Brian Aberback from NJ’s Steppin’ Out magazine recently spoke with KISS’ Paul Stanley. An excerpt can be read below.
Steppin’ Out: What is the main message you want people to take from your book?
Paul Stanley: I wanted to be able to write a book that shows how you can go through unsettling times and turmoil and come out on top. There’s no substitute for determination and drive. My life has a happy ending. I thought my story was something people could benefit from. My 19-year-old read the book and I got the response I hoped for. He thought it was fabulous and very inspiring.
Steppin’ Out: From the very beginning you were faced with obstacles. You were born with microtia, a birth defect in which part of your right ear is missing, and you’re also deaf in that ear. How did that affect your musical ambitions?
Paul Stanley: It never affected my music. It affected my social interactions, how I was seen and sometimes ridiculed. Music became my refuge. Although I may not hear music the same way that someone who has hearing in both ears hears it, I never missed anything because I don’t know what things would have sounded like otherwise.
Steppin’ Out: You’re the last of the original members of KISS to write a book. Have you read the other guys’ books?
Paul Stanley: Gene’s book is understandably written from him being in the center of everything, because that’s what he’s like. The other two [by guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss] go from being questionable to absurd. When people’s recollections are tainted by substance abuse they’re not usually people an attorney wants to put on a witness stand. The few bits I read were so ridiculous that it was frightening to think that either of them believe it. For a lot of reasons I feel I’m more objective.
Steppin’ Out: You’re being inducted into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, and you’re furious with the Hall. Why is that?
Paul Stanley: They are only inducting the original members. It’s disrespectful. We never could have started without [original guitarist and drummer] Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, but this band has a 40-year history that should not be ignored. The Hall of Fame people said that inducting other members who were in the band for decades and played on multi-platinum albums like [guitarist] Bruce Kulick and [late drummer] Eric Carr was a non-starter. That’s not how it has worked with other bands. There’s a commune of Grateful Dead members in there including a writer who never played an instrument and a bass player in Metallica who had only been in the band for 7 years when they were inducted. We are in the Hall of Fame not because those people want us there but because it began to look absurd not having us there. To have a band that many pop bands site as an influence and to be ignored year after year takes a lot of effort. They also wanted to strong arm us into playing with the original guys onlhy in gear and makeup and that was a nonstarter. I’ve been doing this 40 years with total pride and confidence and it would be rolling the dice.Whether it’s official or not I will be there to celebrate 40 years of this band.
The entire interview runs April 9th at so-mag.com.
152 Responses
I bet he doesn’t talk about his extensions, Gene ignored his wig action.
Paul wears a wig when performing.
Has for years…it’s not exactly like he’s trying to hide it either. One minute his hairs short, the next…long onstage.
How can you ignore my raccoon skull cap.
Go to Kissonline.com and orders yours today!
For Eddie Trunk fans…I’ll add 10% to the advertised price.
Kiss post Ace and Peter are NOT Hall worthy, PERIOD Paul
“Hall worthy”? Really?
So according to you, ALL the musicians inducted in RROHF deserve to be there?
If so, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Megadeth do not?
Loser!
Past mistakes have nothing to do with this…Kiss did nothing memorable after Love Gun.
it’s amazing how wrong some people can be.
Lol…good lord. Creatures, Lick it Up, Animalize, Revenge…all strong albums. With COTN easily being one of the top Kiss albums ever. Lets see hear…COTN tour, HITS tour, Revenge tour…all memorable tours. Okay…let’s add in the Reunion tour, arguably the biggest tour of Kiss’s career…and they did nothing memorable after Love Gun. Wrong…thanks for playing though.
Ace and Peter should punch them out on stage at the RRHF induction.
That would be the ultimate in hilarity…
eddie, I have watched and read all your thoughts on kiss and the hof , and after hearing paul and gene defend their decision , I have to side with ace, peter and with you as well, this is the hof decision [ ORIGINALS ONLY ] and they should have put together something …. although paul and gene have valid points- the kiss brand is the whole point of the band now- and I have to believe paul and gene are angry / disappointed with ace and peter -also paul and gene must have a lot of respect for tommy , eric and bruce , I’m sure they are friends , to sum up my thoughts, I believe all members in the 40 yr. history should be inducted-
OMG!! How many more times do you have to blast Ace and Peter about drugs and drink? JFC man!!! nd Paul really. Look in the fucking mirror bro. Your not what you were 10 yrs. ago in that Starchild Suit. And your voice is gone. Gene hardly moves and is fat. Yet your all worried about Ace and Peter up there playing and embarrassing you? So Ace would of needed to crash diet for 3 months? So fucking what. Peter looks to be better shape than any of you by the way. Your petty excuses of not doing this for KISS fans are all smoke screens. I think I speak for most KISS fans when I say. Please just hang it up. It’s over!! You stayed at the party way too long man!!! You and Gene fucked up and tarnished what you 4 original KISS members worked so hard for. Bill Aucoin would be way pissed right now. Dudes makes you a rock star by feeding you, clothing you, taking a chance on making you Rock Stars with his personal credit card. He paid the price man!! Without Bill Aucoin, Shawn Delaney And Neil Boggart you’d still be driving a cab in Queens. AGAIN PLEASE RETIRE. “GO AWAY”
When people stop asking him about Ace and Peter, he’ll stop talking about them.
ever hear of, no comment?
Apparently you haven’t.
ATTENTION DR, NO COMMENT.
DR….bullshit. Gene & Paul are so consumed with Ace & Peter it goes well beyond the state of normal behavior. ” When ppl stop asking”……roflmao, please. Joe in The Cuse.
And gene’s stupid looking wig….we all know its a wig gene!
Nope, apart from the extensions on stage, I fear it is his own hair, or what is left of it, blown up with a ton of hair spray to some kind of helmet, as he also confesses, because no wig maker of some kind would offer a client of that money such an awful wig, wigs can look much much better than this.
Since I can’t reply below…2 mill? Hell yeah that’s a lot of money regardless of who you are or think you are. And no…the Reunion tour was NOT a guaranteed success before it started from the promoters point of view. All the top promoters refused to give Kiss the guarantee’s they were asking because they thought they’d lose money on it. That is a freaking fact. Sorry bud, I worked for one of the largest promoters in the country and they all flat out thought the tour would be marginal at best. Gene and Paul dropped the guarantee demands and decided on a 90/10 split with the promoters. Had the tour failed under that agreement or done marginal business they would have gone bankrupt…but Peter and Ace were guaranteed their money sink or fail. When Detroit sold out in 40 mins…the promoters knew they’d just screwed the pooch big time. I actually had one of the top bookers at the company laugh at me…he knew I was a huge Kiss fan and he asked…what do you think the tour will do. I said it would sellout everywhere and he laughed. Btw/ this is the same booker who put together Gibson Guitars 100th Anniversary Show in Nashville that Kiss played back in 94. Eddie can verify every single bit of this in terms of how the majority of promoters felt. They felt the band was dead makeup or not. My point…Ace and Peter made a clean 2 mill, incurred none of the expenses of a tour and did not have to worry if the tour failed or succeeded. Did Gene and Paul end making a mint off that tour…yep. But they also took a chance and rolled the dice big time. But that’s fine…think what you , I know the truth. I saw it.
Please do NOT speak for me Bryan…respectfully I strongly disagree as a Kiss fan since 76 and who has enjoyed Kiss each year since I love and completely dig Eric and Tommy with Paul and Gene and my friends and I all have as well as our children and their friends loved the new albums and the Spider stage and the escape and thrill being a Kiss fan brings. It made me speechless to see my children and their friends go with me to Hogwild Records in san Antonio the day MONSTER was released and to see them experience exactly what I got to do as a kid the day LOVE GUN was released in stores. I again don’t het why everyone gets the need to be so ANGRY and upset over the fact that Kiss is happy today with the current group. Don’t get me wrong I love and STILL support and purchase all that Ace and Peter release and yes their is magic in that original lineup. But there are many of us that still love Kiss and while the upset original only crowd may complain louder, the fact is Eric Singer is a badass drummer and became my honest fave drummer since Revenge on. Just my opinion. Ace is still my all time favorite guitarist but I think Tommy a great guitar player,much better than Bruce and I mean that respectfully as Bruce was a great team player. Two guys who spent more years WANTING to be solo, wanting to be free of Kiss (ACE and PETER) aren’t going to ruin my respect for the two who kept up the fight to keep Kiss flag flying that the original four began. Different paint designs are not necessary for me to validate the current lineup. I’m sorry this isn’t another up in arms screaming injustice to Ace and PETER. While I will always love them, I feel the injustices they did to Kiss,the choices they made, the stunts and complaining…to me those thin
OMG!!! Thank you dude!!! I was the biggest Kiss fan of them all and even thru Gene’s vocal “Family Jewels” days and his appropriately names “A$$HOLE” CD I was still able to put all that aside and still shell out the money to see them and just say…ok, he’s still the Demon. THIS…has killed Kiss for me and I am in FULL agreement with every single word you just said. I cannot stand Paul Stanley anymore and he has single handidly KILLED Kiss. Gene and Paul don’t want to “slap Tommy and Eric in the face” but are more than willing to degrade this experience for Ace and Peter and speak of them as trivialities when THEY are 2 of the 4 reasons why Kiss is still around. Kills me. I bought a ticket to the Summer tour (5th row center) and it will take a SEVERELY altered setlist for me not to sell said ticket for a thousand dollars. Really, I figure they made enough money off of me…now it’s time for a little payback. Good for you dude…all of it well said. \m/
Judas, enough already.
Dead horse BEATEN once AGAIN.
Being the son of an alcoholic who liked to beat on me when he came home drunk, BUT is now RECOVERED, I have nothing but disdain for Paul & Gene’s continued bashing of Ace & Peter’s PAST.
I LOVE my father today and would NEVER remind him of the past because he KNOWS & REGRETS what happened in the PAST.
Does anyone hear Ace & Peter bashing Gene & Paul in the media building up to this monumental moment in KISSTORY?
ENUFF ALREADY!!!
well said my friend, well said.
Uh, yeah…for a near decade Ace and Peter bashed them before the Reunion tour. Where were all you people then? As soon as each members 25% stake in the band ran out the insults started flying from A & P. You guys thinking this is something new need to do a little research on old Rock Mags, and Guitar Mags from the 80’s and 90’s. Yep, Ace and Pete bashed them aplenty. In fact there was a Guitar World around the time of the Revenge era lineup where the Paul and Gene finally started firing back. Mr. Trunk himself knows what I’m talking about. Rocks have been thrown for decades by both sides but Ace and Peter opened the can of worms. That’s a fact.
Gene and Paul have always lobed insults to Ace and Peter. I read stories from as far back as Lick It Up where they would take shots at them. In the years since it has only gotten worse. BTW not taking the makeup off is a slap in the face and an insult. I understand that if Kiss went back to performing no one would show anymore, but I also know their attendance numbers would be low if they tried to go out without bands like Def Leppard and Motley Crue.
Doesn’t change the fact that it all started with Peter when the original contracts ran out. Peter started bagging on them about trying to derail his solo career and his “supposed” book that he was writing where he was gonna spill the beans as far back as 85. As for Ace…not true during the LIU era, they remained on good terms for quite awhile. Lots of pics out there with Paul and Gene jamming with Ace in the clubs during this era. Regardless, are you going to sit there and let someone hammer away on you without saying anything. I doubt it. Personally, I was finally glad when Gene and Paul started firing back. However at this point I’d wish they’d all just stop.