Katherine Turman of The Village Voice took a ride with original KISS guitarist, Ace Frehely, around his old Bronx neighborhood. Excerpts from the piece appear below.
Oh KISS’ current guitar player, Tommy Thayer, who also happens to wears Ace’s Spaceman makeup when performing:
“I could sense he always wanted to be me. He used to be in a KISS cover band [L.A.’s Cold Gin],” Frehley says. “He didn’t do anything; he was hired by Paul and Gene to put on my makeup and costume and play my guitar solos — a business deal.
Look, if he wouldn’t have done it, they would have hired somebody else. I walked out on the band; I quit. What they really should have done is, if they wanted to dress up a guy to play lead guitar, they should have come up with different makeup like they did with [other Ace replacements] Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent. That’s what the fans are upset about.”
Guitarist/singer and former Runaway Lita Ford concurs, though she observes, “I always thought that anyone could hide behind Kiss’s makeup. The band could grow old and no one could see through the makeup: a brilliant idea. Tommy Thayer is one hell of a nice guy but he is not Ace Frehley and shouldn’t be in Ace’s shoes. There is only one Ace!”
Well, technically, now there are two, and Thayer is currently pimping a guitar (created with Epiphone) called the Space Man. “I mean, how big are the balls on this guy?” snorts Frehley. “But I don’t really want to talk about Tommy Thayer,” he adds, half-apologetically. “Let’s talk about me.”
Discussing his former bandmate, Gene Simmons:
“The press made out that we hated each other, which wasn’t true. I called Gene just a few months ago when I was mixing my record. I was driving up to L.A., and after five minutes of talking, he started bringing up stuff that happened in the ’70s, when we used to drive around in station wagons. We were on the phone for almost half an hour,” he recalls. “He wouldn’t let me off the phone. There’s all this rivalry that the press tries to draw out of us, to have a dialogue going on.”
Talking about who possibly invented the two-handed tapping technique when playing guitar:
Frehely doesn’t know if he or Eddie Van Halen did it first. He does remember, though, that “Gene discovered Van Halen. He wanted to produce their first album, and we told him ‘No.’ Gene was always going off half-cocked, trying to do more things … like he still does today.” He added, “If Kiss would stop fooling around with football teams and restaurants, they might put out a better record next time.” Despite a few barbs, it’s clear Frehley, still retains a fondness for Simmons — if akin to the true brotherly love-hate you might find in the Kinks or Oasis.
Read the entire at The Village Voice.
Ace Frehley’s latest album Space Invader was released on August 19th and debuted at number nine on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
source: blogs.villagevoice.com
93 Responses
Hey Ace, Thayer is in Kiss cause he can play and P&G had enough of you…so did your banker. Nobody gives a rat’s ass about make-up. Kiss’ latest album blows away that thing you put out. See you at the Ogden.
Ace isn’t in the band because he had the balls to walk away. They asked him to come back for the Aerosmith tour, he choose not to.
Exactly!
ace didn’t do it because he didn’t want to go on before aerosmtih its in genes book and gene had already agreed wth aerosmith that kiss would go on first
Gene has a reputation for S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G the truth (pissing of Paul numerous times).
Gene AND PAUL agreed to take the opening spot because Aerosmith demanded the original foursome be in the lineup – before they would agree to rotating the opening and closing spots during the tour.
Further, if both Peter and Ace declined, there would have been no tour whatsoever.
Yeah, God forbid Tyler and Perry could have put their egos aside to have at least let KISS headline the two obvious cities on that tour, NEW YORK and DETROIT!!!
Egos? Who headlines any show is based on one simple fact, who has the bigger draw. Don’t care who you are a fan of the simple truth is Aerosmith gets a TON more radio and commercial mainstream appeal and songs than Kiss. That is how ANY show is structured. People upset Alice is opening for Motley? I get that for historic reasons but Motley WAY bigger draw now. That is the only thing promoters care about! You don’t think Aerosmith is also as big in Detroit or NYC?? And one more fact, like it or not Aerosmith is all original. That plays into as well.
Holy hand grenades Eddie relax, I forgot to mention in my post that I was figuring IF ACE was on that tour they should have at least been allowed to possibly headline those two cities. Yes they have much more airplay, mostly from that bucket of suck called Permanent Vacation. I believe however that KISS has sold just as many records as Aerosmith however no?
Relax? I am perfectly relaxed. Simply answering your questions. Sorry if it came off otherwise in print. Not sure who sold more. Kiss has more releases but Aero might have sold more just because they get so much more radio respect and play. Good question though
I love Kiss but I agree Aerosmith is usually a bigger draw. They’re safer than Kiss in the sense that their bass player doesn’t spit blood all over the stage. All jokes aside, Aerosmith are more mainstream in a lot of ways with no extra image problems. The makeup sets Kiss apart but also gets in the way of mass appeal on the same level as Aerosmith. JMO and I love both bands!
And he’s begged to come back every year since. Get off the high horse.
Got any proof for that??
This tour marked the first step down from the heights of the reunion success because Kiss had to “open” for Aerosmith … who could have imagined anyone going on after Kiss during the time of the reunion!??!
did you mention the latest KISS Album Lee or did you just Fart ?….both sound and smell the same
“Kiss’ latest album blows away that thing you put out.”
Are you kidding? The only thing that blows is Monster. It’s horrible.
It is so contrived, it’s ridiculous. Nothing genuine about it and it’s unlistenable.
Even Tommy gets his “Ace” song and Eric gets the raspy “Peter” rock and roll song.
Someone asked Paul Stanley the other day what is favorite Kiss album was and he
said “Alive and the last two”. Unreal. Monster and Sonic Boom are terrible.
That’s your opinion, however silly it may be. And I’m sure you’re the same guy that says Peter Criss’ solo album One for All wasn’t bad.
maybe he meant alive 2 and alive 3.
Lee, seriously, what is with all of your hatred towards Ace Frehley? What did he do that upset you so much?
One opinion……Kiss hasn’t had a legit complete album since, jeez, Animals at best?? A mediocre single or two off of each release since….Thayer is STILL in a kiss cover band….hes added nothing in his years there….kiss was a draw when they did the reunion tours…..obviously, they aren’t a draw on there own since they have to partner will a way, Way, WAY past their prime Def Leppard. ….
Can’t wait read all the comments from the ACE haters, blah blah Ace quit Kiss, Aces new album sucks, Ace didn’t sell any albums. If Ace didn’t sell any albums but yet he got top #10 billboard charts. The Ace haters will bash him no matter what. What elese will get typed this website only gets traffic if its Kiss related. Plenty of websites getting traffic from other artists replying to the statement “Rock is dead” comments.
first off i have always loved kiss, they were very important to me when i was a kid , and they wrote some of the greatest rock music of all time, when ace was with them and contributing }- i really loved ace’s new record , and the guitar tone was really great- i also really liked kiss’s monster , not quite as much as sonic boom, but both albums were good- as far as tommy in ace’s costume and him wanting to be ace , i think tommy was the ultimate kiss fan , and i’m sure he fantasized about playing in kiss in front of thousands of people, { i know i did lol! } so he put in the time and the work got good on the guitar and formed his own band black and blue- not a great band ,but not horrible- formed a really good kiss tribute band for fun, and put himself in position to be successful – stanley and simmons made him the offer – and he took it – i do not blame him one bit – it was a no brainer- i think tommy is a great guitar player and wanted to be in kiss if he had the chance- well he got it- and ace is ..well there is only one ace- stanley and simmons made the mistake of putting tommy and eric in ace’s and pete’s make-up- for me i have had my fill of kiss the way it is today- i will still listen to them from time to time , but it is just not the same –
Do you want the truth? No one should be bashing anybody! Ace’s album was great and so was the last Kiss album.
Excellent reply Mike B…all of the morons who either continue to bash current Kiss or Ace need to read the quote from Ace from the above article…the media continues to create controversy when in fact they all still like each other..the media are the ones who pass on the b.s. And especially on this site, the Kiss bashers are always out in full swing…I really like Aces new album and will support he alone,,or the current Kiss…but everyone needs to stop with all the negativity towards all Kiss or former Kiss members…before this album, Ace has never impressed as a solo artist but I have to say I am happy his album is good…just saw Kiss a month ago and although it’s the same set I’ve seen a hundred times, I still love going to the show and Paul sounded fine…there is no feud people…be happy we have 3/4 of Kiss still playing music..
Sorry….Thayer is in Kiss because despite repeated attempts when his reunion contract was up, Ace left…Simmons is quoted in many magazines saying he trying to get in touch with Ace, but he won’t come to the phone. And most Kiss fans and most reviewers are united in the feeling that Ace’s new album is a far better album and sounds more like a Kiss album than anything Kiss has done since 77….Sorry to be you!
Listening to the Ace Frehley podcast as I type this. Ace doesn’t hesitate to bash Tommy Thayer for wearing his makeup/costume and playing his solos on stage. However Eddie just asked Ace what he though of Eric Singer wearing Peter Criss’ makeup/costume and playing his solos on stage WHILE ACE WAS STILL IN KISS. Ace never answered the question directly, and instead danced all around it. He refused to face the hypocrisy! And because Eddie is such a good friend to Ace, he didn’t press him further on the question either. Another hypocrisy!
It’s funny how Ace wasn’t complaining when he played with Singer, and Peter wasn’t bitching about playing with Tommy. Seems like now that they are both out they have a problem with it.
I’ve posted that many times and no one including Eddie seem to care…I give Eddie props for finally asking it to Ace, even though he dodged it…Peter and Ace never thought Kiss would continue for so long, so no biggie to selling the rights to the makeup…they are only mad now because G and P have made kiss a major empire of wealth..
I think the main reason they thought no biggie on selling their make up rights were for marketing purposes only . Who would’ve thought that it would turn into it’s ok now to just slap their persona’s now anybody in the band now.
Eric never played Peter Criss solos when Ace played with him. No wonder he wouldn’t answer because it never happened.
Ace’s new album is the best thing he’s done since his KISS solo album. That said, Ace claims he “walked out of the band,” so then why is he CONSTANTLY harping on about KISS? Does he constantly talk about his ex-wife with his current fiancée, too? He also sold the rights to his makeup. If the Spaceman meant as much to him as he claims, then he shouldn’t have sold off the rights…Oh, that contradicts with his “Paul and Gene are just about the money” talking point, doesn’t it?
I’ll answer my own questions: The manufactured “animosity” between Ace, Gene, and Paul is great for business for all of them!
By the way, the funniest part of this article is: Thayer is currently pimping a guitar (created with Epiphone) called the Space Man. “I mean, how big are the balls on this guy?” snorts Frehley.
Gibson, the major company, gave a signature model to Ace, epiphone, the Chinese bargain rack offshot, gives a signature model to Tommy, what does that tell you??!!