On 18. February 1974, Casablanca Records held a party at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles to celebrate the West Coast release of “Kiss” and to introduce the record company to the press and other record industry executives.
In keeping with the Casablanca theme, the party included palm trees and a Humphrey Bogart lookalike. Kiss performed their usual loud and bombastic stage show, which turned Warner Bros. Records (Casablanca’s record distributor) against the group. Soon after the show, Warner Bros. contacted Neil Bogart and threatened to end their deal with Casablanca if Kiss did not remove their makeup. With manager Bill Aucoin’s backing, Kiss refused. Shortly after the release of Kiss, Warner Bros. released Casablanca from their contract.
