Richard Beinstock of Guitar World reports:
…[KISS guitarist Tommy] Thayer’s path, of course, was not a straight shot from the bedroom to the KISS stage. He first rose to prominence as the guitarist in Eighties hard rock act Black ‘N Blue, who opened for KISS on tour and for whom Simmons produced a pair of albums. Post-Black ‘N Blue, Thayer also performed as Ace Frehley in a KISS tribute act, Cold Gin. He was brought into the KISS organization in an administrative capacity in the mid-Nineties and assumed the role of the Spaceman in 2002 after Ace Frehley parted ways with the band following their reunion.
When it comes to straddling the line between staying true to Frehley’s original sound and style and injecting some of his own unique guitar voice into the band, Thayer, whose primary guitar and amp setup on the End of the Road tour will be a Les Paul through his Hughes & Kettner Tommy Thayer DuoTone heads, says, “That’s always been a little bit of a trick. But my guitar style has always been very much in line with the classic original KISS style, because I think Ace and I came from the same school of those late-Sixties, early-Seventies English hard rock blues players like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck and Ritchie Blackmore. So it came very naturally to me to play that early KISS stuff true to the way it was written and recorded…”
…As for how he feels about possibly playing alongside Frehley or Eighties-era guitarist Bruce Kulick, were they to show up as surprise guests on this final run? “I think if it happens kind of organically, it would be great,” Thayer says.
The guitarist is also sympathetic — to a point, at least — toward the rigid stance some longtime fans have about seeing anyone but Frehley wearing the iconic Spaceman makeup. “I’ve been a fan for longer than probably most of these people, so I understand,” he says. “But you can’t expect things to be exactly how they were 40 years ago. That’s a fantasy. So I don’t let it bother me. I’m comfortable and confident with where I am and what I do.”
Read more at Guitar World.
36 Responses
The flood gates are about to open……
As crazy as it sounds Tommy at this point should be more concerned with fans and the media finding out en masse about Paul milli and gene vanilli – look he was hired to do a job, mimic ace and he is doing the best he can – same with Eric – Eric is a world class drummer – I really hope this sham does not follow these guys when kiss is over – it would not surprise me at all for kiss to just keep going … if enough people keep going to their karaoke show – why stop – they could roll out in black and silver tricked out wheelchairs shooting flames ………
Well, Paul and Gene have said, KISS will continue as an entity “forever,” if the market demands. They plan to hire their own clones, once they decide to put away their platforms.
hahahahhaah good one
Robert – Spot on with both of your comments!
Only Peter and Ace should be in those characters – Eric and Tommy should have their own.
Eric can be the Hawk and Tommy can be Surfer Dude
One wonders would Kiss still be around if Peter did not get fired and Ace stayed in the group (with both being clean)
Tommy Thayer? TOMMY THAYER!?!?!? Tommy Thayer shouldn’t be allowed to speak, let alone interviewed for Guitar World. Tommy portraying the St. Ace Frehley onstage is a moral violation. He’s worse than the guy who lit a cigarette aboard the Hindenberg. He’s the Bin Laden of guitar players. Instead of playing a guitar solo onstage, that time should be devoted for the audience to throw tomatoes at him – big, rotten tomatoes!
(I’m trying to fit in with all the other commenters. What do you think?…)
Well, I didn’t think the Hidenberg was a tragedy, so…
The Fox (Eric Carr) – cool
The Ankh Warrior (Vinnie Vincent) – cool
The Catman #2 (Eric Singer) – not cool
The Spaceman #2 (Tommy Thayer) – not cool
Must be nice to make a living and get rich off of somebody else’s life’s work.
Yes, just ask the “self made” billionaire, yes, with a b, Kylie Jenner-LOL!
Who? Whoever she sounds like she had a lot in common with Eric (Catman #2) Singer and Tommy (Spaceman #2) Thayer!
She is one the Kardashian sisters, as well as Forbes’ youngest “self made” billionaire. There has been a lot of flack about her being “self made” because of the notoriety of the family name, their “reality show” and the fact that she was born into money. So, that’s the point, she coasted her way to being “self made.”
Hmm… I’m not familiar with these people, I really don’t have any interest in phonies. Probably explains my dislike for Singer and Thayer, they are as far from “self made” as anybody! Everybody knows Peter Criss made Eric Singer, and Ace Frehley made Tommy Thayer.
Poor Bruce Kulick – always left out
In fairness, what unknown guy would turn down an offer to be in KISS? It’s probably a pretty good job. All of you guys trashing poor Tommy probably look like Crosby from CSNY. He applied for a job and now he’s the SPACEMAN. Good for him. You people want to whack him or throw him in the slammer for God’s sake. He’s a guitar player not an international terrorist. You people act like he’s Charles Manson or Osama bin Smoking Cigarettes! CALM DOWN AND JUST BREATHE FOR A MINUTE. SAY IT: HE’S JUST A GUITAR PLAYER, THAT’S IT. NOTHING MORE. IT’S OKAY, IT’S OKAY, IT’S OKAY! STOP IT! JUST STOP IT! JIMMY IT WAS A GIFT FROM MY MOTHER IN LAW. IT’S IN MY WIFE’S NAME. FAT F××K OUGHTTA WEAR A SIGN…….
Monet, I think you and that other guy up there ^ (RTunes or whatever) are being way too overdramatic. I never said or read anything about anybody wanting to see Thayer to get whacked or thrown in jail, ridiculous. All the music, all the moves, everything that Thayer does, is because of Ace, there is no originality on his part at all, it’s that simple and you can’t deny it. I’m sure he is a good person (never said he wasn’t) and probably a good guitarist as well, but the fact is over the last 17+ years, he has gotten rich by impersonating Ace Frehley. A cover band like Cold Gin is one thing, but when you are in the REAL BAND and impersonating (in every way) a legend, that’s something else. I’ve said this a million times, but if Tommy and Eric were allowed to be themselves in KISS, (like every other member before them) we wouldn’t even be having this conversation, again.
I actually like Tommy Thayer in Kiss; he reminds me of Ace Frehley with Don Felder or Steve Miller…I just block out his look…I wouldn’t go see Kiss now unless it was the original lineup, or someone paid me..maybe. Lol…they just flogged this thing into the ground. It’s not cool anymore, it’s not even so out, it’s in. It should take no effort, none, for me to get into Kiss.
“You Won’t Change Me” has phenomenal singing from Ozzy.
I have no issue at all with Tommy or Eric , Paul and Gene run kiss, they made them a great offer and they accepted and are doing a great job mimicking the past ! I agree with Eddie on this , Kiss was over for me the second that happened – IMO KISS could have easily maintained their status as the hottest band in the world and continued on with Tommy & Eric as their own characters it would have been a very easy sell to their fans – I think its so much deeper with them than trying to maintain their Kiss “brand ” I think regarding Ace & Pete they must still feel a lot of anger, hurt and betrayal , this decision they made has always felt to me more like a punishment doled out to Ace & Pete , than a sound business decision –
I hate to keep bring up the lip syncing thing so much in my posts.. but , it’s wrong for rock music , it’s a horrible business decision to run a con on your fans – and if it is successful for them , lip syncing could become in a few years common place in rock , which would be the final nail in the coffin for live rock music – just one example being : seasoned songwriters/musicians creating amazing songs in a studio then a company hiring perfect looking 20 something actors to lip sync the music live ….. this really could happen – just ask the last member of milli vanilli the one who didn’t commit suicide-