40 years ago, rock and roll Hall of Famers, KISS, played a surprise show at a high school gym in a small Northern Michigan town for its homecoming dance at the height of the band’s popularity.  Sounds to good to be true – if you haven’t heard the story before – but it is.  And Cadillac, MI,  hasn’t forgotten.  Last weekend, the city commemorated the historic appearance by unveiling a 6-foot tall, 5-foot wide, 4,300 pound granite monuement next to the football stadium.

The story merges a high school football team’s use of KISS music to overcome a slow start to its season, playing under the weight of high expectations after the previous team had gone unbeaten.  The Cadillac Vikings came into the 1974 season with pressure on them to repeat what the ’73 team had done.  But the Vikings lost the first two games in ’74.

At that point, the coaches allowed the players to crank high volume rock and roll in the locker room prior to games to loosen the team up, not a common practice back then.  The defensive coaches also used the KISS acronym and told their players to “Keep it simple, stupid.”  Cadillac won the rest of its games that season, and one of its younger coaches sent a message to the band.  A long distance relationship ensued with the coach/teacher and the band’s manager, eventually leading to the band playing at Cadillac’s Homecoming Dance the following year on October 9, 1975, in the school’s gym.

Cadillac was my second radio stop some 25 years ago, and I can attest that the town still talks about the unexpected visit.  The teacher/coach tells his unlikely story HERE .

Doc Watson