NEW YORK CITY MUSIC TRIP/FROM THE LIFE OF ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS, #5 OF 5: From The Birth of KISS to Their Golden Era in NYC

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10 E. 23rd Street, where the history of KISS started at the beginning of 1973. KISS initially used the 4th floor, then moved to the 2nd floor. Both are now business offices.

KISS’s formation by the original members, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss, was completed at the 2nd-floor loft of 10 East 23rd Street on January 3, 1973, when Ace auditioned for a guitarist position at KISS’s rehearsal space. Their initial meeting was far from instant magic. Ace, wearing unmatched colored shoes (one was red, one was orange), abruptly started playing his guitar while Paul and Gene were still talking with Bob Kulick, whose younger brother, Bruce, would later become KISS’s guitarist, and touched their nerves. Paul and Gene didn’t like the different color combination, either. But after they played “Deuce” together, the rest was dynamite history.
The building still exists. KISS’s rehearsal studio was located on 4th floor first then moved to 2nd Floor. According to KISSopolis.com, the former 2nd-floor rehearsal space was occupied by a comic store named Manhattan Comics until recent. Manhattan Comics has closed already, and right now it’s now occupied by a public relations company.

  • YouTube video by “toddadean”, captured the inside of former Manhattan Comic that used to be KISS loft on 10. E. 23rd Street in 2011.

One thing I was interested in the band’s birth story was, how much was the rent of the loft in 1973? Paul recalled 4th floor was the hourly basis and 2nd floor was monthly. The members admitted they were all broke, except Gene who worked at a magazine company. They were in the early 20s without particular job experiences. Today, the address is a primal business location in the middle of convenient and fancy Flatiron district on the major intersection of Broadway, 5th Avenue, and 23rd Street, right in front of Madison Square Park and near famous Flatiron Building. Poor bands can’t rent this space anymore, sadly.

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Around 10 E. 23rd Street today. Clockwise from top left: Flatiron Building, Broadway Promenade overviewing Empire State Building, Madison Square Park.

But no matter the final member was added by the audition and their gear was shifted to stardom after a lot of practice, struggles, and patients, if KISS’s two brains didn’t meet earlier, today’s music world would be completely different. Seriously. In 1970, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons met at the apartment of Gene’s friend, named Stephen Coronel, in Washington Heights, the northern part of Manhattan. They didn’t know each other until then.

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Washington Heights

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1cdJHLeGDTVAUAfCfn1NQV0broFY&w=640&h=480]

Paul didn’t have a good first impression about Gene, but they befriended as hanging around more. They also have some similarities. They were both Jewish, they lived not far each other in Queens, and most importantly, they had the same dream; being big rock stars.

Paul and Gene were in the band named Wicked Lester with Steven Coronel, who was a guitarist, and other members, but they were forced to remove Steve before signing with Epic Records because the record company didn’t have a good impression about Steve. Eventually, Wicked Lester didn’t release their debut album, and Paul and Gene left the band due to the difference of music direction with other members. Paul and Gene decided to start their own “dynamic” band in the name of their dream. However, no matter how much their dream was big, they didn’t have career and money. Paul worked as a taxi driver at a company named Metro near Queens Plaza (Ace also worked at same taxi company after joining KISS), and Gene worked as a magazine editor at Conde Nast.

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Queens Plaza. Queensboro Plaza Station of N, Q, and 7 subway lines is on the right and Jetblue’s headquarters is on the left. The entire wide street between the station and buildings as well as under the station is Queens Boulevard, Queens’ main street.

Queens Plaza, aka Queensboro Plaza, is located right across the Queensboro Bridge from 59th Street, Midtown Manhattan. It’s also the first stop of N and Q subway lines in Queens with a connection of 7 subway line, and E, M, and R lines are also available in the area. Even though the area is very convenient only 5 minutes away from Lexington Avenue on East Side Manhattan, Queens Plaza was like the last frontier until 7-8 years ago. The area was strange, neither commercial, industrial or residential areas. Not even mixed. Around Queensboro Plaza Station had old low-rise buildings, parking garages, few delis, some strip clubs, and drug dealers. That was much about it. And the most of those buildings looked empty. A little further Astoria got popular 20 years ago, where I used to live then, but Queens Plaza wasn’t. That was a shabby area not developed and dark at night. That was why there were many taxi companies and parking lots in the area before; cheaper fee and convenient to Manhattan. New York City didn’t have the concept of a convenient location right across Manhattan or waterfront location until recent, like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, explained in the previous chapter about Peter Criss. Finally, New York City mastered those golden real estate concepts and Queens Plaza is now developed with many condos, hotels, and several corporate offices such as JetBlue and MetLife.

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Two photos on the upper row: The north side of Queensboro Plaza Station. Lower left is the south side of the station and the lower right is under the N and Q trains after Queensboro Plaza, where both sides were weird area until recently. There were some strip clubs on the lower right photo before, but now one of the building is changed to a school (!!)
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Queens Plaza is getting a new downtown with massive construction projects. There was no tall building until 5 years ago.
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There was no hotel until 10 years ago in Queens Plaza area. That was not the place to stay. Now. There are many hotels such as Courtyard by Marriott (top left)
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If it’s not my mistake, Metro taxi company that Paul and Ace worked as drivers were located here next to 39th Avenue station of N and Q subway lines. A company called Metro System still exists inside of this Team System Corp. This is one of the last old buildings in the area with massive urban developments.

Electric Lady Studios is on 52 West 8th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in West Village. Such a legendary and still active studio that Jimi Hendrix opened in 1970 after purchasing a former underground nightclub. Hendrix named the studio after his famous last album (and my most favorite album of Hendrix).

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Electric Lady Studios

KISS shared much of their history with Electic Lady Studios from the beginning of both. In 1971, while Paul and Gene were still members of Wicked Lester, “Ron” of Electric Lady Studios left a message to Paul through Middle Earth, Paul’s favorite neighborhood store in Kew Garden Hills, Queens. There was a confusion on the studio side when Paul returned his call because the studio had two “Ron”. Somehow Paul finally reached Ron Johnson, the studio’s producer, through Shimon Ron, who was the studio’s head of maintenance and the one who initially contacted to Paul through Middle Earth. Electric Lady Studios started to manage Wicked Lester (the studio still manage some artists, not only serving as a recording studio).
Although Bill Aucoin managed KISS, Electric Lady Studios was a KISS’s memorable studio. KISS recorded “Dress to Kill” (3rd, 1975), “Destroyer” (4th, 1976), and “Dynasty” (7th, 1979) at Electric Lady Studios.

Paul and Gene started working at Electric Lady Studios as session musicians. They asked Ron Johnson a brilliant idea regarding their pay for the session works. Instead of paying by cash, they asked Ron to allow them to record their demo tape produced by Eddie Kramer, a popular producer who worked with Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Because of the fortunate circumstance, their demo tape including “Black Diamond”, “Strutter”, “Deuce”,  “Cold Gin”, and “Watching You”, all included on their first album expect “Watching You” from their second album, was very high quality for the demo of an amateur band, and Casablanca Records was surprised upon hearing it before signing with KISS. Eddie Kramer later worked with KISS on Alive!, Rock N’ Roll Over, Love Gun, and Ace Frehley’s first solo album.

  • The last part of this YouTube video by Electric Lady Studios has the inside photos of current studios.

And Electric Lady Studios was where Paul and Gene met Peter Criss for the first time after they saw Peter’s ad on Rolling Stone magazine and contacted. Peter was older than two and had already had a professional career such as Chelsea and Lips. Paul and Gene visually had a nice impression about Peter’s fashionable outfit, but mentally was mixed because of their different personalities. They went to see Peter’s band at a Brooklyn club named The Kings Lounge. After a few more jam sessions with Paul and Gene, Peter joined KISS.

In less than a month after Ace joined KISS, they had their first show at a small club called Popcorn, later changed the name to Coventry, located in Sunnyside, Queens on January 30, 1973. The number of audiences was very far from their later arena tours. Less than 10 people, just like many bands had to pass. The lucky thing was Joey Ramone of The Ramones was among one of the few audiences and he was impressed by KISS’s performance and loud sound. KISS had a few more gigs at the live house.
Coventry was long gone in mid-1970’s. The address itself, 47-03 Queens Boulevard, doesn’t exist anymore. The site is now a commercial building near the intersection of Queens Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue under 46th Street Station of 7 subway line. Sunnyside still has a traditional blue-collar atmosphere, but the area has made a lot of developments because of the convenient location close to Manhattan. Sunnyside is also known as a variety of ethnic restaurants, such as Turkish, Filipino, Thai, and Korean. Oh, Sunnyside is also featured on “Spider-man” movie after 2002. The place where Peter Parker (Spider-man) lived was Sunnyside in 2002 movie.

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Popcorn night club (later changed to Coventry) was located on the site of either a commercial building of top photo or Chase bank next to the building. Most likely, the site of the 4-stories commercial building. A convenient location on Queens Boulevard right across 46th Street Station of 7 trains.
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Current Sunnyside. Clockwise from top left: the entrance of old fashioned Sunnyside shopping strip, Queens Boulevard overseeing Manhattan, the traditional Sunnyside apartments where Spider-Man flew over, men enjoyed playing domino under 46th Street Station.

Interestingly, what does still exist nearby the club is Public Service Rental, an affordable truck rental company KISS used to move their equipment from their rehearsal loft to the Popcorn and other clubs before their debut. The surrounding area is still an industrial area.

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Public Service Rental
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Maybe Paul drove a rental truck out of Public Service on this street with looking Empire State Building, New York City’s symbol of victory, hoping they would be on the top of the world like the building one day. Around Public Service is still an industrial area. A rare area nothing much is changed in the fast changing city.

KISS held their first Manhattan show on May 4, 1973. It was the 8th floor of 54 Bleecker Street, used as a rehearsal loft of a different band with a former New York Doll member. KISS played there on June 1 again. That time, admission was only $1.
The loft building still exists in the middle of trendy NoHo area (means north of Houston Street), just across SoHo (south of Houston). The difference is, according to Paul’s Face The Music, the building was a factory loft back then. Now the building is a fashionable office building with a popular American/Chinese restaurant named NoHo Star in downstairs, though that restaurant has more than 30 years history.

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54 Bleecker Street on the corner of Lafayette Street in Noho, where KISS had their first Manhattan show 4 months after their first show in Queens. 8th Floor is now an office space. The building has a long-running restaurant, NoHo Star, on the first floor
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NoHo scene. NoHo streets still keep some good sleazy NYC atmosphere. The lower right photo was where former CBGB club was located, now a boutique.

KISS didn’t have a manager at the beginning, and many clubs declined to offer them a stage to play without their manager. So KISS got a big idea to play at a ballroom of a rundown hotel located in Times Square. A manager wouldn’t be required because it was a hotel, not a club. They rented the ballroom of a dirty hotel in Times Square for $500 or $650 (Paul wrote the rental fee was $500 while Gene wrote it was $650). The hotel name was Hotel Diplomat on 108 W. 43rd Street. Paul and Gene watched New York Doll’s show there before. They placed posters and spread media kits throughout the city to fill out space as much as possible without both management and record contracts. They also invited many music industry people to get the best attention, as well as selling tickets to the general public for only $3-3.50. Their hard works took off and filled up the hotel’s Crystal Ballroom on July 13, 1973. They had another show at the hotel again within a month on August 10, and they finally met a manager who believed in KISS and shared a lot of patients and a huge success with the band. His name was Bill Aucoin.
Thier first Hotel Diplomat show as also the time KISS started using their famous current logo, which was originally Ace’s idea then Paul modified.
The site of Diplomat Hotel is now a new Bank of America Tower. Bank of America Tower has service entrances at 106 and 110 W. 43rd Street…but somehow misses 108.

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55-stories, ultra modern Bank of America Tower, where Hotel Diplomat was located.
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Times Square near the former Hotel Diplomat. Always full of people as the crossroads of the world.

Because Bill Aucoin was a TV producer, not a music executive, band management was a challenge for both the band and Aucoin. But the band gave him a try because they thought he had an advantage on visual effects by his work experience. He promised the band to get a record deal within 2 weeks, and he did. That was Casablanca Records, also a new startup by Neil Bogard, who became independent from Budda Records. Bill knew Neil from his previous commercial production jobs. The good thing was KISS had already made a high-quality demo tape recorded with Eddie Kramer at Electric Lady Studios. It wasn’t difficult to get their attention.

Neil Bogard signed with KISS as Casablanca’s first artist only after listening to their demo tape without seeing KISS’s performance. The contract price was $15,000. KISS wanted him to see their performance, so KISS performed in front of Bogard at LeTang Studios on 54th Street and Broadway around the time they entered to their first recording. That is close to Bell Sound Studios, where KISS recorded their first album in less than a month starting October 1973. Both studios don’t exist anymore. The site of Bell Sound at 237 W. 54th Street is now newly opened Hilton Garden Inn Hotel.

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(Left) The new Hilton Garden Inn stands on the site where Bell Studio was located. Probably the next building to the hotel existed when KISS recorded their first album (right).
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(Top) In front of the Hilton Garden Inn is Studio 54, a former famous nightclub many celebrities gathered. KISS members also enjoyed the club regularly after being popular. Studio 54 is now a Broadway theater once became popular for “Cabaret”. (Bottom) Ed Sullivan Theater welcomed the Beatles in 1964 and made all America crazy, including all KISS members. The theater, owned by CBS, became the home of David Letterman Show between 1993 and 2015, and now The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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The north and south of 7th Avenue and 53rd Street. I like this view, the valley of skyscrapers. Very New York-ish.

The another NYC studio KISS recorded beside Bell Sound Studios and Electric Lady Studios is Record Plant, located 321 W. 44th Street in Times Square area. They recorded “Destroyer” (4th, 1975), “Love Gun” (6th, 1977), “Dynasty” (7th, 1979), and Unmasked (8th, 1980) until 1980.
Record Plant closed New York studio and has a location only in Los Angeles today. The studio building itself still exists. The building has a popular jazz club “Birdland”. The studio space renovated and going to be a modern office space named “The Plant”.

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“The Plant” building used to have the famous Record Plant.

KISS had a busy live circuit in New York City around New Year of 1974 before their self-titled debut album was released in February. They had gigs at Coventry in Queens on December 21 and 22, 1973. They joined New Years’ Eve live series at Academy of Music, which is now a New York University dormitory after changing to a popular large club, Palladium. January 8, KISS had a press showcase at Fillmore East in East Village where Paul Stanley looked at concerts when he was a high school student and Ace Frehley played as Molimo member before KISS. They played at Academy of Music again to support Fleetwood Mac on January 26.

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New York University dormitory named Palladium on 14th Street near Union Square. Academy of Music was located there until 1970’s then changed to the famed Palladium nightclub in 1985. New York University purchased Palladium in 1997, demolished the old building and opened a new dormitory in 2001.
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The former Fillmore East is now Apple Bank at 105 2nd Avenue. Visit the episode of Paul Stanley to read more about the venue.
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Union Square near Academy of Music and Fillmore East were located. This is where west meets east in New York City, one of my favorite spots.

“KISS” album was released on February 18, 1974. It was only one year and one month after Ace Frehley joined as the last member. They were so excited about their recording and the album release. They debuted as professional musicians and made their dream come true.

They were truly New Yorkers in mind. Two popular songs from their first album were written in New York City’s public transportation. Gene wrote “Deuce” inside of the city bus, and Ace wrote “Cold Gin” inside of subway. Paul got an inspiration of “100,000 Years” by 23rd Street in front of their rehearsal studio.

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D train to the Bronx from Manhattan. Ace wrote in his autobiography that “Cold Gin” was “about loneliness and poverty” (Frehley et al, 2011, p 95). He might be thinking those while looking at running darkness in long underground from the subway window on the way back to his home. Thinking while looking at the dark tunnel is normal in New Yorker’s life.
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New York City bus. Gene might get inspiration of “Deuce” while looking at busy streets from a bus after the band’s rehearsal following his hard working job. The photo was taken at Broadway and 72nd Street, the center of Upper West Side.

On the photo book, “KISS: The Early Years” published in 2002 and now a rare book, fans can see the early photos of KISS taken in Manhattan soon after their debut. By a request, here are some current photos of the locations taken for “KISS: The Early Years” and not much changed. Thanks for your request, Eduardo!

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(Top) Ziegfeld Theater, famous for many lavish movies premieres with celebrities guests, from 55th Street, the same direction KISS was taken on the photo. Ziegfeld Theater closed in 2016. The building is under massive renovation for converting to an event space. (Lower right) A fountain at 1345 Avenue of Americas. KISS stood on the edge at the photo book. (Lower left) 100 West 57th Street on Avenue of Americas. KISS was walking in front of the building entrance where this photo was taken. The entrance roof has been changed but the building is same.

KISS finally featured a New York scene on the cover of their 3rd album, “Dress to Kill”, taken on the southwestern corner of 23rd Street and 8th Avenue. The silver signal poll Ace leaned and the buildings behind the members are still same. “Dress to Kill” was released on March 19, 1975.

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The cover of “Dress to Kill” album. The pole Ace leaned is in the photo below.
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The southwest corner of 23rd Street and 8th Avenue facing to the north. “Dress To Kill” cover photo was taken in this direction. You can see the same signal and old building on the right side with the cover photo, though the cover photo is dark. The buildings weren’t much changed since 1975, and the shops and a restaurant (Dallas BBQ) in this photo have existed in this 20 years. The major difference is that behind Dallas BBQ was housing project area before. The housing project still exists but shrank and converted into luxurious condos.

After 2 days KISS released “Dress to Kill” album, the band finally had their headliner concert at a bigger New York City theater ever. That was Beacon Theatre with 2,800 seats in Upper West Side on March 21, 1975. Because tickets were sold out quickly, they added one more show on the same night. That was one of their success highlights.
Beacon Theatre is NYC’s legendary theater opened in 1929, located on Broadway and 75th Street. The theater interior is elegant, classic and beautiful, and its sound quality is a high standard. The theater is still a very active concert spot with many popular musicians.

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Beautiful Beacon Theatre. The inside photos were taken at Alabama Shakes’s concert.

KISS finally played at Madison Square Garden on February 18, 1977. Playing at Madison Square Garden is all musicians’ dreams in this world. One of the largest city in the world. One of the most popular cities in the world. One of the biggest music city in the world. And Madison Square Garden is one of the biggest and most famous venues of New York City. Playing at Madison Square Graden means the musicians conquer the world. Especially, the dream is tremendous for the musicians born and grew up in New York City. Having their own shows at their hometown’s best place.
KISS finally reached the goal 3 months after releasing highly praised platinum album, “Rock and Roll Over”. That was one of their biggest achievement after 4 years. The members called all their family and friends to their very big homecoming event and made them proud. KISS again had 3 nights concerts at Madison Square Garden in December 1977.

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Madison Square Garden, the king of music venues in New York City. Empire State Building is proudly visible next to the Garden.

The original members all admitted being KISS wasn’t always easy, especially consisted of two completely different types of members (Paul and Gene vs Ace and Peter). In 1979, KISS had a turning point when Peter Criss left the band. And Paul and Gene left New York and moved to California where they liked at their first sights. But one thing clear was four real New Yorkers chased their big American dreams in the streets of all over the New York City, and they made their dreams come true. None of the members was rich and fortunate since they were born. They saw a lot of shadows of a big city. They hit on a lot of hard times and out of luck. But they didn’t give up and had one of the biggest rock n’ roll success story in the history, and0 New York City took a very important part of their history. While New York City has been making big changes by modernizations especially in this 10 years, New York City is still KISS’s hometown.

  • The footage video of KISS in New York City (filmed by TRIPMUZE.COM).

{ROCK N’ VISIT!: GANTRY PLAZA STATE PARK}
Gantry Plaza State Park is only 5 minutes walk from Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue Station of 7 subway line, its first station in Queens not far from both Queens Plaza and Public Service Rentals. The park was developed and expanded as the neighborhood’s massive residential developments progressed.

This park is one of the best Manhattan viewing spots. The reason is the park is located right across United Nations headquarters and Midtown skyscrapers over East River.

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I think no more explanation is needed. The view is all yours as much as you want. This is the park makes you think New York City is really beautiful. The combination of skyscrapers is a kind of art.

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Gantry Plaza State Park. When the right high-rise was built around 15 years ago, everyone wondered who would live in the building because the area was pretty empty. Now many tall city-view condominiums were built around the park in this less than 10 years, and the neighborhood became New York City’s new town.

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(PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FROM MIDTOWN MANHATTAN)
To Gantry Plaza State Park: 7 subway line Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue Station

{Eat and Roll #1: Flatiron District and Hill Country Chicken}
The area around 23rd Street and 5th Avenue where KISS’s former rehearsal loft was located is called Flatiron District. It’s a quite gourmet district in Manhattan, combining with more trendy NoMAD area (meaning North of Madison Square Park) and Gramacy Park area, the east of Flatiron District.
Shake Shack, now the world’s fast-growing burger chain, was established at Madison Square Park as a small park kiosk in 2004. Madison Square Park and the first Shake Shack is located right across KISS’s rehearsal studio on 10 E. 23rd Street.

SHAKE SHACK MADISON SQUARE PARK: https://www.shakeshack.com/location/madison-square-park
ADDRESS: Southeast corner of Madison Square Park, New York, NY 10010 (map)
TEL: 212-889-6600.

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Shake Shack Madison Square Park day and night

Across Broadway and 5th Avenue, there is Eataly, a fun, Italian themed gourmet store/restaurant combo store. The store experience is like a short trip to Italian food fantasy with a variety of fresh Italian gourmets and nice restaurants.

EATALY: https://www.eataly.com/us_en/stores/new-york
ADDRESS: 200 5th Avenue at 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010 (map),
Tel: 212-229-2560

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Eataly

But my favorite in this area is Hill Country Chicken. Their texas style fried chickens are crispy outside with perfect seasoning, and inside is juicy and so tender. I also recommend Cheese Fried Mashed Potatoes for the side. That’s a perfect harmony of lightly fried mashed potatoes and creamy cheese with vegetables. One of the best mashed potatoes you can get at restaurants. Comfortable country style interior, clean bathroom (it’s important), and nice services are all plus.

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Hill Country Chicken
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This is two pieces chicken combo with breast and wing. The inside is always juicy! And my favorite Cheese Fried Mashed Potatoes. So Creamy!

HILL COUNTRY CHICKEN: http://www.hillcountrychicken.com
ADDRESS: 1123 Broadway at W. 25th Street, New York, NY 10010 (map)
TEL: 212-257-6446

{Eat and Roll #2: Sarge’s Deli}
Paul Stanley wrote about his own time after KISS’s successful second Madison Square Garden concert in December 1977 on his Face the Music book.

“It can be very lonely walking offstage when you feel like that…After the first two gigs, the other guys met up with family and friends; I found myself sitting alone at Sarge’s Deli on Third Avenue and 36th Street eating a bowl of matzo ball soup. On the one hand, now that I was a rock god playing a block of shows at MSG, I assumed I had succeeded in making people envy me and wish they had been nicer to me. But on the other hand, there I was having soup in a deli by myself.” (Stanley, 2014, p. 169)

Sarge’s Deli is 24 hours restaurant in Midtown East established in 1964. The restaurant is about 10 minutes walk from Madison Square Garden, although I think Paul used a limo to the restaurant. Interestingly, the founder, Abe “Sarge” Katz, was a policeman before opening the restaurant which could serve the food he wanted to eat as his retirement plan. The restaurant experienced a fire tragedy in 2012 but reopened at the same location in their 50th anniversary like a phoenix rising from ashes.

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Sarge’s Deli
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Interior of Sarge’s Deli. The beautiful lamp covers are Tiffany’s. I looked at all the signed celebrities’ photos on the wall but didn’t see Paul Stanley’s

Here are what I ate at Sarge’s Deli; Chicken Consomme Matzo Ball Soup and Half Pastrami Sandwich combo. I visited the restaurant by myself at late night around 10:00 p.m. The situation was just like Paul Stanley, even though I am not sure the megastar ate Half Pastrami Sandwich for his entree (lol) and I was curious more than lonely. I hadn’t eaten Jewish food much.

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(Top) Chicken Consomme Matzo Ball Soup. (Lower left) Half Pastrami Sandwich (Lower right) Pickles and coleslaw served before the meal. Don’t assume they were all small. The soup bowl was pretty big for regular size, and the sandwich was thick.

So this is the Matzo Ball Soup. According to Wikipedia, matzo ball is “an Ashkenazi Jewish soup dumpling made from a mixture of matzah meal, eggs, water, and a fat, such as oil, margarine, or chicken fat. Matzah balls are traditionally served in chicken soup”, and matzah meal is “unleavened flatbread”. I was surprised that the matzo ball was so big upon served. When I ate, I realized that Japan had a similar food made by gluten, but much much smaller (we typically eat it with soup also). It was interesting and the combination with chicken consomme soup was nice

What I liked better was actually their pickles and coleslaw served soon after ordering. Both aren’t really my favorite foods, but the pickles smelled really good upon served. So I tasted and finished all. Pastrami sandwich was nice as well, but I guess that was average.

What I was impressed most at the restaurant was one of their bike delivery guys, who just returned from a delivery, greeted me with a smile when I exited. That was a good example that greeting could increase impression and was very important in any service industry. His small greeting increased my impression of the restaurant from average to good.

SARGE’S DELI: http://www.sargesdeli.com
ADDRESS: 548 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10016 (map)
TEL: 212-679-0442

READ MORE EPISODES OF “NEW YORK MUSIC TRIP/FROM THE LIFE OF ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS” SERIES!

  1. NEW YORK CITY MUSIC TRIP/FROM THE LIFE OF ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS: Prelude
  2. NEW YORK CITY MUSIC TRIP/FROM THE LIFE OF ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS, PART 1: Paul Stanley
  3. NEW YORK CITY MUSIC TRIP/FROM THE LIFE OF ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS, PART 2: Ace Frehley
  4. NEW YORK CITY MUSIC TRIP/FROM THE LIFE OF ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS, PART 3: Gene Simmons
  5. NEW YORK CITY MUSIC TRIP/FROM THE LIFE OF ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS, PART 4: Peter Criss

THE LATEST “MUSIC TRIP” SERIES!! DONNA SUMMER IN BOSTON, KISS’ FORMER LABELMATE AT CASABLANCA!

  1. BOSTON MUSIC TRIP/DONNA SUMMER, INTRODUCTION: Fairly Tale High Boston
  2. BOSTON MUSIC TRIP/DONNA SUMMER, #1 OF 2: Birth-Childhood
  3. BOSTON MUSIC TRIP/DONNA SUMMER, #2 OF 2: High School Era
  4. BOSTON MUSIC TRIP/DONNA SUMMER, OUTTAKE: Dining and Getting Around

REFERENCE
Stanley, P. (2014). Face the Music: A Life Exposed. New York, NY: HarperCollins

Leaf, D. & Sharp, K. (2003). Kiss: Behind the Mask. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group

Frehley, A., Layden, J., & Ostrosky, J., (2011). No Regrets. New York, NY: Gallery Books

Simmons, G. (2001). Kiss and Make-Up. New York, NY: Crown Publishers

Criss, P. & Sloman, L., (2012). Makeup to Breakup. New York, NY: Scribner

KISS (band). (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 7, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_(band)

The Famous “KISS Loft” At 10 East 23rd Street In New York City (n.d.). In KISSopolis. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://www.kissopolis.com/2012/01/famous-kiss-loft-at-10-east-23rd-street.html

Sacks, E (2013, March 23). It’s been 40 years since Kiss put on paint and changed the face of rock and roll. In Daily News. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/40-years-kiss-changed-face-rock-roll-article-1.1297589

History. In Electric Studio. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://electricladystudios.com/studios

Lindblad, D (2013, April). Lydia Criss Shares More of Her KISStory. In Backstage Auctions, Inc. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://backstageauctions.blogspot.com/2013/04/lydia-criss-shares-more-of-her-kisstory.html

Remember That One Time At Coventry (2009, September 7). In This Ain’t The Summer of Love. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://thisaintthesummeroflove.blogspot.com/2009/09/popcorn-pubthecoventry-great-early-70s.html

One From The Archives: 06/01/73 The Brats/ KISS @ 54 Bleecker Street (2014, June 1), NYC, NY. In This Ain’t The Summer of Love. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://thisaintthesummeroflove.blogspot.com/2009/09/popcorn-pubthe-coventry-great-early-70s.html

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Eduardo Javier Micheletti
Eduardo Javier Micheletti
7 years ago

fabuloso tu pagina, me encantó , soy argentino y cuando viajé a nyc realizé my kiss trip, ….. hay ciertos lugares que yo incluiría… kiss realizó un conjunto de fotos famosas el 24 de abril de 1974 en… Ziedfel theatre , en la fuente de 55 y la 6ta, in the central park , en 1495 6ta ave que es la tapa de un libro kiss the early years, frente a manny music en el tunel de agua, en 1975 en la pared de agua de 8 east 53 street, el loft de wicked lester (pre kiss ) en 195 197 canal street y por supuesto la famosa foto del empire state. saludos y felicitaciones

TRIPMUZE
TRIPMUZE
7 years ago

Dear Eduardo,

Thank you very much for reading the series, your warm comment, and nice suggestions! I’m sorry for my English reply as I can’t write in Spanish (I used Google translation to read your comment…thanks for the advanced technology!).
I will consider your suggestions. Ziegfeld Theater is unfortunately closed, but I will take a photo before it’s too late. The theater should still be there. I decided not to include the loft on Canal Street after a lot of thoughts because it’s pre-KISS era.
Thanks again. Stay tuned with TRIPMUZE.COM, and rock on!

TRIPMUZE
TRIPMUZE
7 years ago

Dear Eduardo,

As your request, some photos of the locations included on “KISS: The Early Years” are now included. Check back when you have a time!

Wyzedome
Wyzedome
7 years ago

Hiro….A Most Awesome Post! It Is A Lot To Take In, But You Did A Very Thorough Back Story On A Very Prolific Band….Also, Happy 1st Anniversary To Tripmuze!! Your Site Is Awesome And Growing, Its Really Wonderful To See You Doing What You Love!!!

TRIPMUZE
TRIPMUZE
7 years ago
Reply to  Wyzedome

Thanks so much for your heartfelt comment, my friend! Truly appreciate. Your blog is my inspiration to continue my blog. Let’s go on together!

Jay
Jay
6 years ago

I plan to visit new York September 2017-I’m a huge KISS fan- I hear the comic book store is no longer there???? May I get a reply on this please-