After retiring from the road with a historic farewell concert at Madison Square Garden in their hometown of New York, KISS is now preparing to celebrate a major milestone. The band’s self-titled debut album was released 50 years ago this Sunday, February 18.
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The 1974 album featured quite a few classic KISS songs, including “Strutter,” “Cold Gin,” “Deuce,” and “Black Diamond,” although it was by no means a commercial success when it first hit record stores.
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In an interview with ABC Audio, KISS frontman Paul Stanley explained that it was the band’s 1975 live album, KISS Alive!, that helped popularize the tunes from their debut record with their fans.
“KISS Alive! was really where those songs came to life,” the singer/guitarist noted. “We were becoming well known for our live show, but our record sales didn’t reflect that until KISS Alive! … [M]any of those songs from the first album have been staples in our concerts ever since.”
About the KISS Album
The KISS album only reached No. 87 on the Billboard 200 (KISS Alive! peaked at No. 9), while the highest-charting single from the band’s debut, a cover of the 1959 Bobby Rydell hit “Kissin’ Time,” stalled on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 83.
As KISS’ popularity grew as the 1970s progressed, so did sales of the debut album. It was certified gold in June 1977 by the RIAA for sales of more than 500,000 copies in the U.S.
Stanley on the Band’s Long Career
Reflecting on the band’s long history, and the milestone anniversary, Stanley told ABC Audio that he could never have imagined in 1974 that KISS would have had the lengthy career it’s enjoyed.
“At that point back then, to think of being a band for 50 years, you might as well think about breathing underwater,” he maintained. “It was inconceivable.”
KISS 50th Merch Collection
To commemorate the KISS album’s 50th anniversary, the band has launched a collection of specially themed merchandise at its online store that includes two limited-edition vinyl reissues of the record.
You can purchase a gold-vinyl version of KISS that comes with a long-sleeve 50th anniversary T-shirt for $89.98. A picture-disc version that came with a poster and a jacket also was available, but that package has sold out.
Among the other items in the collection are a banner, a demon-winged hoodie, a variety of T-shirts, a cornhole game set, a woven blanket, “Cold Gin” tumbler glasses, “Strutter” socks, a “Black Diamond” ring, a belt buckle, a pin set, and a sticker.
