Never try to deny your roots.
I became a KISS fan in December of 1976, about a month before my 17th birthday. I liked them before that, courtesy of Top 40 airplay on Syracuse's WOLF-AM, but seeing them live in concert--sorry, make that LIVE! IN CONCERT!!--was rock fan metamorphosis in action. Rock and roll all night? Party every day? Sign this lad up for that!
Over a span of ensuing decades, my interest in KISS kind of ebbed and flowed, though I never stopped (at least) liking them, nor did I ever forget their importance in my own rock 'n' roll story. My first concert. Years later, my first cover story as a freelance rock journalist. I often still flat-out adored a number of individual KISS tracks, and I refused to let naysayers diminish my enthusiasm. Shout it out loud. You're damned straight I will.
We have not played much KISS lately. The reason for their recent absence from our playlists is absolutely political. I won't deny that either, and I won't shrink from it any more than I would shrink from stating my love for KISS when I feel the love for KISS. We are infinite. Our contradictions are but one characteristic of the infinite.
Mortality is also part of the infinite.
The passing of KISS guitarist Ace Frehley demands recognition of what his work has meant to me, and what KISS has meant to me. That debt transcends our finite sensibility, our petty (or not so petty) grievances. In the words of a song KISS recorded after Ace Frehley left the fold (though he's in the video for it): I love it loud.
Godspeed to Gene, Paul, and Peter, still here with us in our world. Godspeed to the Space Ace, ridin' his rocket to the next world. Godspeed, KISS Army. Don't let them tell you that there's too much noise. We need not ever grow too old to understand. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
You drive us wild. We'll drive you crazy.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO.
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). You can follow Carl's daily blog at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
Carl's latest book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get Carl's previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
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