Neat Stuff; Kiss

[Towns] Really just sets the heart aflame again. Boy I just start getting excited, just like I was when I was 10 years old. I can remember distinctly my father saying to me, "You know you're gonna outgrow this. You realize this is a fad." I said "No, Dad. I'm not going to outgrow it." And here I am 29 years old and still a KISS fanatic. [KISS music] [Reporter] Meet Eric Towns of Sunriver, Oregon. He owns his own chain of music stores, but his all consuming passion is KISS, KISS and more KISS. Anything to do with those metal heads in mime makeup who sprang out of New York in the '70s. [Towns] At first I was like a lot of other people who look at the make up and said "I don't get it," you know. And then one day, I don't know if I got struck by lightning or something, but it just hit me that this is just the coolest band I've ever seen. And then since then it just, uh, it was over with. I was bitten by the KISS bug. ["Rock and Roll All Nite" by KISS plays] I love it. This is so cool. I just love this thing. The KISS radio here. I still keep it in the box here. Not exactly the high-fis that you used to today, but

nevertheless I wore this proudly. And here's an old KISS ticket from 1979 that was canceled in Portland. It was a a fire hazard, or deemed a fire hazard, by the fire marshall because KISS had too much fire in their shows and they thought it might destroy the Colesseum, but instead it just destroyed a bunch of youth like myself who grew up way too quickly. It's- all the music is about believing in yourself and, of course, sex. So of course it became slightly perverted. But other than that I think I'm a pretty healthy human being. ["Calling Dr. Love" by KISS playing] Then we have the KISS dolls here, which are probably the most famous of all the KISS things, besides the lunch pail. I unfortunately had to pay a fortune for them because when they came out in the '70s I thought to myself, I'm a guy, I don't want dolls, you know. And then I whipped these things out and I looked at them and they had like Barbie doll hair and I thought to myself, "Well this is terrible, they're ruining KISS" and so I didn't buy them then. And of course now I really wanted them and I had to pay a fortune for them. You've got a Gene there and an Ace. And then we have a Peter and a Paul and then we have a bandit here who wishes he was a KISS

doll. ["Calling Dr. Love" by KISS plays] And I don't know how many KISS fans waited to jump at the mailbox for this, but this is your KISS Army kit. And this had anything from certificates that said that you were definitely a member of the KISS Army. I don't know if you can get that there. To stickers and patches and so on and so forth and of course real photos of our favorites. There's Peter there singing "Beth." Oooh and there's the KISS Army car right there. I tell ya, that's important stuff there. You couldn't wait to show this. A couple years ago I got a chance to meet them at their hotel before their club tour for- supporting their latest album, their latest studio album Revenge. And that was truly a thrill. I got to meet all the band at once. Secretly maybe I've always wanted to be Gene Simmons. I just find him to be such a charismatic man. And my wife got to meet Gene and he got a big hug from her and I says "Gene!" I says, "Now don't take her away from me now. She's the only thing I've got." And Gene reached over and pinched my cheek and said "How could I take a woman away from a guy with a face like that?" And I just thought I'll never wash this face

again, it's over with for me, folks, you know. Gene thinks I'm cute. I was running around like Rudolf. "He thinks I'm cute! He thinks I'm cute!" It was great. ["Rock and Roll All Nite" by KISS plays] Second to having a child, seeing KISS was truly my favorite time in my life. But, maybe I outta get a life. [Pinball sounds] Truly KISS are just a good time. They are a party band and that's all they ever meant to be and that's all they ever will be and they don't mess around with the deep and heavy messages. We'll save that for U2. You play a KISS CD, it's an instant party. [Pinball noises] D'oh! Not the way to play the game.