We are now to a collection of Interview Discs that were included in the John Humphrey Collection I bought last year at an auction where I got my hands on 38 Bootleg CDs from his personal collection. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…which I did.
I am not a fan of interview discs at all. They came with the collection so I am stuck with them, unless I decide to sell them, but I don’t sell my Kiss collection. The problem with Interview disc is playability. Once you’ve heard the interview once, is there a need to ever revisit the interview? Well, no. There is not.
We have 6 discs that were included with the collection and we will briefly discuss each one. I’m not going to tell you what is said, because if I do that, there is absolutely no need for you to listen to them. This is simply a guide to a handful of interview disc that are out there. And let me tell you, there are a ton. Apparently it is a big market in the bootleg CD arena. Who knew!
THE KISS 25TH ANNIVERSARY STAR PROFILE (1999):
First up is ‘The Kiss 25th Anniversary Star Profile which came out in 1999. It comes with a 100-page booklet that gives you the history of Kiss, the complete Discography (up to that point) and a lot of cool pictures. It is thick, it is heavy and a nice surprise. The interview covers the following topics…
- Chapter 1 – Early Wickedness
- Chapter 2 – Noise Form The Dragsters
- Chapter 3 – Finally Alive
- Chapter 4 – Toy Story
- Chapter 5 – On the Even of Destruction
- Chapter 6 – A Bizarre Concept
- Chapter 7 – Weakness Exposed
- Chapter 8 – Kiss This!
- Chapter 9 – Carnival of Kiss
THE CLASSIC INTERVIEWS (2005):
Next up is The Classic Interviews which was released in 2005 in the UK. It contains three parts as it is broken out between 3 interviews with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley. The interviews take place around January 1979 which was around the time of the Solo albums. The interview was for Guitar Player magazine. Gene’s interview is at almost 50 minutes while Paul 19 and Ace is only 7 minutes. Gene cant’ shut up as he loves to hear himself talk which is why his is so long. It also comes with a 16 page colour booklet with a bunch of photographs and commentary on the band’s history.
KISS THE INTERVIEWS VOLUME 2 (1995)
The next disc is also from the UK and was released in 1995. It is 48 minutes and consists of two interviews with Gene Simmons. The disc covers the History of Kiss as well as Kiss in the 90’s. There is no music, so only Gene talking and he is always entertaining, love him or hate him.
KISS TELLTALES (2012):
TellTales is a series of Interview discs out of the UK and the one we have is of Kiss. It is a Limited Edition Picture Disc and runs for about 48 minutes. I’ve read that it is a 1979 interview with Tom Snyder, but it appears to be a number of different interviews. One is a woman, the other is a British interview and then it is Tom Snyder. It is Paul and Gene doing the first couple interviews and then it is Paul, Gene, Ace and Eric Carr. A lot of old classic interviews. Interesting listen for at least once.
KISS FIFTEEN YEARS ON (1988):
Kiss Fifteen Years On is another Limited Edition Picture Disc out of the UK released back in 1988. The interview starts out with Gene and a male interviewer who doesn’t really have any idea who Kiss is. There appears to be a woman in the room as Gene is being Gene with her. The interview seems to be for promoting the ‘Hot in the Shade’ album as Gene mentions the song “Are You Always This Hot” which was done for the album, but not finished or used (Gene would release on The Vault). They also talked about the video Kiss Exposed. The interview was around 35 minutes and the interviewer is HORRIBLE! Gene did the best he could with that mess.
GENE SIMMONS? ON HOWARD STERN:
This looks like a self-made disc and I can’t find it anywhere. It has Gene Simmons with a “?” because it isn’t Gene. It is Howard Stern talking to Craig Gass who is impersonating Gene. And he sounds like Gene. There are 14 different takes covering various topics. It is funny once! Once! But as a Kiss fan, this is a complete waste of time since it isn’t the real Gene! I would’ve never bought this so you don’t either.
There you have the 6 interview discs that were in the collection. This will be the most time I ever spend with them so I hope you enjoyed the walk through. Apparently the UK loves these as pretty much all of them are from the UK. Why is that? Can you someone let me know the reason for the UK releases? I’ve spent too much time on these, but I am writing about all the discs in John Humphrey’s collection that I purchased and these were part of those so here we are. Thanks for hanging around. We will get back to the good bootlegs very soon.
The Kiss Bootleg Series:
- Kiss – ‘Accept No Imitations’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ASYLUM TOUR)
- Kiss – Look Wot You Dun to Me (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (CRAZY NIGHTS TOUR)
- Kiss – The Summer of Satan: The Devils Ride Out! (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DESTROYER TOUR)
- Kiss – Return to Capital Center (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DYNASTY TOUR)
- Kiss – With Fire & Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (HOTTER THAN HELL TOUR)
- Kiss – Northhampton PA March 19th, 1975 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DRESSED TO KILL TOUR)
- Kiss – The Hottest Show On Earth (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE HOTTEST SHOW ON EARTH TOUR 2010)
- Kiss – All the Way to the Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (Australian Tour 1995)
- Kiss – Kiss of Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (The Rising Sun Tour 2006)
- Kiss – Agora Ballroom 1974: The Cleveland Broadcast plus Bonus Cuts (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE KISS TOUR)
- Kiss – Hotter Than Hell: Radio Broadcast 1976 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ROCK & ROLL OVER TOUR)
- Kiss – The Tickler (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (LICK IT UP TOUR 1983)
- Kiss – Barbarize (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ANIMALIZE WORLD TOUR 1984 – North American Tour)
- Kiss – They Only Come Out At Night (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ANIMALIZE WORLD TOUR 1984 – EUROPEAN TOUR)
- Wicked Lester and the Progeny Demo Sessions (Bootleg)
- Kiss – Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast
- Kiss – End of the Road: In Allentown 2020 (PPL Center, Allentown, PA, 4th February 2020) (End of the Road Tour) – Blu-Ray
- Kiss – ‘Monster Tour: Simpsonville 2013’ (Charter Amphitheatre at Heritage Park, Simpsonville, C – 13th August 2013) – Blu-Ray
- Wicked Lester – The Original Wicked Lester Sessions (Bootleg)
- Kiss – The Ritz on Fire (August 12, 1988, The Ritz, New York City. A radio broadcast – Crazy Nights Tour)
- Kiss – Kiss My Axe 1978: Live from the Los Angeles Forum in California, August 25, 1977 (Love Gun Tour)
- Kiss – Gods of Thunder: The Legendary Concert Broadcast – Sao Paulo, August 27, 1994′
- Kiss – Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast (Alternate Cover)
- Kiss -Alive! in Amityville: June 1973 – (2021)
- Kiss – Set the World On Fire: Live (10 CD Box Set – Radio Broadcasts 1974-1994)
- Kiss – Diamonds in the Dust (2022)
- Kiss – Wicked Lester (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Unplugged (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Kabuki Beasts: Kyoto 1977 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Live in Australia 1980 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Electric Magic: Live East Lansing, MI October 21, 1974 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Detroit 1984: Cobo Hall, Dec. 12, 1984 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Snake Attack Budokan: Last Show Japan Tour 1977 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Live in Maryland 1977 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Feel Like Heaven (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Madison Square Garden 1977 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – The Lost Alive II Album (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Live Vol. 1 : Detroit, Michigan April 7, 1974 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Boxx (Vol. 1): Live in USA 1975/’85 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Boxx (Vol. 2): Live in Europe 1984 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Kiss and Ace Demos (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – The Rock ‘N Roots of Kiss (2025)
- Kiss – Choppers ‘N Chicks (Camp Curtis Guild Armory 11/15/1976 RARO Tour Rehearsal)
- Kiss – Watching Us (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Return to Thunder: Winter Tour 1976/1977 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Houston: The Summit Sept 2, 1977 (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – What Goes On Behind Closed Doors (2012) (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Days of Sorrow And Madness (2014) (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – The Interview Discs (John Humphrey Collection)
- Kiss – Fifteen Years On
- Kiss – The Classic Interviews
- Kiss – Telltales
- Kiss – The Kiss 25th Anniversary Star Profile
- Kiss – The Interviews Volume 2
- Kiss – Gene Simmons? On Howard Stern
