Gene Simmons allows peek inside

Kiss musician and girlfriend Shannon Tweed promote memoir and A&E series about family life
By R.D. Heldenfels

PASADENA - Has Kiss rocker Gene Simmons finally decided to reveal his warm and cuddly side?

You could argue that, at least for public consumption, Simmons doesn't have one. At a news conference Thursday during the TV critics' press tour, he was still obnoxious, verbally combative and very much the huckster for his various enterprises.

Asked, for example, which Kiss song is his favorite, he said, ``The one that sells the most is my favorite.''

But Simmons for public consumption isn't necessarily Simmons all the time. Evidence of that will begin appearing in August in bookstores, where his longtime love, Shannon Tweed, will have her memoir Kiss and Tell, and on TV screens, when A&E airs Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

In the book, Tweed actually uses words such as ``sweet'' and ``humble'' to describe her man.

The series is not only about Simmons but also about the Simmons-Tweed family, including Shannon and their children, 17-year-old Nick and 14-year-old Sophie. It shows the current home life as well as footage going back to when Nick and Sophie were young.

Nick -- tall, lanky and funny -- could emerge as the real star of the show as well as one of the antidotes to Gene's outrageousness. But even in the news conference, Simmons was taking fire from several directions -- the kids and Tweed.

When he and Tweed were asked about parenting, Tweed called him ``Mr. Absentee Rock Father.'' And he conceded that most of the parenting was done by Tweed.

Which means, of course, that Daddy is famous for being an overly amorous rocker and Mommy is well-known for being naked. But Tweed and Simmons insist they are regular parents in a lot of ways.

``Our household is actually run pretty straight ahead,'' said Simmons, who -- unlike, oh, Ozzy Osbourne -- insists that he has never been high or drunk. ``Our responsibility is to protect our kids, supply the money and nurture and love and protect them with our lives. Their job is to do well in school and behave. Period. This notion of parents having to negotiate with their children... is out of the question.''

Tweed added that they're not strict about everything. ``Stuff like picking your clothes up off the floor isn't that important,'' she said.

But the show is bound to start conversations about double standards. In a clip from the show, Simmons seems laissez-faire about Nick and girls, while being extremely protective of Sophie with boys. The positive portrayal of a family where the parents are not married may worry some. ``We've never been married,'' Simmons admitted. ``We've also never been divorced.''

Then there's Simmons' image as a womanizer, someone who acknowledges that he likes to surround himself with beauties. Tweed is ambiguous about what Simmons does, and how she feels about it.

At the news conference, she said, ``I am not a stupid girl, nor am I doormat,'' which suggests she knows things happen, but she doesn't feel brought down by them. In the book, she says: ``He has never lied to me, and I don't think he cheats.'' But she also makes a distinction between ``emotional cheating and sexual cheating,'' with the latter forgivable as long as it doesn't include the former.

But let's say that Family Jewels does in some way soften Simmons' image, does make him seem less like the rogue that's been rocking stages for more than 30 years. Isn't Simmons then risking the foundation of his fortune?

He says he has enough not to worry.

``When you're filthy rich and you've been around for over three decades, it's OK to say this is who I am onstage, and this is who I am offstage.''