It appears that we may be getting the Sydney, Australia show from 1980 on KISSology Volume II this fall. Keep in mind that these are early reports I'm posting here, but if this is true, this is very exciting news. The Sydney show is from the Unmasked tour and the addition of Eric Carr kicked new life into the band.

I've also posted possible cover artwork - but keep in mind that this won't be coming out until fall and everything's subject to change.

http://www.kissfaq.com/news/index.html

Monday, June 04, 2007 1:19:55 PM - Sydney '80 confirmed for KISSology Volume II...

(From: http://www.getalifeinc.com/) (File under anything can still change!) "We have just added a special surprise from VH1 Classic and KISS Catalogue Ltd. a special screening of the Sydney, Australia 11/22/80 show. This special DVD is part of the upcoming release of KISSology 2 DVD Set which will be released in the fall of 2007. The Sydney show will feature digitally restored video and 5.1 audio mix to stunning sound and picture quality on a 9 foot screen! Relive this fantastic moment in KISStory as KISSteria takes over the Inner Sanctum! Track list includes the following: Detroit Rock City, Cold Gin, Strutter, Shandi, Calling Dr. Love, Firehouse, Talk To Me, Is That You, I Was Made For Lovin' You, Love Gun, Rock And Roll All Nite and Black Diamond." Lucky those who'll be attending the St. Louis KISS Expo on June 24, 2007!

Additionally, Bruce Kulick recently told Jim Ousley in an interview: "I do have some news on the upcoming KISSology 2 DVD; it's really going to be incredible. I recently got a sneak preview of some of it. A couple of the guys from MTV came over and I recorded a commentary track for a couple of the concerts that I appeared on. The first KISSology went from 1974 to 1977. KISSology 2 picks up in 1978 and goes to 1995 for the reunion. So basically it starts on the solo records, and goes into the Vinnie Vincent era, taking off the makeup, then on to the time I joined the band. Some of the concerts featured are from the Creatures of the Night tour and the Hot in the Shade tour, and they're really well shot. So much better than the bootlegs out there."

There's also some unconfirmed suggestion that there will be bonus discs with this set leading to all sorts of possibilities for partial shows! Time will tell...

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The Knights in Satan's Service have always had an approach to their fans that on the one hand could be seen as ridiculously crass and on the other as truly generous. And this release, with its three expertly mastered and crammed DVDs--issued with three separate bonus discs--could easily support either view. The second installment in KISS's Kissology DVD series will sort out the casual fans from the true members of the KISS Army. The material included here, after all, begins in 1978, when the band released four separate solo albums at once and their massive popularity began to wane. It continues on through the controversial makeup-free period and ends in '91, as KISS struggled to cope with the ascendancy of grunge over the hair metal style they'd experienced a second boom with. The concert films are pretty great, but the full-length Tom Snyder Tomorrow show appearance is flat-out brilliant, as is their live performance on the short-lived sketch comedy show Fridays. And the highlight of the set has to be the "European theatrical version" of their made-for-TV film KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. All those who've suffered through poorly degenerated video bootlegs will glory at this wonderfully restored piece of rock and roll camp.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SAAPG6/?tag=imwan-20

cool kissology 1 was pretty awesome so part 2 should hopefully also be awesome. maybe the best of kiss makes up for the semi lame time period

This sounds great but I was hoping for a much earlier release than Fall 2007. I can't believe it would be a year later after volume 1. Either way, I'm looking forward to it because volume 1 was terrific and I'm sure volume 2 will be just as good. I'm hoping there is some extensive coverage of The Elder period...like the Friday's TV show.

Mark

It would be great to have all three performances from Fridays, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for it.

Number one, the group has a lingering disdain for Music From The Elder and number two, even if they did include something from Fridays, it would probably end up being just one song, like they did with the clip from The Paul Lynde Halloween Special from the first KISSology.

Still, one can hope. What's unique about that appearance is that it's the one and only time KISS performed those songs live...with the Mark II lineup, that is.

I think Gene and Paul have started to warm up to The Elder over the years as they see the fans really like the album. Maybe one of the bonus discs, and you know there will be, will be a complete Elder disc...all live performances pertaining to that disc.

Mark

Perhaps. But still, there were only three actual live performances of songs from The Elder...and they were all on the Fridays TV show.

Historical note: Fridays was ABC's ripoff of Saturday Night Live. It debuted in the spring of 1980 and lasted two years. Still, it did act as a spawning ground for Michael Richards (Seinfeld) and Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm). Other cast members went on to become character actors and Mark Blankfield went on to play the role of the interviewer on the KISS Exposed home video.

Good info Chris. Thanks. I had kind of thought they didn't do much of it. I have heard Gene basically calling all of the fans that loved The Elder geeks. He said he has had fans come up to him and request they do an entire concert with songs from the Elder and he said he looks at them and says "Are you crazy?"

I'm sure if the fans show him enough money he'll be happy to do it.

Naah, He doesn't need the money and based on his comments this one is a sure bet. We'll never here them in concert. All we can hope for is to see something on the 2nd set of videos on the set.

If all of a sudden, the prospect of doing Elder songs on a tour would make money for KISS, Gene would say something like "We're doing this for the fans. Through the years, the fans have expressed their love for The Elder and it forced us to reexamine this material. The fans are the bosses and we're doing this for them."

Funnily enough, there's some footage on YouTube of KISS lip-synching "Charisma" and "I Was Made For Loving You" from Mexican TV in 1981. It's really weird seeing them in the Elder outfits doing Dynasty songs. I think they should include those clips on KISSology II just for the sheer novelty of it, but knowing Gene and Paul, they won't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix2BQl3VZ9s&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzqaNbrnsP0&NR=1

Your right. That is exactly what he would say. And all would know it would be total BS.

I wish they would include the Mexican stuff as well. I remember seeing those clips back then thinking "how lame can they get" and I have loved them since 1977.

It's funny. When Unmasked came out in 1980, my excitement at a new KISS album quickly turned to disdain. I thought the music was wimpy and too pop. I was discovering stuff like Led Zeppelin also.

With the massage of time, I've gotten older and wimpier and have grown to like Unmasked. Is it my favorite KISS album? No. But I can appreciate it for the time capsule it was. And I always liked the song "Naked City." That was the closest thing to a heavy song on that album.

I would take Unmasked over Hot In The Shade anyday.

Yeah your right Hot in the Shade is one of their worst.

One of my top three favorites that get very little credit by them is Carnival of Souls. It has the hardest sound mixing the alternative of the day, with a little Metalica and old school Kiss. I really wanted them to do some of it when they did their last two tours but nothing was done. It was the perfect follow-up to Revenge and if the reunion had not happend, I firmly believe they would have toured for it and had some additional success as they did for Revenge.

Psycho Circus just went back to them using studio musicians and Bob Kulik again and making an ok Pop-Rock medium decent Kiss record. I think the hard stuff of COS scared them. Just my opinon

Ye$ Gene, the fan$ are indeed the bo$$e$.

I agree. I'm considered "Mr. Seventies" in terms of my music tastes and even I prefer COS to PC.

And Bob Kulick didn't play on Psycho Circus. However, I have heard that Tommy Thayer and Bruce Kulick were involved, as well as a studio drummer named Kevin Valentine.

And Gary, I agree with you also. I haven't gone to see KI$$ $ince the "farewell" tour and did not buy their Rock The Nation DVD.

Let's see:
CBK-I like Kiss Unmasked, always have. Most kids despised it at the time (I was 10) because it was still poppish like Dynasty but with fewer heavy songs. But "Shandi" remains a favorite of mine-I love the harmonies on that track and the song sounds like it was built for radio-only made the Top 50 though. Love the video too-the last thing Peter Criss did until 1996.
Some great Power-pop styled songs too-like "Tomorrow" and "Is That You?" which is almost New Wave. Killer rockers like "Two Sides Of The Coin", "Torpedo Girl" and "Talk To Me" are so Ace it's great. Some songs suck out loud, but overall, I really like it.
As for Carnival Of Souls-ugh. I thought that was atrocious. Toby Wright did a good job with Alice In Chains, but he was wrong for Kiss. This was a sad cash grab for the Grunge era and the band were wise to shelve it IMO.
Psycho Circus was fun, but not that great. Obviously Ace and Peter weren't on every track which was a huge mistake. Tommy Thayer, Bruce Kulick, Kevin Valentine, Eric Singer and others did play on the record. Valentine used to play for Donnie Iris and Shadow King-he's really good and obviously not Peter!
Brue Fairburn was a good choice as producer, but the album should've rocked better and had more cohesion. Oh well, I still liked about 65% of it.
Hot In The Shade was abysmal. I hated the non-makeup years except for "Lick It Up" which was a makeup lineup album anyway.
I really liked the "Rock The Nation" DVD-it's amazing hearing how the songs are supposed to be played! Still, I miss Ace, Peter not so much-his drumming had become so slow it was awful.
I hope the music videos end up on the next Kissology or on their own.

Ironically, that was the year I first saw the "Shandi" video. I didn't have cable in 1980 and the only place you could see music videos were shows like Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. It took me sixteen years and a bootleg VHS tape to finally see it. I'm only three years older than you, IP, so my frame of reference isn't much different.

What cracks me up about that video is there's a point in the song where there's this big drum fill and Peter really hams it up while he fakes it, because Anton Fig did the real drumming on Unmasked, as he did for most of Dynasty.

I never knew a video was made for Shandi. I just watched it on YouTube, and my favorite moment is at the end when they change into their street clothes. Hilarious.

CBK:
Great point. "Shandi" has awesome drumming as does the whole album. I remember as a kid hearing the insane drumming on "Two Sides Of The Coin" and thinking-wow, Peter Criss really is awesome! Then, years later, I realized he wasn't!
Funny how Gene and Paul told Dick Wagner, Rick Derringer, Bob Kulick, etc. to sound like Ace, but obviously they didn't tell anyone to play like Peter for obvious reasons!
You really should check out the "Rock The Nation" DVD-it's so good. But, I understand your disgust at Gene and Paul and KI$$ in general these days.
I also just snagged a sweet pro-shot DVD of one of the few KISS shows from 2006 in Japan for only $12 and it's pretty damn good.
My main complaint with Gene and Paul-just put Tommy and Eric in new costumes and create new characters which would only lead to more money. But, it was more important to belittle Ace and Peter's contributions instead I guess.

Are Tommy & Eric still playing with KISS? I thought Peter was back in.

No Peter is still out. The last few times they have put on the make-up Tommy and Eric have been there.

CBK--Opps, yep your were right about Kevin and Bruce being on PC and not Bob. I have been so used to Bob being on past records I just typed his name w/o really thinking about it.

Rich

I have seen the Rock The Nation DVD and I don't say that Tommy and Eric aren't good players, but KISS has become their own tribute band.

I watched the DVD and it really felt like nothing new to me. A friend of mine once said that KISS should have quit after the reunion tour. They would have went out on top. I think I kind of agree with that sentiment. Or at the very least, they should have called it quits after the, ahem..."farewell" tour.

Gene and Paul were no dummies. They weren't going to have session men try to duplicate the weakest link in the chain. Imagine if they told Eric Singer to play like Peter does now??