Bill Aucoin – in memory

From The Boston Globe — 6/28/2010

Bill Aucoin, at 66; discovered, marketed, and managed Kiss

Bill Aucoin, who discovered the rock group Kiss and helped build them into a musical and merchandising juggernaut, died yesterday in Florida. He was 66. …

“He was the fifth Kiss,’’ said drummer Peter Criss, who had Mr. Aucoin serve as the best man at his second wedding. “If it wasn’t for Bill, there would be no Kiss. …

A former television cinematographer, Mr. Aucoin discovered Kiss in New York City in 1973 and helped launch the makeup-wearing, fire-breathing quartet into a money-making machine.

7 Comments

  1. Fred Barzyk on July 1, 2010 at 8:38 am

    Bill Aucouin was a former WGBH camera person and director. His claim to fame was creating and managing KISS.

    Bill hired me as a concert director to use cameras and Eidofor projection so the kids in the back could see the players close up. I traveled with them for six weeks working with his production manager, Kenny Anderson, who had been a lighting director for WGBH in the early days.

    That was enough for me.

    • K. Gaylord on March 19, 2011 at 4:39 pm

      Bill was not a cameraman in NYC, as has been stated on numerous sites, but a commercial director for Teletape Productions. Kenny Anderson was the lighting director for Teletape and the best in the business, both having been recruited by Lucien Lessard, head of production at Teletape, which was in the same building, 321 West 44th, as The Record Plant and Neil Bogart’s Buddah Records…which was Bill’s first exposure to the music industry.

      • Fred Barzyk on March 20, 2011 at 11:53 am

        That is correct. Bill was a cameraman at WGBH before becoming a director.

        • Suzanne on June 27, 2011 at 9:35 pm

          Do you know what dates Bill worked for Teletape and on what Commericals and/or programs?



      • Berney Jones on June 26, 2012 at 2:04 am

        Hi, Keith,
        Please contact me!
        Thanks!
        Berney Joes

    • Roman Fernandez on December 3, 2012 at 11:49 pm

      Hi Fred, would you mind reaching out to me at the email provided? I’d like to ask you some questions about the WGBH days.

      Best Regards,

      Roman

      • Fred Barzyk on December 28, 2012 at 8:39 am

        Please email with your questions. Sorry not to have gotten back to you sooner.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.