It’s 1973. New York City is kind of a mess. The air smells like exhaust and hot garbage, and the music scene is caught in this weird limbo between the death of the hippie dream and the birth of punk. In a cramped, drafty rehearsal loft on 23rd Street, four guys are trying to figure out how to stop being just another bar band. They want something bigger. They want a spectacle. This is the moment when did kiss start to actually become the monster we know today, but the transformation didn't happen overnight. It was born out of rejection, a bit of desperation, and a massive amount of Ego with a capital E.
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had already tried the "normal" rock star thing with a band called Wicked Lester. They recorded an album for Epic Records, but it was... well, it was soft. It had accordion parts. The label hated it. It sat on a shelf. Honestly, if Wicked Lester had been a hit, we might never have seen a drop of greasepaint. But because they failed, they got aggressive. They wanted to create the band they never saw on stage—the "Beatles on steroids" or "Led Zeppelin with makeup."
The Cold Gin Origins in 1973
The timeline for when did kiss start officially kicks off in January 1973. Gene and Paul had placed an ad in Rolling Stone looking for a lead guitarist "with flash and ability." Ace Frehley showed up wearing one orange sneaker and one red sneaker. He looked like a total space cadet, but the second he plugged in, he had the sound. Peter Criss had already come aboard after Gene saw his "drummer willing to do anything" ad in Rolling Stone (or East Village Other, depending on which biography you trust more).
They played their first gig on January 30, 1973, at Popcorn Pub in Queens. There were maybe three people there. Maybe ten. History likes to inflate these numbers, but the reality was depressing. They weren't even wearing the full iconic makeup yet. They had some white face paint and some smeary black lines, looking more like disturbed mimes than rock gods.
Developing the Personas
It took a few months of trial and error to get the faces right. They didn't just wake up as the Demon or the Starchild. Gene Simmons, being a huge fan of horror movies and comic books, gravitated toward the bat-wing eyes. Paul Stanley tried a "Bandit" mask before settling on the single star over his right eye. Peter Criss was the Catman because, as he often said, he felt he had nine lives surviving the streets of Brooklyn. Ace? He was the Spaceman because he was literally obsessed with aliens and sci-fi.
By the time they played the Hotel Diplomat in mid-1973, the look was solidified. They were loud. They were obnoxious. They used dry ice and flash paper they bought at magic shops. They were basically broke, but they acted like they were playing Madison Square Garden.
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Bill Aucoin and the Casablanca Gamble
You can't talk about when did kiss start without mentioning Bill Aucoin. He was a television producer who saw them at the Hotel Diplomat and realized that even if the music was raw, the image was a goldmine. He promised them a record deal within two weeks or he’d pay them out of his own pocket.
He delivered. He got them signed to Casablanca Records, a brand-new label run by Neil Bogart. Bogart was a gambler. He loved the theatrics. But the early days were brutal. The first three albums—KISS, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill—didn't exactly set the world on fire. Sales were sluggish. The band was touring relentlessly, living on $15 a week for food, often eating "glop" (a mixture of ground beef and whatever was cheap).
The industry laughed at them. Critics called them a gimmick. Rolling Stone was famously dismissive. But while the critics were sneering, the "KISS Army" was being born in the Midwest. Kids didn't care about "artistic integrity." They wanted fire. They wanted blood. They wanted the spectacle that Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter were killing themselves to provide.
The Turning Point: 1975 and Alive!
If you’re looking for the exact moment when the "idea" of Kiss turned into the "phenomenon" of Kiss, it's 1975. The label was nearly bankrupt. The band was in debt. They decided to put all their chips on a live album because their studio recordings never captured the chaotic energy of their shows.
Alive! changed everything. It stayed on the charts for 110 weeks. It gave them their first major hit with "Rock and Roll All Nite." Suddenly, the question wasn't when did kiss start, it was "how do we stop them?"
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- 1973: Formation and first club dates.
- 1974: Debut album release and the first national tours.
- 1975: The release of Alive! saves the band and the record label.
- 1976: Destroyer is released, produced by Bob Ezrin, bringing a polished, cinematic sound to the band.
The transition from a dirty NYC club band to a global brand was fast. By 1977, they were the most popular band in America according to Gallup polls. They had lunchboxes. They had comic books. They had a TV movie (Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park) that was objectively terrible but somehow helped cement their status as superheroes.
Misconceptions About the Early Days
A lot of people think Kiss was a manufactured boy band put together by executives. That is totally wrong. Gene and Paul were the architects. They were the ones driving the van. They were the ones sewing their own costumes in the beginning.
Another weird myth is that the makeup was a way to hide that they weren't good musicians. If you listen to the early bootlegs from the Coventry or Popcorn Pub, they were actually a very tight, blues-rock outfit. They were influenced by the Yardbirds and Humble Pie. The makeup wasn't a mask to hide lack of talent; it was an amplifier for their personalities.
The Lineup Shifts
While the "start" of Kiss is defined by the original four, the band’s survival required evolution (and some messy firings). By the early 80s, the "original" era ended. Peter Criss left in 1980, replaced by Eric Carr. Ace Frehley left in 1982, eventually replaced by Vinnie Vincent.
Then came the "Unmasking" in 1983 on MTV. This was a second "start" for the band. They proved they could survive without the face paint, ushering in a decade of hair metal hits like "Lick It Up" and "Heaven's On Fire."
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Why the Start Date Still Matters
Understanding when did kiss start helps you understand the DNA of modern entertainment. Before Kiss, rock shows were mostly guys in jeans standing under white lights. Kiss brought the Broadway production value to the rock arena. Every time you see a pop star with a massive LED screen, pyrotechnics, or a hydraulic lift, you’re seeing the legacy of what four guys started in a New York loft in 1973.
They were the first to truly treat a rock band like a brand. Gene Simmons famously said he wanted Kiss to be "the Coca-Cola of rock." Love them or hate them, they achieved it. They turned a failing rehearsal project into a multi-billion dollar empire that lasted over 50 years, concluding with their massive "End of the Road" tour in late 2023.
Actionable Insights for Music History Buffs
If you want to dive deeper into the gritty details of the band's formation, here are the most reliable ways to do it:
- Read "Face the Music" by Paul Stanley. Of all the band biographies, Paul’s is generally considered the most grounded and honest about the early struggles and the internal dynamics.
- Listen to the "Wicked Lester" bootlegs. You can find these on YouTube. It’s the only way to hear what Gene and Paul sounded like before they decided to become the "hottest band in the world." It’s shocking how different it is.
- Watch the "KISSology" DVD sets. Specifically Volume 1. It contains the earliest known footage of the band in clubs. You can see the makeup evolving in real-time.
- Visit the site of the Hotel Diplomat. It’s located at 108 West 43rd Street in Manhattan. While it’s not the same venue it was in '73, standing there gives you a sense of the tiny, cramped world they emerged from.
The story of Kiss isn't just about music; it’s a masterclass in branding, resilience, and the sheer power of refusing to take "no" for an answer. They started with nothing but some cheap greasepaint and a dream of being bigger than God. By the time they took the paint off for the first time, they already were.