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1979 The Return Of KISS

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October 6 1979 …

It was two days away from my 12th Bday and my parents surprised me with Tickets to see Kiss live in Duluth! Needless to say I was stoked beyond belief ! I mean think about it, for me as 11 yr old it was Kiss non stop 24-7. The saga began two years earlier when a buddy John Young had the Kiss Originals which was the first three Kiss albums packaged as one! As soon as I saw the black cover with the fire coming out of Simmons yap I was hooked! But by 79 when Dynasty was out and Kiss subjected the world to rock disco ( I Was Made For Lovin You) they were calling their latest tour The Return Of KISS,huh they never left  well not in my mind anyways so when I made It to the show that night in October it was like an epiphany for me. Here they are in the makeup and supposed million dollar stage show .. And up they come up beside  the drums Ace,Peter,Paul and Gene….they launch into King Of The Nightime World and I’m gone and now they keep going and going  little did I know that yrs later there were cracked foundations within,Ace was loaded,Peter was coked,Gene banged groupies,Paul well Paul was Starchild but it didn’t matter to me I was too young to realise about inner band personal problems! For me a personal problem back than  was not being able to get my math homework done by Monday!

Looking back nowadays I remember the show pretty good…I remember them playing songs like Radioactive, New York Groove and Move On from the solo albums sorry Peter you weren’t represented that night. Also of course Black Diamond with the huge drum riser….and pyro lights smoke man talk about a mind blower from a kid who had posters on the wall!

Thanks Mom&Dad…..

Also it was advertised that Judas Priest was gonna be the opening act…but they cancelled and were replaced by a young Johnny Cougar who royally was booed from the get go! The only cheer that was mustered for him was when he announced his final song. But don’t feel bad for him three yrs later in 1982 out came Hurts So Good and Jack and Diane and I’m sure playing Duluth that night back in October of 79 did not register……

 

 

24 thoughts on “1979 The Return Of KISS”

  2. Always thought Peter must have hated playing songs from all the other guys’ albums, but they never played one of his. I mean, what song COULD they do? None of them would work at a Kiss concert. The other three songs did.

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      1. Yeah man, I can help too! I know a thing or three around here. And if not, we can surely figure it out. But from the loks of it, you’re already up and firing so give ‘er!

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      2. Don’t worry I will need some help it took me forever to figure out how to,get rid of the awaiting moderation feature for replys…..

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  5. Really awesome you got to see those guys way back then. In October of 1979 I would have been… 5. Not really on my radar. But was this your first concert ever? I mean, at 12, how many shows had you already seen? I think if this was your first it might go a long way to explaining your musical tastes, eh?

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    1. Yes,this was my first ever show and I got my Parents to thank for it! I was lucky cuz my parents were church going folk and not ever once did they say no to anything musically esp being 12 and a band with a bassist who spits blood,breathes fire….they were totally cool with it….even 9 yrs later my brother (who is 10 yrs younger than me ) was blasting Apetite For Destruction they did not care…..could have been into worse things as kids than music I guess was there spin on it….

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      1. And here we have the DNA explanation for Superdekes! Talk about formative. I’m glad your folks were so cool about it. And yes, if all you’re doing is blasting tapes, you’re home and safe. If you were out scoring or getting up to who in hell knows what, different story. Tapes is by far the better choice!

        My folks were alright with whatever, but they’re Beatles/Elvis/Beach Boys/Buddy Holly fans, so when I brought home Kick Axe and my Mom walked by and said, and I quote, “What is that SHIT you’re listening to?” I knew where I stood! But they never stopped me from getting anything in, or playing whatever I wanted. That may have been, in large part, because it was (mostly) a lot of jazz and big band for me, back then…

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    1. Yep, yours was surely a more steady diet. But what we had in common was pretty much constant music. And that, as we all know, is definitely part of this complete breakfast.

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