Ok, so the title of this post is a crap pun, but I've been thinking long and hard what to offer up as a Christmas goodie for the eight people and the canine who actually read this blog. Considering that the few people I've spoken to have been kind of surprised at the documents that I've unearthed in recent times, I thought I'd start putting up some of the more obscure, rarely seen and, as such, desirable pieces of paper from both my electronic and physical collection. This will take time, so don't expect miracles overnight, but to whet the appetite I thought I'd show off this little ripper - the December 1977 management agreement between Bill Aucoin and Kiss.
What makes this document a stunner is the names that the band members were using, even then. The contract has all of the band's proper names - Paul Frehley, Stanley Eisen, Peter Criscula and Gene Klien. As we all know now, that isn't Gene's birth name, but it was the Anglicised name that he'd been using for years, certainly since he arrived in America. I guess people would speak to Gene, or Eugene, but not to Chiam Weitz. Go figure. Paul Stanley, while not adverse to having his real name used on the contract, wasn't going to sign it with anything other than his stage name though, which makes me wonder - would that then have voided his portion of the contract? For all of these years perhaps he hasn't actually had a management deal with anyone other than himself - now that would be an interesting concept. The contract was definitely a must as Kiss were busily suing the pants off everyone, and cutting deals along the way, by the end of 1977, and had entered into a licensing deal in 1976 (that contract will be posted shortly) and by mid 1978 they had taken multiple people to court for using the Kiss name and logo, pocketing some cash along the way, including some serious green from the likes of the publishers of Grooves Magazine (more on that, also soon).
Anyway, enjoy this little tid-bit, or not, and I'll be back posting after the new years break with many more oddities and commentaries on anything that I feel like yapping about. Until then, have a great festive season, keep it safe and look after each other. Remember, Jesus doesn't love you all, and he does love some more than others, and he definitely loves some as often as he gets the opportunity.
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| Sub-editors were shit at fact checking even in 1981 |
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| I have a story behind this comic book that's never been told...keep your eyes peeled as all will be revealed in 2012 |
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