C.C. Banana Captures Kiss, Wins KissOnline Contest!

On Thursday, July 24th C.C. Banana attended the Kiss in-store promotion at Best Buy in NYC. Considering that The Hottest Band in the Land almost never makes such public appearances, let alone in full make-up and costumes, yours truly was not about to let this opportunity slip by! Camera in hand and banana on body, I set off to acquire an elusive Kiss capture!

In addition to this rare photo op, Kiss was also offering a free portable DVD player to the fan wearing the best Kiss costume that day! I don't think most people were even aware of this competition since I didn't see anyone sporting spandex or grease paint. In fact, people kept commenting to me that since I appeared to be the ONLY person wearing ANY sort of costume, I might just win the contest by default!

So to make sure to "peel the deal," I ducked into a nearby Duane Reade pharmacy and plunked down $5.00 for black eyeliner and silver blush. After 30 minutes in front of their tiny sunglass rack mirror and more than a few double-takes from horrified onlookers, C.C. Banana emerged as...

ACE PEELEY, the Psycho Citrus!

And yes, I realize that the banana is not a citrus fruit. Sue me.

After a grueling 9-hour wait on the rainy streets of Manhattan, it was finally C.C. Banana's turn to approach the legendary Creatures of the Night. The band was already smiling as they watched the fruity Frehley approach.

"Don't you recognize me?" I inquired. "I played on your record, BANANIMALIZE!"

And that was all it took. The fearsome foursome erupted into peels of uncontrolled laughter. Peter Criss laughed loudest and longest, continuing to chuckle even while the photo was being snapped. Paul Stanley joined in the fun by pointing right at the Metal Sludge logo on my chest! Even Ace's stunt double Tommy Thayer seemed to enjoy getting in on the action, flashing his trademark upside-down devil horns! Only Gene Simmons looked perplexed by what he saw before him. Perhaps he was pondering how to market a Kiss fruit salad.

No matter, I had acquired my holy grail: a full-band make-up Kiss capture! Appropriately, Metal Sludge ran this delicious depiction of rock & roll lunacy along with the following post about a certain Mr. Simmons losing his mind:

Regrettably, despite C.C. Banana's popularity with the band, my considerable efforts in front of the make-up mirror did not win me a DVD player that day. That particular honor was in fact bestowed upon a Kiss tribute band arriving by limo at the very last minute. Typical.

Yet all was not lost!

Earlier in the day, I had spent some time handing out promo cards and spreading the good word about the impending release of the new live album, "Kiss Symphony." Not that everybody in line wasn't already aware of it, of course.

Nevertheless, in return for said unorthodox promotional activities, the official Kiss website awarded C.C. Banana a beautiful limited edition "Kiss Symphony" windbreaker! As the sole winner for the state of New Jersey, mine is one of only 50 such jackets in the entire world!

Now to track down the other 49...

Anyway, that's the story of how C.C. Banana made friends with the members of Kiss. May this be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

Bananimalize!