The KISS Impersonators started
by accident in 1976. Troy Correia wanted to do something different
for Halloween that year. He wanted to do something entertaining
and out of the ordinary, something that would allow him to play
the role of someone famous. His first idea was to dress up as
Alice Cooper, but he also wanted to include some of his close
friends. That meant finding someone other than Alice to dress
up as.
In 1976, the Bay City Rollers were hitting it big with recent
hits like "Saturday Night" and "I Only Want to
Be with You." Their image was based around their plaid
outfits, and Troy felt they would be a good choice for Halloween.
He got together a group that included his brother Chris and
three friends: Paul Alberts, Jack Standish, and Eugene Vaccaro.
Plans began a couple of weeks before Halloween to get their
costumes put together.
Three days before Halloween, the group ran into a problem. Eugene
got in trouble and was put on restriction, which meant he wouldn't
be able to go out on Halloween. This left the other four with
a choice: find another member or come up with an entirely different
idea. With so little time left to find a replacement, Troy showed
the others a photo of a band called KISS that he had seen in
his Columbia House Record Club catalog. Everyone liked the idea,
and the KISS Impersonators were born.
None of the members, including Troy, knew much about KISS other
than that they were different. On October 29, the group got
to see KISS perform on "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special."
After everyone had watched the performance, Troy went to collect
the money needed for their makeup the following day. That's
when another unexpected change occurred. Jack Standish refused
to contribute fifty cents toward the makeup. Another friend,
Dean Gulbrandson, happened to be there with Troy and Jack and
asked if he could join the group if he paid the fifty cents
himself. Troy agreed, and within a couple of minutes, Dean returned
with his fifty cents in hand. Just like that, Jack was out of
the group.
That afternoon, the makeup was purchased. Back in 1976, white
face makeup was very difficult to find, unlike today, when nearly
every store selling Halloween accessories carries it. Troy had
no luck finding white face paint, but he did find small, sample-sized
lipsticks at Longs Drugs in the Fremont Hub for just five cents
each. He loaded up on white lipstick, a few red samples, and
one silver sample, along with a tube of black makeup from King
Norman's. With the makeup taken care of, Troy returned home,
gathered a few Afro wigs, and discussed the costumes with everyone.
Their outfits would consist of Levi's jackets and jeans.
Halloween arrived, and the KISS Impersonators made their first
of nine Halloween appearances. They ventured out to Patterson
Elementary School, but unfortunately, they didn't get much recognition.
They entered the costume contest but lost to a boy dressed as
a robot. His costume was impressive, and he deserved to win
over the group's simple outfits and makeup. Even though they
hadn't made much of an impression on anyone, they had no idea
what lay ahead for them.
The 1976 lineup consisted of Paul Alberts as Gene Simmons, Chris
Correia as Paul Stanley, Troy Correia as Peter Criss, and Dean
Gulbrandson as Ace Frehley. |
