Steve Appleford of the L.A. Times reports:
The sideshow at Dodger Stadium is about to begin as Paul Stanley emerges from his backstage trailer, shirtless and in full kabuki drag: bright red lips, his face painted harlequin white, a black star over his right eye. The singer-guitarist is here to perform with his band KISS but hears his name and walks over to a crowd gathered at the fence.
“Arriba!” yells one fan, and Stanley reaches over to shake hands, as dozens of cellphones take snapshots. “Let me see your shoes!” shouts another, and Stanley half-climbs the fence to swing a tasseled silver-and-black platform boot over the top. “Thanks, Paul!”
In less than an hour, Stanley and his musical partner of four decades, Gene Simmons, will lead KISS through two short sets of hooks and hard rock riffs as halftime entertainment for an ice hockey game between the Kings and the Ducks. It’s another strange gig in the ongoing saga of KISS, which long ago evolved from band to lucrative brand, ready for high-profile special events, reality TV and cradle-to-grave business ventures in the form of KISS Hello Kitty Dolls, KISS comics, books, T-shirts, action figures and restaurants as well as KISS caskets and KISS urns.
In one more way, 2014 could be the band’s most surprising year since its initial 1970s pop culture explosion, beginning with KISS’ induction April 10th into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It welcomes the hard-rock quartet into the critical pantheon that has at times violently rejected KISS and acknowledges the band’s huge impact on rock spectacle.
“I still believe the heart and soul of this is a band. The music is imperative,” says Stanley, who has produced the last two KISS albums and next month releases an autobiography, “Face the Music: A Life Exposed.” “Maybe our horizons are broader because we have an opportunity to go other places. Why not? Whether it’s a football team or restaurants, people say that’s not rock ‘n’ roll. Let me tell you what’s rock ‘n’ roll: Winning is rock ‘n’ roll.”
Being voted into the Hall of Fame is a victory that comes 15 years after the band’s initial eligibility and annual outrage from fans. But next month’s ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn also means dealing with old wounds and complications that began with the final exit of founding guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss more than a dozen years ago. In their place ever since are lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, 53, and drummer Eric Singer, 55, who both wear the makeup designs of their predecessors (designs owned by Simmons and Stanley).
“The naysayers, and some of them are loud, talk about Tommy or Eric being impostors. I think an impostor is a guy up there doing it for a paycheck,” says Stanley, back in his trailer and now dressed in his full stage regalia, with black feathers on his shoulders and medallions over his chest of a guitar pick, a feather, a star. “We’ve never been happier.”
Any hopes for a reunion in makeup of the four founding members at the Hall of Fame ceremony ended last week with a band decision to not perform in any capacity. A statement on the KISS website read: “This is understandably an emotional situation where there is no way to please everyone.”
Negotiations with the Hall of Fame stalled, say Simmons and Stanley, who wanted to include Singer and Thayer, while the Rock Hall wanted a reunion of the original quartet in makeup.
“Imagine getting onstage and playing with a lineup that does not exist,” says Simmons, 64, comparing the situation to a forced reunion with an ex-spouse. Both have bad memories of years of substance abuse by their former partners but say they are happy and proud to accept the award with the former members. Putting the original quartet in makeup was “a nonstarter,” says Stanley.
Simmons and Stanley questioned whether the former members were up to performing. Reached via email, both Criss and Frehley are working on solo albums and say their problems with drinks and drugs are behind them. Frehley has been sober for seven years.
“We should of been able to work it out as grown men; it’s a shame we couldn’t,” writes Criss, who also survived a 2007 breast cancer scare.
“My guitar playing, singing, writing, performing and producing skills are as good or better than the past,” Frehley writes. “For years, Gene and Paul have been trying to minimize my contributions to the band, even though I designed the famous KISS logo … and designed the trademarked makeup for the Spaceman character.”
All four said they were open to joining the night’s traditional jam session at the end of the night. “That’s what the celebration is all about,” Frehley writes.
Long before being voted into the Rock Hall as a band, Simmons and Stanley were outspoken critics of the rock institution and its rules. “We had issues before this happened. It doesn’t turn into a love fest now,” says Stanley, but acknowledged, “There are some people who are angry or hurt by this, and I don’t want to see that.”
The controversies over the Hall of Fame and newer members wearing classic makeup are issues mainly for older fans with an emotional attachment to the original band. [Bassist Gene] Simmons calls up a photo on his computer from a stadium show in Stockholm, then another from Lima, Peru. Both show ecstatic young fans in the front rows.
“Can you see the faces? That’s about 90,000,” he says of the crowd. “You see a bald head in there? You think they … about Ace and Peter? They’re going, ‘Who?’ We’ve been around 40 years, and only two members stayed there the whole time, never quit, no drugs, no booze. KISS is bigger than anybody in the band.”
Read more at the L.A. Times.
184 Responses
The truth of the matter is that if Ace and Peter cared about the fans, about the band, about the way Paul and Gene feel about them and about what KISS’ legacy is or could have been they wouldn’t have failed and QUIT not only once,but twice. Listen to the drumming on Alive! or Alive 2, then compare that to his drumming after the initial leg of the reunion tour and that is all the proof you need that Peter Criss is a mere shadow of his former self,much like Bill Ward. It was sad watching them labor through the Psycho Circus and Farewell tours with Ace and Peter’s uncreative, unspontaneous, and uninspired performances. I’ve been a fan since ’76 and Ace is my guy,but when I finally came around to the current line-up during the Sonic Boom tour I was treated to a band that was clicking on all cylinders and obviously and genuinely enjoyed performing together. Tommy and Eric treat being in the band the honor,respect and attention that Ace and Peter took for granted,but the FANS and the band deserved.
Great post, Bill.
“Listen to the drumming on Alive! or Alive 2, then compare that to his drumming after the initial leg of the reunion tour and that is all the proof you need that Peter Criss is a mere shadow of his former self”
Why does Eric need to wear Peter’s makeup if his drumming is better? Watch the Rock the Nation dvd. They had Eric drum like Peter did during the Reunion era.
Bill, give me a break. This isn’t about a “reunion” it’s about the original four guys who made history getting inducted. This was only going to be two songs at the most and Gene & Paul couldn’t even do that. I think it’s disgusting how Gene & Paul were not going to tell the fans about who was performing before tickets went on sale. What does that mean? It means that they know damn well that what theyre doing doesn’t sit well with the fans. This was to be a celebration of KISS like no other. Returning to their hometown as heroes and playing for the fans. Why do you think they’re having it in an arena? The HOF totally expected it to be a KISS night with them blowing the roof off the joint. Now, thanks to Gene & Paul it won’t be a special night. They have lost this fan forever.
What about Vinny? Gene and Paul got rid of him because he was to smart! you won’t here about him…
Or the writing credits. Gene and Paul are control freaks..
“My chemistry with the band helped put them back on top and gave them a musical credibility that they’d never had before, yet I couldn’t get the recognition I needed. I felt like I was imprisoned in a small cubicle, like it was someone else’s house….. Vinny Vincent..
I’m so over kiss, who wants to see a 64 year old guy sticking his tongue out any way…gross
Yep, Vinnie Vincent said THE EXACT SAME THING ACE AND PETER USED TO SAY.
Gene and Paul are control freaks who take all the credit.
Vinnie, the same guy who, not too long ago, was arrested for keeping several dead animals (dogs and cats) in plastic barrels at his house? Ahhh yes, a pillar of credibility!
Post a link to that article, please.
He was found innocent of that.
,i am not taking anyone’s side on this , but to say kiss is bigger today is just dead wrong and anybody that pays attention to this carefully can see this , no huge band as kiss was can go out and co headline shows with other bands and still think there huge. not happening.. when kiss toured with ace and peter on reunion tour and even before that back in 70’s kiss played 3 plus night at arenas …they were pulling in 100 million yr on merchandise back in then day …that’s not happening today…kiss has really become a parody of itself today …also ace did lots that what made kiss what i had come to love about the band had it not been for him i know i probably wouldn’t be playing guitar.. and tommy and eric in my book never did nothing in kiss now n past and even before when they played to their own groups had it been alice cooper lita ford… black n blue whoever …they are by far good musicians …hell i would be playing with vinnie vincent at least he did write damn good songs and one hell one a player i dont think tommy could dare compete with this guy on the guitar and eric on drums way to many fills on classic kiss songs kills it ….period
Agreed, if KISS is so big why did Sonic Boom and Monster tank???? Paul like to blame it on the music industry, but other top bands can still put out platinum cds. And for as much as Paul loves to drag Psycho Circus through the mud, it is far better than Boom and Monster. MY guess is that this 40th Anniversary Tour will be nowhere near the Reunion Tour and Psycho Circus Tour numbers. Would it have really killed them to do some songs without makeup??? This way it doesn’t tarnish the current lineup. Unreal how 2 grown men can behave and spit in the face of their fans. I have not heard Paul or Gene mention Bruce Kulick in the press since they kicked him out of the band in order to cash in on the reunion. But now Paul finds it an injustice that he is not being inducted??? Really Paul??? You are such a phony!!!!!!
i think we as fans should tell both gene and paul they are dead wrong about not playing with ace and peter and why the hell is tommy and eric even in this discussion they are not the ones even being inducted and paul and gene knew this months ago.. sounds like paul and gene are real jerks here and i don’t buy their crap anymore
In one statement Gene just summed up everything in how he sees the fans that supported Kiss to superstardom decades ago, “Can you see the faces? That’s about 90,000,” he says of the crowd. “You see a bald head in there? As long as he has people in places such as Peru that are starved for entertainment keeping his brand alive, he could give a f*ck about the people that bought Alive! and broke this band into a multi-platinum success. To Gene we’re all just some bald guy that is out of place with no relevance, purpose, or need being there. Well I’ve got news for you and your fat a**, just because we are the people that made you and supported you decades ago doesn’t necessarily mean we’re these bald guys like you – that ironically has the worst bad wig I’ve ever seen. I have a full head of hair and could still grow the mane I had in the 80’s if I wanted to unlike you. That’s ok Gene, get used to playing in these corners of the world. Your established former fan base will laugh as you play any casino or state fair that will have you in this country, while your football team goes down the toilet like everything else you’ve tried doing outside of Kiss: your movie career, your record label, your run at tv, etc. And one other thing that has to be addressed is you’re so quick to always bring up Ace and Peter’s past addictions, well how about yours? Aside from the money thing to the point you’d pimp out Shannon for the right price, your sex addiction is equally messed up. Here you are a guy that admittedly nailed elderly women when you where in your early 20’s?! The most messed up thing about it is I didn’t have to read Peter’s book to find this out since you already told us in yours! Ace has been clean and sober for years now and you still play that card. I don’t buy into that whole marriage bs of yours anymore than I believe a twisted f*ck like you didn’t work some farm animals in along the way. If only you could’ve been under the bus instead of Cliff.