Gene Simmons | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
4.6 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2025
⏱️ 84 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Billy Corgan sits down with the one and only Gene Simmons to probe beyond the kabuki makeup and monster riffs that made KISS a household name. From celebrating Gene’s triumphant final shows at Madison Square Garden to dissecting the band’s forays into disco and beyond, Gene opens up about his earliest days hustling in rat-infested lofts, his eye for shameless self-promotion, and the emotional weight of saying goodbye to a stage persona that defined millions of childhoods—including Billy’s. Meanwhile, Billy holds Gene’s feet to the fire on everything from KISS’s critical underestimation to the creative interplay that kept Gene and Paul Stanley’s partnership alive for half a century.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Now I have this memory because I was a kiss fan. I had the kiss poster I'm a |
| 0:03.7 | wall before I even heard a note of Kim. I'm so sorry. |
| 0:06.3 | Ultimately and variably and other big words like gymnasium, living well is the best revenge. It's the, uh, we've got it. It's the reward and they're jumping up and down like biblical locus going, you know, it makes no sense whatsoever and you think, oh boy, But at the time they're gonna hike but at the time the heavy metal fans were not having they were not happy they hated it |
| 0:29.2 | I know so You know, it makes no sense whatsoever. And you think, oh boy, they're gonna... But at the time, they're gonna hide. |
| 0:25.4 | But at the time, the heavy metal fans were not having it. |
| 0:27.6 | They were not happy. |
| 0:28.7 | They hated it. |
| 0:29.5 | I know. So as soon as you start to bend over for the soap, it's not long before you become somebody's... Did I make any sense there? Sure, but I prefer to make dollars. Oh, that's another one. It's actually too small to introduce you as the man who needs no introduction. |
| 0:49.0 | Oh, you's another one. It's actually too small to introduce you as the man who needs no introduction. You're bigger than that. Oh, you're bigger than that. Thank you. Let's start here. How about Dodge Stadium when I saw you backstage? That's a card. That's card three. You're jumping ahead of my narrative. I'm so sorry. If don't mind if you want to interview me I'm more than happy to do that. Sure how much? 10 grand one hour You'll fly to somebody's house with a box set for 50 well that's changed you know inflation is it gone out? Oh held you out, with the foot for you to go make an appearance of someone's house, what would it cost a fan at this point? It depends how long, but they have paid 250. Yeah. Yeah. I believe it. You're worth it. That's part of what's in here about how you're worth it. So let's start here. Yeah. It's the lowest hanging fruit, but I do want to get somewhere with it. So, bandplays it's last concert, Madison Square Garden. Was it two nights? You played Madison Square Garden? Yeah, we just wanted to do one. I'm surprised. Sorry, I'm surprised you didn't play like 50. Well, you're very kind. We were offered many nights, but we just wanted to do one. And then the powers that be especially the videographers and shmidiographers and all those guys said, well, what happens if the power goes or something? You got to have a backup. So we did two. Right. We only did two last shows of all time for the band. |
| 2:27.4 | I know you love your band and I know you love your band's history and we will of course get into that. But and you're not a person in my estimation I've been watching you on television since I was a little kid since about 1976 I think. Oh, where are you? 57. 74. You're looking good,. You're a good boy. You're a good boy. You're a good boy. You're a good boy. |
| 2:45.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:46.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:47.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:48.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:49.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:50.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:51.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:52.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:53.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:54.0 | You're a good boy. |
| 2:55.0 | You're a cold person. But you know, you play Gene Simmons on television for living and you've been great at it. |
| 3:08.9 | And I remember seeing you Donnie Hue or whatever I would see you on and you know, I'd be sort of my Douglas Donnie Hue. Donnie Hue. Mike Douglas. Oh my god. I know you're on Mike Douglas. You know, they don't know what you're talking about. |
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