KISS FRONTMAN PAUL STANLEY SAYS THAT ACE FREHLEY AND PETER CRISS SOLD THE RIGHTS TO THEIR MAKEUP FOR “NOT A WHOLE LOT”
As the controversy rages among KISS fans over whether Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer should wear the makeup made famous by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, Paul Stanley defended his band by saying that the answer is simple. In a new interview, he said KISS own the rights to their “Spaceman” and “Catman” characters, which they bought from the former members for a song.
Speaking to Australia’s 4KQ, Stanley said, “The guys basically sold it off for, you know, not a whole lot, because they didn’t think it was worth anything. Quite honestly, I’ve always thought our image and what we represent is priceless. It didn’t matter to some people — it truly matters to me.”
Stanley added that being in a band is no different from being an athlete on a team, where lineup changes are natural with the passage of time. “If somebody is out, somebody else comes along,” he said. “I don’t think that when you go to see your favorite team, you’re yelling that you want to see somebody who was in the team 20 years ago. Time moves on, but the team lives on. … I didn’t invent the wheel. Somebody is out there who can come in and take my place. … I don’t see a reason for the band to fold, any more than I can see a reason for a team to fold.”
additional source: ultimateclassicrock.com
I’m sure the comments thread trashing Paul will be hundreds of people long, but remember one thing: Paul was asked about Ace and Peter and their lack of ownership of their images, and he gave an answer.
When you’re blowing through all your millions on drugs, gambling, divorces, etc., and you decide to get off the money train because your buddies are whispering in your ears that your solo album was the best and you don’t need those two other guys because you’re just such a mega-talent on your own, you tend to make short-sighted decisions.
As a long term KISS fan from the 70’s, it’s funny to see interviews from makeup days where Paul and Gene say certain things that contradict their current comments. KISS is more like governmental politics than a band. Certain band members make public comments that seem like politically correct b.s. comments instead of just telling the truth, fans aren’t stupid and can see right through b.s. Seems a political atmosphere has always existed with KISS, but now with social media etc… a lot of dirty laundry has been aired and exposed of the original KISS members. To me, it’s kind of sad to see each original member attack each other. Life is short and all the negative comments etc… is taking away from what was once a powerful group. Forgive and forget, what was was. Move on and think of more creative ways of moving forward with KISS, instead of exposing information that should be left in the past.
Yep, it “truly matters” to him – in terms of MONEY, and money only. If he had any respect for what the band orginally stands for, he would either have stopped adding one (at best) mediocre vocal performance to the other or started the casting show already. Btw, this spider stage that they are currently advertising in one hundred interviews, if they had brought this cheap mess of thin trussrods to their European concerts I would really have been disappointed, but they brought the neat set that they had used in Japan before, which is far more exciting and – expensive. Compared to what big artists of today use as a stage Kiss has really fallen way behind. Which neatly coincides with Paul’s near loss of his voice. “i don’t see a reason for the band to fold” – no, you don’t, but there sure is one, just listen to yourself on every evening’s recording.
“truly matters to me”. that was on peter’s 1st solo album.
I’m confused, is this the band with Blotzer and Crucier or is that somebody else? How many times is Paul going to re-iterate that he owns the make-up and the songs and the dolls and the condoms? Good for him. He earned it. Now he has the band that he wants, so go make great music. Isn’t Paul a soul singer these days anyway? The Hall of Fame thing was the end of KISS for me. Who cares about 4 65 year olds? They all have books that tell each individual story. The time has come for the fans to stop paying attention to all of them. Make yourselves relevant with good music or go away. Ace can talk because SPACE INVADER was pretty good.
excellent point, michael