{"id":779,"date":"2016-01-16T00:10:15","date_gmt":"2016-01-16T00:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/?p=779"},"modified":"2016-02-16T01:27:06","modified_gmt":"2016-02-16T01:27:06","slug":"the-cat-has-nine-lives-criss-of-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/the-cat-has-nine-lives-criss-of-kiss\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cat has Nine Lives; Criss of KISS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em><u>&#8220;The Cat has Nine Lives; Criss of KISS&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_780\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Patch-PCA-84.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-780\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-780\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-780\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Patch-PCA-84-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Post- KISS\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Patch-PCA-84-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Patch-PCA-84-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Patch-PCA-84-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Patch-PCA-84.jpg 288w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Peter in the &#8220;Criss- Penridge Alliance&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p><u><\/u><br \/>\n<strong><em>What Peter Criss did outside of KISS: 1967 -2012<br \/>\n&#8220;BUZZ Newspaper&#8221; Article (#58 -pC) Jan- Feb 2016<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>By: RLSchwinden aka MrZerr0 &amp; Starchild of: KISSin Time<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>As this is my 1st article in\u00a0the new year of <strong><u>2016<\/u><\/strong> &amp; approaching my 5th year of writing these things for\u00a0you all, I will address one of my favorite drummers from one of my favorite bands: <strong><u>Peter Criss #3<\/u><\/strong> as he just turned 70, last month.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; Barracudas: 1965 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He was born <strong><em><u>George Peter John Criscuola in Brooklyn NYC, on 20 Dec 1945<\/u><\/em><\/strong> the oldest of 5 kids from an Italian Father <strong><em>Joseph Sr.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 &amp; a Irish Mother <strong><em>Loretta<\/em><\/strong>, (his younger brother <strong><em>Joey<\/em><\/strong> would be 1 of the 1st roadies for <strong><em><u>&#8216;KISS&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong>) <strong><em><u>&#8220;Georgie&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> as he was called then, received a toy drum-set at the age of 7 &amp; then his 1st real kit a <strong><em><u>Slingerland Radio King in 1960<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. <strong><em><u>Peter&#8217;s<\/u><\/em><\/strong> best friend &amp; partner -in -crime <strong><em><u>Jerry Nolan<\/u> (7 May 1946 &#8211; 14 Jan<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>1992)<\/em><\/strong> gave him his 1st real lessons, <strong><em><u>Jerry &amp; Peter<\/u><\/em><\/strong> were childhood friends, they were in the street gang <strong><em><u>&#8220;Phantom Lords&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> together, also Peter lost out to Jerry to join the <strong><em><u>&#8216;New York Dolls&#8217;<\/u> in Fall &#8217;72<\/em><\/strong>. <strong><em>&#8220;Georgie&#8221;<\/em><\/strong> wrote his <em>1st song @13<\/em> <strong><em><u>&#8220;Oh, Honey, You Know I Love You Baby<\/u><\/em><\/strong>&#8221; Peter&#8217;s 1st real band was <strong><em><u>&#8216;The Barracudas&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in the early &#8217;60s, they were already a band before <strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> joined in <strong><em><u>1962 or 63<\/u><\/em><\/strong> with <strong><em><u>Carlos Cancel<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>on Vocals &amp; Guitar, Alan Rosen on Lead Guitar &amp; Criss on Drums<\/u><\/em><\/strong> they had a regular gig @ <strong><em><u>&#8216;The King&#8217;s<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Lounge&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> where they played songs like <strong><em><u>&#8220;Wipe Out&#8221; &#8220;Tequila&#8221; &#8220;In My Life&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Green Tambourine&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in <strong><em><u>1965 <\/u><\/em><\/strong>they put out a <strong><em>45 Single on<u> M.F.T. Records #102 &#8220;It&#8217;s Been So Long b\/w Affection&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Produced By: <strong><em>Marty Craft,<\/em><\/strong> a 2nd single followed in <strong><em><u>1966 &#8220;Chicken b\/w No Use&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> on <strong><em><u>Delite Records #DE-502<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. While playing with <strong><em><u>Buddy Greco @ &#8216;The Metropole&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Peter was able to open for his Drummer Hero <strong><em><u>Gene Krupa<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>(15 Jan<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>1909 &#8211; 16 Oct 1973)<\/em><\/strong> where eventually Peter was able to take lessons from <strong><em><u>Krupa.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; Sounds Of Soul: 1967 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While playing the local NYC circuit Peter ran into his friend <strong><em><u>Joe<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, the 2 got to talking &amp; they decided to form <strong><em><u>&#8216;The Sounds Of Soul&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> with <strong><em><u>Joe Luceti on Guitar, PepeGenneralli: Organ, Angelo Opper: Bass,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Tommy Ventimiglia: Sax &amp; Jack on 2nd Guitar,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> this R&amp;B band played the NYC club circuit of <strong><em><u>&#8220;Trudy<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Heller&#8217;s&#8221; &#8220;Night Owl&#8221; &#8220;Purple Onion&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Cafe Wha?&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> they recorded a <strong><em><u>EP @ Gotham Recording<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Corporation on 2 West 42nd St.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> consisting of: <strong><em><u>&#8220;Since I Fell For You&#8221; &#8220;My Girl&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Respect&#8221; <\/u><\/em><\/strong>Criss sang lead on the last song. Sometime in <strong><em><u>&#8217;68, Ventimiglia<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was drafted &amp; they renamed themselves <strong><em><u>&#8216;Brotherhood&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> this was the 1st band <strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was in, where they really started to work in <strong><em><u>&#8220;Originals&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> apparently <strong><em><u>Opper<\/u><\/em><\/strong> then left the band in late &#8217;68 &amp; they evolved into <strong><em><u>&#8216;The Vintage&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> with <strong><em><u>John Balsamo on Bass<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, they recorded 1 original <strong><em><u>&#8220;What Is A Man&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; Nautilus: 1969 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As with most bands (even into today), they evolve from1 band to another &amp; so <strong><em><u>Genneralli &amp; Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> went on to form <strong><em><u>&#8216;Nautilus&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in late &#8217;69 with <strong><em><u>Kevin Reese on Guitar &amp;\u00a0 Peter Shandis on Bass<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, playing mostly originals &amp; usually playing @ <strong><em><u>&#8216;The Headliner&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. <strong><em>Peter<\/em><\/strong> married his 1st wife <strong><em><u>Lydia Di Leonardo<\/u><\/em><\/strong> on <strong><em><u>31 Jan 1970<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <em>(with Jerry Nolan as his &#8220;Best Man&#8221;)<\/em> the 2 took a trip to the UK as part of their honeymoon <em>(where Peter<\/em> <em>picked up the exact same type of shirt white long sleeve with red stars, that Bill Ward of Black Sabbath made famous),<\/em> when <strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> got back to the USA he left <strong><em><u>&#8216;Nautilus&#8217;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; Chelsea: 1970 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Having left his last band, <strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> ran an ad in <strong><em><u>&#8220;Village Voice&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> where he was called by: <strong><em><u>Peter Shepley: Vocals<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>&amp; Mike Brand: Guitar<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, they asked <strong><em>Criss<\/em><\/strong> to join with <strong><em><u>Michael Benvenga (1949-1977) on Bass &amp; Chris Aridas<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>on Lead Guitar,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> they called themselves <strong><em><u>&#8216;Chelsea&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; were signed to a 2 record deal with <strong><em><u>Decca Records<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <em>(at<\/em> <em>the time Decca was a huge record label)<\/em> they released their <strong><em>1st LP: #DL-75262 in Feb &#8217;70,<\/em><\/strong> the LP did not do well &amp; the band had some issues when performing live, <strong><em><u>Aridas<\/u><\/em><\/strong> left the band &amp; was replaced by; <em>&#8220;A<\/em> <em>Greek kid from the Village&#8221;<\/em> <strong><em><u>Stan &#8220;Doc&#8221; Penridge (1951- 2001)<\/u><\/em><\/strong> who took over on lead guitar, demos were written &amp; recorded for a 2nd LP; <strong><em><u>&#8220;Beck&#8221; &#8220;Run Mr. Greene&#8221; &#8220;You Make Me Feel&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Heaven With Stars<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Above&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> however <strong><em><u>Decca<\/u><\/em><\/strong> suffered financial difficulties in <strong><em><u>1970<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; the band were dropped in <strong><em><u>Aug &#8217;70<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, &amp; so, no 2nd LP was released. The band limped along until 1 night in <strong><em><u>Oct &#8217;71 in Fort Lee, NJ,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Brand &amp; Shepley were late &amp; the trio of: <strong><em><u>Penridge, Criss &amp; Benvenga<\/u><\/em><\/strong> went on &amp; decided to move forward &amp; from then on known as <strong><em><u>&#8216;LIPS&#8217;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This lineup <strong><em><u>&#8216;LIPS&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> recorded a demo for <strong><em><u>&#8220;Buddha Records&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <em>(Neil Bogart was president of the label at this<\/em> <em>time)<\/em> consisting of:\u00a0 <strong><em><u>&#8220;Baby, Don&#8217;t You let Me Down&#8221; &#8220;I&#8217;m Gonna Love You&#8221;\u00a0 &#8220;Hooked On Rock N Roll&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &#8220;<strong><em><u>That&#8217;s The Kind Of Sugar Papa Likes&#8221; &#8220;Beck&#8221; &#8220;Don&#8217;t Let The Blues Surround You&#8221; &amp; &#8220;You&#8217;re My<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Woman&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in the studio they used <strong><em><u>John Amato<\/u><\/em><\/strong> also on guitar, the band played some important gigs like <strong><em><u>&#8216;St.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>James Infirmary&#8217; in Jan &#8217;72<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, however disenchanted with the progress of the band <strong><em><u>Benvenga<\/u><\/em><\/strong> left, leaving <strong><em><u>&#8216;LIPS&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> down to 2 members. Around this time <strong><em><u>Criss <\/u><\/em><\/strong>ran into <strong><em><u>Joey<\/u><\/em><\/strong> @ <strong><em><u>&#8216;The King&#8217;s Lounge&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; was asked to sit in with <strong><em><u>&#8216;Infiniti&#8217; <\/u><\/em><\/strong>for a few weeks. Frustrated with going nowhere <strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> ran an ad in the <em>east coast printing<\/em> of <strong><em><u>&#8220;Rolling Stone&#8221; in Apr &#8217;72<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; his brother Joey had business cards made up <strong><em><u>&#8220;Have Drum, Will Travel: Peter<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Criss&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Joey had added the Extra &#8220;S&#8221; to Peter&#8217;s name, <em>&#8220;It looked cooler&#8221;.<\/em> This lead to a phone call from <strong><em><u>Gene Klein (Simmons<\/u><\/em><\/strong>) &amp; a chance meeting at <strong><em><u>&#8216;Electric Lady Studios&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> where Criss performed on <strong><em><u>Lyn<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Christopher&#8217;s 1972 Paramount LP #PAS-6051 on the song &#8220;Celebrate&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <em>(also with Stanley &amp; Simmons),<\/em> before he was hired in <strong><em><u>&#8216;KISS&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. Criss was hired as the drummer in <strong><em><u>&#8216;Wicked Lester&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> sometime in <strong><em><u>Jun 1972,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> which eventually became <strong><em><u>&#8216;KISS&#8217;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; KISS: 1973- 1980 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When <strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was in <strong><em><u>KISS<\/u><\/em><\/strong> he sang on these <strong><em><u>13 songs: 1974: &#8220;Nothin To Lose&#8221; Black Diamond&#8221; &#8220;Kissin Time&#8221; &#8220;Mainline&#8221; &#8220;Strange Ways&#8221; 1975: &#8220;Getaway&#8221; 1976: &#8220;Beth&#8221; &#8220;Hard Luck Woman&#8221; &#8220;Baby Driver&#8221; 1977: &#8220;Hooligan&#8221; 1979: &#8220;Dirty Livin&#8221; 1998: &#8220;I Finally Found My Way Back To You&#8221; &#8220;You Wanted The<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Best&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> there were <strong><em>5 other songs Peter demoed<\/em><\/strong> but not used <strong><em><u>1976 &#8220;Ain&#8217;t None Of Your Business&#8221; &#8220;Bad Reputation&#8221; 1977 &#8220;Love Bite&#8221; 1978 &#8220;Beth (acoustic) 1979 &#8220;Rumble&#8221;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> While Peter was in &#8216;KISS&#8217; he released his <strong><em><u>1st Solo LP in Sep 1978 &#8216;Peter Criss :KISS&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> his was the only 1 of the 4 &#8216;KISS&#8217; Solo LPs to have <em>2\u00a0 singles<\/em> released <strong><em><u>&#8220;I&#8217;m Gonna Love You b\/w Hooked On Rock N Roll&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; a short time after that followed <strong><em><u>&#8220;You<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Matter To Me&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> there was 1 out-take <strong><em><u>&#8220;Spotlights&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> written with <strong><em><u>Sean Delaney (1945 -2003).<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>Johnnie Bolin: &#8216;SIR Studios story&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &#8220;<em>I (Bolin) was the drummer for <strong><u>Richard T. Bear<\/u><\/strong> who had played keyboards on Gene&#8217;s solo LP, who (Bear) at the time had a hit with <strong><u>&#8220;Sunshine Hotel&#8221;<\/u><\/strong> on <strong><u>RCA Records<\/u><\/strong>, Bear&#8217;s band, which included <strong><u>Bob Kulick<\/u><\/strong> (wearing a wig) was rehearsing for a tour at SIR Studios in NYC &amp; in the main room, which was the largest room KISS was rehearsing for their <strong><u>&#8220;Return Of KISS Tour&#8221;<\/u><\/strong> in May 1979, I (Bolin) was walking through the hall &amp; sitting there\u00a0 on a bench was <strong><u>Peter Criss<\/u><\/strong>, with his right arm in a sling, &amp; smoking a cigarette, I stopped &amp; introduced myself &amp; asked him how it was going? Peter said &#8216;Like shit, my arm is broken, I&#8217;m playing like shit, we sound like shit, awful, that&#8217;s how it&#8217;s going&#8217; I (Bolin) ask &#8220;So is your arm really broken or are you giving it a rest?&#8221; Criss replies &#8220;Yea. its\u00a0broken, what d&#8217;ya think, I got it in a cast&#8221; then Bolin asks &#8220;Well are you ok, how are you playing, if your arm is broken?&#8221; Criss fires back &#8216;Yea, I&#8217;m playin ok, It&#8217;s f******** rock n roll, not rocket science&#8217;<br \/>\n<\/em>Later in <strong><em><u>1979<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Peter appeared <em>&#8220;Sans- Makeup&#8221;<\/em> on the <strong><em><u>&#8220;Lenny &amp; Squigtones&#8221; LP #NBLP- 7149 <\/u><\/em><\/strong>on <strong><em><u>Casablanca\u00a0Records<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, Criss under the name <strong><em><u>&#8220;Ming The Merciless &#8220;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; By Myself: 1980 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was effectively fired from <strong><em>&#8216;KISS&#8217; in May &#8217;80<\/em><\/strong> which he immediately began work on his 2nd Solo LP, but his 1st outside of <strong><em><u>&#8216;KISS&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in <strong><em>Sep 1980<u> &#8216;Out Of Control&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was released utilizing his long -time music partner <strong><em><u>Stan &#8220;Doc&#8221; Penridge<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; several songs not used by &#8216;KISS&#8217;\u00a0one 45 single <strong><em><u>&#8220;By Myself b\/w I Found Love&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was released there were 2 out-takes from this session<strong><em><u>:\u201dCould It Be Love&#8221; &amp; &#8220;You&#8217;re My Girl<\/u><\/em><\/strong>&#8220;. Sometime in <strong><em><u>1981 Criss &amp; Penridge<\/u><\/em><\/strong> recorded\u00a02 versions of a <strong><em><u>&#8220;Budweiser&#8221; Commercial &#8220;This Bud&#8217;s For You&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> one at: 30 &amp; 1min. In <strong><em>1982 Criss 3rd Solo<u> LP &#8216;Let Me Rock You&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was released <em>in Europe only<\/em> with the 45 single <strong><em><u>&#8220;Tears b\/w Jealous Guy&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> this LP features songs by <strong><em><u>Gene Simmons <\/u><\/em><\/strong>&amp; another by <strong><em><u>Vinnie Vincent<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, there were 2 out-takes <strong><em><u>&#8220;Jenilee&#8221; (Peter&#8217;s daughter) &#8220;Rock N Roll Survivor&#8221;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> I talked to Peter about this LP in <strong><em><u>Dec &#8217;93;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>Criss <\/em><\/strong><em>&#8220;It was only released in Europe, because at the time Paul &amp; Gene felt it would interfere with &#8216;KISS&#8221; record sales, &#8220;Feel Like Heaven&#8221; was a song, I really liked, that Gene had from a &#8216;KISS&#8217; LP that never materialized (&#8220;Louder, Harder&#8221;: 1981) since they didn&#8217;t use it I asked him if I could, no I didn&#8217;t use Doc on that album, we weren&#8217;t talking for a awhile, back then because of some stupid argument.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>Criss<\/u><\/em><\/strong> had not toured since <strong><em><u>Dec &#8217;79 with &#8216;KISS&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> so he &amp; his musical partner <strong><em><u>Stan Penridge<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, of the past 14 years formed the <strong><em><u>&#8220;Criss-Penridge Alliance&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; hit the road, 1 of the shows on the tour was <strong><em><u>3 Mar 1984 in<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Newton, NJ. with Mike Hutchens: Guitar, Allen Woody: Bass, Tony Crow: Keyboards &amp; John Moss:<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Drums,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> the band primary played late <em>50s &amp; early 60s R&amp;R standards<\/em>, this line-up did record 4 originals: <strong><em><u>&#8220;Blame It On Love&#8221; &#8220;Run For Cover&#8221; &#8220;Tell The Valentine&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Times Of\u00a0 Our Lives&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> soon after in <strong><em><u>May &#8217;84<\/u><\/em><\/strong> the band got 2 new members: <strong><em><u>Benny Harrison: Keyboards &amp; Tony Mercadante: Guitar,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Stan &amp; Peter appeared on a local Nashville TV show plugging their new band <strong><em><u>&#8220;Desperate Men&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; new LP <strong><em><u>&#8220;One For The<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Sun&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> &amp; then in <strong><em><u>Oct &#8217;84<\/u><\/em><\/strong> cut these originals: <strong><em><u>&#8220;Never Met A Woman&#8221; &#8220;Baby Hold On&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Forever With You&#8221;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; Face Without A KISS: 1987 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By the late 80s <strong><em><u>Peter<\/u><\/em><\/strong> was not very prolific, he joined <strong><em><u>&#8216;Balls Of Fire&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in <strong><em>Aug 1986,<\/em><\/strong> &amp; left after a few months. He sang with <strong><em><u>&#8216;Black N Blue&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> on the song <strong><em><u>&#8220;Best In The West&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> from the <strong><em><u>LP &#8216;Nasty Nasty&#8217; on Geffen #GHS-24111<\/u><\/em><\/strong> with <strong><em><u>Gene Simmons &amp; Tommy<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Thayer<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. He began work on the 1st draft of his book <strong><em><u>&#8220;A Face Without A KISS&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in the <strong><em>Fall of &#8217;87<\/em><\/strong> &amp; recorded the song for\u201d<strong><em><u>Days Of My Greasepaint&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> to coincide with the book. In <strong><em><u>1988<\/u><\/em><\/strong> he sang on the song <strong><em><u>&#8220;Take It Off&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> from the <strong><em><u>&#8216;King Kobra&#8217; LP &#8220;III&#8221; <\/u>on New Renaissance<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>Records.<\/em><\/strong> Then in <strong><em>1989 Criss<\/em><\/strong> formed <strong><em><u>&#8220;The Tree&#8221; with Kevin Russel of &#8220;707&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> which soon became <strong><em><u>&#8220;The<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Keep&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> as <em>3 members of<\/em> <strong><em><u>&#8216;White Tiger&#8217; joined Criss; Mark St.John: (7 Feb 1956 &#8211; 5 Apr 2007) Guitar, Mike<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Norton: Bass &amp; David Donato: Vocals,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> this line-up recorded these songs: <strong><em><u>&#8220;Love For Sale&#8221; &#8220;Do You Know What I Mean&#8221; &#8220;&#8221;All Night Long&#8221; &#8220;Between The Lines&#8221; &amp; &#8220;(been a) Long Time&#8221; <\/u><\/em><\/strong><em>(several of these songs<\/em> <em>were released on <strong><u>St. John&#8217;s 1999 EP\u00a0 &#8220;Project&#8221;)<\/u><\/strong><\/em> the band&#8217;s premier gig was <strong><em><u>2 May 1990 in Lawndale, CA<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; Bad People Burn In Hell: 1993 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The early <strong><em><u>90s<\/u><\/em><\/strong> find Peter back with a vengeance, as he puts together <strong><em><u>&#8220;CRISS&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> with <strong><em><u>Ray Carrion: Guitar Mark Montague: Bass &amp;\u00a0 Phil Naro: Vocals, in\u00a0 Nov &#8217;91, <\/u><\/em><\/strong><em>the band&#8217;s premier gig is @ &#8220;Exposure 54&#8221; <\/em>the band record these songs: <strong><em><u>&#8220;Wait For The Minute (to R&amp;R)&#8221; &#8220;No I&#8217;m Not Afraid&#8221; &#8220;Spread The Word&#8221; &#8220;First On To Admit&#8221; &#8220;We&#8217;re All In This Together&#8221; <\/u><\/em><\/strong><em>before several line-up changes, then in the <strong><u>Fall of &#8217;93 <\/u><\/strong><\/em>they release the <strong><em><u>&#8216;Criss EP&#8217; #0004-2SE Tony Nicole Records<\/u><\/em><\/strong> which contains <strong><em><u>&#8220;The Cat&#8221; &#8220;Show Me&#8221; &#8220;Good Times&#8221; &#8220;What You&#8217;re Doin&#8221; &#8220;Beth&#8221; with Mike Stone: Vocals &amp; Kirk Miller: Guitar. <\/u><\/em><\/strong>I saw Peter sit in with the <strong><em><u>KISS Tribute Band &#8216;STRUTTER&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> in <strong><em><u>Dec&#8217;93 in Chicago, ILL<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. they performed <strong><em><u>&#8220;Strutter&#8221; &#8220;Let Me Go<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Rock N Roll&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Love Gun&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> I had him sign a couple LPs &amp; was able to ask him a few questions, <strong><em><u>Criss:<\/u><\/em><\/strong><em> &#8220;I plan on doing another Lennon cover for my next CD (1995) maybe &#8220;Oh, Yoko&#8221;, I was born in &#8217;45 but they always list &#8217;46 because I was born in Dec. age is just a stage, ya know, a frame of mind. Yea, Bogart had a statue of a maid leaning over dusting in his window to keep burglars away, (laughs). Still in touch with Glickman- Marks, no way they ripped me off for millions&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nThen in the <strong><em><u>Spring &#8217;94<\/u><\/em><\/strong> the <strong><em><u>CD &#8216;Criss Cat #1&#8217; on Tony Nicole Records<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, now with; <strong><em><u>Mike Mc.Laughlin on<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>Guitar<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. In <strong><em><u>May through Dec &#8217;95 Peter Criss &amp; Ace Frehley <\/u><\/em><\/strong>embark on <strong><em><u>&#8220;The Bad Boys Tour&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> performing some <strong><em><u>49 concerts<\/u><\/em><\/strong> together getting ready for the <strong><em><u>&#8217;96 KISS Reunion.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Criss&#8217; performed these songs all of which were unreleased &amp; played live: <strong><em><u>&#8220;Beg Borrow Steal&#8221; &#8220;Called You Crazy&#8221; &#8220;Crazy For Your Love&#8221; &#8220;Dont Come Crying To Me&#8221; &#8220;Knock Out&#8221; &#8220;Leave Me Alone&#8221; &#8220;My Reality&#8221; &#8220;Seeds (no evil)&#8221; &#8220;Wasting Love&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>&#8220;Adalyne&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Shut Up&#8221;.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> This line-up did record these songs; <strong><em><u>&#8220;Surrender (in the name of love)&#8221; &#8220;Golden Arm&#8221; &#8220;The Shooter&#8221; &#8220;U Gotta Know&#8221; &#8220;Zig Zag&#8221; <\/u><\/em><\/strong>for a potential new <strong><em><u>CD slated in &#8217;95, <\/u><\/em><\/strong>however the next CD was a <em>Interview\/Story CD<\/em>, <strong><em><u>&#8216;Past, Present &amp; Future&#8217;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> on <strong><em><u>KISS Army International Records<\/u><\/em><\/strong> as Peter was unable to find a publisher for his book he had in progress, 1 demo was recorded <strong><em><u>&#8220;Easy Goin Guy&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> intended for the CD, but the song went un-issued.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>&gt; Found My Way: 1995 &lt;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn late <strong><em><u>&#8217;95 Criss rejoined &#8216;KISS&#8217; from 1995 -2004,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> he made an appearance on the <em>TV Series <strong><u>&#8220;Millennium&#8221;<\/u><\/strong><\/em> in <strong><em><u>1998 <\/u><\/em><\/strong>as <strong><em><u>&#8220;Nice Cop #1&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong> then on the <strong><em><u>&#8220;Family Guy&#8221;<\/u><\/em><\/strong><em> TV Series in 2001 as &#8220;Himself&#8221;<\/em> , then in <strong><em><u>2002<\/u><\/em><\/strong> on the <em>TV Series <strong><u>&#8220;Oz&#8221;<\/u><\/strong> as &#8220;<strong><u>Martin Montgomery&#8221;<\/u><\/strong><\/em> for 2 episodes. I was able to met Peter for a 2<sup>nd<\/sup> time in <strong><em><u>Nov.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><u>2003.<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Finally in <strong><em><u>2007 <\/u><\/em><\/strong>Peter&#8217;s <em>6th &amp; final (so far)<\/em> <strong><em><u>CD &#8216;All For One&#8217; <\/u>on Silvercat Records<\/em><\/strong> was released, this is primarily a <em>&#8220;Easy Listening&#8221; CD<\/em>, there were several other songs recorded for a pending <em>&#8220;Rock&#8221;<\/em> CD due out in <strong><em><u>2009,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> those songs were <strong><em><u>&#8220;Bohemia&#8221; &#8220;Cat Nip&#8221; Crossroads&#8221; &#8220;Falling All Over Again&#8221; &#8220;Last Night&#8221; &#8220;Reason For Living&#8221; &#8220;What Does It Take&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Whisper&#8221; <\/u><\/em><\/strong>so far this last CD has not been released;<strong><em><u> Criss:<\/u><\/em><\/strong> <em>&#8220;I&#8217;m gonna take my time, as it isn&#8217;t really fair to the artist, you put out a record &amp; it gets down-loaded for free &amp; the artist doesn&#8217;t get paid&#8221;<\/em>. <strong><em><u>Peter<\/u><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0appeared in the Film <strong><em><u>&#8220;Frame Of Mind&#8221; in 2009<\/u><\/em><\/strong> as <strong><em><u>&#8220;Mike&#8221;,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> then finally in <strong><em><u>2012,<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Peter gets his book released <strong><em><u>&#8220;Makeup To Breakup<\/u><\/em><\/strong>&#8221; after <em>25 years in the making<\/em>, it&#8217;s a good read, about a poor kid from Brooklyn who becomes 1 of the most famous musicians of all time.<\/p>\n<p>Some of you know, some don&#8217;t, I own a Recordshop &#8220;Mr. Zero&#8217;s 55113&#8221; &amp; I am in a KISS Tribute Band &#8220;KISSin Time&#8221; (with Peter Campbell: Catman, Anthony Wright: Spaceman &amp; Joe Masanz: Demon) that covers the 1st 2 tours that KISS performed, so if you want to know more about KISS stop in the store, if you want to see what KISS was like in the very early years, you can catch us live in MPLS, St.Paul, Mankato or St. Cloud<\/p>\n<p>Until the next time &#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>Mr. Zero&#8217;s *Est.2009<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>1744 Lexington Ave. N.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>Roseville- St.Paul, MN. 55113<br \/>\n<a href=\"tel:651.489.0207\">651.489.0207<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.MrZeros.Com\">www.MrZeros.Com<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The Cat has Nine Lives; Criss of KISS&#8221; What Peter Criss did outside of KISS: 1967 -2012 &#8220;BUZZ Newspaper&#8221; Article (#58 -pC) Jan- Feb 2016 By: RLSchwinden aka MrZerr0 &amp; Starchild of: KISSin Time &nbsp; As this is my 1st<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/the-cat-has-nine-lives-criss-of-kiss\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[222,223,221],"class_list":["post-779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-cat-3","tag-kiss-drummer","tag-peter-criss"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrzeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}