Wicked Lester

Wicked Lester
Wicked Lester (c. 1972), left to right: Ron Leejack, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Brooke Ostrander, and Tony Zarrella
Background information
Also known as	Rainbow (1970–1971)
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Genres	Rock and roll, folk rock, pop
Years active	1970–1973
Labels	Epic
Spinoffs	KISS
Past members	Paul Stanley Gene Simmons Brooke Ostrander Stephen Coronel Joe Davidson Tony Zarrella Ron Leejack

Wicked Lester was a rock band based in New York City. Two notable members were bassist Chaim Witz (as "Gene Klein") and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen. Originally formed in 1970 as Rainbow, the band changed its name to Wicked Lester in 1971 to avoid confusion with another local band named "Rainbow". Although it secured a record deal with Epic Records and recorded an album, the deal fell through and the band fell apart during 1972. Witz and Eisen, feeling that the band's failure was a result of its lack of vision and direction, decided to found a new band from its remnants. They changed their stage names to Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, respectively, auditioned a new drummer and lead guitarist, and formed the band Kiss by the end of January 1973.

Although Kiss achieved massive success, Wicked Lester's album recorded for Epic has never been officially released in its entirety. The sessions have been released in bootleg form as The Original Wicked Lester Sessions. Kiss officially released three tracks from these sessions on their 2001 Box Set release. Wicked Lester's music featured elements of rock and roll, folk rock and pop.^[1][2]