Legendary rocker lifts ailing fan's spirits (March 14)

LEGENDARY ROCKERS LIFT AILING FAN'S SPIRITS

By William Croyle

NEWPORT, KY - The phone rang Wednesday afternoon in Christopher "Critter" Smith's room at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
His mom had just stepped out for a moment, so he answered it.

"Critter, it's Paul Stanley," the caller said. Stanley is the lead singer for KISS, Critter's favorite rock band.

"At first, I thought it was just my dad messing with me," Critter said.

It really was Stanley.

The band had been alerted about Critter by a fan after an article was published March 2 in The Enquirer. The article talked about the 11-year-old's battle with leukemia, and mentioned his love for KISS.

"When I realized it was really him, I was like, 'Oh my God!'" Critter said.

Stanley told Critter to stay strong and that he was praying for him. "And he told me he was going to send me some KISS stuff," Critter said.

All of that happened about 1:30 p.m. The call lasted just a few minutes, but was enough to raise Critter's spirits.

"I was lying down all day," Critter said. "Then, after he called me, I was up playing basketball in my room."

"He was on top of the world," said his mother, Carol Smith.

About 10 p.m. that same day, the phone rang again. Still bouncing off the walls from Stanley's call, Critter got another surprise: It was the band's drummer, Eric Singer.

"I was just like 'Woooow!'" Critter exclaimed.

Singer talked with Critter for a few minutes and invited him to one of their concerts this summer to see the show and meet the band.

"I've never even been to a concert at all," Critter said. "This is just so cool!"

This is Critter's second bout with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells.

During five months in 2007 he underwent five rounds of chemotherapy, a round of radiation and a bone marrow transplant. Critter returned to school at Fourth Street Elementary and was in remission for 15 months until January.

He's started chemotherapy. He'll undergo another bone marrow aspiration this weekend.

The good news, his mom said, is that doctors are going to hold off for now on another bone marrow transplant until they see how he does.

"To have to go through this twice isn't fair, but I'm ecstatic he's responding to the chemo," his mother said. "I'm still nervous, but hopeful."

New album:Classic 70s Rock and Roll Vibe ( March 13)

NEW ALBUM - "CLASSIC '70's ROCK & ROLL VIBE"

The first studio album from Kiss in more than a decade will include songs “about the obvious things,” says bassist-singer Gene Simmons, citing titles such as “Rotten To The Core.” “No secret to life, no political messaging, nothing like that,” he says of the lyrics.

As previously reported, Simmons confirms Kiss’ first album since 1998’s Psycho Circus will be produced by singer-guitarist Paul Stanley. “I don’t have enough time to tie my shoelaces and there’s nobody else I trust more than Paul,” says Simmons, who’s currently in Toronto to find three Canadian acts to sign to his recently resurrected Simmons Records, for which he has partnered with Universal Music Canada and businesswoman/former politician Belinda Stronach.

While he juggles all his other projects and pursuits, the band is also in the studio. The songs are all written, Simmons says. “There’s nothing to prove to anybody. We’re not interested in musical trends or anything else. We’re too long in the tooth for that. So it’s going to be sort of a classic ’70s rock & roll vibe. Meat and potatoes. You know, sometimes you just want to go out and have a meat and potatoes thing [and] forget the French dressing.”

Kiss — Simmons, Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer — will also continue touring for its 35th (now 37th) anniversary, beginning in South America in Santiago, Chile. Last year, the Kiss Alive/35 World Tour hit Europe, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and a few U.S. cities.

Today in KISStory March 12, 1996

KISS UNPLUGGED RELEASED

On March 12, 1996, the KISS MTV Unplugged CD and VHS Video were released in the US. KISS MTV Unplugged was recorded August 9, 1995 at Sony Music Studios in New York City. The majority of the CD/VHS features Paul, Gene, Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick. Ace Frehley and Peter Criss join Paul and Gene for "2000 Man" and "Beth". All six members close out the CD/VHS with "Nothin' To Lose" and "Rock and Roll All Nite". MTV originally broadcast KISS Unplugged on October 31, 1995.

Comment from Paul on Unplugged:

"Unplugged was a chance for us to celebrate the musical history of the band by stripping, some great songs from different points in our history, down to the bare essence of what makes them great."


TRACK LISTING:

Comin' Home / Plaster Caster / Goin' Blind / Do You Love Me / Domino / Got To Choose / Sure Know Something / A World Without Heroes / Rock Bottom / See You Tonight / I Still Love It / Every Time I Look At You / 2000 Man / Beth / Nothin' To Lose / Rock and Roll All Nite

"Got To Choose" appeared on the VHS and the Vinyl versions of KISS Unplugged but not the US CD.

New promo clip for upcoming Peru concert

New KISS trading card set

THE KISS ARMY WILL LOVE THIS UPCOMING SET!

By Chris Olds

Forget your baseball cards for a minute … the latest non-sport set from Press Pass will have collectors breathing fire, spitting up blood, throwing the goat and ripping packs with the dial turned up to 11.

It’s the upcoming KISS Ikons set, which consists of 90 cards — including special “fire” and “blood” parallel cards — along with authentic Gene Simmons stage-worn memorabilia cards and instant win autograph redemptions good for autographed photos of Simmons and Paul Stanley. (Oh, and it includes temporary tattoos and stickers, too, which are good for making that notebook of yours look like it’s 1975 all over again.) Each 24-pack box should cost you less than $50 as packs carry a suggested retail price of $1.99.

In all seriousness, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen KISS cards (1978 Donruss comes to mind, but there have surely been others) and with the band releasing an album and going on tour this year, they’ll surely drive ‘em wild (and maybe a little crazy, too) all night and ev-er-y day.

If you’re not old enough to know, this is the band that kick-started the whole marketing machine in music with countless products and items to satisfy their fans. Oh, and they’ve sold more than 85 million albums, too.

So, the next question is … how many boxes of cards?

We’ll find out starting on April 15

Thanks!!

This is Bill posting on here for the first time!!

Thanks to Jan for making this great blog page for me!! It was very nice of her!! :)