They played their first-ever show on January 30, 1973, in a New York club, after Stanley and Gene Simmons decided to move on from previous band Wicked Lester. They were paid $50 for the appearance in front of an audience of less than 10 people.

The bassist says: "Wicked Lester had just finished its album. Though we had a real recording contract with a major label, and though we had finished an entire album, we were depressed – it just wasn't what we had envisioned.