I found Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Music memorabilia in Bird-In-Hand, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Amish Country. You read that correctly. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think of landing some real cool Heavy Metal/Hard Rock finds in this neck of the woods. Life is sweet when you can uncover and discover places you have never been to before, only to find unexpected Heavy Music treasures. An early Summer, family trip to this beautiful area of Pennsylvania, provided for some much anticipated rest and relaxation, sitting by the motel pool, with my Metal loaded ipod at the ready. The Amish are a gentle, hard working, religiously devout people. Witnessing the Amish farms and seeing these folks work the fields and travel by horse and buggy only makes me respect them all the more. I admire their perseverance. The Amish are a devoted people, devoted to their families, friends, religion and to the land they sow. Observing the Amish community makes me wonder why life as I know it, has to be so hectic, so competitive in every aspect? One of the other items on our to do list, while staying over at Bird-In-Hand, was to check out any or all of the nearby antique shops. Here is where this story picks up the Heavy Music theme.
Before I, my wife and daughters began our journey to Bird-In-Hand, I just figured my only connection to Heavy Music was going to be from the ipod I packed. Uh, nope. Right on Old Philadelphia Pike, Route 340, is a row of vintage built shops and barns… everything from a Hardware Store to a Teddy Bear Store is in view. Yes, I mentioned a Teddy Bear Store on Metal Odyssey. One of these shops contains a cluster of antique dealers, where all the dealers are not present… yet their goods are. Walking in, I perused the unusual and typical, the mundane and interesting of all things antique. My wife and daughters set off on their own path, navigating this rather large antique mecca of a barn. After twenty minutes of scouring the old artifacts that surrounded me, I heard my wife in an excited voice tell me to walk over in her direction. There, it was there, that she motioned with her hands… three large rooms filled with Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal albums, CD’s and memorabilia. The Amish Country Rocks.
To say I was Metal ecstatic would be an understatement. How can this be? How could there be such a bounty of Heavy Music and Rock memorabilia smack dab in the middle of Bird-In- Hand, Pennsylvania? There are some questions in life, that are better left unanswered… this is one of them. Who cares why there are cool dealers within this antique shop, nestled in the middle of Amish Country, selling their Heavy Music memories… all that matters is it exists! Hooray for this Metalhead. The dealers who had used albums and CD’s for sale have great Heavy Music taste. I immediately grabbed hold of the Kiss – Gene Simmons solo CD, it was my wife’s choice pick to boot. I will admit, it was a no brainer picking up this used CD, the entire package is in mint condition. I also picked up, without hesitation, the ZZ Top used CD, “Antenna”. (My wife and I saw ZZ Top on this tour, back in the ’90’s). There were also a few CD’s still originally sealed for sale as well, running at six bucks each. The lone unused CD I bought was Cheap Trick – “Heaven Tonight”, (released in 1978). I never owned this Cheap Trick album, therefore it was about time. Some Kiss trading cards, a couple of Beatles magnets and a used, mint copy of GTR – self titled album, rounded out my finds.
I could not have been more satisfied, of having found such an assortment of Heavy Music memorabilia to look over. Especially gratifying is the fact, I never expected to uncover the music that means so much to my life on this trip, in the quaint and friendly village of Bird-In-Hand, no less. As I exited this antique shop, with my bag of Hard Rockin’ goodies in hand, I vividly recall having to walk very closely past… an Amish man tending to his horse and buggy. My way of life, is not this Amish gentleman’s way of life. This whole experience walking out of the antique shop felt rather awkward, maybe semi embarrassing. Here I am, all psyched out about my finds, walking towards the family car, with a Kiss – Gene Simmons CD clearly visible through the plastic bag that I am clutching onto, as this polite Amish man tends to his horse. Talk about a tale of two separate worlds crossing paths.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
Why I feel KISS gave Rock n’ Roll back to America and other KISS points too
Posted in 1970's classic rock albums, 1970's classic rock bands, 1970's classic rock songs, 1970's hard rock bands, 1970's hard rock, 1970's heavy metal, 1970's heavy metal albums, 1970's heavy metal music, 1970's Rock, 1970's rock music, 1980's classic rock bands, 1980's heavy metal albums, 1980's classic rock, 1980's heavy metal bands, 1980's heavy metal music, 1990's heavy metal bands, classic hard rock, classic hard rock bands, classic hard rock music, classic heavy metal albums, classic rock, classic rock albums, classic rock bands, classic rock music, classic rock songs, current heavy metal music, essential classic rock albums, essential heavy metal albums, Gene Simmons, glam metal music, Heavy Metal, heavy metal albums, heavy metal bands this decade, heavy metal memorabilia, heavy metal music, heavy metal this decade, Metal, metal music, metal music today, metal odyssey, Music, old school heavy metal, Rock, rock & roll, rock and roll, rock and roll hall of fame complaints, rock music, rock music commentary, vintage hard rock albums, vintage heavy metal albums, vintage heavy metal bands with tags 1970's classic rock music, 1970's hard rock music, 1970's heavy metal music, 1970's rock music, 1980's heavy metal bands, ace frehley guitarist, american rock and roll bands, bruce kulick guitarist, classic heavy metal music, classic rock, classic rock music, eric carr drummer, eric singer drummer, gene simmons bass guitarist, Heavy Metal, heavy metal music, history of rock and roll, kiss albums, kiss army, kiss hard rock band, kiss heavy metal band, kiss rock band, mark st. john guitarist, metal music, metal odyssey, Music, paul stanley guitarist, peter criss drummer, rock and roll hall of fame, rock and roll history, rock and roll music roots, rock music, rock n' roll music, roots of rock and roll, the british invasion of rock and roll, tommy thayer guitarist, vinnie vincent guitarist on August 28, 2009 by Metal OdysseyKiss being introduced to the world in 1974 may have had more of an impact than some Rock historians think… The Grateful Dead, with their extremely loyal and abundant following with unmatched touring was American – I will never disagree with this bands unique impact on Rock Music history. However, Kiss was not about peace and love… this was the loudest band in the land Dressed To kill, singing about girls that are Hotter Than Hell, partying, Makin’ Love, God of Thunder, a Love Gun and all things against the norm in ways that were not quite presented before in Rock Music history. What Rock Band from the 1960’s used Pyrotechnics like Kiss? How many Rock musicians could spit up blood and still play the bass and sing? Who used such an elaborate and eye defying stage show before Kiss? Kiss not only made Rock n’ Roll powerful, they (gasp) made it fun and entertaining too. The marketing blitz of items that portrayed the Kiss logo and band were everywhere during the 1970’s… if you look around today, these same items plus new products bearing Kiss are around us. Any Kiss tour during the 1970’s was nothing to ignore, the Kiss Army was never just a fictitious entity… it was and still is real.
After Kiss broke all the Rock n’ Roll rules, more Rock bands than I could ever mention here took their lead and emulated Kiss either musically, with make-up, through stage shows and/or marketing. When I stop to think about it, what other Rock or Heavy Metal Band garnered more media attention during the 1970’s than Kiss? With their all around power of Rock, Kiss let it be known, through their albums, that they were not fooling themselves or the fans all along. Kiss is setting the stage again, ready to unleash their brand new album Sonic Boom onto the masses… October of 2009 should be quite the month in the life of this middle aged Metalhead, for Kiss shall return… giving back their brand of Rock n’ Roll to us all again. That is why, in my Metal opinion, Kiss gave back Rock n’ Roll to America back in 1974, they are now only going to remind us as to why their music lives on.
It is high time for the so called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, to stop playing nonsensical games and induct an American Rock Band that redefined American Rock n’ Roll history through their music and pop culture impact, Kiss over the decades has become an American institution. Since I am on the topic, I could care less about the voting process or who votes at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, all I know is that the ignorance is growing by leaps and bounds over there in each passing year of it’s existence. I do have one word of advice for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, (if you can consider this an actual word), DUH? I would guarantee this… more fans will go to this Hall of Fame to see Kiss than than anyone could ever imagine. Once again, this is my Metal opinion and I am steadfast about it.
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