"Hey Gene, will you show us that weird thing you do with your tongue?" Of course, being an obliging kind of guy, he did, and it landed him in the principals office because it was interpreted as a sexual act. From that time on, regardless of the voice or guitar skills he would develop, it would be his unusually long tongue that would bring him the most recognition. It also eventually became the most recognizable symbol of Gene Simmons,* although it never was     *We have chosen not to explain the entire story behind Gene Simmonss famous tongue, nor of the pictures of the 4,600 girls who serve as references for its significance. If you dont want to leave this story to your own imagination, you can read about it in Simmonss autobiography, KISS and Makeup (New York: Crown, 2001).     introduced as a part of the official KISS logo. The Rolling Stones had already done that. As much attention as he was getting from being in a band, Sim- mons says that it never occured to him that he could make a living with a band, so he worked at whatever jobs were available. Delivering newspapers, he learned the need for responsibility and hard work as ingredients of success, but his ability to sing and his unusual tongue got him places that most paper carriers never go-in the long run. Beyond earning money, he was a disciplined saver, the importance of which he learned from his mother, who urged him to save and to go to college. Her approval was so important, Simmons states, that he never smoked or drank or got high as a teenager, a value he continues even now-and as the old adage states, "Two out of three aint bad." Gene Klein entered Sullivan County Community College in South Fallsberg, New York, and majored in theology. After getting his asso- ciate bachelors degree, he moved back to New York City, lived with his mother, and went to school at Richmond College in Staten Island, where he completed his bachelors degree and taught eighth grade briefly. All the time, he played on weekends with his band, Bullfrog Beer, eventually recognizing that he really wanted to make it in a rock- and-roll band. He had taught himself to play the bass, mainly because everyone else played guitar. His instinct was to set himself apart from most others, noting that "me too" brands in mass markets are far less likely to succeed than brands that appeal to clearly defined though smaller segments. And lets face it, competition among bass players wasnt as great as that among guitarists. This type of bigger-fish-in-a- smaller-pond mentality would serve as a key strategy in the KISS in- vasion of rock-and-roll music.