KISS frontman/bassist, Gene Simmons, took part in a Q&A in Adelaide, Australia, where he is currently on tour with his solo band, supported by original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley.
When asked about former guitarist Vinnie Vincent, Simmons said, “He’s about to get into some more legal problems, because he tried to trademark the makeup and to trademark Vinnie Vincent KISS, the logo.
There’s something called the classic failure mechanism, which I was told by doctors and everything — I’m not saying he is one. But there are people who simply cannot handle when things are starting to go their way — success — so they torpedo it by making stupid decisions to make sure they don’t succeeed, so they can deal with that. Some people just can’t fathom being up there, so they turn to other stuff and torpedo it.”
Simmons added, “Vinnie is a great guy, very talented, and maybe, in my view, his own worst enemy — in my opinion.”
See Simmons’ interview below.
On July 23rd, Vincent (real name is Vincent Cusano), filed two applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the word mark Vinnie Vincent’s KISS. If granted, the registrations will protect the use of the standard character mark of Vinnie Vincent’s KISS for entertainment services, specifically “live performances by internationally known musical artist and guitarist Vinnie Vincent,” as well as for goods and services, including “compact discs featuring music.”
Vinnie Vincent recently announced that he will be playing two shows, December 7th and December 8th, at Graceland. The concert will start with an acoustic set, followed by an intermission, and then a full shred electric set. These performances will be Vincent’s return to the stage in over 30 years.
9 Responses
gene usually spouts a lot of nonsense when he talks to the media, but he might be on to something here-even a layman knows Vinnie cant copyright what he doesn’t own – gene and paul have history with him they know him and what he did to them in the past- so their opinion does carry some weight I hope vinnie doesn’t start repeating his past – it would be a shame –
I feel sorry for Vinnie, after 30 years he finally comes out of his shell and already he’s about to get into some more legal problems, even before his first comeback performance!
Be careful, Vinnie, if you cross Gene he’ll “Dance All Over Your Face!” 😉
Uh-oh, and now apparently there’s some more “Bad Blood” (love that song) between Gene and Paul, gotta get to the “Rock Bottom” of this KISS story!
gene indirectly referred to ace’s song, “torpedo girl”. i know he was.
It’d be so cool if Ace plays “Torpedo Girl” on the next KISS cruise, what a perfect setting for that song! It’s probably too late, but I would love to be on that cruise, come “Hell Or High Water!” 😉
I have to think when gene reached out to Vinnie it was not all just about plugging his vault – I think he must have really liked Vinnie at some point , I also think gene will be as gracious as he can towards Vinnie until he cant and has no other option but litigation – Vinnie is getting some horrible advice or as gene says is torpedoing his own comeback or a combination of both, I think Gene could intervene on his behalf ( if he really cares enough ) and have a come to Jesus meeting , to save Vinnie from self destructing…It seems like if something isn’t done his comeback will be over before it starts – we all know Paul is probably flipping out about the copyright issue and has already got his legal ducks in a row –
I agree, Robert. I would think that, if VV would have approached Gene/Paul in advance to discuss the legalities, Gene/Paul may have been accommodating, to an extent, to VV. Perhaps some satisfactory business arrangement could have been made?
VV needs to be careful about how he approaches business related to corporate KI$$. This band propelled VV’s career and is one of the primary reasons VV’s name is still somewhat relevant today, considering VV’s been out of the music game for decades. Best for VV not to bite the hand that feeds…
I think Gene is absolutely right on this. Vinnie seems to be his own worst enemy! The guy just starts making baby steps on a possible comeback, and he wants to take on KISS in a patent issue? How about just coming back and putting out some new music?