Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
“I … want to rock and roll all night … and party every day!”
Those famous lyrics are from the rock band KISS. And KISS is about to be among a group of artists featured at the annual Kennedy Center Honors program on Dec. 7. That is noteworthy for several reasons, including the fact that Donald Trump was personally involved in choosing the honorees and the fact that politics played a role in the selection process for the first time.
Trump said he “turned down plenty” of potential honorees because they are “too woke.”
That suggests Trump is looking for artists who are conservative. KISS front man Gene Simmons is a Republican who was an early supporter of Trump, although he has recently been critical of Trump for normalizing racism and conspiracy theories.
I find all this interesting because I met KISS in 1979 due to a right-wing protest of one of its concerts. I was working for a TV station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and KISS was scheduled to perform at the newly constructed 5 Seasons Center that October. It was a big deal.
And some local churches objected. Their members believed KISS stood for Knights In Service to Satan. They scheduled an alternative Christian concert on the night of the KISS show and planned to demonstrate outside the KISS event.
When I learned of those plans, I decided it would be a good idea to get an interview with members of the rock band when it came to town. Easier said than done.
I started to work the phone and managed to contact someone at a company in New York that managed KISS. That person referred me to another person in Los Angeles who was involved with the tour that included the Cedar Rapids stop. I was given the name of someone who would be traveling with the band.
I went to the arena early on the afternoon of the show and talked my way backstage. I mentioned the name I had been given but was never able to meet up with that person. I was told to return that evening with no promises.
And so I went back to the arena with a photographer that evening and again we were permitted to go backstage. When it appeared we were getting nowhere with our interview request, I decided to go outside and visit the demonstration. Protesters were passing out fliers condemning KISS and its music. I acquired one of the fliers and took it inside where I found someone connected to the band and asked him to show it to them.
A few minutes later, I was told to follow that person as he led me to a door where I was told to wait for instructions. Soon the photographer and I were invited to enter, and there, standing side by side, were all four members of KISS—Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley—in full makeup. They were ready to be interviewed.
We had a perfectly normal discussion, which is weird all by itself, and the most memorable quote came from Frehley. To dispel the charge that KISS stands for Knights In Service to Satan, he said simply, “I was raised Lutheran.” (My research shows that he graduated from Grace Lutheran School in New York City.)
Of course, that was 46 years ago, and KISS is now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I just wonder if left-wingers will protest at the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7?•
__________
Shella hosted WFYI’s “Indiana Week in Review” for 25 years and covered Indiana politics for WISH-TV for more than three decades. Send comments to [email protected].
Click here for more Forefront columns.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
