9/11: MICHAEL ANTHONY, ACE FREHLEY PODCAST, JOE PERRY EVENT, MORE
Still great response rolling in from my podcast with Michael Anthony last week. Amazing early VH stories and his take on the Cherone years real interesting. Can’t not love how real Michael is. Great guy and great conversation. A must for any VH fan!
ALL NEW podcast with Ace Frehley went up today. This has not been heard anywhere else and is only on the podcast. Ace talks Space Invade, R&R Hall induction and of course Kiss. As usual all podcasts are 100% free and available worldwide via www.podcastone.com or subscribe and download on Itunes. Just search The Eddie Trunk Podcast.
Just hung up the phone with Joe Perry. Insanely honored that Joe has asked me to host a Q&A for his book launch signing event 10/7 at Barnes & Noble Union Square in NYC. It will start at 7PM with more details to come. So surreal for me when the guys I grew up with having posters of on my wall ask me to be a part of major events in their career. Have some other cool stuff in the works around this event. More when I can post!
Thoughts to all those who lost loved ones on this tragic day in our history 13 years ago and thanks to all who have worked and continue to work to keep us safe. I was in Las Vegas scheduled to fly home on 9/11 and was stuck there eight extra days before I could get back. Thankful I didn’t lose anyone on that day but so many were not so lucky. Never forget 9/11 and thank you to all who work to make sure it doesn’t happen again in this crazy world we live in.
Mike is also right about 5150. That record has a something-to-prove drive that’s unlike anything else in the catalog besides the first album. Far and away the best of the Sammy albums.
I just listened to the podcast with Ace Frehley, and once again, Trunk makes ridiculous, child-like points against the current version of Kiss. The point about why Paul and Gene bring up Ace’s addiction problems in the press, when they, Paul and Gene, hang out with people who have had addiction problems – Nikki Sixx. Ace’s addiction problems were, and still are an issue with Paul and Gene because THE ADDICTION AFFECTED THE BAND IN AN ADVERSE WAY. Nikki’s addiction never affected Kiss in any way. That’s not rocket science. Paul drinks alcohol, for God’s sake. And to talk about Paul’s statement that “Kiss is bigger than ever”. That’s true in many ways. He wasn’t just referring to ticket sales and cd sales. Rock and Brews, LA Kiss, their world tour in the past several years, and all the other merchandising…. And to throw your little dig in there about Kiss not selling out arenas…….I didn’t hear you talk about Ace’s tours in the last several years…. what was the attendance? Just curious. You are patently biased, but you claim to be “honest” and you “tell it like it is” f-ing laughable!!
Okay Tim, you can spin it however you see it to make it work for you. Pretty amazing you are the only person to read everything that way but I have the bias? Call me crazy but always thought of a band being big based on ticket and album sales. Silly me not thinking of arena football teams that draw no people. Do you honestly think I think Ace solo is a bigger draw than any Kiss?? And your final point about people like Nikki, etc. Gene says all the time he has no time for or understanding of people that do that to themselves. Ace hasn’t for 8 years, Peter for longer. I guess some can get healthy and redeemed while others keep getting shit on. Why? Because it serves what they want to sell you NOW, and you are clearly buying every last drop! So enjoy.
I do enjoy the present Kiss. I’ve enjoyed all eras of Kiss since 1976; from when I was 10 years old. What I don’t enjoy is someone who always comes across bitter and child-like because Paul and Gene don’t want to have anything to do with him. Get over it already. Your standard, “buying what they sell now” and “drinking the Kool-aid” retorts are getting old.
And so are your posts about the same things over and over again on my site. That is really getting old! So why not just take it somewhere else? Do you honestly think I care if they do my shows?? I just had Joe Perry ask me to host his book launch! Do you honestly think I give a crap what they will and won’t do when I have legends that want to work with me? I like my odds of two against hundreds and hundreds that want to do my shows any day of the week. You ignore constantly that the FANS want them on my shows. The FANS ask them, just like the FAN asked Paul at his event at the Jewish center. It is all about the FANS right? I mean that’s what they say… I no longer going to respond to the same old lines you keep trying to sell. That is truly old so take it elsewhere please
Why does everybody have to hate, who cares what Gene said about this or Paul has to say about that, or why Ace can’t stand Tommy. Just kick back and enjoy the music. Eddie, you need to set the example by stop having all this ridiculous articles about every move Kiss and Ace do or say. Everybody just let it go and remember the first time you seen or heard Kiss and was just blown away.
Hi,
I think you both have a point, meaning Ed and Tim, since it seems there’s hypocrisy in every original KISS member, to a degree at least. Whenever anyone of them talks that they’d do something “just for the fans”, it somewhat makes me cringe a bit, because money seems to be the issue with their split-ups after the reunion.
I’m sure it was not easy for Peter and Ace to rejoin the band in the 90’s as “hired guns”, but like we know, it’s called music BUSINESS, and Paul and Gene (especially Paul) kept the band alive through the hard times and even made it a moderate success without A&P. Therefore, it’s understandable that they have the ownership, and Peter and Ace sold the makeup desings willingly, somebody correct me if that’s wrong, so they should blame themselves the most.
And both of them appeared with the band after the original line-up had finished the Farewell Tour, and where paid for it and i’m sure it wasn’t just “for the fans.” As for the current line-up, i don’t like that the Tommy is playing all those Space-themed songs, it’s just stupid. It’s silly even for Ace to be so space-themed, there’s more those songs on his new album than ever. And Paul can’t really sing Kiss songs anymore, his voice has lowered naturally, and he still pushed for the high tenor notes for years and damaged it. I heard a pretty decent version of him singing Star-spangled Banner recently, and he sang it like baritone, about an octave lower than he used to sing in Kiss-shows. And Gene is Gene, telling depressed people to kill themselves…duh. Just my two (sorry, if two many) cents.
Eddie, thanks for the radio and tv-shows, even though the TMS is almost impossible for me to watch, since i’m from Finland and the show doesn’t air here and the VH1 website is only for american users, like you already know…
As for KISS being bigger than they’ve ever been that’s a total joke…KISS will never be as big as they were in 1977-78, the only time they were ever that big again was in ’96 and that was short-lived. The only reason KISS have whatever success they still have now is because Peter & Ace reunited with them and brought the band back into the mainstream public eye. Where would Paul & Gene be now had the reunion not happened?
Gene & Paul will continue to preach that Kiss is bigger and better and blah blah blah till their last breath. They know along with us fans who have paid them their fortunes that this is just pure BULLLLLLSHIT. Even my 13 year old knows that this isn’t true….WHY?? YOUTUBE baby. History doesn’t BULLSHT, Gene and Paul unfortuantly still do. Remember “KISS” is a business now….SELL today BUY tomorrow. Problem is (And Gene & Paul know this) “KISS” merchandise just doesn’t sell the way it did in its heyday. FACT!!!!
Tim: Blinded By The Brand, who used to be a band, believing in all they do, when it’s all for them…not me or you!
Just listened to the Ace podcast and great job Eddie as usual. As a long time Kiss/Ace fan (since 1979) here’s my take on a couple of thing that have been brought up again regarding Ace and Kiss. Firstly, the Farewell tour where Eric Singer took over Peter Criss’ role as the catman whilst Ace was still in the band is exactly that. The farewell tour was pretty much a done deal with the original four but negotiations fell down later on Peter’s side to do the Australian and Japanese leg of the tour, so Eric was brought in as the catman. It was Gene and Paul’s decision to reuse the catman character for Eric and Ace had to go along with it. Same thing with Peter when Tommy had to take over Ace’s role. Peter has said on Eddie’s radio show shortly afterwards that he thought Ace was going to do the tour with Aerosmith but pulled out to concentrate on his solo career again, so Peter had to go along with it and was not thrilled about it. I actually saw both tours, firstly the Farewell tour with Eric in Sydney. Ace really picked up his game I remember and wasn’t as sloppy as the reunion tour which I also so twice. I also saw Tommy’s first official Kiss show in Melbourne for the Kiss Symphony show.
Onto to Ace’s Space Invader album. I bought it and listened to it and thought it was a great effort from Ace BUT I feel that ‘something’ that is still lacking and what Ace himself has been trying to recapture from his first solo album are the guitar solos. Yes he has said many people have told him there wasn’t enough guitar on Anomaly so he has taken that on board with this latest album and loaded it with guitar solos, but they are not the classic style, memorable and melodic ‘song within a song’ Ace type solos. Just lots and lots of noodling around IMO. The 78 solo album and older Kiss stuff had lots of those ‘song within a song’ type classic solos that we all still love today.
I AGREE. ERIC SINGERS OWN MAKE-UP SHOULD BE A LARGE CA$H ($) SIGN COVERING HIS FACE. “F” ERIC SINGER!!
He should be the Hawk, that’s what Eric was meant to be…and Tommy can use Paul’s old Lone Ranger mask or perhaps a lightning bolt, this would be so much better and I could finally start to respect KISS again…and most other fans too.
You’re so angry you didn’t realize your caps lock is broke! Captain Grumpy Pants.
How about Eric Singer changes his character to “Wristwatch Boy”, who travels through time, always keeping track of the next minute he is to provide a Gene and Paul soundbite to the media…
Or maybe Eric can be Robot Boy, to match his “never just behind or just ahead of the beat” drumming style…”Robot Boy comes from the future, determined to draw every last ounce of swing and swagger out of any Kiss song, providing a sterile, click track quality to any and all performances!”
Another day of people bashing Ace on this website no matter what he does, just mention the name Ace and people just go off.