1982

January 15: Kiss makes a national television appearance on ABC's "Friday's". A "Saturday Night Live" rip-off, Kiss made a rare appearance in support of "The Elder". It would be the only time the band would play material from "The Elder" live in front of audience (all other appearances were lip-synched). The band played "The Oath", "World Without Heroes", and "I". They also show up in a short comedy sketch.

January 30: Kiss appear on "Solid Gold". They lip-synch to "I" and the video for "A World Without Heroes" is shown.

Early February: Peter Criss begins recording his second solo album, "Let Me Rock You", at Conway Studios in Los Angeles.

February: Kiss appear at Studio 54 and lip-synch "I" for a live satelite broadcast to Italy for the San Remo Festival. This marks the first time Kiss perform as a trio. Ace decided he didn't want to do the show and left the others to do the show alone.

March: Kiss enter Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles to record tracks for an EP tentitavely titled "Severe Cuts". Again Ace is not involved in the recording process. Bob Kulick fills in on guitar again. The EP idea is eventually dropped and Kiss' second compilation album is put together containing the four new tracks "Nowhere To Run", "I'm A Legend Tonight", "Partners In Crime", and "Down On Your Knees", all sung by Paul.

May 8: Casablanca President Neil Bogart dies of cancer.

Late May: Peter's second post-Kiss solo album is released and does not chart.

June: "Killers", Kiss' second compilation album is released worldwide with the exception of North America.

Early July: Ace is involved in a serious car accident near his home in Connecticut. He had been drinking and was driving his Delorean down the wrong side of the expressway at speeds in excess of 100mph.

July: Kiss enter Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles to record a new studio album. Ace, who is recouperating from the car accident, again is not involved. Several studio musicians, including Vincent Cusano, stand in for Ace.

October 10: "Creatures of the Night" is released and reaches #45 on the album charts.

Mid October: "I Love It Loud" / "Danger" is released as the only single and it manages to only reach #102 in the singles charts.

November: Kiss travels to Europe to make some promotional appearances in support of "Creatures of the Night". Ace makes the appearances with the band which mainly consist of them lip-synching to "I Love It Loud" and "Creatures of the Night".

November: On the return flight to the states, Ace makes the decision to leave the band. Kiss views this as a temporary move at the time.

December: Vincent Cusano joins Kiss for the upcoming tour with plans for Ace to join them later in the tour. Vinnie changes his stage name to Vinnie Vincent.

December 28: The "Creatures of the Night" tour billed as the "10th Anniversary Tour" kicks off in Bismark, ND. It is Vinnie Vincent's first performance with Kiss.

1983

January: The tour continues across the United States and Canada to very poor turnouts. Some crowds actually fall below the 5,000 mark. During the tour the "temporary" replacement Vinnie becomes the permanent replacement as it becomes obvious that Ace is not going to return.

April 3: The very unsuccessful "10th Anniversary Tour" comes to a close in San Francisco.

Spring: Kiss finalizes a deal to do a tour of Brazil, their first trip to South America.

June 18: Kiss begins a three night stand to sellout crowds at Maracana Stadium in Brazil playing to over 250,000 fans. This is a welcome departure to the lukewarm reception being given the band in the States.

June 25: Kiss plays what would be their final show in makeup for 13 years. The decision is not made until well after the South American tour is completed, however.

July: Kiss once again enter Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles to begin work on the follow up to "Creatures of the Night".

Early September: Kiss films their first video without makeup for the forthcoming single "Lick It Up".

September 18: Kiss appear unmasked in public for the first time in the history of the band on MTV. They are interviewed by J.J. Jackson and the video for "Lick It Up" is premiered.

September 19: "Lick It Up" is released and manages to rise to #19 in the album charts. Their biggest hit since "Dynasty" in 1979.

Late September: "Lick It Up" / "Dance All Over Your Face" is released as a single but stalls at #66.

October 11: Kiss' begins a European Tour in Lisbon, Portugal.

November 27: The European tour concludes in Oulu, Finland and Vinnie Vincent is fired only to be rehired for the American leg of the tour within a matter of days.

December 2: The North American leg of the tour kicks off in Nashville, TN.

1984

January: "All Hell's Breakin Loose" / "Young and Wasted" is released as a single but fails to chart.

March 17: "Lick It Up" tour ends in Evansville, IN. Vinnie Vincent is once again fired, this time for good.

Late May: Mark Norton is chosen as Kiss' third lead guitarist. He soon changes his stage name to Mark St. John.

July: Kiss enters Right Track Studios in New York City to begin work on the follow-up to "Lick It Up". Jean Beauvoir of the Plasmatics plays bass on a few tracks while Gene is away filming his part in the movie "Runaway" with Tom Selleck. Bruce Kulick (who's brother Bob did solo work on "Alive II", Paul's solo album, and "Killers") is called in to do some guitar work on the album as well.

September 13: "Animalize" is released and reaches #19 in the album charts.

Late September: "Heaven's On Fire" / "Lonely Is The Hunter" is released as a single and only reaches to #49 in the singles charts.

September 30: "Animalize" tour kicks off in Brighton, England with Bruce Kulick standing in for the ill Mark St. John. Mark is suffering from Reyters Syndrome which causes a severe inflamation of the hands.

November 5: European leg of the tour ends in Paris, France.

November 15: The North American leg of the tour begins in Bethleham, PA with Bruce Kulick still in for the ill Mark St. John.

November 27: Mark St. John makes his live debut with the band at a concert in Baltimore, MD with Bruce Kulick waiting in the wings just in case.

November 28: Mark plays only three songs before being replaced by Bruce for the rest of the show in Poughkeepsie, NY.

November 29: Mark plays his final show with Kiss again only managing to play part of the show in Bloomington, NY before being replaced.

November 30: Ace Frehley makes his first live appearance since leaving Kiss at S.I.R. Studios in New York City with his new band Frehley's Comet.

Early December: Mark St. John is dismissed by the band due to his lingering physical problems and Bruce is given the full-time lead guitarist duties.

December 8: Kiss' show at Cobo Hall in Detroit, MI is filmed for MTV Concerts. This show would later be released as an official Kiss video.

December 16: Kiss films a video for the upcoming single "Thrills In The Night" at the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville, KY the day after their show there.