In the late 1970s, during one of Kiss’s U.S. tours, Gene Simmons had a memorable first meeting with AC/DC’s guitarist, Angus Young. At that time, AC/DC, still featuring Bon Scott as their lead vocalist, was making its way in the rock scene.
In a recent interview with Adam Carolla, Simmons reminisced about being impressed by AC/DC’s performance at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Following the show, he and Young went to Ben Frank’s restaurant, where an amusing incident unfolded.
Simmons recounted: “He looks at the waitress and says, ‘I want hot dogs with beans. And then he says, ‘Without the bread.’ And I say, ‘You mean the bun?’ And I’ll never forget when the order arrived, immediately, before anyone else, he grabbed the hot dog, opened his mouth, and started chewing on one side because he had no front teeth. It was incredible. He couldn’t afford it.”
This encounter motivated Simmons to support AC/DC’s exposure in the U.S.: “So I told him right there: ‘You’re coming on tour with us. The rest of the country doesn’t know who you are. You need to go on tour.’ We took them out.”
Simmons also noted that having such a passionate young band as an opener pushed Kiss to elevate their performances: “I’ll tell you, every night they went out there and played with all their heart as if it was the only chance they had. We had to tell ourselves: ‘We can’t do this conventionally. We have to go out there because this band went out and set the stage on fire.'”
