KISS FRONTMAN GENE SIMMONS DISCUSSES HIS NEW BOOK, “ME, INC.: BUILD AN ARMY OF ONE, UNLEASH YOUR INNER ROCK GOD, WIN IN LIFE AND BUSINESS”

Gene-Simmons400 Justin Tedaldi of the Examiner spoke with KISS frontman Gene Simmons about his latest book, Me, Inc.: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business (out October 21st) and other topics. Excerpts appear below.

Examiner: What was the inspiration for this book?

Simmons: Life, really. I’ll ask you this question and see if you can answer it. You went to high school, I presume.

Examiner: Sure did.

Simmons: What was the name of the class that prepared you for what you do now for a living?

Examiner: I don’t believe there was one.

Simmons: How about that? Because I didn’t have a class that prepared me for this or the restaurant business or the football business or being in a rock band or branding or the television business or the movie business or the corporate speaking things—none of it. There is no class for that. In essence, it whittles down—although I didn’t understand it in those days—you have an inferred fiduciary duty to yourself, to learn people skills, language skills, have the right thing, be at the right place, and at the right time. And surround yourself with people who are smarter, not stupider, than you are. And get rid of all losers in your life and make smart life decisions.

Like, don’t get married, guys. Different rules for girls. Don’t get married in your early twenties—you’re an idiot; you’re still full of c—. You haven’t made your fortune, and why would you want to take on mortgages, kids, and, well, divorce, because statistics say you will get divorced, and in certain households of certain ethnic and/or racial groups, 80% of households don’t have a father—they run out. And if you’re of a certain religious belief, you might have ten kids. Why would you do that? When each child could cost a million dollars by the time they graduate college. A million dollars! That’s pretax; that means two million dollars per child at the highest tax rate—the highest tax rate just earn more than 250,000 dollars.

So the book is sort of Cliff Notes of life and business, because life is business. And the thing that made me write the book is sort of my personal journey to learn what I learned, and then more importantly, how to implement that. In other words, how to use what I know, and how to make a lot more money. And I make a lot of money. Not just with a rock band.

Examiner: You penned a memorable back cover blurb for Joe Perry of Aerosmith’s new book, saying, “When I grow up, I want to be Joe Perry.” How did that come together, and why do you want to be Joe Perry?

Simmons: Well, he asked me to write that and I’m trying to make nice. Wouldn’t you say nice things if I asked you to write the foreword to my book?….My thing is really: I make a living, I don’t need to write this book, but I think it’s an important book to write.

Examiner: You wrote the first KISS memoir as a member of the group back in 2001 with KISS and Make-Up. Would you be interested in penning another memoir at some point?

Simmons: Sure. But…maybe I’ll wait until the day that KISS ends, which is not happening anytime soon. We have a KISS golf course and LA KISS the football team, and all kinds of KISS stuff. And we continue to tour the world and have a great time. I think the only reason to write another sort of memoir is gonna be at the end of the train ride, when we look back and say, “What a crazy trip this has been” kind of thing….

What I’m trying to do [with Me, Inc.] is not to be so full of myself, and just be willing to kick people in the nuts and say, “Look, this is really important; you’ve gotta cut the sh— out.” And we all need that; I do, too. You know, if I stuff another piece of cake in my mouth, Shannon walks over and says, “Hey! Get out of here; put that down, you know it’s not good for you.” We all need that. And in life and business and anything else.

Go to the Examiner to read the entire interview.

source: examiner.com

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LED ZEPPELIN LOSES FIRST ROUND IN “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN” PLAGIARISM SUIT

ledzeppelin400 Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter reports:

Led Zeppelin is stuck in Pennsylvania at the moment, forced to confront claims forced to confront claims the band stole its biggest hit Stairway to Heaven from Randy Craig Wolfe, founding member of the band Spirit.

Wolfe’s heirs sued Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and their music companies in June, asserting that the story Page has told over the years about holing himself up in a remote cottage in Wales in 1970 and creating the iconic song is false. The plaintiff alleges that the music really came from Spirit, which once toured with Led Zeppelin in the late 1960s. To hear the song in question, please click here.

In reaction to the lawsuit, the defendants challenged jurisdiction.

“The individual defendants are British citizens residing in England, own no property in Pennsylvania and have no contacts with Pennsylvania, let alone ties sufficient to render them essentially at home here,” stated a memorandum to dismiss.

In response, the plaintiff amended the lawsuit with some emphasis on why a Pennsylvania judge should oversee the case: “Defendants are subject to specific jurisdiction in this district because they make millions of dollars from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by directly targeting this district for the exploitation of Stairway to Heaven through CD sales, digital downloading, radio and television play, advertising, marketing, concert performances, other performances, licensing, and otherwise targeting resident individuals and businesses to profit off the exploitation of Stairway to Heaven.’

U.S. District Court Judge Juan Sánchez has now denied the motion to dismiss or transfer without prejudice, meaning that the Zeppelin parties can still try again.

The judge didn’t offer any reasoning in his written order, but those looking for the standards by which judges determine jurisdiction can read about another judge’s recent decision to throw out a trademark lawsuit filed by John Wayne’s heirs against Duke University.

source: hollywoodreporter.com

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FORMER JUDAS PRIEST GUITARIST K.K. DOWNING DISCUSSES WHY HE LEFT THE BAND, POSSIBLY RECORDING A SOLO ALBUM AND RELEASING HEAVY METAL FRAGRANCES

kkdowning Adrian Peel of Digital Journal spoke with former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing. Excerpts from the story appear below.

On his new business venture:

“Don’t laugh, but I’m just about to release Metal For Men and Metal Pour Femme, which is a new line of fragrances, and I’m going to be selling that internationally. Do you know Planet Rock? In the UK I’ll be selling that initially through Planet Rock, through the national radio station. That’s something else I’ve thought of in my sleep. Don’t ask me why! You see these people do a fragrance from the pop world and stuff like that, but nobody’s actually catering for rock and metal fans, so I thought I’d solve the headache of what to buy for Christmas type-of-thing…”

Discussing releasing a solo album:

“Well I think about it all the time, I do… I’m thinking that when all this dies down a little bit, even if I’m 65, 66 – it doesn’t matter. I mean you look at The Rolling Stones, The Who and everybody can still put their hand to their instrument and be creative. So I’m not ruling anything out at any time…It may well be an instrumental album. I could do it, but at the moment I’ve just got to finish what I’ve started, really, is what I think. But it won’t be too long. I would’ve thought by the end of next year, I’ll find a clearing and I would like to work with some chosen musicians.”

Explaining why he left Judas Priest:

“I felt that a lot of the spark wasn’t there – for whatever reason – anymore on stage. I felt that I had it, but I felt it wasn’t what I originally signed up for… I always thought that Judas Priest should have been a high-energy outfit and ultra-sharp, but I wasn’t enjoying it as much on stage as I should have been. All that traveling and living out of a suitcase and spending so much time in planes, vans, cars and trains, you have to really enjoy the concerts. You have to musically get on a high and that carries you through, but if you’re not enjoying it like you should, then it becomes a lot of hard work because you’ve still got to do the interviews and be pushed and pulled around the place.”

Does regret his decision to leave the band?:

“I don’t regret leaving because, to me, I thought that it had run its course. I miss what we had, but I don’t particularly miss what we had become when I left… You can look at You Tube and see Judas Priest playing at the US Festival, or at Live Aid, and I miss being at the pinnacle of the band. I miss that energy and youthfulness and just delivering all of that up. You become a certain age and I think that I would have been happy if, as I said, I was enjoying the shows. There’s disagreements with how things should be done and I thought if I’m outnumbered then it’s time to go…But I suppose we did fantastically well. I mean 40 years is great and I commend the guys for going back out. I was just watching a bit of their first concert of the tour in Rochester, New York, and it was great. Band sounded good and I’m happy that they continue. I sent an email saying ‘good luck with the new tour, guys’ to the management office. I do wish them well and I commend them highly for being out there and carrying on the legacy.”

Read more with K.K. at Digital Journal. Additionally, Downing, will be donating some of the proceeds from his forthcoming fragrances to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

For more information about K.K., please visit his official website.

source: digitaljournal.com

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LAST IN LINE, FEATURING VIVIAN CAMPBELL, VINNY APPICE, JIMMY BAIN, CLAUDE SCHNELL AND ANDREW FREEMAN, SIGN WITH FRONTIERS MUSIC

viviancampbell'slastinlinebanadpic640 Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the signing of Last In Line, featuring original Dio members, Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell, along with vocalist Andrew Freeman.

When he left Black Sabbath in early 1982 to form his own band, the late, great Ronnie James Dio took powerhouse Black Sabbath drummer, Vinny Appice with him.

Ronnie knew that he wanted a European flavor to balance-out the band, so he asked his former Rainbow bandmate and Scottish native, bassist Jimmy Bain to join him. In turn, Jimmy recommended a young Irish guitarist, Vivian Campbell to complete the line-up. When the four of them met and played for the first time in a North London rehearsal room in September 1982, the magic was evident and the classic Dio band line-up was born.

Between 1983 and 1985, in quick succession, that line-up wrote, recorded and toured the first three Dio albums. Widely considered to be the crown jewels of the Dio catalogue, Holy Diver, Last In Line and Sacred Heart went on to sell millions as the band, now reinforced by keyboard player, Claude Schnell, played to audiences worldwide.

By 1985, however, trouble was brewing and the fabric of the band had started to unravel. Beginning with Vivian Campbell’s firing during the Sacred Heart tour, one by one the other original band members left the fold and slowly the magic was lost.

30 years after the recording of Holy Diver, and without trying to replace the singular sound that was Ronnie’s voice, the original band have started playing the songs they created together again. Joined by the passionate, powerful and unique voice of vocalist Andrew Freeman, Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell have united under the name of their classic album, Last In Line, to perform and tour their original songs again.

When any group of musicians write and record together, they create a sound that becomes uniquely theirs. Last In Line brings to life those early, classic Dio albums in a way that only they know how. In a way that only they can.

Frontiers plans to release the new recording in the spring of 2015.

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AC/DC RELEASE NEW BAND PICTURE FEATURING STEVIE YOUNG, DRUMMER PHIL RUDD M.I.A

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AC/DC have released their first official band photograph to feature new guitarist Stevie Young. Young is the nephew of Malcolm Young, who he replaced in the band when Malcolm, 61, was confirmed as having been diagnosed with dementia.

The photo has been released a week after AC/DC were in London to film a video for their new track Play Ball. Drummer Phil Rudd missed the video shoot due to a “family emergency” and he is also absent from the new photograph. Rob Richards of Shogun filled in for Rudd at the video shoot.

AC/DC wiill release their 16th album, Rock Or Bust on December 2nd ahead of a 2015 world tour. To read more about Rock Or Bust and to view the track list, please click here.

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additional source: Classic Rock Magazine

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KISS’ PAUL STANLEY SAYS FORMER BANDMATES PETER CRISS AND ACE FREHLEY “RESENTED” HIS DRIVE TO SUCCEED, PLUS “LOVE GUN: DELUXE EDITION” DUE FOR RELEASE ON OCTOBER 27TH

paulstanley400 KISS frontman Paul Stanley was recently a guest on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where he discussed his former bandmates drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley implying that they carried “a lot of resentment” over the fact that some of the other members of the band were more “focused” and “driven” to succeed than they were, which ultimately led them to sabotage their careers.

“It’s very difficult to move forward when two of the people are, at times, like flat tires,” Stanley explained [as transcribed by Blabbermouth]. “It becomes more of a problem when their reason for being is to foil and to throw off track what you’re trying to do. So, at some point, it really became more about trying to disrupt what we were trying to do with no regard to whether or not what they wanted to do was right or wrong; they just wanted, ‘Let’s screw Gene [Simmons] and Paul. So we’ll say no, and they’ll say yes.’ So it really became very, very, very difficult.”

Stanley claimed that he was in favor of splitting the band’s finances evenly in the early years, but that things changed once Ace and Peter started putting less effort into the group, leaving Paul and Gene to take over. This, in turn, caused a rift between the bandmembers, necessitating a change in the group’s lineup.

When asked why he thinks Ace and Peter were seemingly so intent on working against their bandmates, Stanley said, “I think self-sabotaging comes into it, because, I think, that’s been something that’s run through parts of their lives. But I also think that there was a lot of resentment. And, honestly, I don’t believe in resenting people for what they can do that you can’t. if you’re lucky enough to have people around you who can do what you can’t, make them your best friend. Everybody can’t be the best at what they do, but you can benefit from being around those people. So, look, I never wanted or expected anybody in the band to do necessarily the same amount of work that I did, but I expected them to give a hundred percent. I was all for splitting things evenly in the original lineup of the band up until those guys departed the first time, but you have to give your best.”

He continued, “I think [our] focus and drive and determination and seeing the whole picture and wanting this to be as good as it could be, as opposed to falling back on, ‘It’s rock and roll.’ Well, rock and roll is no excuse for mediocrity, and rock and roll is no excuse for not doing your job. If somebody says, ‘Oh, my playing is rock and roll.’ No, that’s just bad. You know, there’s bad and then there’s rock and roll…Look, it’s a long time ago, and it’s kind of like talking about a girlfriend or wife you had a long time ago and trying to disseminate what went wrong. At some point it really doesn’t matter.”

Stanley says that ego clashes and disagreements over songwriting credits contributed to creating an unhealthy environment and he makes no apologies for taking charge of the group.

“I don’t know the mentality that wants to sabotage what ultimately benefits you,” Stanley said. “Look, if you’re in a band that’s doing great and you’re not the primary songwriter and the primary singer, well, you should revel in what you have. You know, the idea of equality… Some have to be more equal than others. Everybody can be in car together, but somebody’s gotta drive. We’re all going in the same direction. But when people reach the point of saying, ‘Well, I want an equal amount of songs.’ Well, do we leave off ‘Strutter’ so we can put your song on, or do we leave off ‘Detroit Rock City’? It doesn’t work like that. I don’t believe that there’s any birthright or that we should expect a quota in anything. We get what we deserve, and somebody has to decide that.”

He continued: “The key to a great band or any great situation is doing what’s best for the situation, not what’s best for you. I don’t have to be right, I just wanna see the right thing happen. So if you’re more tied up in the ego gratification or in the control factor… I honestly don’t mean to control anything, but I do have a point of view, and I guess I’ve earned my place at this juncture. But everybody gets a chance to state their views, and hopefully they are always with the best intentions, and I think that’s the way the band works now. We have a drummer [Eric Singer] who doesn’t like to take a solo, and this guy could play a better solo with one hand than most drummers could play with every limb of their body. So it’s all for one and one for all.”

In other KISS news, The Pulse Of Radio reports that “Love Gun: Deluxe Edition” will be made available on October 27th. The two-disc CD features the original 1977 album, along with a bonus disc featuring assorted demos and live tracks.

Vintage Vinyl describes the release as “the first disc includes a remastered version of the original album while disc two has demos, three live performances from a 1977 Lakeland, Florida concert and an interview with Gene Simmons. A rarity for any expanded edition of an album, the deluxe edition includes a glimpse into Paul Stanley’s creative process on Love Gun (Teaching Demo) with Stanley talking through the various chords of the song.”

Love Gun: Deluxe Edition track list:

Disc 1 (Original Album):

I Stole Your Love
Christine Sixteen
Got Love For Sale
Shock Me
Tomorrow And Tonight
Love Gun
Hooligan
Almost Human
Plaster Caster
Then She Kissed Me

Disc 2 (Demos, Interviews & Live)

Much Too Soon (Demo)
Plaster Caster (Demo)
Reputation (Demo)
Love Gun (Teaching Demo)
Love Gun (Demo)
Gene Simmons Interview (1977)
Tomorrow And Tonight (Demo)
I Know Who You Are (Demo)
Love Gun (Live 1977)
Christine Sixteen (Live 1977)
Shock Me (Live 1977)

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