January 30: The End For The Beatles, The Beginning For KISS

In music history, it’s not uncommon for different notable moments to share the same anniversary date, but it is rare that those moments complement each other as well as the two now infamous concerts that took place four years apart on January 30^th.

On this date in 1969, The Beatles took to the roof of the Apple Corps headquarters in London and performed together for the last time. That concert, of course, was captured and closed out the Let It Be film.

While the biggest band in music history said goodbye to the stage, just four years later another groundbreaking act was just getting started in a club in Queens, N.Y.

Just after dropping their original name of Wicked Lester, KISS performed for the very first time on this date in 1973 at a place called the Popcorn Club. The band performed in makeup, but they were still a ways off from their trademark “Starchild,” “Demon,” “Spaceman” and “Catman” designs. In a rare photo, Paul Stanley doesn’t even have a star around his right eye; he looks more like a prettier version of Alice Cooper.

Who would’ve thought that four painted-up freaks that performed for a handful of people that night would eventually become “the hottest band in the world?”

Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.