This Day in History: The Rock Band KISS had its start on this day in 1973. Bass guitarist Gene Klein and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen, members of the hard rock band Wicked Lester, introduced their reimagined format, wearing face makeup and playing before a group of 10 customers at the Popcorn Club, a bar located in Queens, New York City. Klein renamed himself Gene Simmons while Eisen became Paul Stanley. With drummer George Peter Criscuola (Peter Criss) and lead guitarist Paul "Ace" Frehley, the band played for the first time under the name KISS. The band was paid $50 for performing two sets that evening, following a cold-call Simmons had made to the venue, convincing them to hire the new band for a three-night stand.
The band's name has repeatedly been the subject of rumors pertaining to alleged hidden meanings. Among these rumors are theories that the name is an acronym for "Knights in Satan's Service", "Kinder SS", or "Kids in Satan's Service". Simmons has denied all of these claims.
Ace Frehley created the now-iconic logo, making the "SS" look like lightning bolts. The letters happened to look similar to the insignia of the Nazi SS, a symbol that is outlawed in Germany by Section 86a of the German criminal code. However, Simmons and Stanley, both Jewish, have denied any intentional likeness to Nazi symbolism in the logo. Since 1979, most of the band's album covers and merchandise in Germany have used a different logo, in which the letters "SS" look like the letters "ZZ" backwards. This logo is also used in Austria, Switzerland, Lithuania, Hungary and Israel to avoid controversy.
Kiss's first tour started on February 5, 1974, in Edmonton, Alberta, at the Jubilee Auditorium, as an opening act.
Kiss was strongly influenced by Alice Cooper and New York Dolls, while Gene Simmons has stated that the band's "musical heart and soul lies in England". The Beatles and the Yardbirds' trio of rock guitarists Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were among the British acts he praised, with Simmons stating, "I've ripped off so many English riffs, if the British influence wasn't there, we wouldn't be here. 'Rock and Roll All Nite' is a direct bastard child of Slade's 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now'". In his book, Kiss and Make-Up, Simmons wrote of the glam rock group Slade, "... we liked the way they connected with the crowd and the way they wrote anthems ... we wanted that same energy, that same irresistible simplicity".
