On This Date, October 30th in 1978: KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, the made-for-TV movie starring KISS premiered on NBC. Despite the poor reviews, the film has attained a cult status. I remember watching this piece of crap with my parents in the same room and being beyond embarrassed by how bad it was and by the collectively shitty acting job KISS did. Today, it would probably be hilarious fun to watch with a gang of your forty-something friends, depending on how wasted you were. Actually, I’m putting that activity on my “To Do” list right now.
On This Date, September 7th in 1978: Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, died in London of an overdose of Hemenephirin, a drug he was taking to cure his alcoholism. He was 32. I still remember that day like it just happened; what a fucking tragedy. In an oddly related story, on this same date in 1985, drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr) and his wife Sarah welcomed their first child, daughter Tatia Jayne. Starkey has played drums for The Who since 1994, and actually received his first professional drum kit from Moon, who is also his Godfather. That kit later sold at Sotheby’s auction house for £12,000.
On This Date, January 5th in In 1978: The Sex Pistols played their first US gig at the Great Southeast Music Hall in Atlanta, GA before an estimated attendance of 500 people.
