KISS KISS KILL KILL — (Above) Owners Mickey “Ratt” Gordon and Mary Millan in their store on N. Delaware Ave. (Below) Models frolic onstage with the band Cheap Thrilz at Revival during Kiss Kiss Kill Kill’s second show last month. (Photos by Gregg Kirk)

By GREGG KIRK
Big Shout Magazine, January 1991

“We’re not a McDonald’s where you get your order and leave,” says Mickey “Ratt” Gordon co-owner of Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, a unique new clothes store located on the second floor of the 1020 building on N. Delaware Ave. in Philadelphia. “We’re directly catering to musicians.”

And when he says this, you should believe him. Aside from running the newly-opened store with co-owner Mary Millan, Ratt is also a member of a local Philly metal band called Cheap Thrilz. What better way to know what musicians want than to actually be one?

The rock ‘n’ roll boutique was originally the brainchild of Millan, who owns a sister store of the same name in Staten Island, NY. Millan opened that outlet six years ago after an extended stint in New Orleans where she modeled, acted, managed a handful of bands, and ran a similar clothing store.

“Ratt used to be a customer of mine in Staten Island,” says Millan, “That’s how I met him. He saw a fashion show I did last summer in Manhattan, and he liked it so much we began throwing some ideas around.”

After an intense brainstorming session “over a pizza,” the two stumbled upon a space for rent in the 1020 building on N. Delaware Ave. As a former employee of R.P.M., located on the third floor whose owners (Michael Marqurdt and Al Powell) are responsible for soliciting music-oriented businesses as renters in the building, the space was easily brought to Ratt’s attention.

The two opened for business in a blaze of glory. Last Nov. 12, they hosted a kick-off fashion show early in the evening at the R.P.M. soundstage and then whisked the models and the clothes to Revival on 3rd St. in Center City, where they featured an outrageous show in conjunction with Vagabond, complete with a band (Barney Rubble & the Cunt Stubble), transvestites, and strippers. The show was so successful that the Revival management approached Millan to host a permanent night at the venue.

The store opened its doors three days later and last month featured a second show at Revival with models from New York, Cheap Thrilz supplying the music, and a “fire stripper” for an encore.

Fashions and accessories ranging from spandex tights, leather tops and bottoms, bondage wear, and pornographic underwear were also for sale during the show.

Lest the above description scare away those meek folks looking for milder styles, Millan stresses that the clothes sold at Kiss Kiss Kill Kill are “fashions from the wild to the tame.”

“We sell stage wear, club wear, and casual wear,” she says. “We’re still changing, seeing that people want. We also do special orders and can usually get them within a day or two. We’ve got a lot of stuff you can’t get in Philly, stuff you can only get in New York. But still we have the straighter stuff you might see on South St.”

The business also does stylings for band photo shoots for album covers or promotion purposes. They will cover everything from actually dressing the band to finding props, locations, and doing specific custom work.

The store will also feature a “Wall of Fame” where local and regional bands are encouraged to supply their T-shirts, tapes, posters, band schedules, etc. to be posted on a bare wall at the store’s entrance.

The fact that Kiss Kiss Kill Kill is located in the 1020 building has its good and its bad points, according to the owners. While the building itself is off the beaten track ) located in the old warehouse district near Fishtown), and the store is tucked away on the second floor, the fact that every week hundreds of musicians come to use the wide variety of services offered to them at R.P.M., Masterwork, Tekcom, and the Warehouse Studios, the spill over business is phenomenal. It’s exactly the type of people Gordon and Millan want coming to their store, and they hope to be catering to them for a long time.

See related article on the N. Delaware Avenue business complex>>>