Jam packed SiriusXM live show last night. Thanks to Wendy Dio for calling in and letting me premiere a song from the new Dio tribute album called This Is Your Life. It’s out April 1 and all proceeds go to RJD Cancer Fund. Also thanks to Vince Neil who called in and talked a little Motley as well as about a charity event for our mutual friend chef Kerry Simon in Vegas this Thursday. Info in the news section on my site. And also thanks to AJ, Russ and Mike of Adrenaline Mob for coming in. New album Men Of Honor sounds slamming. Also took almost two hours of calls from listeners, mostly about Kiss and the HOF and all the different sides to it. This site has become flooded with comments about this situation. I’m glad I can provide my take through the Trunk Report and also allow you guys to have a platform to post also. For the record ALL comments regardless of their position are posted here! Only comments that resort to name calling or pointless hate and bashing are not posted. I have heard from many that Kiss and their twitter accounts have been blocking people that post thoughts not in line with what they approve of in this situation, while retweeting those that do. I assure you all opinions are welcome and reflected on my platforms if I agree or not.
In the time since this news broke with my show Friday night the coverage has been incredible. Huffington Post, Daily News, NY Post, and even the lead story on Howard Stern’s news. Howard by the way called Kiss the “most irrelevant band in music history” and compared them to the 1910 Fruitgum Company. I do NOT agree with this assessment but he has the right to say it. I see all sides of this and in the end, no matter where you stand, it just sucks as fans who fought so hard to see this day happen, we won’t at least get a song from the four guys going in. But who knows, we have about 6 weeks before this all goes down so as we learn being Kiss fans, anything can happen. Many more things to still learn here. Do all of them show up? Who inducts them (hope I can reveal soon, it is a legit Kiss fan. What does the HOF do instead of performance? All star band? Video package? More as we get closer no doubt and as I can share.
Shooting a new TMS today you will see this Saturday night. After going pure metal last week with Lamb Of God, TMS goes classic rock this week! Today we shoot with Mick Jones of Foreigner, Leslie West and Lita Ford on guitar. Plus Marty Friedman from Japan on Metal Modem! Should be a fun one! I can also confirm new guests coming in our current season include Dee Snider on set and Yngwie Malmsteen playing in our last two shows! Loving all the variety in TMS in our current season. Thanks for all the amazing response. Keep watching and let’s keep growing this thing even after 5 years and more than 100 shows. Hearing from new fans every day and I appreciate it!
Follow on Twitter @EddieTrunk for news and photos from the set today.
82 Responses
I have a hard time finding fault with Gene and Paul with this. KISS did not break up when Ace and Peter left the band. And they put out some really great albums with different members. Eric Carr was perhaps one of my favorite drummers of any band ever. Mark St. John and his shredding was what got me back into KISS after I had not really paid much mind for a few years. Bruce Kulick really matured as a musician while in KISS and made himself a part of that band. Unless the HoF (*Cough) wants to acknowledge the entire body of work, then I can’t blame Gene and Paul for taking their ball and going home.
Jimmy,
Not trying to criticize your point, but just offer a counter. Ace states, and it seems accurate, that he left the 2nd time, b/c again, what didn’t Paul and Gene not understand about “Farewell”. Gene admitted in a writing that contracts were sent to Ace after the Farewell tour for another tour, and he turned them down. However, Paul/Gene have spun that situation recently as to say ‘We were just saying Farewell to old members’. This seems like a tacky attempt to save face. You can’t say that you want to distance yourselves as far as possible from their presence, but still use their personas to endure. As talented as Eric Carr may have been, and the other guitar players were, Paul/Gene learned from the Reunion Tour that the most successful combination of KISS is the original four personas in makeup. So bash Ace and Peter verbally in the press, turn them into villians and non-entities but continue their creations (Spaceman/Catman). Sure they “carried the torch” when Ace and Peter originally left, but the fact is, The Reunion Tour would have been just as successful with or without the non-makeup years. The magic was brought back with the original four in makeup. Ace and Peter, as Paul/Gene so often remind us, did make some of the same mistakes the 2nd time around – but so did Gene and Paul. They took a great show and over-marketed the product again, over saturated it, and let the music suffer. If Paul and Gene really believe that the band is better off without Ace and Peter and they are non-contributors, they should let go of the Spaceman and Catman and have new personas for Tommy and Eric.
Been a Kiss fan for a long time. I’m now 48, and am saddened by all of this controversy. Kiss is my Beatles, and Paul Lynde is my Ed Sullivan. If Paul McCartney & Ringo recruited two session players, would Gene & Paul recognize this new outfit as The Beatles? Would they be plunking down $300 for a ticket? Of course not. If just the original four are being inducted, how can it be so problematic which guys get up on stage and play? I think it was Motley Crue (maybe Kiss?) who once said “love us or hate us, just don’t ignore us,” but unfortunately this is what its coming down to for me, and its very upsetting. It’s time to let it all go.
Hey Eddie, looking forward to a classic rock TMS this weekend. Kudos to you for getting Yngwie Malmsteen to play on the show this year…fantastic. Can’t wait!
Keep working on Brian Johnson if you can, thanks again for a great season of TMS!
First, I want to thank you for what you do Eddie. I would not consider myself a huge KISS fan, so I could care less if they are in the HOF or not. A few things do bother me about KISS being inducted in the first place. If they were putting people in the HOF based on extravagant stage shows and theatrics, and not strictly based on the music then of course they should be inducted. If being inducted was based on record sales, they should be in without question. If you take the makeup off initially and without the extravagant stage production, would we even know who KISS is? I did see KISS on the Aerosmith tour and I really felt embarrassed for them. The only way I could explain it is how every time we saw Alan Hale on TV, he was always wearing that skipper hat even years after Gilligans Island was cancelled. Anyway, like yourself I think the HOF is a joke and will be a bigger joke in the years to come. Just think that at some point in the future, people will be arguing about why Justin Beiber is not in the HOF.
Why hasn’t Winger weighed in on the KISS saga? 😉