Bill Aucoin Passes

BILL AUCOIN, 66, who discovered the rock group Kiss and helped build them into a musical and merchandising juggernaut, died yesterday (6/28) in Florida of surgical complications from prostate cancer, said family spokeswoman Carol Kaye. The former TV cinematographer discovered the band in 1973 and turned them into a moneymaking machine after convincing Neil Bogart to make them his first signing to Casablanca Records. After parting with Kiss in the early '80s, Aucoin managed Billy Squier and Billy Idol. He is survived by his longtime partner, Roman Fernandez, and two sisters, Betty Britton and Janet Bankowski. (6/29a)