Kiss and tell leaves many questions unanswered

Jewish Telegraph, February 2002

‘A world without heroes ; Is like a world without sun ; You can’t look up to anyone; Without heroes’ — A World Without Heroes (The Elder) by Kiss

EVERYONE needs heroes. When I was growing up, there was only one person I worshipped — Gene Simmons, the self-proclaimed God of Thunder.
The Kiss bass player was the ultimate rock star. Standing seven feet tall in his boots, made up like a demon, with fake blood dripping out of his mouth and breathing fire.
Off-stage, he was a nice Jewish boy who loved his mother. In fact, apart from his womanising, Simmons is an ideal role model for youngsters. He has never been drunk, doesn’t do drugs and has always been focussed on being the best at what he does.
But as his autobiography, Kiss and Make Up (Century, £16.99), reveals it wasn’t always easy for him. Born in Haifa as Chaim Witz in 1949, Gene’s mother Flora was a concentration camp survivor. Whilst in the camp, she became hairdresser for the commandants wife.
His parents split up when he was young. His father, Yechiel, moved to Tel Aviv, while his mother took her young son off to New York.
In America, Simmons lost himself in a world of television and comic books. He attended a yeshiva and Jewish summer camps.
He also started playing in bands — and discovered this was the quickest way to success with women.
It wasn’t until he linked up with another Jewish boy, Stanley Eisen, that he suddenly found himself on the way to world domination in rock. The pair formed Kiss, Eisen changing his name to Paul Stanley.
Kiss and Make Up tells of the struggles Simmons had with the band, especially with original members Ace Frehley and Pete Criss. It is a tale of how to succeed.
But even coated in make-up, Simmons could never hide his Jewish identity.
He recalls a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show in Kiss’s early days. Another guest, comedienne Totie Fields asked him: ‘‘Who are you supposed to be?’’ He replied: ‘‘I’m evil incarnate.’’ To which Fields said: ‘‘You can’t fool me. You’re probably some nice Jewish kid from Long Island.’’
The band were also accused of being Satanists. Many people believed Kiss stood for ‘Knights In Satan’s Service’. Simmons writes: ‘‘Through the years, whenever religious fanatics accosted me, especially in the southern states and quoted the Old Testament at me, I would quote them back chapter and verse.
‘‘They didn’t know that I had been a theology major back in school. An idiot is an idiot . . . whether he quotes the bible or not.’’
Simmons also reveals how Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley offended him with ‘Nazi’ pranks.
‘‘Ace had a fascination with Nazi memorabilia,’’ Simmons writes, ‘‘and in his drunken stupors he and his best friend would make videotapes of themselves dressed up as Nazis.
‘‘At the time the mayor of New York was Ed Koch, who was Jewish, and Ace showed me a piece of tape where he and his best friend were making verbal threats against ‘the Jew in New York’, saying, ‘We’ll cook him up’ . . .
‘‘Paul and I weren’t thrilled about that. But Ace laughed at how funny he was when he saw the tape.’’
Frehley also once showed up at Gene’s hotel room in Japan, dressed in full Nazi uniform, and greeted him with ‘Heil Hitler’.
Simmons also explains how Ace and Pete were against the merchandising of the band, but he and Paul saw it as a great business opportunity.
The Kiss logo appeared on everything from lunchboxes to coffins and brought the band more millions.
While the book is a great insight into Simmons’ life and his work ethic, there are still many questions left unanswered for us Jewish fans.
Israel totally drops out of the story midway through the book. Does he ever go back there? How does he feel about the country now?
There isn’t any mention of his religious commitment now. He talks about wearing a yarmulke in his house but not on the subway in the early chapters, but we don’t get an insight into his beliefs in later life.
He could have dropped a few of his seduction stories to fit in tales that his Jewish followers would have liked to hear.
After all, he is the biggest rock star to have ever come out of Israel.