Time for KISS 'n' tell

By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2000

Want to make a grown man cry? Just try taking away his KISS screensaver, KISS Colorforms, the lunchbox, the dolls, the clocks, the custom-designed car . . .

When he was 5 years old, Toby Giles sneaked to a record player to put on his babysitter's copy of the KISS album Rock & Roll Over.

It was an act that would change his life.

Giles' little fingers fumbled, the needle scratched over the vinyl and ruined much of the album. His mom was forced to buy the record from the sitter.

But it wasn't completely destroyed. Little Toby could still listen to it, though his mother disapproved of the hard rock band that dressed in demonic attire and spooky makeup.

From that day on, Giles, you could say, had KISSues.

Now a 30-year-old manager of a Southern Pawn store in Pinellas Park, Giles convinced the store's owner to let him bring some of his KISS items to work. Look around the store and see KISS posters, KISS clocks, KISS action figures. All the computers for sale at Southern Pawn have KISS screen savers, programmed by Giles. He says customers bring him KISS gifts.

On the wall behind the cash register hangs Giles' favorite KISS item, a framed photo of all four KISS solo album covers, won by his son Jake, 10, at a school fair. "It's my most prized possession," said Giles, who intends to be at the Ice Palace tonight for what the band claims is its "Farewell Tour."

Giles' black Chevy S-10 pickup is parked in the store's lot. Recognize it by the KISS graphics: decals of the KISS logo, the four solo album covers, the Rock & Roll Over cover.

"Those are all custom-made for me," Giles says. "Nobody else has those stickers."

Giles says his wife Renay, 30, buys him KISS collectibles for Christmas, er, KISSmas. Also, for his birthday, Halloween, Father's Day.

"Yeah, I've even got KISS ties," Giles says, laughing. Renay has ordered a KISS robe and slippers designed to look like Gene Simmons' dragon boots.

"She knows I'm obsessed," says Giles, "Happily obsessed."

Home is where Giles keeps the really valuable collectibles such as the KISS Colorforms set he got when he was a kid, the KISS lunchbox, the four original KISS dolls from 1979, never removed from their boxes.

"I know people think I'm nuts. Who cares?" says Giles, who has met members of the band many times in the past 20 years. Ray Turcotte, Giles' co-worker at Southern Pawn, shrugs off his friend's obsession. "He's the easiest guy in the world to shop for."

Giles, who has a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Maine, is himself a drummer. He attributes part of the KISS appeal to the band's musicianship.

Giles lists a wide variety of musicians who cite KISS as an influence. "From death metal to country, everybody loves KISS," he says.

Giles is right. Spooky rock bands such as Marilyn Manson and Cannibal Corpse, Pantera and Motley Crue have said they found inspiration in the legendary band. But, KISS also gets props from funkster Lenny Kravitz, alt-rockers the Lemonheads and Dinosaur Jr. Even country crooner Garth Brooks, whose cover of Hard Luck Woman is a standout track on the Kiss My Ass tribute album, says he is a huge KISS fan.

"Everybody loves them," Giles says. "They set the standard for live shows." Giles has seen KISS in concert 25 times since 1982. Last week he caught the band in Colorado. Giles says the KISS live show is the ultimate.

Martin Rice, bassist for local band Spiller, says the first record he ever bought was KISS Alive. Spiller and other local bands showed their gratitude at the State Theater last Saturday with "Dressed to Kiss: The Ultimate KISS Tribute." Spiller's four members donned suits and ties a la the Dressed to Kill album cover, and made up their faces in KISS character.

"All bands seem to be influenced by KISS," said Rice, 32, who will be seeing the band for the first time tonight at the Ice Palace. "When I was old enough to go to concerts, KISS was in their cheesy era. Now, for this tour, with the makeup and everything, I can't wait."

Gary Skinner, Jr., 34, of St. Petersburg, took his 11-year-old son Gary III, and his friend Ian Millett, 12, to Saturday's KISS tribute show. Dad has been a KISS fan since the 1970s. "They're awesome," Skinner says. "The stage show, the music."

How long has Gary III been into KISS?

"Since I was a baby," he says. "My dad turned me into a natural KISS freak."

His favorite member?

"Gene Simmons. He's sort of like me. He's crazy." Who ever thought KISS would be promoting family values? Tonight's Ice Palace show will be a father-son bonding session for the Skinners, the Gileses and who knows how many more members of the KISS Army.

"These guys are what did it for me," Giles says. "They kept me out of trouble. They made me want to play so bad. They made it look like so much fun. I spent my childhood pretending to be in KISS."

Giles recalls his father, Bob, recently walking into young Jake's room. Father and son have hanged KISS posters and a black light making Jake's room look much like Toby's did in the 1970s. "My dad walked in there, looked around and said, "Oh no, not again,' " Giles says, laughing.

Giles will pay further homage to his favorite band with a $3,700 tattoo depicting the covers of the solo albums, as well as Rock & Roll Over. Giles estimates it will take 46 hours to complete the tattoo.

What if this is really it? What if KISS never tours again?

"I have all the videos and concerts on tape," Giles says. "I'll keep going on. Somehow."

At a glance: KISS brings its "Farewell Tour" with Ted Nugent and Skid Row to Tampa's Ice Palace at 7 tonight. Tickets are $35-$75. Call (813) 301-2500.