KISS EXPOSED: The Clip Tape As Self-Mythologizing Tool
It's ironic that Kiss, the most visuals-conscious hardrock act of their era, had taken off their famous makeup by the time MTV reallygot rolling. During the rise of MTV, Kiss found themselves in a rebuildingphase, attempting to discard the kiddie image they acquired as the '70s gaveway to the '80s by crafting an up-to-date style in tune with the mostcommercial hard rock of the era. They prolifically made music videos duringthis time and utilized the then-popular medium of VHS cassettes in their bid toreposition themselves for the '80s music marketplace.
KissExposed was their third VHS release, following the originalvideo release of Kiss Meets The PhantomOf The Park and a concert video for their Animalize tour. Their label had proposed simply releasing a tape oftheir music videos but Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, the surviving members ofthe original lineup, had something different in mind. What they created combinedthree things: the music video compilation the label wanted, an eye-catchinglook back at their makeup era that burnishes their legacy and a mock-docwraparound that adds humor while simultaneously allowing Stanley and Simmons tocreate their own personally-sanctioned mythology of the band.
Let's break it down by elements: first, the present-daymusic videos. You get a selection of music videos from the Lick It Up, Animalizeand Asylum albums, everythingproduced during this era with the exception of "Thrills In TheNight." If you're a student of music videos, these are fascinating in howthey reflect the trends of the time. For example, the videos from Lick It Up have a pseudo-Max Maxpost-apocalyptic vibe. "Heaven's On Fire," the entry from Animalize, mixes a concert stagelip-synch performance with footage of band members canoodling with models(including one-album-only member Mark St. John).
The Asylumstuff covers the remaining bases: "Tears Are Falling" mixes astylized soundstage performance with loose conceptual stuff involving a modeland "Who Wants To Be Lonely" mixes fire and boiler room imagery withmodels in showers and pools, including a few who get hosed down. "Uh! AllNight" is the most endearinglyludicrous, complimenting the song's horny lyric with an army ofpelvic-thrusting blondes in nighties who push around their own beds,periodically stopping to mime sexual intercourse on them. It's glorious.
Simmons and Stanley were also smart enough to recognizethat a segment of their fanbase - and the general public itself - were stillcurious about the band's makeup years. At the time of Kiss Exposed's release in 1987, there were no official concert documentsof the makeup era available on video so this compilation made a gesture towardsfilling that niche with a fistful of live clips from their makeup era. Forexample, there's a killer performance of "I Love It Loud" capturedbefore a huge, roaring audience that was taken from the final 1983 concert ofthe original makeup era in Brazil.
There's also a black-and-white clip of the young andhungry 1975-era Kiss performing "Deuce" in San Francisco and a 1980clip of the band performing "Detroit Rock City" in Australia, thelatter being unique for showing Peter Criss' replacement Eric Carr in his"fox" makeup. Beyond full music clips, you also get quick snips ofAce Frehley performing a borderline avant-garde solo on a guitar with flashinglights that spews smoke and Gene doing a blood-spitting bass solo that throwsin a quick montage of him spitting fire. It's worth noting there is a musicvideo from the makeup era included, a fun clip for "I Love It Loud"that shows a band performance on t.v. laying waste to a suburban home andhypnotizing a teenage boy into joining an army of glowing-eye Kiss maniacsoutside (perhaps a nod to the old "Knights In Satan's Service"rumor?).
The wraparound part of the video is often dismissed asschtick to pad the running time, offering a mock-rockumentary scenario in whicha persistent if fumbling interviewer played by Mark Blankfield of Fridays fame attempts to interviewStanley and Simmons at the home of Stanley (actually a rented mansion inBeverly Hills). Then-members Eric Carrand Bruce Kulick make brief cameos, both involving them chasing girls aroundthe mansion.
In fairness to the critics of these segments, it doescontain a lot of scripted goofing around where the two rock stars portraythemselves as fabulously wealthy playboys being attended to by a variety ofbikini-clad sex kittens, including porn stars Candie Evans and Blondi Bee. Bothstars and interview do a lot of mugging for the camera and delivery ofwisecracks: Simmons' fluffed attempt at telling a joke about a guy with a frogon his head is particularly memorable in this regard. There's even anof-the-moment gag where Stanley pretends to promote a workout tape, an excusefor rolling around on the floor with girls.
However, these segments serve a stealth purpose:rebuilding the image of Kiss as rock gods after a period where they had becomepassé. If you know your Kiss history,the '80s were a time when Kiss were trying to revive their finances as well astheir prestige so it served them well to project an appearance of rock royalty,even if it was presented in a lighthearted style. Kiss Exposed also allowed Stanley and Simmons to downplay theimportance of Criss and Frehley to the band's history and rebuild the idea ofKiss as a franchise dominated by the two surviving members alone. The latter is a theme that the two wouldbuild out in subsequent video releases, inspiring no small amount ofcontroversy amongst the band's old-school fanbase.
Thus, Kiss Exposed offers many things in the guise of a simple clip tape: it connected the band's current work to their legacy and allowed the their ruling members to reshape that legacy in a way that suited their business needs. Not bad for a VHS release commonly dismissed as a melange of riffs, posturing and jiggling rock chicks.