Wednesday
Jun102015
The Best Of 1985: #4
Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 12:02AM
So everyone who's been here for a long time knows I love KIX, right? So you shouldn't be surprised that KIX came in at #4 on this illustrious countdown. I just can't believe "Cold Shower" is 30 years old. Geez! I still want one of those damn KIX umbrellas!
Reader Comments (14)
Top 5 live 80's band of all time
I've seen Kix over 32 times now, and I remember seeing these guys on a regular basis at Hammerjack's in Baltimore in 1985 and "Cold Shower" was a highlight of the shows that year for obvious reasons, especially when they made it rain confetti and Steve would start doing all his Umbrella stuff. A regular modern day Danny Kaye!
This song was also in heavy rotation on DC 101 (Remember "The Greaseman") and 98 Rock, as well as the video on MTV!!! Not bad from a bunch of Baltimore Badboys by way of Harrisburg PA or wherever the hell it is they're from!
Of course, this would be something that would be very hard to pull off, as I heard he's a recluse somewhere in Central Florida and is totally despised by the band.
everybody wants some!!!!
What I heard from their road manager of 25+ years (and counting) over beers on The Monsters of Rock Cruise, is that Purnell is a bitter old man who supposedly told him, "I never made a dime off KIX!", which couldn't be further from the truth,
The following year on MORC, that same manager told me, and I quote, "Donnie can go f*ck himself!... He was able to fix up and sell his house in Pennsylvania AND retire to Florida thanks to the resurgence of KIX, all without him having to lift a finger!"
I would imagine this has to do with the residuals he's compensated every time KIX performs his songs without him nearly every night when touring.
Though there hasn't been an interview with Purnell in over 10 years (presumably) or any communication with him for that matter, to get his side of the story, you can still read some online. Just Google "Donnie Purnell, KIX" and you'll get the picture. There's even a letter from him that's quite amusing (to say the least) about the band's breakup and reunion attempts. And, of course, there's plenty of discussion from the band on the subject. Their biggest common complaint is that he was a tyrant and a complete pain in the a*s to work for... uh... oops... Freudian slip... make that... "work with".
Despite his shortfalls (apparently, he's got quite a few), watch all the videos when he was still in the band. If Poison did indeed steal all their moves and show, you could have fooled me, as his self choreography (think Angus Young being electrocuted) plus the choreography of the others plus all his great songwriting made this band and helped define the style of a genre for decades to come.
Please add if anyone knows more. And as far as the documentary goes, it sure would be great to know exactly what happened and see if they could do a reunion, even if it was for just one song!