ALLLRIIIIGHT! METAFILTER! YOU FEEL GOOD!
June 4, 2011 1:37 PM   Subscribe

People, Let Me Get This Off My Chest is a 65 minute compilation of stage banter by Paul Stanley of KISS. Paul repeatedly reminds the Army that they’re getting their money’s worth... , that the next tune is the first time they’ve played it on tour, that he was talking backstage to someone... about what kind of alcohol that people in the area like to drink, that they’re just getting started, and that he’s got an “uzi of ooze” in his pants.
posted by Trurl (69 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
The ZIP file appears to be gone from Captain's Dead, but you can get it here.
posted by mykescipark at 1:39 PM on June 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


I once sat one row behind Paul Stanley on a flight. He read Business Week the whole time. Why Paul Stanley was flying coach I'll never know.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:46 PM on June 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


Related: the They Might Be Giants mashup of the CD.
posted by LSK at 1:48 PM on June 4, 2011


Obligatory Handsome Dick Manitoba story.
posted by cazoo at 1:52 PM on June 4, 2011 [4 favorites]


He put it back up for us:

EDIT: FOR PEOPLE OF METAFILTER, I PUT THE ZIP BACK UP FOR YA… ENJOY!
posted by Infinite Jest at 2:18 PM on June 4, 2011 [4 favorites]


Haven't watched yet, but I hope it's all like this.
posted by orme at 2:21 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


This reminds me of getting Alive II, one of my first albums, when I was thirteen, and listening to it over and over. I nearly fell off my chair the first time I heard Paul Stanley speak in a normal tone of voice.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:29 PM on June 4, 2011


i was at the DC record fair and one seller had Kiss Alive and Kiss Alive II. I made a few comments and the seller said "but they still sell."
posted by Ironmouth at 2:32 PM on June 4, 2011


If you listen to only one of them, make it this one. The drummer makes it.
posted by NoMich at 2:36 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


but they still sell.

I am amazed that they keep selling anything because you would think that by now every KISS fan would have every piece of KISS merchandise they would ever need. I mean, there can't be new KISS fans right?
posted by boubelium at 2:38 PM on June 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


Hope that one about the woman who claims she had Gene's baby, but he firmly denies ("... but I tell you what, that baby had longest tongue I've ever seen...) is on there, 'cause that one never gets old.
posted by 445supermag at 2:49 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


ahahahaha, comedy gold, indeed. We used to shriek "HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE LIKE THE TASTE OF ALCOHOL?!?!?!" at each other in the hallways in high school as a kind of mating call, because that's how we '80s suburban punk/new wave types ironically rolled, yo.
posted by scody at 2:55 PM on June 4, 2011 [8 favorites]


KISS is basically professional wrestling with guitars. I find their widespread and enduring success baffling.
posted by ixohoxi at 2:59 PM on June 4, 2011 [12 favorites]


This is professional wrestling with guitars.
posted by Trurl at 3:03 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


As a professional wrestling fan, I resent the implications. KISS taught me disappointment; the gulf between their look and their sound was so baffling to me.
posted by jtron at 3:05 PM on June 4, 2011 [3 favorites]


the gulf between their look and their sound was so baffling to me.

Honest question: what would you expect them to sound like, based on their look?
posted by ixohoxi at 3:09 PM on June 4, 2011 [3 favorites]


GWAR.
posted by kernel_sander at 3:13 PM on June 4, 2011 [8 favorites]


I'm no fan, not by a long shot, but "Rock and Roll Over" is a fine, punchy little rock album.
posted by davebush at 3:25 PM on June 4, 2011


I fully understand one of the inspirations for this character now.
posted by pashdown at 3:26 PM on June 4, 2011


In retrospect something along the lines of Slayer or Ackercocke would have made sense. Something with a little less boogie and a lot more evil.
posted by jtron at 3:47 PM on June 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


I find their widespread and enduring success baffling.

Mr. Stanley is on his third hip replacement. Obvious from his stage banter that none of them took.
posted by hal9k at 3:55 PM on June 4, 2011 [4 favorites]


Mr. Stanley is on his third hip replacement.

Paul Stanley has three hips?
posted by scody at 4:10 PM on June 4, 2011 [3 favorites]


It's nice that he put it back up, but it looks like he's trying to suck some of MeFi's page rank—look at the end of the page:
Our incredible deals of JN0-332 dumps and free 642-731 tutorials make your success certain for the final 70-294 exam.
That's sort of annoying.
posted by aaronbeekay at 4:13 PM on June 4, 2011


Venom - Live at City Gardens. A classic of this sort of thing.
posted by jtron at 4:14 PM on June 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


Mod note: removed first link at poster's request, it's still available in the first comment - sorry about that everyone.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:34 PM on June 4, 2011


he needs that third hip for his third leg, EVERYBODY, ALLLLLRIGHT!
posted by broken wheelchair at 4:40 PM on June 4, 2011 [7 favorites]


KISS is basically professional wrestling with guitars. I find their widespread and enduring success baffling.

Frank Zappa has this line about how rock music isn't really for listening, it's for dressing up to. And I think that's pretty much the explanation. KISS was for people who loved rock and roll outfits and rock and roll hairstyles but had the unfortunate handicap of not liking actual rock music very much.

Same way professional wrestling is sports for people who like sports merchandise and sports storylines but find themselves unable to give two shits about actual sports. (....or grand opera for the fundamentally and incontrovertibly butch — which, come to think of it, is another niche that KISS filled.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:11 PM on June 4, 2011 [3 favorites]


Trurl: "and that he’s got an “uzi of ooze” in his pants."

Does that mean that it's rapid-fire but very small caliber?
posted by dunkadunc at 5:39 PM on June 4, 2011 [8 favorites]


KISS was for people who loved rock and roll outfits and rock and roll hairstyles but had the unfortunate handicap of not liking actual rock music very much.

I'd disagree, at least for the group's history up to and including Love Gun/Alive II, although I'll admit that a big part of that has to do with me being thirteen at that point, which is really the ideal age to be a KISS fan.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:42 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


You know, I bet a lot of the haters here are fans of the products of Warhol's Factory, or basically all of Punk or perhaps the Monkees or any other number of pop bands that had a certain amount of manufacturing about them.

That IS rock and roll. Don't like it, go dig on some 60s Mingus or spend a weekend with the Ring Cycle or something.

'cause I was made for loving you, baby.
posted by digitalprimate at 5:58 PM on June 4, 2011 [8 favorites]


It was really strange to me to see KISS going from being a laughingstock, to a bunch of local punk bands in my hometown devoting a night to covering their songs, to those Melvins album covers, to some sort of quasi-respectability. Because it's not like the music changed.

That IS rock and roll.

Depends on the terms, I guess. What turned me off about KISS is that I actually enjoy it when bands seem to be in it for the music first.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:04 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I once sat one row behind Paul Stanley on a flight. He read Business Week the whole time. Why Paul Stanley was flying coach I'll never know.

I once sat one row behind the Krankies on a flight. They were very friendly and chatty during the flight. I'm glad they flew economy (coach). They helped me get my hand luggage after the flight had landed. Fandabidozi!

I also once sat one row behind Boyzone on a flight. They acted like idiots for the entire flight. I regret flying business that time.

And now I harbour more admiration for a hardly-known kids entertainment duo that went out of their way to be friendly, than for one of the most popular groups of their time.

Sorry, but after listening to this, KISS fall into my 'Boyzone' category.
posted by KirkpatrickMac at 6:10 PM on June 4, 2011


KISS Army member here: what makes them a great band has very little to do with Paul's stage raps.. Just so you know.

Carry on with your hatin'.
posted by jonmc at 6:26 PM on June 4, 2011 [7 favorites]


I mean, there can't be new KISS fans right?

A quick survey of the fifth grade boys in my neighborhood would indicate that there are.
posted by TheShadowKnows at 6:53 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


In retrospect something along the lines of Slayer or Ackercocke would have made sense. Something with a little less boogie and a lot more evil.

Huh. "Evil" is not among the adjectives that come to mind when I see this.
posted by ixohoxi at 7:04 PM on June 4, 2011


Got any people here tonight that are HIIIIIIIIIGH? ANY PEOPLE THAT ARE HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH???!!!!
posted by drezdn at 7:32 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I saw Ted Leo's solo show last month, and a great deal of his banter was about Paul Stanley's banter; he does a pretty excellent Stanley impression. He also had a bit about how dumb KISS lyrics are, specifically "Cold Gin." Pretty great show to see if you get the chance.
posted by aaronetc at 8:37 PM on June 4, 2011


The professional wrestling aspect of the band was a source of both success and scorn. It's a pity they were written off so easily. I listened to Rock and Roll Over, and Kiss Alive II a couple months ago, and there are some very strong 70s power pop songs to be found there, adolescent themes and all.
posted by 2N2222 at 8:38 PM on June 4, 2011


Depends on the terms, I guess. What turned me off about KISS is that I actually enjoy it when bands seem to be in it for the music first.

That's a fair enough critique, and to be honest, I don't even really dig KISS that much. I generally do dig bands that are in it for the music first.

I'm just saying that, when we're talking about pop music, the very fact that a band is making pop music is often it's only source of authenticity - that willingness to please.
posted by digitalprimate at 9:08 PM on June 4, 2011


What turned me off about KISS is that I actually enjoy it when bands seem to be in it for the music first.

I second that emotion. And even bands that are phoning it in for the money have to have been good at some point for me to pay attention.

Although "Strutter" is a nice little piece of rock n' roll.
posted by Roman Graves at 9:12 PM on June 4, 2011


I actually enjoy it when bands seem to be in it for the music first

Me too.
posted by flabdablet at 9:21 PM on June 4, 2011


Why your favorite band sucks
posted by flabdablet at 9:34 PM on June 4, 2011


Whoa. A Bevis Frond reference! That's pretty darned obscure stuff right there...
posted by Windopaene at 9:36 PM on June 4, 2011


Thanks jtron, I came into this thread looking for that Jersey Venom link and I knew someone would have it.
posted by chaff at 9:43 PM on June 4, 2011


Genuine guitar wrestling
posted by flabdablet at 10:14 PM on June 4, 2011


They are almost as hilarious as Beavis and Butthead, but not quite as genius. I laughed aloud when I saw Stanley and Simmons (who is an absurdist masterpiece in his own right) on French Canadian television promoting some sort of exclusive KISS thing (could have been music, I don't remember) at Walmart. Rock and roll indeed. An interesting bunch of clowns for certain.

And what is this, a YouTube forum? Disliking a band doesn't make you a hater.
posted by juiceCake at 10:55 PM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


COLD GIN!

-I can't heah ya!

COLD GIN!

-Louda!

COLD GIN!
posted by telstar at 11:01 PM on June 4, 2011


If you listen to only one of them, make it this one. The drummer makes it.

This has to be one of Dr. Rockso's influences.
posted by zippy at 11:06 PM on June 4, 2011


True story, and probably not all that relevant. I LOVED KISS when I was in second grade. Thought they were the most amazing thing ever. Had a KISS poster on my wall. Used to gaze at it with this weird mix of fear/terror and admiration -- they were standing on top of a cliff overlooking a post-apocalyptic landscape (I think). Gene Simmons had these platform shoes that seemed to be made of fangs. That gave me chills, suggested realms of existence and possibility I'd never imaged in my short, suburban, isolated midwestern life.

But, again, that was second grade. I haven't really paid attention to them since -- though a part of me likes to think that there must be something cool about them because I thought there were cool back then.

Aside from lack of interest, the main reason I haven't revisited them in my adulthood is that I'm afraid I'll realize there was nothing at all cool about them, and that I was just a dumb-ass little kid back then. Or, worse: this childhood connection will actually make me like them as an adult, and I'll have to explain that to all of my friends with better taste.
posted by treepour at 11:53 PM on June 4, 2011 [2 favorites]


I only like bands that are so into it for the music and not the money that they get mad when I buy their albums.
posted by Nabubrush at 12:17 AM on June 5, 2011 [3 favorites]


As someone thinking of dipping my toe in for the first time, what K.I.S.S. merchandise should I buy?
posted by Meatbomb at 12:48 AM on June 5, 2011


Had a KISS poster on my wall. Used to gaze at it with this weird mix of fear/terror and admiration -- they were standing on top of a cliff overlooking a post-apocalyptic landscape (I think

Sounds like the album art on Destroyer.
posted by zippy at 1:38 AM on June 5, 2011


What turned me off about KISS is that I actually enjoy it when bands seem to be in it for the music first.

Well, yeah. But that's the wrong yardstick to apply to KISS. They're about the spectacle, the show, the act. They're vaudeville with Marshall stacks. (Though, as noted, "Strutter" is a pretty great tune.) KISS, in their heyday, put on shows that were The Best Thing You'll See In Your Shitty Little Town All Year, and it had very little to do with the music, IMO. They toured relentlessly, and often in places other bands didn't deign to play. They were glam for the masses, master media manipulators, and if what they were selling was little more than hokum and glitter, well, there's a long list of rock'n'roll "artists" who've done the same but who didn't have the spine to admit it. I'll give KISS that much credit: at least they were honest about it. No pretense, no message, nothing but "rock and roll all night and party every day". And pay the man at the door.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:42 AM on June 5, 2011 [12 favorites]


Can I safely say that KISS is the Hello Kitty of Rock'n'Roll?
posted by Celsius1414 at 2:20 AM on June 5, 2011 [3 favorites]


For our first anniversay as a couple back in 1996, Pips and I got tickets to see Kiss at Madison Square Garden. The show was spectacular, the tunes were great, and the most jaded hipster on earth would've been forced to admit "That was fuckin' cool."

Anyway, they were in front of a rabid hometown crowd, so before the encore of "Detroit Rock City," Paul came up to the mike and said "This is a song about a city...I't ain't New York, ...but we know this is a rock and roll city...We GREW UP HERE!" and then started rockin.

That was cool.
posted by jonmc at 5:31 AM on June 5, 2011 [2 favorites]


As a point of reference to MeFites born after 1980, think Rammstein.

Not a great deal of musical depth, just a good metal crunch with melodies you swear you've heard somewhere else, but you just can't place it, and a stage show that you don't regret payaing $100+ for tickets...

The only difference is Kiss fans aren't ashamed to own the entire catalog. In fact quite the opposite.

It's a capitalist band, and that's why your rank in the Kiss Army is how well you've performed your duties as a dedicated consumer.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 7:12 AM on June 5, 2011 [2 favorites]


For our first anniversay as a couple back in 1996, Pips and I got tickets to see Kiss at Madison Square Garden. The show was spectacular, the tunes were great, and the most jaded hipster on earth would've been forced to admit "That was fuckin' cool."

IIRC, Thurston Moore described seeing a 70s era KISS show where some glitter shredding machine ran thoughout, causing the fans to be covered in glitter by the end, and yea verily, it was fucking cool.
posted by Trurl at 7:50 AM on June 5, 2011


Aside from lack of interest, the main reason I haven't revisited them in my adulthood is that I'm afraid I'll realize there was nothing at all cool about them, and that I was just a dumb-ass little kid back then. Or, worse: this childhood connection will actually make me like them as an adult, and I'll have to explain that to all of my friends with better taste.

Well, that's the risk that you take with just about anything that you were into as a child. (I've been dismayed upon revisiting Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Pippi Longstocking stories, for example.) When I listen to Destroyer (the only album of theirs that I still have) now, I'm just about balanced between enjoyment and embarrassment. On the other hand, whenever Gene Simmons says something arrogant (such as his infamous Fresh Air interview), I can remind myself that this is the same guy who wrote "God of Thunder" as a grown man.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:04 AM on June 5, 2011


this is the same guy who wrote "God of Thunder" as a grown man.

God of Thunder fucking rocks. And I'm a forty year old man who was just rocking out on his back porch to Alice Cooper's "Eighteen," (Still the best male ansgt song ever).

Age ain't shit.
posted by jonmc at 1:06 PM on June 5, 2011


I know, your favorite band sucks and all, but truly, no band sucks more than Kiss.
posted by caddis at 4:01 PM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


I bet Paul Stanley has given more than one member of the Kiss Army a dishonorable discharge.
posted by srboisvert at 5:37 AM on June 6, 2011 [7 favorites]


KISS is horrible. Don't compared them to the Monkees or pro-wrestling or other manufactured entertainment. They aren't the Monkees. They aren't even the Archies.

These are four guys LARPing a metal band.

Nothing about them "rocks."One guy is dressed up like a kitty cat with pursed lips, and the other idiot has a star painted on his face. They are wearing platform shoes. King Diamond they ain't.

Musically they sound like a band that took lessons for three weeks and then stopped.The production on their albums would be below par for a garage band, let alone a signed touring band. And their lyrics? "I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day." Gene Simmons claims he does not drink or do drugs ever. So what constitutes partying for him? Finding another way to screw his bandmates out of royalties? Or laughing at his audience?

Every defense of KISS is either about how commercially successful they are, or about how all rock and roll is really about the things KISS is about. The costumes, the theatrics, etc. I bet some clever person will say that kiss is about pissing people off. No. KISS is about giving the tone deaf something that looks like a rock band so they can fit in with the other kids at school without having to admit they can't really tell one note from the other. Seriously, why do they look like that and then sing the songs that they do. Because people show up to the concerts to see how they look, and once they are there, the band needs something to run out the clock, so they play some generic rock. Yeah, rock out to "Domino", KISS army.

The real problem with them is that they are just sloppy and mediocre. They aren't something truly vile like those church-burning, white-supremacist scandanavian bands. Nor are they pushing some new radical sound. They aren't challenging anything or anyone. They just suck.
posted by Pastabagel at 7:35 AM on June 6, 2011 [7 favorites]


These are four guys LARPing a metal band.

Pastabagel, you are excellent. This explains exactly what sucks so much about K.I.S.S. and I admire your insight. Well done sir.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:46 AM on June 6, 2011


As usual I agree with Meatbomb and not just because I'm his sock puppet. My three favorite things about KISS are KISS meets the Phantom of the Park, their original name ("Wicked Lester"), and that they inspired a stage makeup remover called "KISS Off."

One guy is dressed up like a kitty cat with pursed lips

Mein wife might have the opportunity to tour Japan playing drums with a KISS cover band. If it happens she intends to replace the Peter Criss "Catman" facepaint with Hello Kitty...
posted by jtron at 7:58 AM on June 6, 2011 [2 favorites]


Reminded me of this great blog post about stage banter.

I make no apologies for still playing KISS occasionally. I was 8 in 1976.
posted by zzazazz at 4:08 PM on June 6, 2011 [1 favorite]


Nickelback is still worse.
posted by juiceCake at 5:26 PM on June 6, 2011 [1 favorite]


This thread's all done and whatnot, and Pastabagel, wow, dude, that's the first thing you've posted in like years that made me want to do mean things to you (wedgies included).

But for all you hipster haters and hating on hipsters former hipsters etc, I give you the ultimate KISS homage.

Out fixie vegan that mefites.
posted by digitalprimate at 5:40 PM on June 9, 2011


okay
posted by flabdablet at 1:36 AM on June 10, 2011


And don't you be dissin vegans
posted by flabdablet at 5:44 AM on June 10, 2011


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