Bill Aucoin

Bill Aucoin
Bill Aucoin
	Bill Aucoin in 2008
Born	William Martin Aucoin; December 29, 1943; Ayer, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	June 28, 2010 (aged 66); Aventura, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Band manager
Partner	Roman Fernandez

William Martin Aucoin (December 29, 1943 – June 28, 2010)^[1]^[2] was an American band manager, well known for his work with the rock band Kiss and Billy Idol.

Early life, family and education

Aucoin was born in 1943 in Ayer, Massachusetts. He had two sisters Betty Britton and Janet Bankowski.

He attended Northeastern University, graduating with a degree in film.^[3]

Career

Aucoin worked at WGBH in Boston during his college years and after. He later worked at Teletape Productions as a cinematographer.^[3] Credited with discovering Kiss, Aucoin managed the group for nearly a decade. He was fired in 1982 due to the band's declining album sales, his managerial decisions,^[4] and his drug abuse,^[5] but later worked with the band on various DVD projects.

Aucoin was involved in the development of a television show Supermarket Sweep in the early 1970s, and went on to manage and engineer the rise of commercially successful solo acts, such as Billy Squier and Billy Idol, after managing them both in their respective bands (Piper. Generation X) in the mid to late 1970s.^[6] ^[7] From 2005 to 2007, Aucoin went into the Broadway business with a staging of The Who's Quadrophenia, which showed intermittently for two years in Anaheim and Los Angeles.

In 2006, Aucoin had reentered the management business with his company Aucoin Globe Entertainment, and worked with several artists up until his death.

Personal life and demise

Aucoin died from surgical complications while being treated for prostate cancer. He had a partner, Roman Fernandez.

A statement from Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons described him as "our irreplaceable original manager, mentor and dear friend… Words cannot convey his impact on us or those close to him."^[8]

List of acts managed

Kiss, 1973–1982
Piper 1975–1978
Billy Squier 1979-1985
Virgin 1977–1979
New England 1978–1981
Spider, 1979–1981
Manowar, 1981
Kid Rocker, 1981–1983
Toby Beau, 1978–1980
Zeus 1978-1980
Skatt Bros. 1979–1981
Shawn Sommers 1984
Gen X 1980–1981
Billy Idol, 1981–1986
Endgames, 1983–1985
Brunette, 1988–1989
Rising Star, 1989–1990
Sic Vikki, 1990–1992
Flipp, 1998–2003
CREATURE, 1998–2002
Starz, 1977–1979
vanSolo, 2007–2008
Crossbreed, 2003–2010
Lordi, 2006–2010
Nothing Rhymes with Orange, 2007–2010
Evan Saffer, 2007–2010
NAKED 2009–2010
BEX, 2010
The Early Strike, 2010
Tantric, 2010
RoqueZa, 1998–2001
Dreaming in Stereo, 2010^[9]

References

^ "KISS Manager Bill Aucoin Dies". Allaccess.com. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
^ "Aucoin, manager who discovered Kiss, dies at 66 - Yahoo! News". 2 July 2010. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ ^a ^b "About Bill Aucoin - Rock & Roll Manager". aucoin.biz. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
^ Symmons, J. (2023). The Rise of the Fox: 1950-1982, Eric Carr Revealed, Volume 1, an unauthorized biography. Spirit of Inquiry. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-7390695-1-3.
^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (1997-02-23). "The Bad Boys Start Watching Their Pockets". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
^ "Piper".
^ Perrone, Pierre (July 12, 2010). "Bill Aucoin: Manager who masterminded the rise of KISS and made Billy Idol a solo star". independent.co.uk. Retrieved July 24, 2024. He helped develop the much-exported format of Supermarket Sweep and for NBC devised a show called Flipside
^ Ling, Dave (August 2010). "The Dirt: Bill Aucoin". Classic Rock. No. 148. p. 20.
^ "Aucoin_Globe_page". Archived from the original on 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2010-06-29.