Alice Cooper’s producer Bob Ezrin was heading up the stairs to do an interview with City TV in Toronto, Ontario at the same time as the members of KISS, who had just performed for a the program, were coming down the stairs. Ezrin introduced himself to the face-painted musicians and before walking the rest of the way up the stairs he said, “If you ever need any help, call me.” Less than three months later, KISS’ manager Bill Aucoin rang up Ezrin to ask him if he was interested in working with the band on its fourth studio album. That record, Destroyer, came out on March 14, 1976 and changed the face of KISS forever.
With the help of Ezrin, KISS were transformed from a simple, bruising rock group into a more eclectic stadium band capable of drawing a broader, but equally ravenous following.
While KISS were pleased to be working with Ezrin, they were initially skeptical about altering their sound in any way, shape or form. However, after meeting with the producer during pre-production, they realized that his experience and intuition were just what they needed to go from rock stars to celebrities.
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