According to blabbermouth.net, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has defended KISS’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons for their announcement that no members of KISS will be playing at the April 10th Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in Brooklyn.
Speaking to Rover’s Morning Glory, a syndicated hot-talk/comedy radio show airing weekday mornings on Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM), Ian joked, “Look, I’ve got Gene Simmons tattooed on my leg, so whatever Gene says is what goes.”
He continued, “I’m a [KISS] fan, just like everyone else, and would I wanna see, if I was going… I’m not going to the Hall Of Fame thing, so would I wanna see the four original dudes back in makeup one more time? Of course I would, as a fan. But bands don’t do things dictated by what the audience wants. A band would last about a year if that’s how you worked. You have to do things the way you wanna do them.
KISS has been around for 40 years and are bigger now than they were in 1977 because Gene and Paul make smart decisions — that’s why. So, as a fan, and if you love them, you have to abide by the decisions that Gene and Paul are making for their brand and their band. So, why people get so upset over these things, I really don’t understand. Like, if they decided they were playing with [current KISS members] Tommy [Thayer, guitar] and Eric [Singer, drums], so fine. That’s what they’re doing. This is their band. This has been the lineup for a long time now.
I get it — those two guys [Tommy and Eric] aren’t the guys who are getting into the Hall Of Fame [with Paul and Gene], it’s Ace and Peter… you know, I get it. So I think they made the right decision now by saying, ‘We’re just not gonna play. You can’t please everybody. We’re just gonna shut it down and just not do it.’ I get it. I understand.”
additional source: blabbermouth.net
103 Responses
The biased opinions of Mr Trunk would surely change if he could finally catch his white whale: Gene and Paul on That Metal Show.
Unfortunately sir that is not my “white whale” as you call it.. The Kiss FANS ask for them to be on. And the fans are the bosses right…?
What would be the “white whale” I wonder? Landing Jimmy Page and having him tell you that Plant finally picked up the phone and said “Let’s do it”?
Hey ED, I’ve got some factual numbers for this cool debate. Eddie you are right about that they can’t fill arenas here in the states but they did play them with out a major opener. Some down south and some mid-west, but averaged only 6000 tickets sold in arenas of 15000 seats or more.(I got these numbers from Gallup polls) Mostly casinos and small arenas which they filled, but they did play some large venues with out major success. Here’s the interesting fact…They still had a net profit of 12million dollars on that tour!! That number has to also reflect the European leg which they do still pack big venues as do most legendary name acts. As long as they are still making good coin(I wonder how much Tommy and Eric got of that cut!) they feel no need to go back to the original 4 for even one nite..Sad but true.. Makes for great discussion though.
Agree with Eddie and others…..if they could tour on their own, sell out big places, they would. I think we’ve all figured out by now money is the number one and only motivation of Gene and Paul other than their completely misguided dislike of Ace and Peter ( I’ve always wanted to meet Gene or Paul and just explain to them that Peter and Ace aren’t pedos or as far as we know, didn’t bang a wife or girlfriend of theirs so chill out. They did drugs and partied like rock stars) so why in God’s name would they be wanting to split that cash with another band? My brother’s ex wife toured around with Kiss some in the 80’s because of her husband at the time’s job as a lighting guy and I’ll never forget her telling me the story of Paul doing rehearsels and testing the mics by saying,”Thank you all for continuing to come here and help me buy a bigger house!” or something to that effect. I know that whole vibe from rock stars or whoever doesn’t bother some people, but hearing that kinda left me disappointed.
Where’s Drago?
Scott and Eddie are dead on…well, Scott may have the blind faith of a hardcore fan when he states they’re as big as ever, but in a way they are, maybe not tix wise, physical sales, members, etc, but the entire planet knows them, and their face is forever in the public’s view, so the awareness is quite large, but..Gene wouldn’t have time for reality TV seasons if is was 1977 gang, let’s be real…After being snubbed 15 years, ..I wouldn’t play either. This was the same case w/ Stern and the Radio hall of fame, how was he snubbed? ….it’s all crooked.