Celebrating The 30th Anniversary Of KISS ARMY
November 17, 2005Terre Haute, Indiana's Tribune-Star has published an article on the birth of the KISS Army to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the KISS fan club's public launch. An excerpt from the article follows:
"Two things are certain about the birth of the KISS Army — Bill Starkey founded that fan club as a Terre Haute teen-ager in 1975, and 'it's a very bizarre story' as he puts it.
"So let's start at the end.
"Starkey is now a 49-year-old elementary teacher at Indianapolis Public School 109. His third-graders aren't too familiar with KISS — that quartet of face-painted, platform-heeled rockers who hit it big with 1970s anthem tunes such as 'Rock and Roll All Night'. Some of those kids' parents remember KISS. But not like Starkey does.
"KISS hailed from New York. But their most persistent fan worked from a basement in Terre Haute.
"It was 1975. The primary rock 'n' roll radio station in town, WVTS, would play anything from obscure album cuts by ROBIN TROWER to FM staples by THE BEATLES and THE WHO. But WVTS absolutely would not play any songs by KISS, a new band Starkey had seen in concert elsewhere around the Midwest. The programming director, Rich Dickerson, wouldn't budge, Starkey says.
"When Starkey and his friends called the WVTS request line, 'They'd laugh and say, we don't play KISS.'"
Read the rest of the article at TribStar.com.
Prev 
Comments Disclaimer And Information