On 19. October 1976, Kiss did the “Winter scene” photoshoot at A&M Records in Hollywood, California, with photographer Neil Preston for Creem Magazine. The polyurethane “snow” they used was so toxic it’s not made anymore. It also got into the ventilation system of the photo studio and stayed there for months. While Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Paul Stanley were happily mugging for the camera, Ace Frehley was so drugged up he could hardly walk. Photographer Neal Preston knew he had to move fast or Frehley would be lost to the shoot, but as he went to grab a lens, he heard a thud. He rushed back only to find ‘Space Ace’ face down in the poisonous material, which was slowly turning red as he coughed up blood. Frehley was bundled into a limo before anyone could call 911. The shoot was over before it had barely begun — but Preston had got the one shot he needed for Creem magazine’s December issue.
Photo by Neil Preston.
Neal Preston:
“This is what it looks like when a real rock star is passing out. I knew that Gene (Simmons) and Paul (Stanley) were both 100 percent sober. The same could not be said for Ace who barely made it through the front door without help.”
In famed photographer Neal Preston’s book, “Neal Preston: Exhilarated and Exhausted”, Preston tells, for the first time anywhere, the entire story of his famous “winter scene” photo shoot with Kiss in 1976. The shoot was done in a photo studio in Hollywood, California, and besides the story itself Preston has included a couple of never-before-seen outtakes from the photo session.
– “Neal Preston: Exhilarated and Exhausted” https://amzn.to/2xUN4So
Sources: Daily Mail
