Before I begin, I want to apologize in advance for starting yet another freakin' KISS thread.

For those of you who might have missed it in the KISSOLOGY VOL. 3 thread here, I recently found out through an old friend that I happen to be in a recently-released documentary film called “KISS Loves You,” which is an unauthorized look at KISS fandom during the early 1990s. Naturally I immediately tracked down a copy of this DVD for myself, and watched it last night. I was afraid I was going to be embarrassed as hell by this video, but it turned out to be a very fun little movie... and yes, my brother Brian and I are indeed in it, for all of two seconds. Near the start of the film there's a shot of all the people lined up waiting to get into the Rothman Center in Hackensack, New Jersey for the 1995 KISS Convention. As the camera goes down the line, there we are. I open my jacket to display my Kiss T-shirt and give a thumbs up, and my brother mutters a sarcastic "Heyyyy, HEAVY METAL dude!" at the camera. (I damn near choked on my snack when I heard him say that...) We also turn up in the background in a later shot while they're interviewing some guy outside the convention center -- you can see us behind him taking a tobacco product break. But enough about my cinematic debut… how’s the movie, you ask? Even if I wasn't in this movie, I would've enjoyed it anyway, as it brought back a lot of pleasant memories for me. "KISS Loves You" is a very interesting time capsule covering a somewhat odd time in KISStory.

By the early 1990s KISS themselves were at a low point in terms of popularity (I remember being very depressed by the sight of the Meadowlands Arena being only half full during their stop there on the REVENGE tour), and a lot of local fans began dreaming of a return to the band’s makeup-encrusted days of yore. Many of them banded together and started up a network of local KISS fan conventions or formed KISS tribute bands as a way to try and recapture a little of that classic vibe. I was a regular New Jersey KISS Convention attendee every year from 1993 to 1997, and I saw more than my share of tribute bands in local venues during this time period as well, so “KISS Loves You” made me smile, it made me cringe at times, and even made me a little sad in places.

The cast of characters in “KISS Loves You” is as large as the KISS Nation of course, but it focuses on the members of two tributes in particular -- Hotter Than Hell and Strutter (I saw them both many times; Hotter Than Hell was the better of the two), and a fella named Bill Baker, an Ace Frehley lookalike/obsessed collector who was also a regular at the conventions, bringing along his massive collection of Ace memorabilia (much of it obtained from Frehley himself; Baker was tight with him at the time) and performing with his Frehley tribute band, “Fractured Mirror.” Of course, a lot of face-painted weirdos from the Convention floor get time in front of the camera as well, including “The KISS Family,” an entire Brooklyn clan that comes to the Convention every year in full KISS makeup and homemade costumes, including their four year old son as Paul, a horrendously obese uncle as Gene, and a Mom who apparently has no idea who Ace Frehley is, even though she’s dressed like him. This portion of the documentary is the most fun, with various fans making Bold Statements about the state of KISS fandom and additional KISS related commentary from celebs such as Jerry Only (the Misfits), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), and Dick Manitoba (The Dictators). Much additional hilarity is provided by the comments from members of Strutter sniping about the guys in Hotter Than Hell, and vice versa... turns out that Hotter Than Hell's "Ace" and "Peter" were one time Strutter members who broke away and formed their own band after a falling out with Strutter's "Gene" over money. (Sound familiar?)

Then the scene switches to 1995 and things start to get ugly real fast. Some grainy news footage is shown of Gene and Paul crashing a KISS Convention in Michigan and taking back costumes and gear that was apparently stolen from one of their warehouses, in front of hundreds of amazed attendees. Noting the popularity of these conventions, the band then mounts its own Official KISS Convention Tour (at $100 a ticket!!) and copyrights the phrase “KISS Convention.” Local fan gatherings are known as “Expos” from this point on. A year later in 1996, the original KISS lineup finally reunites. Of course, everyone's thrilled at the prospect at first, and all is right with the KISS fan universe… for about a year. Then things start falling apart in KISS fan land. With the real thing back in action, there's not as much demand for tribute bands, so Strutter and Hotter Than Hell find themselves playing fewer gigs (with less people showing up at the gigs they DO get). A very bitter Bill Baker reveals that Ace dropped him like a hot rock as soon as he rejoined KISS and doesn’t even return his phone calls anymore (it turns out that Bill eventually sold off all of his Ace crap, bought a house with the proceeds, and now collects Elvis crap instead). Attendance at the Expos starts to dip (which I personally can attest to… the last one I went to in 1997 was the least populated, and least fun, of all the Expos/Cons I attended), and by 1999 everyone was pretty much KISSed out and sick of the whole thing. One of the last images in the film is a local KISS Expo being held in a nearly empty gymnasium in 2001. I suppose the message is that maybe KISS fans should've been more careful what they wished for. They may have gotten what they wanted when the Gods of Thunder returned, but in the end it wound up blowing their little local "scene" apart.

I purchased “KISS Loves You” from Amazon but it may be available to rent via Netflix as well. It’s a cool little time capsule that I think most KISS diehards will enjoy checking out.

26 views of this so far and no comments? Wow, tough room.

I just wanted to mention that I paused the DVD the other day so I could show my five year old myself and his Uncle Brian in the movie... he wasn't impressed. Darn kids are so jaded nowadays.

I have placed this in my Netflix queue because of your review. Does that make you feel better?

Hey Keith, where are you in this DVD, I mean minute/second wise?

I have it coming tomorrow through Netflix and wanna see your ugly mug. All I have to go on is a 1990 picture of you and your buddy in NYC with those gloves of yours.

Freddy, Is that you in the KISS shirt, ya big goon?



I put Chapter ten on the pic, but it's actually Chapter 5 for all of you playing along at home.

Nice camera case on the belt.

BTW, you are a big sombitch.

Wow...You're a lucky guy...!

Hey Spectre, have you watched this DVD yet?

I actually watched it Thursday night. I liked it. It kind of focused on the bad side of things though. Such as the argueing between the tribute bands and how the band KISS seems to squeeze every penny out of their fans. Gene and Paul were shown taking back the costumes from the convention, stopping conventions all together, Ace completely disses the Baker guy once the reunion begins, Paul leaves the plaque from the 4 year old at the show, etc, etc. I guess it just seemed a little too dark for me. But that fat Uncle Gene was hilarious. That little kid is going to be scarred for life.

i actually want to watch it now. is it available to purchase from somewhere

Bill Baker, who fronted the Ace Frehley tribute band "Fractured Mirror" seen in the "KISS Loves You" film, has his own website showcasing his Ace Frehley collection/obsession ... check it out, some neat stuff here.

http://www.theacefrehleyarchive.com/home.htm

I actually just used this DVD as a source in a school paper I wrote on KISS.