Originally Posted by
Terry
Wasn't that interesting to have found that out re: KISS and Rush both initially breaking out in those working-class, 1970's Middle America regions?
With Rush, I hadn't been aware of that until their Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary. With KISS, I had found that out upon reading the best book I've ever read about KISS, titled KISS AND SELL which came out in 1997 if memory serves. That book pointed out that in the first few years of the band before the Alive! album hit big, the biggest fans of the band were first found in the heartland states and regions of the country that had those large pockets of working-class kids living in factory towns. KISS had amassed that following by touring heavily in those areas. It wasn't some grand master plan but occurred more by way of happenstance. In the entertainment centers of the country, New York and Los Angeles, KISS were looked upon - certainly by the most heavily circulated pop music publications of the time cicra 1973-1975 - as a bad joke in musical terms, even within the context of the hard rock of the day.