I've said it before but it bears repeating, without the support and encouragement of Dave Collins (a.k.a. Mondo) there would be no 'Are We There Yet?' (formerly 'Even Monkeys Fall Out of Trees'). Back in 2010 his passion for all things rock and roll - and of course the blogging 'scene' - pushed me into getting a lot of the ephemeral nonsense that had been cluttering my head onto the printed (you know what I mean) page. In particular his love of both glam rock and comic books was enough to persuade me to write about some of my own passions and obsessions. And back then blogging seemed like the perfect outlet.*
Mondo has become a good friend over the intervening years - both in the digital world and in the real world too having met up numerous times. And so when he points me in the direction of a 'good read' I always pay attention. When I said above about Mondo's love of both glam and comics then the one band that sits firmly astride both these categories, in true Venn diagram style, is KISS. Only a few weeks before I went in to hospital our Power Trio WhatApp group (Brother Mondo, Brother Steve and myself) were debating all things KISS. Yes they're silly, yes they're totally overblown and no you can't take them seriously, but... they do get under your skin. For what it's worth I think they've written six (seven at a push) good songs, but that's not the point. For instance, I was still the happiest man in the world when a couple of years ago in the States I was playing pinball on a KISS machine in a bar in Albuquerque! Life doesn't get much better than that.
Anyway, the tome Mondo had pointed me in the direction of was (Kiss frontman) Paul Stanley's A Life Exposed. And what a terrific read it is. I was gripped from the start. Some fascinating insights into what it was like to growing up in New York in the 50s and 60s and being constantly picked on and bullied by his peers (Stanley was born without a right ear and therefore 50% deaf); then forming his first musical friendships with other like minded coves not just in his Queens neighbourhood but from other boroughs of the city too - not least a cocky bass player by the name of Chaim Witz (soon to be Gene Simmons). I'm nearly half way thru and am now reading something which back in 2014 when it was written would have been noteworthy for sure, but fast forward ten years, and with the far right literally on the march, it's a subject that couldn't be more on point: in the book we learn that the KISS logo (as jointly designed by Stanley and guitarist Ace Freeley) is outlawed in Germany by Section 86a of the German Strafgesetzbuch (their Criminal Code); the font being alarmingly similar to the insignia of the Nazi SS.
Stanley has always denied such symbolism (he and Simmons are both Jewish) but as with all logos (not least those that resemble Swastikas), you've got to tread very carefully. That said, take a look at the 'S' in Stanley on the book jacket. Anyway, bottom line, the band have always had a different logo for their German released albums and their touring backdrops - see below how the S's have been flattened out. A wise move.
Another wise move, on my part anyway, was reaching the end of today's Nazi themed (loosely) blog post without once mentioning Elon Musk. D'oh! Oh, alright then, he's a cunt. And a prize cunt at that.
Until next time.
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| We're not Nazis |
