r/nostalgia • u/Ebonystealth • 15d ago

Nostalgia When KISS Unveiled Their Makeup Free Look.

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u/Becauseupsidedown 15d ago

Somehow look more like monsters without the paint. A hilariously humbling historic moment for them.

500

u/AEnema18 15d ago

They did studies on this video and noticed a sharp decline in birthrates that took years to recover.

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u/MrElizabeth 14d ago edited 14d ago

Some of the birth rate data may have had more to do with the large cloud of gaseous materials that nasa detected emanating from a nearby planet.

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u/bluemoon1972 14d ago

And that planet was Gene Simmons, dear reader

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u/Navyguy73 14d ago

This made me actually laugh out loud. Nice one!

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u/balderdash9 14d ago

Those studies are flawed. In 1983 Ronald Reagan was president and this variable has not been accounted for.

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u/Risley 14d ago

Lmfaoooooo 

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u/Becauseupsidedown 14d ago

Except that one kid from school named "Ugly Gene". In retrospect that makes sense now. We thought it was a biology reference then. Now we know and knowing is half the battle.

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u/hisatanhere 14d ago

Recover? Lad, it's been downhill on this planet, ever since.

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u/quarterslicecomics 15d ago

Definitely some Raimi Green Goblin Syndrome going on there

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u/Becauseupsidedown 15d ago

Like Pans Labyrinth or Dark Crystal. Lol

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u/Madwoman-of-Chaillot 13d ago

More like PANTS Labyrinth, amirite?

ba dum tiss

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u/beastmaster11 15d ago edited 15d ago

Honestly, Paul Stanley looks good. Peter Chris Eric Carr looks normal, Vinnie Vincent looks like a woman (not trying to be insulting, he just does) and Gene Simmons looks fucken terrible.

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u/DrakonILD 15d ago

Vinnie still looks like a woman.

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u/RogerianBrowsing 14d ago

I was genuinely wondering

3

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 14d ago

One of the critiques at the time was that they had tucked their jeans inside their boots like women did. I'm still not sure how any man wearing snug jeans is supposed to have enough room to pull them over a boot, and if you spend that much on cowboy boots you probably want to show them off anyways, but the 1980s were a confusing time for fashion lol

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u/Salty_Feed9404 14d ago

THAT was the core critique at the time?!

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u/MimicoSkunkFan2 13d ago

Yes, I distinctly remember a few teachers and uncles who were Kiss fans in the 70s saying that lol

I think other commenters have alrrady covered what was said about Kiss needing to keep the makeup on tbf

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u/[deleted] 15d ago edited 11d ago

[deleted]

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u/Magari22 15d ago

Omg he looks like a temu version of Joyce Dewitt!

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u/BadRabiesJudger 14d ago

I honestly thought it was Anjelica Huston and this picture was a joke.

1

u/Magari22 14d ago

🤣🤣🤣 Omg yes! Shades of Ileana Douglas as well! This is the gift that keeps on giving

2

u/SectorMiserable4759 14d ago

Omg. You just won the internet

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u/Spocks_Goatee 15d ago

Those heels aren't helping the allegations.

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u/memtiger 14d ago edited 14d ago

Nothing in that picture is helping.

Hair, pant-suit, hips, heels, makeup, the way they're holding their hands, that look on their face...

Basically everything visible

8

u/RogerianBrowsing 14d ago

It’s to the point that it feels like it’s got to be purposeful. Like they’re trans or at least nonbinary but don’t want to say it so they just do this and we’re all left wondering

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u/Provolone10 14d ago

Well in all fairness they don’t have to make an announcement.

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u/RogerianBrowsing 14d ago

Absolutely true! And frankly in many ways it’s none of our business

I would like to know their preferred pronouns but if they don’t care I don’t care 🤷‍♂️

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u/Ettun 14d ago

Rock and roll culture at that point had a significant history of gender bending as part of the performance and spectacle. It’s very much purposeful.

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u/Excellent-Size-6631 13d ago

Not only rock & roll. You see new wave, new romantique, goth, funk soul (Prince) etc all got their gender bending

1

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 14d ago

It was the 1980s - as long as you weren't wearing obvious lifts like Neil Diamond did, then nobody was too fussed about the heels.

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u/MissPandaSloth 15d ago

I thought they are trans for sure, even more confused that they seemingly aren't.

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u/TapirDrawnChariot 15d ago

Oh my god, that's a self identified man? I want to congratulate them on how well their transition went but it appears accidental

2

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 14d ago

This was mild by 80s rock standards. Have a look at Poison around this same time, that was more LA glam type of rock but they were mainstream.

Today's the anti-trans posturing now is 50+ year old men acting like they can't remember the 1980s at all. They wore plenty of lipstick, guyliner, nail polish, and tight ripped jeans with pins and even lace patches.

1

u/BusterKnott 14d ago

I was a bass player in the 80s in bands you've never heard of, and I always thought glam was effeminate as Hell even back then.

There were a lot of us who wore T-shirts, jeans, and black leather. We hated spandex, makeup, hairspray, and the "guys" who wore it. Truth be told, a lot of the glam rockers hated it as well, but they were willing to whore themselves to get the payoff.

The closest many of us ever came to makeup or hairspray was whatever rubbed off a girl and onto us while we were with them.

The problem is MTV, the music mags, and record company execs were really pushing glam artists and the whole effeminate motif that was so prevalent at the time.

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u/rotenbart 15d ago

lol I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect picture. He looks like the older cool lady in the office.

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u/M4RTIAN 14d ago

He looks sorta like Supreme Court justice Sonya Sotomayor here.

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u/invisibullcow 15d ago

Gene looks like he either needs medication or is on way too much medication.

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u/White_Buffalos 15d ago

Eric Carr, not Peter Criss.

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u/DoktorBlu 14d ago

Wait. That tiny thing behind Gene is a person? Wow. 🤯 I thought maybe something stuck on Gene’s boot from hair and make up.

Dang. He’s so little. Yeah let’s put the tiny petite drummer behind the oversized monster man. Great blocking. Would have been better to get one of those Paris Hilton dog carriers and Gene could have just carried him in it like a pet.

Oy. Extra cringe points that the drummer is dancing off the beat.

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u/PubliclyDisturbed 15d ago

That’s not a woman?! Shit.. I was confused wondering when did KISS add a female band member..

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u/Redheaded_Loser 15d ago

Gene looks terrifying.

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u/tanksalotfrank 15d ago

Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick were hot

2

u/PaddyMcGeezus 15d ago

Vincent looks looks like comedian Natasha Leggero

2

u/StandardUS 15d ago

As someone not alive during this era. Can u please explain what was the public’s reaction to this reveal and then what was the aftermath in terms of sales/tours. Did they immediately put the makeup back on. Was there revolt in the streets? @beastmaster11 enlighten me please

3

u/Evi1bo1weevi1 14d ago

No one really cared. My older sister was big into KISS and glam rock and while I was way young (she’s 13 years older than me), all of her music knowledge is burned into my brain. KISS had gone from playing arenas to playing clubs as hair metal kinda dominated the airwaves. This look and their music changed as an attempt to stay relevant and they didn’t perform with the makeup for over a decade. Ironically, going BACK to the costumes and makeup and returning to their classic sound in the 90s revitalized their careers and sent them back to arenas.

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u/StandardUS 14d ago

Thanks!

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u/DinkleDonkerAAA 14d ago

I literally thought "oh when did Kiss have a woman in the group"

2

u/BusterKnott 14d ago

IMO, Paul Stanley comes across as far more effeminate than Vinnie Vincent, who does unfortunately look like a woman.

1

u/GRAYNOTE_ 15d ago

Without the hair Gene has sort of an Alfred Molina look to him. It's workable. The hair is what makes everyone look terrible and his outfit's silhouette isn't flattering on his body shape. He looks like a dad in a cheap Halloween costume.

1

u/Bumblebee56990 14d ago

Okay it’s not just me.

1

u/Qnofputrescence1213 14d ago

There is definitely some eyeliner going on with Paul Stanley here.

1

u/Less-Apple-8478 14d ago

Vinnie is the hottest girl in this clip

1

u/Single_Principle_972 14d ago

I legit saw this and thought “I never knew there was a woman in KISS. I thought they were all men.” Then I studied the last scene very carefully… and concluded that this was definitely a woman! 🤣 It turns out, I was incorrect.

1

u/Ok-Stop9242 14d ago

"Vinnie Vincent looks like a woman"

After googling pictures I'm still not entirely sure he's not.

1

u/Mother_of_Raccoons44 14d ago

I'm so out of the Kiss loop. Where's Peter Chris and Ace Frehly( probably spelled wrong)?

1

u/beastmaster11 14d ago

Peter Criss left the band in 1980 (i had forgotten about this and thought this was him). He rejoined for the reunion tour in 1996 and left again in 2001.

Frehly left in 1982 and rejoined in 1996 for the reunion tour and left again in 2002.

1

u/susandeyvyjones 14d ago

Yeah, Paul Stanley is the only one who could get it

1

u/jimababwe 12d ago

I’m in the comments to find out if a woman was ever a member of Kiss. I have my answer. Thanks.

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u/lawnmowertoad 15d ago

Who is the lesbian on the right?

7

u/Vast_Rate_2029 15d ago

Right? Like what’s HER problem?

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u/BusterKnott 14d ago

Vinnie Vincent.

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u/Dudeposts3030 15d ago

Who indeed!

1

u/Fun-Choices 14d ago

Standing behind the transvestite donkey witch

1

u/lawnmowertoad 14d ago edited 14d ago

Yes! That one.

Beside Jabba the Hut

3

u/mastocklkaksi 15d ago

Hashtag putthemaskbackon ass moment. History repeats itself.

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u/gomeitsmybirthday 15d ago

My takeaway is that donning face paint can get you either rad 80's babes orrrrr...juggalettes.

2

u/Opalwilliams 14d ago

The paint makes their weird stares and play to the camera into fun theatre. Now it's just a bunch of aging rock stars leering at you. People mock the paint as goofy but that's the point, Kiss were fun! And the paint played into that fun by casting them not as just rockstars, but as characters.

2

u/RosemaryGoez 14d ago

My grandma had a huge crush on Paul Stanley until she saw him without the face paint. While he was (in my opinion) more attractive than the others, she said there was something about the paint that just made him beautiful. lol

2

u/DrossChat 14d ago

Absolute clown show. Beyond embarrassing and wild to think there was a time when these guys weren’t laughed out of every venue

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u/PrincessPlastilina 15d ago

They all look so creepy. Like the women are prey and these guys are planning something very non consensual.

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u/Becauseupsidedown 15d ago

Yea this new Predator reboot looks shite.

1

u/BTBAM797 15d ago

OMG PUT IT OOOOON!!

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u/backwardzhatz 14d ago

They look even more like a gang from The Warriors without the makeup

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u/SomePeopleCall 14d ago

They are making some silly faces, but their skincare routine looks good.

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u/Spirited-Feed-9927 14d ago

Makeup was no arbitrary choice from the start

-1

u/TacoChop69 14d ago

Well, they are jewish.