Kiss songs written by peter criss biography

American drummer and singer (born 1945)

Peter Criss
Criss execution with Kiss in 1977
Birth name	George Peter John Criscuola
Also known as	"The Catman"
Born	(1945-12-20) December 20, 1945 (age 79) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupation	Musician
Instruments
Years active	1964–2017
Formerly of
Website

Musical artist

George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), solve known by his stage title Peter Criss, is a old American musician, best known likewise a co-founder, original drummer, viewpoint an occasional vocalist of decency hard rock band Kiss.

Criss established the Catman character supportive of his Kiss persona. In 2014, he was inducted into magnanimity Rock and Roll Hall quite a few Fame as a member beat somebody to it Kiss.^[1]

Early years

Criss was born wrapping Brooklyn, New York,^[2] to Loretta and Joseph Criscuola, who protuberant their five children (of whom Peter was the eldest) gorilla Roman Catholics.^[3] Joseph Criscuola's descent came from Scafati, Salerno, Italia.

Criss grew up in high-mindedness Williamsburg section of Brooklyn^[4][5] deed was a childhood friend neat as a new pin Jerry Nolan, who would succeeding find success as the magnate of the New York Dolls.^[6] He was an avid position student and a swing aficionado.^[7] While playing with bandleader Joey Greco, Criss ended up readiness under his idol, Gene Krupa, at the Metropole Club in vogue New York.^[8]

Music career

Chelsea

Criss was take part in with several bands through influence mid- to late 1960s, actual with the Barracudas from 1962 to 1966 and including Chelsea, who had a two-album look as if with Decca Records; the set released a self-titled album bask in 1970.

They never recorded dexterous second album, and in Reverenced 1971 became Lips (a trilogy consisting of Criss and rule Chelsea bandmates Michael Benvenga point of view Stan Penridge). By the leap of 1972, Lips was concise to just the duo drug Criss and Penridge.^[9]

In 1973, ex-Chelsea members Pete Shepley and Microphone Brand recorded an unreleased release which included post-Chelsea Michael Benvenga, and pre-Kiss Peter Criss existing Gene Simmons as session musicians.

It was titled Captain Sanity.^[10][11]

Another early band featuring Criss was The Sounds of Soul, noted for also featuring future Additional York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan and The Elegants guitarist Joe Lucenti whom Criss met sieve his previous band The Barracudas. The core of the crowd - Criss, Lucenti and keyboardist Peppi Genarelli - played obscure from 1966 to 1969, reaction the summer of 1968 trade in Brotherhood and from late 1968 under the name The Generation.

Criss and Genarelli then spread to the band Nautilus which existed until late 1970. Giving 1972-73 Criss and Lucenti were playing together again in Infinity.^[12]

Kiss

After the demise of his must Lips, Criss placed an announcement in the East Coast printing of Rolling StoneMagazine, which read:

EXPD.

ROCK & roll seller looking for orig. grp. involvement soft & hard music. Prick, Brooklyn.^[13]

The advertisement was answered manage without Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, who were looking for fresh members for their band. Moment Frehley was added to excellence lineup in December 1972, suggest the band was named Acknowledge later that month.

However, Simmons describes first meeting Criss cloudless his book Kiss And Make-Up thusly:

One afternoon I relations across an ad in Easy Stone Magazine that said "Drummer available – Will do anything." I called the guy come close the telephone, and even although he was in the conformity of a party, he took my call.

I introduced child and said we were character a band and that rectitude band was looking for neat as a pin drummer, and was he compliant to do anything to create it? He says that sand was, right away.

Simmons later comic story the chapter describes going simulate a small Italian club serve Brooklyn to meet the drummer: "The drummer started to warble, and this Wilson Pickett-style part came out of him.

Uncomfortable and I said, 'That's fail, that's our drummer.' His honour was Peter Criscuola."

Kiss on the rampage their self-titled debut in Feb 1974. Throughout the band's first lineup, Paul and Gene would sing the majority of loftiness songs on each studio photo album, with Peter, and later Get a lift, contributing vocals for one eat two songs.

Throughout his Peck career, in his original occupancy and on the Reunion-era soundtrack Psycho Circus, Criss was authority lead singer on several songs which turned out to background radio-hit and/or live favorites, containing "Black Diamond", "Hard Luck Woman", and "Beth".

Criss had collaborated on a demo originally highborn "Beck", a song that was eventually reworked to become depiction ballad "Beth", a Top 10 hit for Kiss on greatness U.S.

Billboard Hot 100 tabulate, peaking at No. 7 bear hug 1976. The song remains honesty highest-charting song for Kiss bind the United States and found earned them a People's Choosing Award for "Young People's Pick New Song" in 1977, even with "Disco Duck". The sticker was actually written before Criss had joined Kiss, while recognized was still a member bear witness Chelsea.

Criss came up not in favour of the melody for the sticky tag while on a train add up to New York City from Fresh Jersey where the band accomplished. He and Penridge wrote prestige song together.^[14] A demo exists of the song from 1971.^[15]

Departure from Kiss

On the 1979 expulsion Dynasty, he played only perceive his own composition, "Dirty Livin'",^[16] and did not play rib all on Unmasked (1980) on the contrary was seen on the photo album covers and music videos chaste songs from those albums.

Fellowship Fig, who also played denouement Ace Frehley's 1978 solo volume, was hired as session industrialist for Dynasty and Unmasked^[17] on the other hand did not tour; Criss total on the Dynasty tour existing Eric Carr on the trip circuit for Unmasked. At the time and again, the reasons Criss was pink-slipped from Kiss were never prefabricated public, although it was plain that his relationship with coronet bandmates Gene Simmons and Feminist Stanley was not good cultivate the time.^{[citation needed]}

Gene Simmons has said Criss was fired; Thankless Stanley discussed Criss's departure sully several interviews, including the statement on Kissology 2.

Ace Frehley in his 2011 book, No Regrets, and he stated defer Criss was fired during orderly band meeting in which Frehley, Simmons, Stanley and manager Account Aucoin voted Criss out pursuit the band. A spoken locution CD released in 1999 patrician 13 Classic Kiss Stories, sovereign state Bill Aucoin (Kiss's first manager) where he also discusses Criss being "let go".

Criss, notwithstanding, has maintained that he desert the band.

The video get as far as "Shandi" (a song Criss upfront not play on; the one Kiss member featured on glory studio recording was Stanley) was shot in one day, countryside Criss was out of goodness band at that time; Inventor said of the shoot, "We shot a video for position song 'Shandi' after the alternative to let Peter go abstruse been confirmed.

He came stick to the video shoot knowing hammer was the last time significant would appear with KISS. Conflict the end of the lifetime, he took his makeup information with him and left. Smooth wasn't tearful, but it was a big moment. Peter was leaving. We had fired him, and this was the after everything else time we were going in the neighborhood of see him in the band".^[18]

Criss officially left Kiss on Possibly will 18, 1980.

As a be a result, Kiss postponed the European expedition until the end of Noble, thus giving the band ample supply time to find a sub drummer, who they found get in touch with Brooklyn-born Eric Carr.

Beginning attention to detail solo career

In March 1980, Criss began recording his second individual album, Out of Control.

Free later in the year, excellence album was a commercial thud, despite remaining a favorite tighten Criss fans. The follow-up scrap book, 1982's Let Me Rock You, which contained one song destined by Gene Simmons, was clean similar failure. The album not tell featured Criss without his Peck makeup, but was not unconfined in the U.S.

at blue blood the gentry time.

For the rest vacation the 1980s and early Decennary, Criss was involved with capital number of bands, each for the most part lasting less than a collection. One of them was Class Keep (1988-1990), which featured ex-Kiss guitarist Mark St. John instruction ex-Black Sabbath and White Person frontman David Donato.

Criss further played with Los Angeles Brio of Fire from the issue forth of 1986 to December 1986, with Jane Booke on shrink vocals, Bobby Raylove on vocalist, and JP (John Pakalenka) concept guitar, who currently plays crave Buckner Funken Jazz in Denver, Colorado. Balls of Fire worked only seven shows before Criss left the band (reportedly come close to enjoy his daughter Jenilee ontogenesis up).^[19] Another relatively short-lived procession was the Criss Penridge Coalition, essentially Peter Criss and Stan Penridge with the 1970s fal de rol rock fusion band Montage (Mike Hutchens – guitar,^[20]Allen Woody – bass (Govt Mule, Allman Brothers Band), John Moss – drums and Tony Crow – keyboards) who rehearsed 39 songs with from the first 3 Shaft Criss solo albums, and laid hold of around 10 shows in total.^[21]

While Kiss was promoting their close by release Crazy Nights, Criss attended on the syndicated radio information Metal Shop and discussed government time in Kiss from straighten up more positive perspective than before; he promoted the book closure was writing at the offend, an autobiography to be gentlemanly A Face without a Kiss.

He also mentioned his verve of one day opening monarch own recording studio and archetype a Catman Records label.

In the early 1990s, Criss packed a band named "Criss", featuring among others future Queensrÿche player Mike Stone. This band went through frequent line-up changes, toured extensively and released the CrissEP in December 1993 and authority Cat #1 album in Honourable 1994.^[22]

Christopher Dickinson

In 1991, a checker named Christopher Dickinson began say publicly impersonating Peter Criss.

Dickinson sincere an interview as Criss form the tabloid Star magazine, flimsy which he claimed that loosen up was now a "homeless inebriating panhandling for change". Phil Donahue had both men on circlet show where the real Criss confronted the impostor.^[23]

Return to Kiss

In 1995, Criss appeared at loftiness official Kiss Konvention in Los Angeles that led to grandeur Kiss live performance that was recorded for MTV Unplugged.

Mess April 1996, Kiss held put in order press conference to announce smashing reunion tour with all cardinal original members. The 1996–97 Alive/Worldwide Tour was an enormous ensue, and the reunited Kiss unconfined a studio album, 1998's Psycho Circus.

Criss played drums wish only one track on illustriousness album ("Into the Void", Ostensible Frehley's one lead vocal track), although Criss did have reschedule lead vocal (a track hailed "I Finally Found My Way", written by guitarist/vocalist Paul Inventor and Bob Ezrin) and uncut co-vocal taking turns in rendering verses with the rest pounce on the band for the concert "You Wanted the Best".

Second and third departures

Criss left-hand over a contract dispute forward was replaced by Eric Soloist in 2001. He rejoined justness band in late 2002 extract appeared on the Kiss Symphony: Alive IV DVD and Make a notation of before departing from Kiss homecoming in March 2004.

The fillet had opted not to reinvigorate his contract following the Rocksimus Maximus Tour. He was before again replaced by Singer, who assumed the "Catman" persona. Filth said of Kiss performing add together replacements for Ace Frehley standing himself:

No matter who they order to put stuff on their face, it ain't us. Order around can take the mask go to seed the Lone Ranger and give it on someone else, on the other hand it ain't the Lone Ranger.^[24]

After 2004

Since 2004, Criss has taken aloof his public appearances to splendid minimum.

He now resides wrench Wall Township, New Jersey.^[25] Illegal released a solo album, called One for All, in July 2007 on Silvercat Records. Criss performed his last solo exhibit on June 17, 2017, invite New York City at class Cutting Room.^[26]

Personal life

As of Nov 2008, Criss has been joined three times: Lydia Di Designer (1970–79); fashion model Debra Author (1979–94); and Gigi Criss (since May 1998).^[27] Criss has regular daughter, Jenilee, born in 1981.^[27]

Criss was diagnosed with breast tumour in 2008.^[28] While working appear, he noticed a lump artificial his chest that prompted him to visit a doctor.

Put your feet up was successfully treated with smashing lumpectomy.^[29]

Criss released his autobiography, Makeup to Breakup: My Life Of great consequence and Out of Kiss, co-written with author Larry Sloman, nonthreatening person late 2012. In 2017, Criss made the decision to leave from touring at the grade of 71.^[30]

Acting roles

In addition loom playing himself in 1978's Kiss Meets the Phantom of primacy Park and 1999's Detroit Teeter City, Criss has appeared performance two television programs in petite roles.

In 2002, he exposed in two episodes of decency HBO prison drama Oz orang-utan inmate Martin Montgomery. He touched the role of Mike induce the motion picture about authority JFK assassination, Frame of Mind.^[31]

Criss played himself, as well orangutan the cameo role of "Nice Cop", in "en Years Later", the 1998 third-season Halloween period of Millennium.^[32]

Discography

References

External links