Part 20, KISS - Recording 'Lick It Up', Problems with Vinnie and unmasking on M-tv

-Unmasking
-Recording "Lick It Up"
-Problems with Vinnie
-M-TV

Taken from:
Gene Simmons - Kiss and Make Up
Paul Stanley - Face the Music: A Life Exposed

[jondunmore]

Absolutely LOVED the Lick It Up cover. It was classic! Minimalistic, direct, the framing perfect; the touch of Gene's tongue (as he admits) providing connective tissue to the old look of this band; the street clothes; the hair, everything!

[masterofvillainy]

Creatures of the night wasn't a failure. It was a MASTERPIECE!!!

[starrdogchamp]

Creatures of the night is their or at least one of their best albums, title and album cover!

[stevefoley]

They were in their way out and Vinnie saved them with his writings and what did he get for it? The Boot!

[marcoskazu_]

Some mock Vinnie Vincent, but the fact is that his genius is what saved Kiss. Without him and Eric Carr, Kiss would have ended before Creatures of The Night. At the historic Kiss show at Maracanã, with their biggest audience, Vinnie Vincent was as admired as the other members. Gene Simmons complained about the long solos, but in Brazil, the hundreds of thousands of Kiss fans and opponents alike recognized Kiss musically only because of Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr's solos. Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr were geniuses, and all fans need to recognize and respect them. It is also worth noting that Kiss abandoned their masks, and in this difficult phase, Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr provided the instrumental base of Kiss at this crucial moment.

[daveverplank]

KISS played in Minneapolis in February or March of '84, and Vinnie was still there.

[stanleybroniszewsky]

The Lick It Up show was my very first KISS concert. Radio City Music Hall, NYC and Accept opened. I was too young to see the original KISS and I had a better chance of winning the lottery than my dad taking me to a KISS show. So what if KISS took off the makeup? It was still the band (with the obvious changes), but I didn't care. I never sat down once during the concert. I was just so proud my band was back.

[mjwbulich]

They were paying Vinnie $500 a week. He asked for more and they let him walk. Imagine being in Kiss and making $26K a year. My first job in 1987 paid slightly less than that. A journeyman carpenter at the time was making more than Vinnie.

[willardwayne]

Lick it Up, Memphis Tn was my first concert. I was 13 and I loved it. The midsouth colluseum was about half full but the crowd was into it and so was the band. It was a good night.

[robinmichaels]

What I think.. IMO.
Vinnie is the guy who put the much
needed Heaviness back into KISS.
As a kid, Alive 2 was that!
I often wondered who this 'Vincent
Cusano ' guy was while reading the
linear notes on COTN. And since I was living in the Bahamas, with no readily available rock press.I wandered just how, - Ace was suddenly like unmentioned but just
killing it suddenly!(?) Then I got a copy of Hit Paraders "83 top 100 bands - or something like that.
And NOPE! No Ace! But there was
Vinnie Wiz Vincent, teeth clenched
Fists curled up, in make up.
Creatures was great.Lick it up was
brilliant.What changed...hmmmm.

[SN-nhpq]

Wow, quite evident Gene & Paul had many issues with everyone. Nothing was ever their fault etc etc etc.

[dansweet]

Paul and Gene should thank Vinnie, Eric Carr, Bruce, Mark, Tommy and Eric Singer for helping KISS stand through the test of time. Instead they shit all over every member except themselves.

[rogersyme]

Always liked the cover... Eric looks particularly cool...

[memorialled_zeppelin-warew]

Thanks ... Now I have LICK IT UP stuck in my head again.
Please send help.

[allanpeck]

Anyone who was lucky enough to attend any of the COTN or LIU tours knows that with Eric & Vinnie it was a supercharged version of KISS that was hitting on all cylinders. KISS destroyed their original fan base with the oversaturation of the 4 Solo Albums & the 3 albums that followed, on top of that they lost almost all radio air play in rock markets with Dynasty, Unmasked & The Elder. It's no wonder album sales & concert attendance was disappointing for COTN & LIU because the fan base was gone & they had little or no rock radio air play. IMO they should have tried to do another album with Vinnie & followed it up with a Live Album & a Concert Video. There's some debate about whether Vinnie saved KISS or not but the truth either way was KISS ( Paul & Gene ) screwed Vinnie over bad.

[DamageInc-nxgu]

I think they should’ve played more from this album. I believe adding: “Not For the Innocent”’and “A Million To One”.

[kirwan]

Apart from writing the odd stunner, Gene's formula for lyrics =
1. Find a cliche phrase
2. Just repeat that phrase over and over in the chorus.

[medievaltimes]

Paul criticizing someone for looking odd is kind of strange given his well documented insecurities and trauma with his facial deformity.

[chrisde-groot]

I loved all your albums I am a kiss fan for life

[RichardSleyster]

I love the Creatures of the Night album!!