Peter Criss’s parents, Loretta and Joseph Criscuola, were devout Roman Catholics and gave their five kids a strong faith in God. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. The ancestors of Joseph Criscuola were from Scafati, Salerno, Italy. Criss is a native of Brooklyn and a lifelong pal of Jerry Nolan, the future drummer for the New York Dolls. He was a serious art student and a huge fan of swing music. Criss was able to learn from his hero Gene Krupa at New York’s Metropole Club thanks to his time spent performing with bandleader Joey Greco.
During the middle to late 1960s, Criss played in a number of groups. During this period, Criss became a member of Chelsea, a band that at the time was releasing its debut self-titled album (1970) as part of a two-album deal with Decca Records. After the release of Lips in August 1971, they never released another album (a trio consisting of Criss and his Chelsea bandmates Michael Benvenga and Stan Penridge). By early 1972, Lips had dwindled to Criss and Penridge.
Post-Chelsea Michael Benvenga and pre-Kiss Gene Simmons were featured on an unreleased album recorded by Pete Shepley and Mike Brand in 1973. Session musicians Peter Criss and Gene Simmons. Captain Sanity was the name of the character in it.
Criss advertised in the East Coast version of Rolling Stone after the breakup of his band Lips, saying:
EXPD. ROCK & roll drummer looking for orig. grp. doing soft & hard music. Peter, Brooklyn.
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, who were wanting to expand their band, responded to the ad. It wasn’t until December of 1972 that Ace Frehley joined the band, and it wasn’t until later that month that they changed their name to Kiss. In his book Kiss and Make-Up, Simmons, however, writes of his first encounter with Criss as follows:
While flipping through Rolling Stone one afternoon, I saw an ad that read, “Drummer available – Will do anything.” I phoned him up while he was in the midst of a get-together, and he answered. I introduced myself and told him that I was part of a band that was just getting started and that they needed a drummer and would he be willing to try anything to make it. According to him, he was at once.
In a later section of the chapter, Simmons tells of meeting the drummer at a quaint Italian Club in Brooklyn “The drummer broke into song with a voice reminiscent of Wilson Pickett’s. Both Paul and I agreed, “That guy right there is our drummer.” The man’s name was Peter Criscuola.”
In February of 1974, Kiss released their debut album, simply titled Kiss. Criss led the singing on several Kiss songs, including “Black Diamond,” “Hard Luck Woman,” and “Beth,” the band’s first big hit.
Kiss’ ballad “Beth” was co-written by Criss, and it reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. Although “Disco Duck” also won the People’s Choice Award for “Young People’s Favorite New Song” in 1977, “Love Gun” remains Kiss’s most successful single in the United States. This tune was composed by Criss while he was still a member of Chelsea, before he joined Kiss. The song’s melody was conceived by Criss on a train ride from the band’s practice space in New Jersey to New York City. Together, he and Penridge composed the tune.
In 1971, the song was demoed.
