On 24. June 1976, Kiss’ legendary New York City photo shoot with photographer Barry Levine took place. Photos were taken on streets throughout the city, and in stops at Central Park and the Empire State Building, where one of Kiss’ most iconic photos ever was taken.
Ace Frehley:
“I remember crawling through this elevator room to get to the edge of where we were gonna do the photo session. It was pretty bizarre seeing the motors for the elevators and the cables. I don’t have a fear of heights so I thought it was cool. There was a kind of safety thing there so I don’t think we were in any real danger.”
Peter Criss:
“I got so drunk with Ace. We drank so much champagne and I was loaded on that shoot. I was feeling great as we all do on champagne. Ace and I were loaded. We had a ball. I was hanging off the fucking edge of the damn thing. Gene was having a heart attack about it.”
Paul Stanley:
“We were all scared shitless. You could see one arm and one hand of each guy and the other hand was holding on for dear life. It’s pretty awesome to be up there and look and see three states. We climbed the ladder in those boots. It was a pretty interesting time.”
Gene Simmons:
“We were nuts! We would do anything you would imagine. Let’s go on top of the Empire State Building and hang over the side for a photo. That’ll look cool. Let’s go!”
– “Kiss: Behind The Mask” by Ken Sharp and David Leaf
