Personal Blog: KISS Was There

KISS was there when Dad died in February, 1978.

KISS was there when my friend Darren introduced me to you with "Destroyer".  Then I wore out my brother Rick's "KISS Alive!" 8 track.

KISS was there when I got hit in the forehead by a man's line drive baseball and suffered a concussion.

KISS was there when I needed to get into real rock and roll.  So was Jim Rice and the Red Sox.  KISS had lots of releases around this period and made for the best distraction at the worst of times.

KISS made me pick up drumsticks made of an old wooden broom handle to play on cardboard boxes and pots and pans.  My brother Greg then bought me a drumset and even gifted me lots of KISS records.

KISS was there when I met my buddy Larry in grade seven, and we bonded over our fandom for KISS and learned our skills as a guitar player and drummer.  He's a good friend to this day.

KISS was there when I had trouble in school, with what I know now was a learning disability. 

 'Dynasty' was my record of choice when I was down in the dumps.

KISS was there with a new album out for me to decompress from life with.  "Unmasked" was on the turntable for months.

KISS was there when I nearly gave up drums, but heard Eric Carr and just kept playing even harder.  "Creatures of the Night" literally changed my life.  Carr is tattooed on my left arm.

KISS was there when I failed in school and was tempted to give up.  They said Don't.  After all, they didn't, after they released "The Elder".  And 'I believe in ME'.

KISS was there when people made fun of my complicated acne and girls stayed away.  The asskicker album "Lick It Up" made me smile when I thought I'd lost it.  "Animalize" would do the same.

KISS was there when as a teen I needed positivity to balance out the negative. "Asylum" would energize me.

KISS was there when I was getting beaten up at school for liking them - they said GET UP.

KISS was there when when I was hit by a car three times in the early 80s, and fought through serious concussion issues.

KISS was there to keep me cheery with my Mom, who needed someone to make her laugh in the years after Dad passed.

KISS was there when friends came and went and I felt like I was alone.

KISS was there when I finally got a girlfriend.  'Creatures' is the soundtrack for that time for me.

KISS was there when I met my first serious girlfriend, Michelle - I scrawled "KISS Lick It Up!" on my desk in grade 11.  A girl replied and wrote "It's only right, now!"  And we got together and went out for seven years, and she's still a great friend today.

KISS was there when I endured a bleeding ulcer that could have killed me.  They had lots of video releases that kept my imagination busy.

KISS was there when I contemplated suicide, a result of so many head injuries and a lack of knowledge back then about how to treat them.  Hearing any KISS album helped fix this.

KISS was there when I failed grade 12 and couldn't graduate with my girlfriend.

KISS was there when I got my first job in '84 (worked there for seven years), and I rattled the store windows on the night shifts with my KISS CDs and tapes - they kept me awake!

KISS was there when I bonded with another good friend Pete over KISS fandom.  We then formed various jam bands and played their songs.

KISS was there when I convinced my band at the time, Asylum, to play "Love Gun" and "Rock and Roll All Night", and even got crowds singing along with us, thanks to another great friend, Wayne, another friend I met through KISS interest.

KISS was there, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on the 'Crazy Nights' tour, when three friends and me took a torturous train ride from Moncton to Toronto, barely slept, and tore our voices out screaming along with KISS.  

KISS was there in Toronto with Whitesnake and blew the 'snake away, even without the HITS stage.

KISS was there when I took my first jaunt to the U.S. and saw them in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, with three great friends.  It would so sadly be the last time I saw my hero, Eric Carr.

KISS was there when my Mom took ill with dementia.  I stayed home and didn't move out until she had to go.  KISS music was a way of assuring that it'll be alright.  Their "Revenge" record was their saying to everyone who said 'they're done' and giving them a huge middle finger.

KISS was there when I broke my foot and lost my job, my girl, my grandmother, and eventually, another job.  They just kept releasing albums, giving me the exit ramp away from stress.

KISS was there when I began to date my wife Janice, with whom we bonded over "God Gave Rock and Roll To You II" - She heard the harmonies and has been a fan ever since.

KISS was there when my wife and great friend Steve (God rest his soul) saw the 'Revenge' tour in Toronto, after driving for 16 hours to get there, and they were at MuchMusic studios with a throng of us looking in from outside and nearly shattered the windows.  Gene points up and says, "Moncton!"

KISS was there when I lost my job and couldn't get another for three years, even after going back to college.  You can't listen to KISS and not get your mood up.

KISS was there when my girlfriend (wife to be) Janice would bear our one and only child, Alexandra, who has been a fan literally since day one.  Born into 'The Army'.

KISS was there with 'Unplugged' and 'Carnival of Souls', to help me keep the faith with rock and roll when it was dying.

KISS was there for us all when they announced the reunion tour.  I saw it with my friends Tim and Pete and Al.  It was a magical time.  I got my job for the next 11 years as a driver at the same time.

KISS was there for me when Mom died of her disease.  I remember her saying one time, "do you think Gene Simmons would sing "When You Wish Upon A Star" at my funeral?"  Now it's all I associate that song with: My Mom's love for it.

KISS was there for my wife and me when we got married, and the honeymoon was the 'Psycho Circus' tour.  Our song, of course, is "Forever".  She proposed to me, so I sprung the surprise wedding on her.

KISS was there in Montreal when we took in 'The Farewell Tour' (really farewell to members Ace and Peter).  It was a fantastic but bittersweet show.  

KISS was there through the '00s, even if they didn't release new stuff.  If something's wrong, get your KISS records out and shout it out loud.

KISS was there in Halifax my wife and daughter went there to see KISS in front of 30,000 fans.  

We saw them in Mansfield, MA on the 'Sonic Boom' tour.  We saw them in Saint John, New Brunswick and again in Halifax for the 'Monster' album two nights in a row.  

KISS was there when Steve died in '15.  Steve was such a die hard fan that he requested 'Black Diamond' be played at his funeral.  It was strangely moving.

And we will be there, Janice my wife, Alexandra my daughter, and her boyfriend Cole for KISS November 18 in Montreal on the 'End of the Road' tour, all the way from Moncton.  They will end it on December 2 in New York.

Thank you, KISS, for having my back throughout my life.