ACE FRHELEY ON TOMMY THAYER: “HE’S JUST A GUY UP THERE COPYING ME”

AceFrehley600 Eddie Trunk interviewed KISS guitarist Ace Frehley for his podcast. Quotes from the interview, courtesy of blabbermouth.net, appear below.

Frehley discussing what he thinks about current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer wearing his makeup:

“[Tommy is] not Ace Frehley by any stretch of the imagination, number one. Number two, what bothers me the most is that I know the new fans that KISS are getting don’t know it. A lot of people that see Tommy up there think he’s the original guy that created the makeup, that wrote great songs and wrote all those solos that he’s performing, but he’s not. He’s just a guy up there copying me and trying to move like me and trying to sing like me and trying to play like me. And that’s what bothers me the most. I mean, the real hardcore fans know. But the new fans, a lot of them don’t know.”

On the fact that he played with drummer Eric Singer who was wearing Peter Criss’ Catman makeup:

That was okay. I mean, Eric’s such a solid drummer, he’s a pleasure to play with, because you know the beat’s always gonna be there.” When asked if it was weird seeing someone else play in Criss’ makeup Ace said, “Well, you know, I don’t see as good as I used to, so when I look back, I can’t tell the difference. [laughs] Just like a lot of fans don’t know…I can’t tell you how many times I get phone calls and people say,’ Hey, Ace, I heard you’re playing here, I heard you’re playing there. Can you get me tickets?’ I go, ‘I’m not in the band anymore.’ Some people, still, are oblivious to that whole thing.”

To listen to Eddie’s podcast with Ace Frehley, please click here.

additional source: blabbermouth.net

137 Responses

  1. My thought is, Ace left and Tommy was offered the gig making a whole lot more money than he had been. Was he supposed to turn it down on principle or in support of Ace? Why? And when comes to who’s the better guitarist let’s be honest, KISS is 3 chords and a cloud of dust. They do it very well and have some great songs but they hardly need Jimmy Page to fill Ace’s shoes.
    I think Ace’s new cd is very good and he should get out there and perform. But if anything he should be mad at Gene, Paul and mostly…..himself. Tommy did nothing more than accept a job offer and taking shots at him just comes off as sour grapes.

  2. Ace has never been coherent to any questions ever asked in an interview. If people are unaware of Ace’s mentality this is the way he is ! Show me one interview where Ace is asked a question and he doesn’t go south w/ his answer. Get a grip and enjoy the music people ! Great interview Ed !

  3. F A N S….stands for FANATICS. I laugh fkn hysterically by reading some of these posts. And sometimes I wonder if these particular posts are put up just to bait people.. Bottom line is Eddie asked questions to Ace on HIS personal feelings. And Ace answered the questions. Ace is right…the bottom line is Tommy Thayer is COPYING Ace Frehley. And if I was asked by G & P to copy one of the biggest guitar influences in rock history, I would do the same. Im on a NFL board that is literally filled with ex~NFL players ,family etc and it gets extremely personal on many occasions when it comes to certain topics in regards to players. And im most positive that Eddie Trunk and his view points, topics, posts, forums etc are carefully examined by the muscians themselves. e are ALL fans….wer are ALL fanatics. The difference I many of you take this PERSONALLY while I take this all with PERSPECTIVE….

    1. Good post Joe. I agree. And I’m not innocent. And your notion is right. These are put up , on purpose to bait people. I remember Eddie stating that it drives traffic. There is a choice as to how to create a headline out of an already created article and you can see what this site put up. It’s kind of dirty. I love that Metal Show and I come to this site for rock news but in the last year it’s been a bit sensationalist and frankly it’s really turning me against Eddie. Just my opinion and probably way too much info.

    2. talktopete I don’t blame Eddie at all. “KISS” & when I say “KISS” I mean Gene Peter Paul & Ace drives A TON OF INTEREST. Eddie is doing the same exact thing that every1 else in this business should be doing. This is a huge difference (I think) why Eddie Trunk is one of the most popular DJs in the world. Very smart business man….

    3. You’re absolutely right Joe. Seriously. I should probably do some yoga or take a valium before I read and respond to these damn posts. I do love Eddie, no doubt.

  4. So the fans shouldn’t be bothered that Peter’s cat man character & drum parts are now played (in concert) by Eric Singer, but they should see it as a total farce that Tommy plays your character and parts? If that’s not total hypocrisy, it misses by a match head. I think the biggest thing he misses about Kiss is the paycheck. However, his new record is very solid & if he decides to play my local rock dump, I’m there.

    James Perkins
    Houston, Texas

Leave a Reply