STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
By Diamond Dallas Page

Yo Cutters…

What’s up? Well, this week I am going to be talking about a blast from the past. It was 1977… the first time me and my boys back on the Jersey Shore (which would become Springsteen and Bon Jovi country) decided to get dressed up as KISS for Halloween. What a wild ride it was! Back then, I took drinking to a whole other level, but let’s see… I was 22 back then, which means I could drink about three times as much as I can today… and that’s saying a lot. Of course, the four of us were huge KISS marks (obviously). My buddy, Donnie Clark, would have the coveted position of the big, long tongue man himself, Gene Simmons. He also was the only artist among us who could make replica Gene Simmons dragon boots that looked better than the real thing…and he would spit the fire up on stage.

The first time we did it, we started making our costumes the night before by taking four 2x4s and putting them one on top of each other and nailing a pair of high topped Converse sneakers so we could be an additional 9 inches off the ground. Then we would wrap them with silver fabric that was held down with a staple gun and duct tape. You’ll notice the costumes from the next year were much more elaborate. The first time, we started getting it together at noon and the cocktails were flying. By ten that night, we were out and ready to hit the bar circuit.

The first place we hit was in our hometown of Pt. Pleasant, NJ called the Beachhouse. We showed up in a 1964 van. Our driver, and buddy, Mark Strunko got out and lit a couple of smoke bombs so we could open the door and walk through the smoke into the club. (I told you we had a serious buzz going. We actually felt we were KISS.) We were so pissed off when we didn’t win the costume contest because everybody thought we had bought our costumes. The next year we decided to have such an elaborate entrance so we would be sure to win. The following year, we did win. Of course, we picked another bar, which might have had something to do with it.

Check out the pictures on the site by going to diamonddallaspage.com and hit the Photo of the Week button. This week, you’ll get a lot more for your bang.

Speaking of bands, right now I am out on the road with country music sensation Trick Pony. Next week, that’s what I’ll be talking about. One of the stories I’ll tell you will be about the night we ran into Billy Bob Thornton. Coming up on August 9th, I’m leaving to do a tour of the Pacific Rim visiting all of the naval ships harbored in the Japan Pacific Rim area. More on that next week.

By the way, Kimberly now has a site of her own. Definitely worth checking out. Visit kimberlypage.com.

It’s been your pleasure…as well as mine…
Diamond Dallas Page