| By the time 1983 kicked off, Troy
and Charles were working on plans to make the year one of the
biggest and best for the group. In January construction of the
new costumes started. Plans for the group were being considered.
Some of those would be another picture day in March or April,
The Vacaville Fiesta Days Parade in May, a concert in the summer,
an appearance on the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon on Labor Day
weekend, and close out the year with an appearance on Halloween.
With the decision to make KISS' new costumes,
the group also lost two of it's members. Tim Branson and Mark
Branson left the group due to the high cost to make the new
costumes. This left Troy and Charles to find two new members.
They found their Paul Stanley almost immediately in Mike Feliciano,
a friend of Charles who just happened to live a few houses
away from where Troy grew up. Through February and March things
had slowed down for the group. At the beginning of April,
Troy had to move back to Vacaville due to his job. Work on
the new costumes continued, but at a very slow pace.
|
Mike Feliciano as Paul Stanley |
|
Early in the year Ace Frehley had left KISS
and was replaced by Vinnie Vincent. The group was now looking
for someone to fill the spot of Vinnie. Since no one knew
much about Vinnie, it was hard for the group to find someone.
Time passed and the group was unable to find their fourth
member in time to go through with any of their plans. Summer
came and went and costumes were nearing completion, but still
no Vinnie In mid September KISS released their album titled
"Lick It Up" which featured the band on the cover
without their trademark make-up. Since KISS had removed their
make-up, Troy decided this would be the last year for the
KISS Impersonators. With that in mind, the group had to pull
out all the stops and make this one of the best years the
group would ever have.
|
Jimmie Katarzy as Vinnie Vincent
|
Shortly after the decision
to make this the last year for the group, they found their
Vinnie. Jimmie Katarzy, a friend of Charles, was introduced
to Troy and became the final piece to the puzzle they had
been trying to find for nine months. The addition of Jimmie
kicked the group in to high gear to finish up costumes in
time for Halloween. Troy had contacted the Argus once again
to see if they would be willing to do a story on the group
since this would be their last year. The Argus liked the idea
and made arrangements to interview and photograph the group
on Halloween. Things were looking good for the group.
On Saturday, October 22nd, the group met up at Mikes house
to try on costumes in order to make any final adjustments,
alterations, and additions to them. They also took some pictures
without make-up. On Sunday, October 30th, the group got together
again at Mike's house to make final adjustments on their costumes.
They also ran through their schedule for Halloween. This year
there were a lot of schools having Halloween carnivals. The
group had planned a full night and needed to schedule times
allowed at each stop in order to make every one. Once the
schedule was planned out and finalized, the guys set up a
backdrop for pictures. The final preparations were to get
everything ready for the following day, setting out costumes
and make-up. It was close to midnight before Troy finally
left Mike's house.
|
On Halloween morning Troy arrived
at Mike's house at 9:30. First thing on the list was to put
a few finishing touches on the costumes. When that was finished
they ran some errands and were back at Mike's by 11:30. Around
11:45 they were getting ready to start the make-up. By noon
they had started Mike's make-up, but would have to eventually
wash it off and start over because of some bad white make-up.
By 1:00 p.m. they were back on track with the make-up. Charles
and Jimmie arrived shortly after with lunch for the group. They
continued with the make-up while eating lunch and one by one
their make-up was finished. Troy did most of the make-up for
everyone since Mike and Jimmie had never put the make-up on
before. By 4:30 the make-up was finished and they guys started
getting their costumes on. They were running a little later
then they planned, but things were already going great.
At about 3:30 a reporter and photographer from The Argus arrived
at Mike's house. While they were getting ready, the reporter
interviewed the group. The reporter seemed to be enjoying his
time with the guys, but not like the reporter three years before
that was really in to the group and seemed to be excited to
be covering their story. Once everyone dressed, they headed
outside where they posed for some pictures for the paper and
for themselves. This year they were going out in style and rented
a limousine to chauffeur them around. They got some great shots
by the limo before heading out to conquer Fremont one last time.
|
Ready to Conquer Fremont |
This year there was a lot going
on and the group had a busy night ahead of them. Their first
stop was at Maloney Elementary. They drew a crowd pretty fast
once they were out of the limo. After they were there for a
few minutes, someone from the school asked them if they would
take a picture for the school. There was a booth that was taking
Polaroid's for $1 each that the guys were directed to. No sooner
did they get up to pose for a picture and a line formed with
people wanting their picture taken with the group. The guys
were there for almost a half hour taking pictures and talking
with people. Since they were on a set schedule which allowed
only about twenty minutes at each stop, they had to head out
but not before making a nice chunk of money for the school.
They also had one mom (who had her son with her) ask the whole
group to come back to her house with her. Talk about crazy,
who knew they would have an actual groupie. While Charles, Mike,
and Jimmie all wanted to go with her, Troy explained that they
had a schedule to follow and people were expecting them, and
they were already running late. He also didn't want to end up
at a house that could have one mad husband coming home to find
them there. Yes, this wild mom had on a wedding ring.
Their next stop was Cabrillo Elementary, followed by Olivera
Elementary, then off to Chadbourne Elementary to see their old
principal, Mr. Lewis. While at Chadbourne, they posed for pictures
and even signed autographs. After leaving Chadbourne, they headed
to Washington Hospital to see a few kids that were stuck in
the hospital on Halloween and hopefully boost their spirits
a bit. As the night was winding down the group headed for it's
final stop, the place they made their first appearance seven
years earlier, Patterson Elementary. Once again, they were a
hit at Patterson. Through out the night they had also made stops
to see friends and family. |
The night comes to an explosive end
|
Once they left Patterson they headed back
to Mike's house. During their tour of Fremont, someone had
told them about a costume contest at a restaurant and bar
called Fat Fannys. They called and got the details then
touched up their make-up, took a few more pictures and then
headed back out. Fat Fannys was packed with a lot of people
in some great costumes. Shortly after they walked in, the
D.J. played a KISS song for them. Once again they were a
hit amongst the likes of Batman and Robin, Tarzan and Jane,
and The Killer Bees from Saturday Night Live. The guys felt
there was some heavy competition when it was time for the
costume contest. They made the cut and went up against a
few select others. The guys rallied the crowd for a great
response which helped them take first place receiving $50
in cash. By the time it was all over it was about 1:00 a.m.
and the guys headed back to Mike's house.
|
| Upon returning to Mike's they did
some make-up touch ups before posing for more pictures with
smoke bombs and fireworks. By 2:30 a.m. the final photos were
taken and the costumes came off. Once they were changed and
had Mike's house cleaned up, it was 3:00 a.m. The night was
finally over and everyone was on their way home.
The long run of the KISS Impersonators come
to a close. They had a great night touring Fremont in a limo,
making many stops where they were a hit at every one. Once
again they were interviewed by The Argus and walked away with
$50 in a costume contest. There could not have been a better
way to end their long run.
|
This year the members were Charles Duck as Eric Carr, Troy
Correia as Gene Simmons,
Mike Feliciano as Paul Stanley, and Jimmie Katarzy as Vinnie
Vincent. |
|
A final tribute to the KISS Impersonators
in The Argus was published on November 5th. The article appropriately
titled "Rock Group Impersonators Hang Up Their Studs"
gave a the KISS Impersonators a nice ending touch to an eight
year run that started out as something to do on Halloween.
Through their entire run, those that were
part of the group spent countless hours working on everything
from costumes to stage props for their mock concerts and movie.
Their dedication was impressive for a bunch of kids. While
they were not the first nor the last to dress up and impersonate
KISS, they were a the first to take it to the extremes in
which they did, doing most everything on their own without
the help of adults or any professionals to guide them. It
is something the members are proud of and remember very fondly.
To read the article, click on the paper.
|
The Argus - November 5, 1983 |
| In 1984, Troy entered a photo of the group,
taken on Halloween 1983, in to Star Hits Magazine "Cameras
Gone Crazy" Look-A-Like Contest. The group were Runners
Up in the contest and had their picture published in the October
1984 issue. |
Click on thumbnails to view larger photos
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