Famed rock manager Bill Aucoin, discoverer of KISS, dies of prostate cancer

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      If you were ever a member of the KISS Army you no doubt came across the name Bill Aucoin on one of their albums. He discovered the greasepainted group in 1973 at a gig in New York City and immediately got them signed as the first act on Casablanca Records, managing them into the early '80s. Aucoin died in Florida yesterday of surgical complications from prostate cancer at the age of 66.

      A former TV cinematographer, Aucoin saw the potential in the makeup-wearing, fire-breathing quartet, and ignored the naysayers who wrote the band off as just a novelty act until it scored worldwide fame in 1975 with the smash hit "Rock and Roll All Nite".

      "If it wasn't for Bill, there would be no KISS," original drummer Peter Criss told the Associated Press. "He was a genius. Anything you could do, he could do bigger."

      Over the years, Aucoin also managed such acts as Starz, Billy Squier, and Billy Idol. He is survived by his longtime partner, Roman Fernandez, and sisters Betty Britton and Janet Bankowski.

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