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Nov 30th- On the day off, after KISS rocked Vegas to its knees, yours truly was invited to come down to the Art of Music Gallery inside the Monte Carlo Hotel in Las Vegas, and meet some of the nice folks who bought our GENE SIMMONS AXE basses. Each is hand made, using the highest quality materials... EMG pickups... Neck through body. And the case has a terrific piece of art (my face!!!). I individualize and sign each Axe, and sign the outer case as well. Here are some fotos from the event. This is PAUL HAYELAND, who is in charge of dealing with all the minutea of our GENE SIMMONS AXE. He drives the GS Axe Van, and he lines up the personal appearances. Yes. A few of the Ladies wanted certain parts of their body signed. New letters posted... Dearest Gene, We love you more and more each time we see you. Your energy is intoxicating and we just can't get enough of you. For this reason, we have chosen to follow you to all of the 6 California shows. We were lucky enough to get pictures with your AXE bass guitar and bus in Fresno. The guitar felt so amazing in our hands. Everything you touch is magical... See you tonight in Oakland. Your two favorite fans, The KISS Army Vixens LETTERS... Nov 19th- Nov 16th- By Andy Bockelman    Mon, Nov 16th, 2009 Gene Simmons, singer, bassist and co-founder of the rock band Kiss, has released his own piece of music memorabilia. The Gene Simmons Axe Bass is a specially crafted musical instrument reproduced from Simmons' own trademark design. Each copy is reproduced from the axe-shaped bass he uses in all Kiss concerts, hand-numbered and signed by Simmons. All the black and silver Axe Basses also come with leather cases bearing the painted likeness Simmons' stage persona, the Demon. "This guitar is, by some accounts a piece of art - my instrument of choice on stage in Kiss: The Bass that slays them all." Simmons said in a press release. "I've used the Axe on stage and literally thousands of people have contacted me to ask, 'Where can I get one?'" The Axe Bass comes at a price of $5,000 and includes a personal meeting with Simmons at a Kiss concert of their choice during the 2009 Kiss Tour, which marks the release of the band's newest album, "Sonic Boom," the first new studio album in more than a decade. "Sonic Boom" was released October 6. Simmons said the release of the Axe Bass is his way of giving back to Kiss fans. "When I was growing up, I was never able to get a piece of the Beatles," he said. "They weren't available, but they were still Mt. Olympus to me. I owe the fans everything because they made my life possible. My fans are not just buying any guitar, but a moment they'll never forget." Aside from touring with Kiss, a nominee for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Simmons also stars in VH1's rock reality show "Gene Simmons Family Jewels." The tour for "Sonic Boom" is scheduled to be incorporated into the show's fifth season. Nov 14th- In Vancouver, BC. Nov 11th- By Joe Hoover    Tues, Nov 10th, 2009 Gene Simmons is trading in his black and white makeup for a collared shirt and jacket Tuesday afternoon. After rocking Credit Union Centre with the rest of KISS Monday night, Simmons is scheduled to address Saskatchewan's Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs. "And he's going to talk about the business of rock'n roll and creative marketing," explains Janea Bellay, the president of SYPE's Saskatoon branch. She says they simply lucked out. "We invited him, we heard KISS was playing Saskatoon and now he's speaking at our luncheon." Bellay says there's no end to the interesting ventures taken on by Simmons. "He's an entrepreneur and he's going to talk about his success in business, which is something that our entire group is passionate about." The KISS name is on practically everything, including belt buckles, pool cues and even diaper bags. New letters posted... More of Gene Simmons Family Jewels, ASAP, please! I'm in serious withdrawal, and I want to see how one of the country's functional families is doing. Dr. Craig Merrell Response from Gene: Thanks. Yes, indeed. Season 5 of GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS is currently being filmed -- on the road (when I'm not playing concerts with KISS) and during off days... Look for us in the Spring. LETTERS... Nov 5th- For those of you tuning in late, we have a marketing entity called SIMMONS ABRAMSON. Made up of myself and Rich Abramson. We have worked with the largest corporations in America. Among them, INDYCAR (Indy Racing League). We have marketed, branded, positioned.... and other big words like gymnasium. I'm the guy who came up with the I AM INDY campaign that IndyCar began using years ago. I also co-wrote (with Bag) the song, I AM INDY ("cause I love the way I feel, when I get behind the wheel... I AM INDY). Needless to say, the I AM INDY campaign and branding was seen all over the place -- on TV (ABC, ESPN and elsewhere).... at every INDYCAR race (large I AM INDY grass and foliage designs on the racing field)... on stickers, in magazine advertisements, in co-branded ads with Firestone and.... well, all over the place. The campaign was a ground breaker and an earth shaker!!! Soon thereafter, we noticed (and so did the marketing world) -- the "personalization of large branded campaigns". And this has not gone unnoticed by the media, incidentally. NFL - "I Am The NFL" DISNEY - "I Am Disney" IAMS (pet food) - "I Am Iams" JEEP (trucks) - "I Am Jeep" The UN (United Nations) - "I Am Powerful" C.A.R.E - "I Am Care" KROQ (radio station) - "I Am KROQ WOLVERINE (clothing) - "I Am Wolverine" It goes further. I flew down to Arizona to meet the CEO of the UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX at their headquarters. (UNIV OF PHOENIX is a huge National entity that has an online component, as well as the usual campus component) -- an excellent organization, by the way. And told them point blank, my opinion was that their campaign ("UNIVERSITY OF THE MIND" and other variations on that theme) didn't work. We wanted them as clients, and they were about to hire SIMMONS ABRAMSON. I told them that without the PERSONAL, EMOTIONAL connection, no one would care what you're selling. It doesn't even matter if it makes sense. It only matters if there is an emotional connection.... like our I AM INDY campaign. UNIV OF PHOENIX, for whatever reason, chose not to hire SIMMONS ABRAMSON. Except for the fact that their entire new campaign, (in print, on billboards, on television) is..... (you guessed it) I AM A PHOENIX. Shame on them for not giving us credit, at least. Good luck to them, anyhow. There's more. Not too long ago, I called up RELATIVITY MEDIA (they fund or co-fund, it seems, almost every major motion picture coming out of Hollywood, and have relationships with every major Hollywood studio). Again. An excellent organization. I invited CEO RYAN CAVANAUGH, and the head of his TV operation. We met at my home. At that meeting, and after a long discussion about marketing, branding and (bottom line) maximizing profit potential.... Cavanaugh asked what I thought about their impending buy of ROGUE PICTURES (at a disclosed price). I opined that it was a great buy on the surface, but couldn't give a deeper comment, since I hadn't seen the books and knew little of the workings of the company. An hour afterwards, Cavanaugh offered me the Presidency of ROGUE PICTURES. I told him at the meeting I would consider it, and that he should come back to me with more detail. No other discussions were ever held about this subject, and I never heard from Cavanaugh again about the Presidency of Rogue Pictures. Except for the fact that (after I offered my assessment about a company not simply being a company, but potentially a BRAND....like DISNEY is a brand.... perhaps the only brand of its kind.... DISNEY is a company, but also a brand. They STAND FOR SOMETHING. Other motion picture companies stand for nothing. There is no "sense" of Paramount, Universal and others. They're simply... NAMES. Not Brands.) And I offered that ROGUE could become a BRAND, if Cavanaugh looked at it DIFFERENTLY. Not just as a name place holder, but as something that could become more... I liked the name ROGUE, but it needed (you guessed it.... a PERSONAL connection). I also told him I didn't necessarily feel the I AM branding would work in this case... but something not too distant from that. The result? The Rogue branding is -- I AM ROGUE. I called Cavanaugh and wished him good luck with Rogue.... but also added, simply as a courtesy, I would have appreciated a "thank you, Gene Simmons" notation. And I also offered, that I thought I AM ROGUE was the WRONG branding for Rogue.... even though it was clear to me the I AM branding came from me. Cavanaugh said he thought of it years ago. No worries. I stand by every word I said. Bank on it. I wish him well. End of story. New letters posted... You know where this is,....yes it's NY city, crossing the busy streets.... Rob LETTERS... Nov 1st- Season 5 of GENE SIMONS FAMILY JEWELS continues, even as KISS is on tour. Here's Young Nick babysitting in a new episode.... he's always had a real connection with little people. They take to him like the Pied Piper. Here's Miss Shannon Tweed in front of our GENE SIMMONS AXE BUS RV at the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans, which KISS headlined.

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