In a current interview on SiriusXM‘s The Howard Stern Show, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron shared a shocking anecdote from his teenage years involving none aside from rock giants Kiss. Cameron recounted how, almost 5 many years in the past, he and his bandmates in a neighborhood Kiss cowl band confronted authorized motion from the legendary rockers.
Cameron reminisced in regards to the early days of his musical journey, recalling his teenage band’s humble beginnings enjoying native gigs and crafting makeshift stage props in a storage. The pivotal second got here when Cameron, accompanied by his bandmates, offered a photograph album of their amateurish Kiss tribute to none aside from Paul Stanley himself throughout a soundcheck for Kiss‘s ‘Alive!’ tour in 1975.
“I used to be in a neighborhood Kiss cowl band after I was 13, 14 or one thing like that. We performed our native highschool’s keggers, and whatnot. And my dad was mates with the pinnacle of the stagehand union in San Diego. So, when Kiss was enjoying there — it was through the ‘Alive!’ tour, in order that was ’75 — we obtained to go see Kiss do a soundcheck on the San Diego Sports activities Area. So I introduced the 2 guys that I used to be within the Kiss band with, Tim and Dave Mahoney, to the soundcheck, and we introduced our picture album from our silly Kiss cowl band. My mother made my costume, and Tim’s mother made his costume. We constructed these rickety plywood platforms in Tim’s storage. We made flash pots out of espresso cans and a light-weight socket with just a little flash powder inside it. It was janky, low hire, horrible. So anyhow, we took this picture album to fulfill Kiss frontman Paul Stanley. We obtained a photograph with him. And so, we had been kind of, like, ‘Hey man, we’re in a Kiss cowl band. Here is our silly little picture album.'”
Nevertheless, the thrill quickly turned to shock when, a number of months later, the younger musicians acquired a cease-and-desist letter from Kiss‘s administration firm, Aucoin Administration. The rationale? The band’s audacious choice to call themselves ‘Kiss’ with out contemplating the authorized ramifications.
“Lower to, like, I do not know, 4 to 6 months later, we get a cease-and-desist letter from Kiss‘s then-management firm Aucoin Administration. And we had been huge Kiss followers. So, Kiss used to place the emblem from Aucoin Administration on their albums, so we had been all excited after we obtained the letter. ‘Whoa, we’re getting a letter from Aucoin Administration. We have made it.’ And it was a cease-and-desist from Kiss.”
Reflecting on the incident, Cameron admitted, “It was as a result of I believe we simply referred to as our Kiss cowl band ‘Kiss‘. We did not actually suppose forward there.” Compelled to adjust to the authorized stress, the band begrudgingly modified their identify to “Kiss (Imitation)” in parentheses.
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