There’s no better example of using image to the max in rock than KISS. They’ve been bigger than Belgium for decades now, and there’s no better example of how to roll with market forces than the changes in image bassist Gene Simmons has gone through.

Until their unmasking on MTV in 1983, the four band members’ identities were seriously guarded secrets: the amount of coin KISS generated in the seventies saw to that.

So, here’s a before and after shot of Sir Simmons, one of rock’s greatest businessmen...



And here’s Gene doing his party piece.



And remember Family Guy’s awesome p*ss-take?



I wanna rock and roll all nite/ And part of every day...

Volume one of Kissology, a huge DVD boxset featuring live footage from as far back as 1974 is on-sale now and reviewed in the next issue of the mag. And it's fugging awesome!