When I was between 7-8, circa 1977-1978, I had this fascination with the rock band KISS. I used to walk to the Sears from my house and would head straight for the music section to peruse any KISS albums they had. The selection varied day to day and the sheer excitement of not knowing what you would find was worth the long walk there. It didn’t matter whether I had the money to buy the albums or not. Just to be be able to hold it in your hand, feel the cellophane covering and feel the contours of the raised letters of the KISS logo was enough.
I spent hours looking at the art work and sometimes I would hit the jackpot and find an album in which the cellophane had been removed. Then you could take out the record sleeve, read all the liner notes and feel the record in your hands.
The album cover artwork was mesmerizing from the mirror like cover of Double Platinum to the back cover of Alive 1 showing fans holding up handmade poster of Kiss in a crowded stadium. You lived on every word…. every picture. I knew that the band used Gibson guitars and Pearl drums from the fine print and that Eddie Kramer was the producer.
By mid 1978 I had amassed quite an album collection. In addition, I collected KISS trading cards both bought and stolen from the nearby Tinee Giant. The packs had pictures of the band as well as a stick of gum.
Once, I was convinced that a KISS radio advertised on TV played only KISS songs and begged my mother to buy it for me. She said it was an AM radio and did not play only KISS songs. I didn’t believe her.
They were magical for me. Gene, Paul, Peter and ACE in their spectacular costumes and make up.
It was late fall 1978, still warm enough to hang out outside. Surreal time as I look at myself from afar. I was in a neighbor’s yard but something was different this time. There were a lot of people going in and out of my house taking our belongings.
I knew somehow in my 8 year old mind that my life had forever changed.
I didn’t care. I had my KISS records. I had laid them laid out on my neighbor’s lawn……reading all the liner notes, the album covers, hearing the KISS songs in my head, imaging seeing them on stage or in space.
Childhood lost 