Something unrelated to backward masked messages, but may be of
interest to rock fans...
Did KISS, the famous rock group, stand for Knights In Satan's
Service? Read on, as Gene Simmons, the group's bassist opens up in
his biography...
". . . misinformation about the band began to spread in the
southern Bible Belt states, including a rumor that the name KISS
stood for Knights in Satan's Service, and that the four of us were
devil worshipers. Ironically, this rumor started as a result of an
interview I gave in Circus magazine after our first album; in
response to a question, I said that I sometimes wondered what human
flesh tastes like. I never wanted to really find out, but I was
curious intellectually. Later on, this comment seemed to ignite the
whole idea that in some way KISS was aligned with devil worship.
When I was asked whether I worshipped the devil, I simply refused
to answer for a number of reasons: the first reason, of course, was
that it was good press. Let people wonder. The other reason was my
complete disregard for the people who were asking. Through the
years, whenever religious fanatics accosted me, especially in the
southern states, and quoted the Old Testament at me, I would quote
them back chapter and verse. They didn't know that I had been a
theology major in school. An idiot is an idiot . . . whether he
quotes the Bible or not.
So, why did they choose 'KISS'? According to Simmons, the adoption
of that name was surprisingly quick and mundane:
One day Paul [Stanley] and Peter [Criss] and I were driving around,
brainstorming for new names. I had thought of a few, like
Albatross, but I wasn't happy with any of them. At one point -- we
were stopped at a red light -- Paul said, "How about KISS?" Peter
and I nodded, and that was it. It made sense. Hindsight is 20/20,
of course, and since then people have talked about all the benefits
of the name: how it seemed to sum up certain things about glam rock
at the time; how it was perfect for international marketing because
it was a simple word that people understood all over the world. But
we just liked the name, and that was that. "
