Wow, just waking up after a very late night last night and seeing the incredible response to Ace’s announcement on my show last night that he and Peter are not being allowed to play with the original band being inducted by Gene and Paul. I was aware this was coming and have been a sounding board in many conversations with many different parties ever since the HOF was announced for Kiss. Nobody was going to say anything publicly because everyone had hoped an announcement like Ace made could be avoided and at least the original band could do a song or two. The news had to come from Ace or Peter when they were ready and Ace asked me last night if he could come on because he needed to let the fans know what they were dealing with before they purchased tickets to attend (they go on sale Monday). That’s why this happened somewhat last minute on my show late last night. Tons of fans were going to come from all over and pay God knows what to see the original band, the band being inducted. Now there is transparency as to what is going on and that there are no plans for a reunion that night. As a fellow Kiss fan and someone who has been extremely vocal about them getting into the HOF for years, I join the MANY really disappointed today. The comments section of my site has blown up about this as well as my social media. Everyone has their view here and all opinions welcome as always. My understanding is Peter will also be posting a statement soon on his site if not already and is in the same position as Ace.
A few things now that this news is out:
Gene and Paul had to know this was coming at some point. What is strange however is that Gene in his initial RS interview seemed open to playing. It was Paul who had a different take via Twitter. The word out there for a while now is Paul is calling the shots in Kiss world. Wonder how much internally they are on the same page on this? Especially with the fallout so far from fans?
Does Kiss play at all? Could be one solution to all of this. That nobody plays. That would likely maybe get Ace and Peter to at least attend. Would the HOF accept a tribute vs a Kiss performance? If current Kiss plays, as it looks now, this also puts Tommy and Eric in quite a spot. They take their orders from above but hard to imagine they would want to be in that spot. But who knows? They did it during VH1 Rock Honors, but this is much bigger and only original band going in.
I was contacted last night by the HOF producer Joel Gallen. He may come on the air with me at some point. He said the HOF position is that they are inducting the original 4 and that is who they would like to play. But the HOF will not dictate Kiss can not play if they are only willing to do it with the current band. Meaning they will accept current Kiss if that is all the owners of Kiss (Gene & Paul) are willing to do, but it is not their preference. He also said nothing was decided as to what will now happen with the Kiss performance and he was hoping maybe something could still be worked out. Seems unlikely at this point since this event is rapidly approaching, Ace and Peter would need time to reconnect and rehearse with Gene and Paul, and needless to say feelings are very bruised at the moment. My take is you will either see the current band or no version of Kiss play. Also will be interesting to see if the massive backlash from fans about no original performance pressures what happens now in some way.
I have read many comments saying Gene & Paul’s decision is ego driven. While that may play some role if you read previous posts here about this I have written I truly think it is more BUSINESS driven. When you spend over ten years selling the “it doesn’t matter who is in the band” concept, and rebranding Kiss to be a franchise where they say members don’t matter, this is not good for that master plan. Why? Because it wipes all that work away and shows it DOES matter! Look no further for proof than the MTV unplugged taping. When Ace & Peter walked out for 2 songs at the end they saw how huge it was and had to do a reunion in ’96. In other words it’s a big can of worms to open and hurts their ultimate plan to sell Kiss as a franchise where members are interchangeable. No matter what, unlike ’96 there would never be a reunion tour no matter what happened. As a fan honestly I wouldn’t even want to see it. In your 40’s possible, 60’s now, no way. A show? A few songs? Sure. But fans thinking there could be a full reunion tour? Never saw that remotely possible.
Do Ace & Peter go now? I feel this is a personal decision that only they can make. There is no right or wrong answer. It is their honor and up to how they feel if they want to stand up there even for 3 minutes. Time will tell as we get closer what they do. With performance off the table as of now they can make a decision I would think right up to a day or two before. I see both sides of it and the feelings involved and really think it is all up to how they feel.
Do Gene and Paul go? Sounds crazy but who knows? Paul clearly has no love for this process from his recent interview in RS. Do they send a statement and just check out of the whole thing? Unlikely but who knows?
Much of the blame here is being pointed toward Gene and Paul. And rightfully so in the sense that according to Ace and all sources they are the ones saying they won’t play with the original band, but the HOF has plenty of blame here also. Why? BECAUSE THEY WAITED 15 YEARS TO PUT KISS IN! Think about this; if they put Kiss in in 1999 when they first became eligible (and SHOULD have gone in), this would be a non issue! Because the original band was together then! The HOF can also be blamed for just caving to what Gene & Paul want and not considering Ace and Peter in this. If they said to Kiss (G&P) only band being inducted or nobody plays at least it would have been a level playing field. But as the HOF told me they will not do that because whoever controls the name is who they ultimately leave the performance parameters up to.
Much can still happen here. Remember although we are focused on Kiss as Kiss fans, there are 7 other bands going in that have to play as well. Although Kiss fans may dominate this event (how much so now with no reunion I don’t know), the other inductees need their moment and performance too. So who knows when it gets to budgets and stage specs what whatever version of Kiss plays agrees to and if it all works out.
All of this can be debated and discussed forever but those are some of my thoughts. As always my doors remains open to ALL to discuss and debate and members of the HOF may very well come on the air with me as they have in the past when I was screaming to get Kiss in the damn thing! Ace and Peter are scheduled to come on TMS together next month. More on that when we get closer. For most Kiss fans this news sucks big time, but there’s still about 7 weeks left to see what unfolds.. All we know as of now is that their is no performance for the original band planned or being allowed by Gene and Paul. We have been told for decades that the FANS are the boss of Kiss. Judging from the reaction to this news this is one instance that clearly does not apply..
Sorry for any typos, been a long late night last night. All comments welcome and being posted ASAP.
183 Responses
The guys being inducted should be the guys playing. If that’s not going to be the case, then nobody should play. Gene & Paul can play with whoever they like on any other night, but it doesn’t make sense for anyone other than Ace & Peter to play at the induction.
I’ve been a fan since ’76. Heard Destroyer and was hooked instantly. Peter is the reason I began playing the drums. Through the lineup changes and the deaths (R.I.P Eric and Mark), I remained a huge fan. I’ve played and sang their songs for years. Even auditioned for a tribute band myself. My loyalty is not as strong as it was now. Gene says it’s all about the fans. We’re the bosses. If that’s the case, I, as their boss, say YOU’RE FIRED!!!!! My opinion is, even though the original 4 members are to be inducted, have ALL surviving members there ( have Eric and Mark’s family there too), Honor them all, accept your award, sit down and let other artists honor you by doing 2 or 3 of your songs and then go you own ways. It would be nice to see the original 4 play one more time but I see that’s not going to happen. The band as I see it now is the ultimate KISS tribute band. I’d like to see them take the makeup off, get Bruce back and do a Revenge era tour. But that’s not going to happen either.
It doesn’t matter if Peter or Ace show up to the actual ceremony. The Sex Pistols got in and basically told the RNRHOF to shove it and never bothered to send anyone to the ceremony and they still have a section in the museum. Eddie, please organize a Peter and Ace concert at a New York club that holds 2,000 the same night as the RNRHOF ceremony. It would take the spotlight away from Paul and Gene at the Barclay Centre. The Ace and Peter show would be a sell-out…They can play songs from the first 4 KISS albums and KISS fans will have an opportunity to celebrate with two equally important founding members. You could stream it around the world on the net. I think it would be a huge success. I know I would love to come down from Ottawa, Ont. if lucky enough to get tickets for such a show. This would stick a collective middle finger to Paul, Gene and the RNRHOF. Ace and Peter don’t need the RNRHOF. They have made their mark in the history of Rock n Roll. The museum in Cleveland is meaningless……
I would like to share an opinion or two. First this is a huge disappointment. To deny two founding members who were very instrumental (no pun intended) in the initial success & then again the financial success and rejuvenating of the Kiss Army in the mid 90’s via the reunion is exceedingly ignorant, disgusting, rude and downright insensitive to the “boss,” the fans! How many guitarists say they were influenced by Tom Thayer? Can Paul honestly look in the mirror as a human being and say that he is not an embarrassment to himself or the legacy of Kiss by continuing to perform with that puberty crackling out of key voice he has today? Regardless of whose fault it was that Ace & Peter didn’t show up to record, was it Paul & Gene who mislead the fans into thinking that Ace & Peter performed on all the songs on Destroyer, Dynasty, Creatures or Psycho Circus (just a few examples) or was that Ace & Peter? Can you blame Ace & Peter for not wanting to partake in the silly disaster of a movie called Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park? Was it Paul & Gene who changed Kiss’ musical direction from disco to pop to concept to metal to pop metal back to metal then to alternative then psycho circus then rearranging the chords and changing the lyrics from the first three records to make sonic boom and then whatever you want to classify Munster as or was that all Ace & Peter? The magical thing is we, the Kiss Army stuck with the band through all of this even after Gene & Paul admitted lying to the fans about many things! But this is truly the final straw for me. Many fans claim the current lineup is the best Kiss has ever had. You are in denial. This is a cover band at best. You have two members of the band mimicking the antics of two founding legendary members to a tee on a nightly basis. You could save a ton of money and see an even better performance by going to see a Kiss tribute band to be quite honest. It’s a shame that Kiss has come to this.
Eddie, if this ends up going down like it appears now, in my opinion you should put an end to the Merry Kissmas special. This is a huge slap in the face to the fans and Ace and Peter, and frankly Gene and certainly Paul don’t deserve you showcasing their music. If your special continues, play nothing but Ace and Peter songs, interview Ace and Peter every year, bring on guests that were influenced by Ace and Peter and want to talk about them, etc.
Also, Ace should absolutely still attend the induction because 1) he more than deserves the honor and the recognition in person by the fans and everyone watching, and 2) it would make Paul Stanley and his china doll ego squirm and show him to be the insecure prima donna that he has apparently become. I was an early/middle teenager in the mid/late ’80’s so my formative music years were during the Carr/Kulick lineup. I still enjoy that era and all the others, but nothing obviously comes close to the originals. Maiden and Priest have already surpassed Kiss among my favorites, largely because of the farce that has been the “Imposter era” and the way Peter and especially Ace have been treated. I have refused to see the clones live and the last two albums with the karaoke band have been sheer garbage (save one or two Gene songs on each); they make the Elder look like Destroyer. This BS probably only makes several other bands pass them on my all time list and bring on a full blown boycott.
In the soap opera that is Kiss, all four original members have plenty of faults and there are four sides to the story. But I don’t care if Ace murdered the Stanley family’s dog – for Paul to try to box Ace out of playing, attending or being recognized to the largest extent possible for this honor is absolutely disgraceful.