I re-read both when I bought them on ebay a couple of years ago and they did not do much impact then either. But they are both cool collectibles.
Verdict: 5/10
(Written in 2003 before I became the webmaster for Kiss Army Norway. Will be updated)
First of all I want to dedicate this story to the friends/Kiss fans I have known threw the years; Eivind Arntsen, André (what’s up with that é?) Storvoll, Thomas Løland, Tony Bisgaard, Kenneth Stern (where did he go?), Sammy, Ståle Redalen, Espen Mortensen, Christian Ellingsen, Håkon Glenne, Lars Kaasa and Kyrre Hysvær (maybe not a big fan, but a great and supporting friend anyway).
And last but not least, Arild Østby for selling those records in 1978.
I was born in November 1968. Before I started second grade in 1976, I inherited money from an old uncle of my mother, and I bought myself a stereo. That’s when my relationship with music began. The first music I bought was ABBA, Elton John and Elvis Presley cassettes. I had to wait until 1977 before I could afford a phono player. The first “encounter” I had with KISS was when I was in the USA during the summer of 1976. My cousin’s son was going to a concert to a show on the Destroyer tour (I believe it was the NJ show). And he showed me his T-shirt after the show. Continue reading
(Written in 2003 before I became the webmaster for Kiss Army Norway. Will be updated)
Most of 1981 was spent collecting different Kiss stuff. My friend Thomas and I would more or less “kill” if we where able to get some new stuff. We spent hours trading posters with each other. We even tried some dirty tricks sometimes to get posters from younger kids without paying too much. My room was covered with Kiss posters, all the walls and the ceiling. My mother called it the “horror cabinet”. My parents where really cool about my “obsession”. But then again they have always been cool about most things.
We really where looking forward to the new Kiss record. And as the time crept slowly forward to the release date the anticipation grew. I went to the record store the day it came out. For almost 10 min I looked around the store to see if I could find the damn thing. The store owner asked; “What are you looking for?”. I told him I was looking for the new Kiss record. And he pointed on a pile of brown LP covers beside the counter. There was no way I had found “The Elder” without him pointing it out to me. I wasn’t to found of the cover. But the music was incredible. Continue reading