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Paul Stanley Hints About Possibility of New KISS Album

Although other members of KISS do not appear to be on board with the notion of creating a new album, Paul Stanley recently said he may produce a new KISS album next year. Referring to it as a “A real ’70s Kiss-style record,” his recent comments appear to be an about-face for the KISS guitarist, considering his comments during a June press conference with regard to the possibility of a new KISS album. “We have no plans to record. The reason we don’t record is because any classic band that hits the road, the last thing you really wanna hear is their new songs,” Stanley said.

I think there may be a few Rush fans that might disagree with that statement. Although fans undoubtedly love to hear the old classics, groups like Rush have proven that they can still write and perform new material that fans want to hear and are willing to go see performed live.

For his part, Gene Simmons, always the consummate business man, seems concerned about the diminished possibility of monetary reward that would result from the making of a new album in the age of digital downloads. “Any band who tries to do new material is trying to climb a slippery mountain. Every day record companies are folding. It’d be nice to have new KISS songs, but what’s the business model? Do you just put songs on the Internet for free? Then what?,” Simmons was quoted as saying.

I did get a chance to see Simmons on the most recent episode of the Fox game show Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, and I must admit that he did better than I suspected. Not that I believe than man is stupid, but let’s face it, how many of us remember a lot of that stuff we learned in grade school?

Simmons answered most of the questions without help from his youthful classmates, but decided to call it quits when he learned that the final $1 million question would be science-related. That turned out to be the right move since he would have provided the wrong answer to a question regarding what element was represented by the letter “K” on the periodic table.

Simmons reported that he would have guessed Krypton, but the correct answer was Potassium, which Simmons’ wife, who was seated in the front row of the audience, knew the correct answer to when queried by host Jeff  Foxworthy.

Even so, Simmons walked away with an impressive $500,000 for his chosen charity, which Foxworthy said was the largest sum ever won by a celebrity contestant.

Admittedly, I would also have botched that last question, since my knowledge of the periodic table is pretty well faded.

For more in the possibility of a new KISS album, see Musicradar.

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Tags: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader, Foxworthy, Gene Simmons, KISS, New Album, Paul Stanley

Gene Simmons: ‘Rockers Are Idiots’

When one considers the types of people a publication like Business Week routinely interviews, characters like Gene Simmons might not come immediately to mind. However, the face-painting rocker with the trademark tongue is as much a businessman as he is a rock star, and what he said recently in an interview with the magazine suggests that business comes first, and rocking fits in somewhere lower on his priority list.

Another thing that’s obvious regarding Simmons’ comments is that he does not mince words. He seems like the type of guy that says what’s on his mind, and if people don’t like it, well, that’s just too bad. Kind of like a Ted Nugent with less profanity, I suppose.

Simmons obviously has a tremendous passion for business, and it’s something that has certainly paid off well for him. He greatly admires business legends like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, and he’s used lessons learned from people like that to build himself his own business empire.

As a group, KISS has over 3,000 licensed products. "…everything from condoms to caskets. We have you coming and going," Simmons says. A statement that was quite probably accompanied by a sly smile.

In addition to the business side of KISS, Simmons has a number of solo ventures that must keep him on the go regularly. In addition to the up-coming return of his reality TV show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, he’s got another reality show in the works, and a recently-released book on the subject of prostitution called Ladies of the Night: A Historical and Personal Perspective on the Oldest Profession in the World.

When asked about the differences between himself and rockers that seem content to just make music, Simmons responds by saying, "Rockers are idiots, come on. If strapping a guitar around their neck hadn’t worked out, thanks to the grace of god, they’d be putting on an apron and asking the person next to them if they’d like fries with that."

A statement that may offend some, especially some of his fellow rockers, but there are some cases where his statement does seem to hit the mark, considering that here have been some well-publicized and quite brain-dead stunts perpetrated by famous rockers over the years. On the other hand,  Simmons’ statement does seem to paint with a pretty broad brush, and I’m guessing he really does not believe that all rockers are idiots.

KISS Merchandise

Simmons is nothing if not driven. Asked about his continued ambitions even after such impressive commercial success, Simmons responds, "There is no such thing as enough. Only small minds put barricades in front of themselves. If you perceive death, it is only a matter of time until you are dead. The guys with the most amount of money don’t get caught up in the trappings—it’s the lottery winners that buy all the stuff. Money, ironically enough, is beside the point. It’s the hunt, not the kill."

Gene Simmons seems to be the kind of guy that does not plan to slow down until he drops dead, and I suspect that moment may come in the middle of a business meeting, or during the close of a big business deal. KISS or no KISS, Simmons will find a way to keep challenging himself, and engineering new methods of generating income while fulfilling his passion at the same time.

For the complete interview, visit Business Week.

Tags: Business Week, Gene Simmons, interview, KISS