(www.kisskollector.com)
With the 30th anniversary of the release of KISS Alive! upon us this month, renowned KISS photographer Fin Costello recently told his story about his work photographing the "Hottest Band in the Land" for the Alive! album package:
Q: The first time you photographed KISS was on March 21, 1975 at the Beacon Theater in New York. What did you think of them wearing all that make up and outlandish costumes and why did you decide on photographing an unknown band?
Costello: I had only moved to the US a few weeks before that show and was in at AGI with Peter Corriston [who designed KISS’ Dressed To Kill album sleeve] working on the design ideas for the first Rainbow cover when he asked me if I wanted to see KISS – who were virtually unknown then outside the New York area – at the Beacon just around the corner. I had been shooting the Brecker Bros at Todd Rundgren's studio that afternoon so I had the camera's with me. I have often described it as being akin to the Gates of Hell or Dante's inferno. They were doing the first number when we came into the back of the theater and I had never seen anything like it. Smoke flames, etc. and the audience going ballistic. See the first tour program for the pictures from that gig. The costume and makeup were perfect for the scary theatrical show they had conceived.
Q: How did you end up shooting KISS for their first live album back in '75?
Costello: They day after I had shot them at the Beacon Theater gig I showed Joyce Biawitz and Bill Aucoin the shots. They liked them and brought the band in to see them. At that point I showed them some other work I had done such as Deep Purple’s Made In Japan and of course the Heep album.
Q: Who decided not to take the photo at the actual live show at the Cobo Hall, but at the empty Michigan Palace instead?
Costello: Michigan Palace was a rehearsal place then (a Victorian music hall and home gig of the Stooges and the MC5, now a car park) where we shot a promo film and did the publicity shots for the album which was to be recorded the next day at Cobo. I got them to do the ‘Status Quo’ pose (Gene’s words) a few times which is where the shot came from. At that time we were just shooting every idea that came to mind. I was still thinking we would get the cover shot at the actual gig.
Q: What can you tell me about the photo on the album's back cover? Fueled by comments from the late Sean Delaney fans have wondered for quite some years now whether that photo was really taken at a big KISS show or not. Sean once told me that he took you along with the big banner to a sold out Styx show to get some good shots for the back cover. As Sean claimed, there's not a single person in a KISS t-shirt or in KISS make-up on that photo. Before someone starts believing in a conspiracy theory, please set the record straight for once and for all… Did you take the photo at the Cobo Hall (or any other KISS show)?
Costello: The shot is taken at Cobo – on the contact sheet's I have other shots of the kids and some taken from the top of the hall looking down on the stage. I saw the two kids with the banner and asked them down to the front to get a shot with the big crowd behind them so that we could show how big a draw the band were by then. It was intended for press and magazines but was used on the cover. I think Sean – great guy, by the way – is mixing up another story where a Rush photo was used for a ‘guide dummy’ on a Rainbow cover and the record company used it on the final sleeve, airbrushing out the Rush t-shirts. Remember this was before the KISS Army was launched and there were not many KISS t-shirt's about then. Incidentally, sitting on the right of the two kids with the banner are Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and his brother Richard who were then at one of their first gigs.
Q: Judging from the many KISS photos you shot that year, you must have had a good relationship with band and management. What was working, and interacting, with them like?
Costello: With all the bands I have worked with I was always more of a crew member than an outside photographer. I would travel with them and always let them see the pictures before the went out. I also did a lot of pictures of family/kids/girlfriends, etc. but never let those out so a trust built up and I have always had a reputation for that. Also I would always get them involved in the ideas and concepts and take on board their ideas (see the Ozzy covers). It was collaborative. Bill and Gene were fantastic to work with and full of ideas. The bike shoot was my idea for Poster Magazine in Sweden and Bill organized the Fire House Studio in New York (Ghost Busters 1) because he knew the potential of the shot and also that I didn't have that kind of budget for a magzine shoot.
Q: When you lived in Connecticut and they were all still living in New York, did you ever party or hang out with KISS? Or on the road, while on tour?
Costello: No, I have only hung out with a few of the bands I've worked with and that more on a family level. Peter Criss and his wife came up to the house in Connecticut a couple of times for dinner and to do the 'car' shot for Creem.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share with the KISS fans worldwide?
Costello: Only that it's nice to be part of what is now a worldwide community which seems to be growing rather than diminishing. Also thanks to everybody who comments so favourably about the shots.
--Kim Alex--
http://www.thepioneers.tk - Demo ute!!!
