Larry Getlen of New York Post reports:
When Paul Stanley, frontman and rhythm guitarist for the band KISS, married in November 2005, he shared his joy with friends and family, including bandmates Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer.
Notably absent from the ceremony: Stanley’s longtime musical partner, KISS bassist Gene Simmons. He wasn’t invited.
“Your views on marriage are your own,” Stanley told Simmons, who publicly denounced the concept of marriage until his own nups in 2011. “But when you insult and demean people who get married and ridicule or dismiss the idea of marriage, you have no place at a wedding.”
The incident is replayed in Stanley’s memoir, Face the Music: A Life Exposed, written with journalist Tim Mohr and out Tuesday.
As success came [to the band], Stanley noticed in interviews that Simmons “sure used the word ‘I’ a lot.” Stanley accuses him of abandoning the band in the early ’80s, distracted by attempts to become an actor, but then taking credit for Stanley’s work; and also of using the KISS logo and persona for personal projects without contractual permission.
During this time, Stanley writes, Simmons’ duplicity left him feeling there was “a traitor in the midst.”
As harsh as Stanley is with Simmons, he saves his real venom for former band mates Frehley and Criss. After it was announced back in December that KISS will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Barclays Center on Thursday, a public war erupted over which band members would play at the upcoming ceremony.
Frehley, Criss and the Hall wanted a reunion of the original lineup in full makeup; Simmons and Stanley refused, since KISS now has two other long-standing members in drummer, singer and guitarist Thayer. As of now, all four original members will attend the ceremony, but there will be no performance of the band’s music.
Stanley’s book sheds greater light on why he wouldn’t want a full-on reunion, recalling countless past times that Frehley and Criss, who have both had substance-abuse issues, were belligerent and even unable to play.
Stanley also accuses Frehley of stashing drugs “in the bags or pockets of crew members — without their knowledge — so he wasn’t on the hook if they were found.”
Even more shocking are his accusations of anti-Semitism against the pair. Noting that Frehley owned a collection of Nazi memorabilia, and that some of his earliest experiences with Criss involved the drummer racially mocking waiters at Chinese restaurants, Stanley writes that Frehley and Criss resented him and Simmons for controlling the band’s creative output — which Stanley says occurred because Frehley and Criss’ songwriting contributions “just didn’t amount to much.”
Stanley reiterated to The Post that yes, he does believe that Frehley and Criss are anti-Semitic.
“Yes, I do,” he says. “It’s based on years and years of interactions. It’s not pulled out of thin air.” Frehley and Criss did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more at the New York.
source: nypost.com
246 Responses
Is it ever going to end with this guy? He’s turned into such a joke!
Ace is doing a cover of THE JOKER.
Y’all all sound like a bunch of kids who want their divorced parents to get back together. As noble and genuine as your desires are, it just isn’t going to happen. The fact that your divorced parents can’t get along just for you doesn’t make sense and never will. I get it.
Ace and Peter all like the dads who don’t pay all of their child support and miss most of the big events in your life but when they come around they are all smiles and take you to the amusement park and give you beer when you are under age. Of course you think they are great and you long to have your family back together so it can be like it was when you were a little kid. Meanwhile, your mom, who has been working to keep the family going, has married somebody else who respects his marriage, doesn’t drink too much, and keeps a job. She doesn’t want to hear about how great the ex-husband who walked out on her is.
Can’t we love both parents in spite of their differences, regardless about who is right or wrong? They all have said bad things about the others. Get over it.
That was a great analogy, Dalevis. I, myself, side with Mom because Mom has always been there for me – in good times and in bad.
That was a pretty good analogy but horribly biased from the start and not very accurate. It’s not nearly as much about wishing they’d get back together as much as wishing they could get along for one evening, for the sake of the “kids” (fans).
So, there’s nothing wrong with “Mom” going around talking as much trash about “Dad” as possible and only letting him come around when she can get some money out of him? Hard to love (or respect) “Mom” when she’s just a bitter old hag who calls “Dad” was a Cancer (especially when “Dad” is a Cancer survivor).
they were only elected in because the ceremony is in nyc..if this was in Alaska , Hawaii , florida, or any other of the 50 states, kiss does not get in. period end of story.
When you younger kids dream of becoming a rock star, you should take a look at KISS to see just how much “fun” such a life can be. I wanted, more than anything, to make it big as a metal guitarist. Now? I’m sort of glad I didn’t. I think I’d have more fun playing clubs with my friends here and there.
Yeah I feel the same way sometimes, it might be better to keep dreaming than to have your dreams be lost and never get them back.
I think this might be a reason why Gene & Paul have such strong bitterness toward Ace & Peter…because the magic of 70’s KISS died when those two guys left the band and no matter how hard they tried they never were able to get that magic back again. (except perhaps briefly on the reunion tour.) I’m sure in the 80’s and early 90’s Paul & Gene were haunted by their past glory and wished it could be like that again, and to make matters worse they probably realize now that even having Eric & Tommy in the same makeup as the other guys hasn’t been able to bring back that old magic either, so their bitterness has only increased.
From Paul’s perspective, it’s perfectly understandable why he thinks Ace and Peter are anti-Semitic. There are even a few photos floating around the internet of a drunken Ace wearing Nazi regalia back in the ’70s. That said, do I think that Ace is an anti-Semite? I don’t know him personally, but probably not. What I can say for sure is that for many years of his life, Ace was a drunken idiot who was photographed wearing Nazi gear and probably made stupid anti-Semitic comments.
His bandmates mother was a holocaust survivor. That was a dick move. There are some things that you just don’t do.
I totally agree.