In the 1970’s, not many rock bands were bigger than KISS. All told, the band has sold over 20 million albums in the US, and has also moved the most gold albums (30) of any hard rock band in America. They dominated not only the music charts but also American pop culture. If you’re a Gen Xer like me, you remember growing up seeing the painted faces of each member of the band pretty much everywhere.
The album that made KISS a household name was Alive! It was a collection of tour stops at four cities in the summer of 1975. The album dropped in September of ‘75, and became a smash. It stayed on Billboard’s charts for over 100 weeks. The album has sold nine million copies worldwide. Below is a television commercial for the Alive! LP:
Here’s a bonus tidbit. It seems that our berg, Dayton, Ohio, had a hand in the ascension of KISS. Here's a quote from band member Paul Stanley:
I saw a pattern emerging with us on the road. Every night, I'd ask somebody before the show, "How are we doing?", which meant, "What's the attendance?" One night they said, "It's sold out," and then the next night I'd hear the same thing. All of a sudden it was becoming the norm. For me the first realization that things were on an upswing was when we played the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Before the show I went on stage, looked out through the curtain and saw this big crowd, and said to myself, "My God, this is really happening!"
Who knew? Rock on, Dayton.
