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Tina Sawyer: In 1975, rock 'n' roll history was made in Cadillac, Michigan. The band KISS performed live in a surprise concert for Cadillac High School students at their homecoming. And as part of WCMU's America 250 series, we find out how a former teacher and assistant football coach, in his own words, got the famous rockers to come to northern Michigan.
Jim Neff: My name is Jim Neff, and in 1975, I brought KISS to Cadillac, which became one of the great seminal rock and roll stories in the history of rock and roll. And it all came about as a football story.
JN: Cadillac was the typical small Midwestern town, and in 1973, Cadillac went 9-0 and we had a heck of a team that year. In 1972, we had won our last seven games. So, when we came into the 1974 season, the coaches knew that we had a really good team. But we lost our first two ball games, and the kids just weren't having a lot of fun. They were trying to live up to that 16 straight wins and now they lost two in a row and they were really down.
JN: You know, back in that day, all teams approached the games in almost like a military campaign. There was no talking in the locker room. So, we're trying to think of something that would fire up the team. And I had seen a band called KISS on a show on ABC in concert and they were in makeup, and they're shooting fire. There's an old saying in football called, "Keep it simple, stupid": KISS. So, it all fits.
JN: I proposed to coach Dave Rines, our head coach, that we play some rock'n'roll in the locker room. I turned over one of those albums after we had won a couple of ball games. And I said to my wife, "You know, I'm going to write a letter to KISS and just tell them what's going on." And I get a phone call and it's Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and they think it's just wonderful. And they said to me, "Now you tell us the score every week. Here's the phone number for the people in New York." So, I had pockets full of quarters that I would call New York from various places. And that's how the connection really started.
JN: They were playing a concert at Kalamazoo, and I noticed that they had three days off after their concert, so I got a hold of their manager and I said "You know, they have three days off, and they're already going to be in Kalamazoo. What would you think if maybe we could have them up during a pep assembly?" and he said "Well, maybe they'd be willing to do that." About a few days went by and then I got a call from the manager, and he said, "What about if we brought the whole show?"
JN: We had the whole school turned out. When they came, we had all the kids lined up with the band was playing. They had learned a couple of KISS songs. It was just one of those special moments when everything just happened to fall into place. Coach Bryant turned to me and said, "This is either going to be the greatest day at Cadillac football history or we're going to both be looking for jobs on Monday." You know, the concert was phenomenal. Probably the person that had the most fun was our principal, John Loren. And he said, "You know, I've been trying to get this student body together for two years and KISS did that one day." It forever cemented that story of Cadillac in history.
JN: On their last tour, their farewell tour, they played an encore of 'Do You Love Me?' And during that song, they had pictures showing in a big video screen behind the band. There are 16 pictures and video clips of Cadillac, Michigan during 'Do You Love Me?'. That tour took two years and went to all places of the globe. And so, Cadillac was highlighted everywhere on Earth. Cadillac is near and dear to their hearts, and the invitation is always open for any of the members of kids to come back.
TS: That was the story of how the band KISS played at Cadillac High School, told by former coach and educator Jim Neff in his own words.
