Josh-da-man

I think they deleted The Elder from their catalog for a while. It was impossible to find in the mid-to-late 80s.

It was kind of this quasi-mythological thing; you'd see the album show up on lists of their albums in magazines, but it was never in stock at any record stores and it didn't even show up in used record stores, either. I didn't even know what the cover looked like for a long time. For a long time I thought it was an import-only release or something. (Sort of like Stephen King's Dark Tower The Gunslinger novel that kept showing up on the bibliographies in his novels, but was never widely available until Plume put it out in trade paperback.)

cultshock

Yeah, domestically it was deleted until the eventual CD release in 1989. Originally it wasn't planned to be a part of the first release of the KISS catalog on CD, that's how much KISS wanted to distance themselves from it. But there was enough demand from fans that they finally relented, it was the last of their albums to receive a CD release. Unmasked kind of disappeared in the mid 80s as well, so like Elder, I had to locate a European import of the album (same with Killers of course). Luckily our local record stores stocked a lot of import albums, so I could find most of what I wanted.

Good analogy on The Gunslinger, that was the one King book I had a hell of a time finding (I didn't have the money for the original limited hardcover version that I saw advertised back then), I was happy when it finally made its way to mass market paperback.

Josh-da-man

Looking back at my youth in the 80s and early 90s, I'm always astounded by how little access to information we had back then. There was no internet, and thus, no reddit or IMDB or Wikipedia or anything else where information was readily available.

It's like now we have immediate access to any actors' complete filmography, artists' complete discographies, just anything we want to know can be looked up and learned in seconds.

When I was a kid, I heard "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions, but didn't know which album it was on. I was in a record store and saw it listed on one of their albums and bought it, only to discover it was a live album and not the proper studio album and was disappointed. (Though I quickly learned that "Worldwide Live" was a great album in its own right, so that was a happy accident.)

Or I found myself obsessed with Star Trek Deep Space Nine's Jadzia Daz played by Terry Farrell, and tried to catch as many of her appearances in other things as I could find. I'd watch and tv shows and think I saw someone who looked like her, and wondered if it was her. I remember being so thrilled when I managed to catch her appearance on Quantum Leap. Now, the IMDB and Wikipedia make tracking down stuff like that a snap.

stvn1974

Those metal and hard rock magazines like Hit Parader were great at finding out about upcoming album releases and tours. Plus Rolling Stone hadn't gone to complete shit yet.

cultshock

Yep, I bought all of those, Hit Parader, Circus, Creem, plus the cool European mags like Metal Hammer and Kerrang. The reviews were especially invaluable to guide me to some new releases I might like, back in the days when you couldn't just sample new releases on Youtube, Spotify, etc. Also, it was the record dealer ads in those magazines that clued me in on things like Japanese releases that had bonuses like extra tracks, posters, etc. And what?? The Japan releases of Lick it Up and Elder had makeup covers?? (well, kind of...)

Josh-da-man

I would flip through Hit Parader, Circus, and Metal Edge at the grocery store and occasionally bought an issue. Those were mostly crap, though, covering the same popular bands every single month. The only magazines I picked up regularly were RIP and Metal Maniacs. Rip was great for covering both mainstream and non-mainstream bands, and Metal Maniacs covered the hard shit. I think Creem might have been defuct when I was younger; I'd occasionally read about it in the past tense, but never saw an issue until the mid-90s. I have(?)/had(?) one issue that had a naked picture of Sean Yseult in it that I treasured.


I never saw any European magazines like Kerrang! or Metal Hammer until I was able to go to Barnes & Noble and Borders stores in the early 90s. The B. Daltons and Waldenbooks at the mall didn't carry them, and neither did my friendly neighborhood Kroger. I didn't have any independent bookstores that would carry things like that or big box stores like B&N until the mid-90s.

And, for the record, here's that naked (covered) Sean Yseult photoshoot from Creem:

Phodg

Saw them live once in 1988. Hated them. Each to his own, though

cultshock

I bought plenty of Rip and Metal Maniacs as well, when these more interesting magazines started coming out I bought less of the more mainstream mags like Circus (depending on which bands were featured). I think the only Creem mags I bought were in the late 70s, as they always heavily featured KISS compared to the other mags. We had a great headshop/record store downtown (RIP Poptones) which is where I picked up all my Metal Hammer and Kerrang issues back in the 80s, plus a lot of import metal albums and t-shirts. They also had cabinets full of bongs, etc. which fascinated me, but I didn't partake at the time.

stvn1974

The headshop/record store that has been around since the 1970s around here is still open. I dread the day they shut down.

Phodg

Metal Forces was by far the best metal magazine around. It had pages of not only album reviews, but demo reviews as well. Kerrang was good for a few years (and took over from Sounds as far as metal goes), but then started going more pop/rock.

cultshock

Ours shut down in the early 90s. The only plus is that I scooped up a bunch of stuff (including vinyl bootlegs, which they also carried) for half price during their closing sale, which was great but I'd rather have seen them stay open.

Josh-da-man

I'd love to open up a "head shop," but retail is just fucking murder these days.

cultshock

A friend and I were thinking of the same thing a year or so before the pandemic, luckily we didn't actually open one up or we would have gotten killed during the lockdown. Too bad, I think it would have been pretty cool, but you're right retail is really tough these days for several reasons.

JeffTheAlpaca

I am surprised Rock and Brews is still around with 6 locations in CA and thought maybe it would have went under though maybe Gene made sure the food was top quality and they were not just putting their name on the thing.

Spiderbite

There is one near the Orlando airport that we eat at almost every time he picks us up or drops us off (he goes to college in Orlando).

The food is actually decent and varied and they have a fair craft beer list. It is definitely better than a lot of the other chain restaurants of its ilk out there in our opinion.

And surprisingly KISS has little presence there. People going to that one will be disappointed if they think it is going to be KISS themed.

Giantrobo

I've seen the Rock and Brews truck around town here in LA. Never been though.

Why So Blu?

I've been to the Rock n Brews in the Delta Terminal a couple of times when I was flying out. Good food and good craft beer choices. I know there's also a location in El Segundo proper, but have never been to that one. They also let Veterans eat for free I think. I'm not sure if that's a daily thing or only on Veterans Day and Memorial Day, etc.

Hokeyboy

Got a local Rock & Brews in Plantation FL, been to the one in Orlando, definitelyworth the visit. Food is really very good for its gastropub bistro type.

morriscroy

Heh.

Knights In Satan's Service

cultshock

Those morons can make up a scary acronym from anything.

Why So Blu?

Guitarist John 5 has an Instagram page with that name dedicated to procuring rare Kiss memorabilia.

cultshock

John 5 has an insane KISS collection, I've seen it on a couple podcasts, his whole basement is like a KISS museum. He has tons of really rare stuff including actual stage worn costume pieces.

devilshalo

Been to the El Segundo location, it's alright... ended up there after a beach volleyball tournament.

Josh-da-man

Anti-Christ Devil Cult
Kids In Satan's Service
We Are Sex Perverts/We Are Satan's People (Though the band leaned into this one.)
Devils Organization Killing Kids Even Now

I remember an interview with Don Dokken, and he said that acronym would surprise his father...

Basically, if you band had a D or an S in its name, the bible-thumpers could make something satanic out of it.

cultshock

There's a made up acronym for Dokken? That's Don Dokken's actual frigging last name (not even a stage name but his birth name). Bunch of Jesus freak dumbasses.