KISS' Gene Simmons on first meeting AC/DC's Angus Young: "He didn't have front teeth"
"I said, 'That guy is rock and roll, that guy is real'"
By Patrick Clarke
KISS bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons has recalled his first meeting with AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, shortly before the two bands toured together in the late 1970s.
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"I saw them playing this really small club in L.A. I happened to be there, and all I remember is being so close to the stage," Simmons told Australia's Triple M while discussing how KISS enlisted the Australians as their support act in 1977 and 1978.
"There's Angus just running around on stage, not posing, just kind of feeling it, like somebody in a trance or something. I said, 'That guy is rock and roll, that guy is real.'"
He went on describe his conversation with Young backstage. "I'll never forget it he didn't have front teeth. I guess at that point they couldn't afford it."
Gene Simmons CREDIT: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney
The two then went to a local diner together. "I'll never forget it, Angus asked for a frankfurter, instead of a hot dog, and beets," Simmons continued.
"Angus picked up the hot dog without the bun and started biting into it on the sides of his mouth because the two front teeth were missing.
"And I said to him – I can still remember most of the conversation – 'You guys are great. I'm gonna make some calls. You're going out on tour with us."
Last month, meanwhile, it was revealed that KISS are set to be the subject of a new four-hour documentary set to air this June.
The new project is separate to the band's upcoming biopic Shout It Out Loud, which looks likely to air on Netflix.