Whilst I know that there is a great book out there by Henk Van T’Zand that collates all of the singles ever released by Kiss, I felt that the section on the UK release of the solo singles was a little light.
When you look at the various release versions of each single, the differing aspects of each variant was skirted over. Indeed just looking on Discogs website shows that there is a wealth of information that needs to be expanded on, so while this page will never replace what Henk has done, I think it will enhance it and I am sure that there is always an opportunity to produce a new version of the book complete with the content I will add here, in addition to any feedback I may receive from others during this documentation process
So – of course we come to the singles themselves. I remember going into the Callers record shop in South Shields and purchasing Gene’s “Radioactive” in red vinyl with picture sleeve and mask. It was the first sigle I ever bought myself and as a 13 year-old, was fascinated by the colour and the the fact you got a free mask. From then on, I can recall going into the same store – probably every couple of weeks, maybe more to purchase the singles by Paul, then Peter and finally Ace. They came out in that order, despite the catalog number stating otherwise. It was no simultaneous release, for sure.
I had the set, but hard times in the early 90s dictated that I had to sell them along with a copy The Originals that I had acquired in order to simply pay rent.
Fast forward to today (2020) and I felt I had to scratch an itch I’d had for a few years to go get the set back in my possession, after seeing the re-release of the solo albums in coloured vinyl.
It was then that I discovered just how many variants there were and looking at my Vinyl Collectors guide book showed the gaps in knowledge.
Here is the work-in-progress that I have, documenting each release variant I have as well as theoretical potential variants that need confirmation. The ‘Normal’ version will be the colour vinyl with mask, in picture sleeve and hype text printed, contrary to actual quantities of others produced, especially the rarer Peter and Ace versions.
Paul Stanley – Hold Me Touch Me