*~CHAPTER 1-Early Wickedness~*

The heady days of psychodelia and all things flower
power were just fading and glam rock was about to
storm the world in a tide of flares, glitter and platform
shoes. New York in 1970, however, was a million miles
from such glamor, especially for 21 year old Isralei
national gene Simmons {real name Chaim Whitz}.
Previously an English teacher, bodyguard, and even a
typist at "Vogue", the college graduate Simmons had tired
of "normal" jobs and decided to forge a career in music.
his first real spell of actual music work was in fact
writing radio jingles, but this mental work never diluted
his vision-as a son of a holocaust survivor and having
been bullied as an immigration child, Simmons was a dreamer.

As a teenager, Simmons had played in various local
teenage outfits with names such as Bullfrog Bheer, Love
Bag and Rising Sun, although he freely admitted that at
this pubescent stage, his main aim was to "meet girls."
After leaving College, Simmons made a rough demo with
a keyboard teacher he knew and started to shop the tape
around New York. Fortunately for him, his early musical
ventures caught the attention of Steely Dan`s producer,
Gary katz. Encouraged by this response, Simmons
formed a band, cristening the fledgling outfit Rainbow.
Alonside Simmons in Rainbow was his high school
friend Stephen Coronel, who also had been in Love Bag
{scraps of this band did end up in the latterday KISS repertoire}.
Another mutual acquaintance was roped in to be the frontman.
Paul Stanley {real name: Stanley Eisen} knew of Gene Simmons but they did not get on with each other.
Simmons initially turned Stanley down over the phone,
claiming that the guitarist had an overly academic
background {a native New Yorker, Stanley was a graduate
of the New York High School of Music and the son of a
furniture tradesman}.
Once he had finally been accepted into the new band,
Stanley proved to be a priceless discovery: young, talented
and hungry for success. Like Simmons he shred a love for all
things British, in particular The Beatles, and
announced it had been their childhood dream to play
Madison Square Gardens in New York City.

At the end of 1971, the three friends tired of Rainbow
and went through various names such as Sid Cup Kent
before rechristening themselves Wicked Lester. They
never gigged heavily and failed to attract any sizeable
local following or record company interest. Indeed,
Wicked Lester were about to split up when they were put
in touch with a local engineer at the Electric Lady Studios
who liked what he heard at their rehersal. A demo tape
was cut and sent to various record companies, one of
whom, Epic, expressed an interest in signing the band.

Despite the good news, matters were complicated when
Epic said that Coronel would have to leave. Once he had
departed, Wicked Lester were offered a contract and a
"debut" album recorded at Electric Lady Studios {which
would become something of a second home for Kiss in
later years}. Unfourtunatly this record, a diverse mix of
country, rock, jazz and pop, never saw the light of day. So
Simmons and Stanley were forced to abandon their name
and go back to square one.

After seeing an advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine for
a "drummer with 11 years experience-will do anything
to make it!" the duo contacted Peter Criss {real name:
Peter Criscoula}, who had placed the one liner
in that famous music publication. Criss was an
accomplished musical veteran, having been in several
jazz and rock bands pror to meeting up with the
ex-Wicked Lester twosome.
Simmons chose to ignore Criss` musical credentials
when auditioning him on the phone, and instead asked
him if he was thin, had long hair and was good looking.
When Criss answered yes to all three the decision was
made. Fortunatly for Simmons and Stanley, Criss was
also a brilliant sticksman.

Initially rehearsing on West 23rd Street, Manhattan,
the trio began to search for a full time guitarist to
flesh out their hard sound. Like many famous bands
before them, they placed an ad in the Village Voice
for a guitarist "with flash" and after sifting through the
dozens of hopefuls settled on the final piece of the KISS
jigsaw - Paul `Ace` Frehley. Frehley had walked in
unannounced to the auditorium with one red sneaker and
one orange sneaker, not introducing himself and just
started playing, much to the annoyance of the rest of the
band. However, once they heard his fretwork, their initial
hostility was softened and he was welcomed into the
fold. This cabbie, former mailman and store clerk was
perfect. Taking their name from an idea Stanley had one
evening driving down Queens Boulevard, the new band,
KISS, were ready to take on the world.

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