While we’re likely to encounter dozens of faux Gagas and Glamberts this weekend, Halloween has always reminded us of the one band for whom every day is October 31st — except during the Lick It Up era — Kiss. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees have long been synonymous with tricking and treating, as evidenced by their appearance on 1976’s Paul Lynde Halloween Special. Yes, the dude from Hollywood Squares. Watch Kiss perform three Destroyer songs on the special, “Detroit Rock City,” “King of the Nighttime World” and “Beth,” in the video above.

Bonus Flashback: No Halloween is complete without this Kiss Your Face Make-Up Kit commercial from 1978 (after the jump).

But first, check out Rockers in Hallween costumes. (more…)

With a legion of fans eager to buy coffins, comics and whatever else they’re peddling, it’s not surprise that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS have a lot of money. While the band wouldn’t elaborate how big their fortune actually is — Gene Simmons’ worth is estimated near $100 million — the band will admit “We have more money than some small countries.” “It’s a privilege to do what we do, and let’s say we make a living,” Simmons said.

Perhaps she was trying to enlist the KISS Army’s support John McCain in the event that she’s chosen as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the band prior to their performance in Stockholm, Sweden. The band provided Rice and her staff with autographed memorabilia and backstage passes. “It was really fun to meet KISS and Gene Simmons,” Rice told reporters while avoiding more important questions like whether she likes Destroyer or Love Gun more.

[Photo: Getty]

With Gene Simmons’ unceremonious exit from The Celebrity Apprentice last week, Rock Daily felt a certain emptiness. But clearly the Demon was saving the real juice for his guest spot on last night’s episode of Ugly Betty. In the tradition of the “Kiss Meter,” we rate Simmons’ performance based on one of his band’s classic albums.

This Week: Bubbly Amanda (the blonde in the above video) has been searching for her estranged father ever since her mother’s murder. She knew that she was the result of a hook-up at Studio 54 and had worked through a number of possibilities (including Jimmy “J.J.” Walker) before settling on Simmons.
Simmons’ Contribution: Despite the fact that Ugly Betty is fictional, Simmons seemed more himself on this show than he ever did on the reality-based Celebrity Apprentice. He admitted to regularly Googling himself and cracked a joke about annoying Cher—no doubt things he’s actually done in his life.
Kiss Album Rating: Simmons was clearly saving his best performance for the higher-rated show, as last night’s appearance was absolutely on par with 1976’s Destroyer. It was all the power and spectacle that the Demon can muster, cranked up to 11.

Though we all love Stephen Baldwin, Marilu Henner and Tito Ortiz, our favorite contestant from NBC’s Donald Trump-hosted Celebrity Apprentice has got to be the Demon himself, Gene Simmons. Each week, we’ll be tracking the Kiss frontman’s progress and rating him based on one of his band’s legendary albums.

This Week’s Task: The convoluted challenge involved Kodak printers, trailers, ink and Alec Baldwin. The men’s team ended up winning by once again exploiting the charm of the oft-shirtless Lennox Lewis.
Simmons’ Contribution: Trump issued a challenge to Gene at the opening of the show: since the women’s team was down two members, why not defect and lead them to victory? Simmons, the self-proclaimed “King of Women,” gladly took the gig, and everything fell apart from there. He once again refused to be briefed by the sponsor’s executives, ignored most of the outside suggestions, and had one disastrous twenty-second run wherein he referred to himself in the third person and called himself “Mr. Outside the Box” (see above). It all lead to his untimely dismissal from the show (and the end of this column).
Kiss Album Rating: 1978’s Gene Simmons. For his first solo album, Simmons re-recorded Rock and Roll Over’s excellent “See You In Your Dreams” and turned it into a terrible dirge. He should have learned a long time ago that repeating himself leads to utter calamity.

Last week’s Rock List was dedicated to those masters of merchandising, Kiss. With Gene Simmons thundering his way to the top of Celebrity Apprentice, let’s look back at your favorite ingenious marketing moves that the God of Thunder helped orchestrate:

1. Kiss Kasket
2. Gene Simmons Celebriduck
3. Kiss Toothbrush
4. Ace Frehley Auction Paddle
5. Kiss Air Freshener
6. Paul Stanley Condoms
7. Kiss Halloween T-Shirt
8. Kiss Checkers
9. Kiss Cycling Jersey & Shorts
10. Kiss Rubik’s Cube (more…)

In honor of Gene Simmons, who we guarantee will take home Celebrity Apprentice gold, this week’s Rock List pays homage to the God of Thunder/entrepreneur by asking you which of the seemingly thousands of items in Kiss‘ merchandising history is your favorite. As far as Rock Daily is concerned, any man who can convince his fans to get buried in an official Kiss coffin should definitely ride shotgun in Donald Trump’s boardroom. Any Kiss tie-in is fair game, so pick your favorites, and on Monday we’ll reveal which items are the most useful in helping you rock & roll all night (and party every day). Here are our picks:

• Kiss Kasket

• Kiss Soft Bristle Toothbrush

• Kiss Cycling Shorts

• Kiss Kondoms

• Kiss This Wines

Though we all love Stephen Baldwin, Marilu Henner and Tito Ortiz, our favorite contestant from NBC’s Donald Trump-hosted Celebrity Apprentice has got to be the Demon himself, Gene Simmons. Each week, we’ll be tracking the Kiss frontman’s progress and rating him based on one of his band’s legendary albums.

This Week’s Task: Pedigree wants a commercial plugging their dog adoption program, which leads to an ad that involves a partially nude Lennox Lewis and many adorable puppies.
Simmons’ Contribution: In addition to taking control of the production of the commercial, Gene also found time to accuse Ivanka Trump of spying for the women, declare that “it’s his job” to hit on the ladies, and invoke Sun Tzu during the male team’s victorious final presentation (see above).
Kiss Album Rating: 1976’s Rock and Roll Over. It was another platinum performance, this time with a heavy emphasis on Simmons’ libido. It’s no wonder the guy wrote “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em.”