First Kiss?

The year was 1976 and I had just landed in the center of the U.S. from a four-year stint in Zweibrucken, Germany. Well, at least close to the center as we were always told that the exact middle of America was somewhere in Kansas and Dad got stationed in Fort Riley. So for all intents and purposes, we were in the general vicinity.

First of let me just say, Fort Riley, Kansas in 1976 was pretty dang cool, especially for a 10-year-old kid with a new bike, a wild streak, a bit of hyperness, and a desire to explore. Within biking distance was two lakes, a pair of pools (one in-door, one out-door), a couple of movie theaters (I guess they grew things in double there) not to mention a ton of cool hills and valleys to speed down on a banana seat bike or California Freeformer skateboard. In the summer there was always a breeze and in the winter you could play in the snow without an insane amount of layers of clothing.

There's was always plenty to do and better yet, it could be done without the assistance of parents.

What made that year even funner, besides having a great two-wheel mode of transportation, was a couple of cool presents I received during the year. First was a little black and white TV (which would eventually end up attached to a Sears pong game console) for that early Saturday morning cartoon fix, and a neat transistor radio. While not my first experience with music, this allowed to me to live that now classic existence of listening to music at night with the sheets pulled up over my head in an attempt to muffle the sound so Mom and Dad couldn't hear.

It wasn't long before I took over Mom's slightly larger radio / cassette player and started taping my fave songs so I could hear them whenever I wanted. I particularly enjoyed listening to Paper Lace's "Billy Don't Be a Hero" and "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks. Other songs that were a part of the neighborhood sing-a-long fare were Shaun Cassidy's "Da Doo Run Run", and some silly tune by a band called Flash Cadillac featuring Wolfman Jack called "Did You Boogie (with Your Baby)." To say that our tastes were simple and unrefined would be putting it mildly. The easier you could sing-a-long to it, the better.

One day as I got ready for school I heard this catchy tune just out of the corner of my ear. I turned to listen but at that exact same moment Mom called me for breakfast so I popped in a tape and hit record hoping that afterward the deejay would say who the singer was. Listening to the tape later I did end up with one side full of music but no mention of the artist.

So it was then my mission to find out who sang this song I so quickly became hooked on.

In my youthful wisdom I decided I would tape the song every time I heard it. Eventually I would hear the name and maybe even talk Mom into buying the 45" single.

This went on for weeks! Eventually I had a cassette with this tune taped over and over and was no better off than I was before! So I gave up.

Another part of my 10-year-old activities was scouts. Scouts was something I started taking part in when I first arrived in Germany. It was fun to do odd things and get rewarded with a badge for your efforts. Well at least it was fun to me at the time.

On one particular scout outing I was riding in the back of a car with a couple of my fellow scouts. The talk was the usual, "have you seen this movie?" or "did you hear what happened to so and so at the pool?", etc. Somewhere along the way I just started singing this tune that I had forgotten about. I didn't even realize I was singing. That is until one of the other scouts asked me "do you like Kiss?"

to which I replied "who?"

"You know, Kiss, the band that does that song."

"um...yeah, of course I like Kiss." I said slowly.

Back in 1976 who DIDN'T know who Kiss was? Their faces were plastered all over notebooks, pencils, puzzles, and anything else you could sell. I knew who Kiss was.

I just didn't know what they sounded like. At least until I found out that the song I so feverishly tried to connect to a band was in fact, Kiss.

The song? "Beth."

To be fair, based on just having heard "Beth" I still really didn't know what Kiss sounded like. But that would soon change as I spent the end of 1976 hanging out with Jerry (my scout co-passenger) and getting schooled in all things Kiss. We even went dressed as Kiss for Halloween! I was, of course, Peter. No makeup, just Kiss costumes our parents picked up at the Post Exchange. (sorta like Wal Mart for military folks)

A couple days before Halloween I got to go over to Jerry's to watch the Paul Lynde Halloween special which featured Kiss performing three songs, "Detroit Rock City", "King of the Night Time World" and "Beth." It is still one of my most fondest memories from my childhood.

I eventually admitted to Jerry, who by that time had become my best friend in a way that he was Fonzie to my Ritchie, that I really didn't know much about Kiss when we first met. He was cool about it and seemed sort of pleased that he had done such a cool deed as introducing me to such a cool band as Kiss.

A few months later, Jerry's Dad got reassigned and I would never see Jerry again. It was a sad moment but as an already experienced military brat I was used to seeing friends come and go. But while Jerry had to go, he left with me a very valuable gift.

Over the years I have become friends with people from all over the world because of my continuing love of Kiss and their music. I've experienced writing to Kiss fans in East Germany while the Berlin Wall was still up, I've talked Kiss with fans from Italy, and I've traded tapes with fans from coast to coast.

So I got my first Kiss from a guy named Jerry.

At least it wasn't Vinnie Vincent!

(My first KISS kiss actually came from a sweet Italian lass a couple years earlier.)