KISS’ PAUL STANLEY COMMENTS ON ACE FREHLEY’S AND PETER CRISS’ AUTOBIOGRAPHIES STATING “THE FEW BITS I READ WERE SO RIDICULOUS THAT IT WAS FRIGHTENING TO THINK THAT EITHER OF THEM BELIEVE IT”
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.
Paul always used to say that you shouldn’t stay at the party too long. Well, Paul, the party ended in 2001. Why are you still at the party…? Everybody at the party is talking about your shot singing voice, but you still hoist your glass to yourself and say it’s for us, the fans. Nobody likes to see the drunk guy ruin the party and embarrass himself and make everyone uncomfortable, and nobody likes to see the aging Starchild’s inflated sense of self-importance trump reality. The host and hostess of the party tried dropping hints, but you are still here. Us fans, your bosses, are sickened by your delusion. Listen to yourself. You are a myriad of soundbites, marketing savvy, and with a predisposition to exalting yourself. You haven’t listened to the core, longtime fans in many, many years. It’s sad to watch. Too bad you can’t see it from your ivory tower, pal.
Not that was a great post!!!
Here are some statistics on the importance of Peter in KISS. Did not write a song on the first three albums, he was only allowed to sing( Strange Ways, Getaway) on some songs because Ace wrote but was not comfortable singing at that point and other songs ( Black Diamond, Nothin to Lose, Mainline), Paul and Gene and producers let him sing just to keep him from whining. All these songs could have been sung by someone else and would not have missed a beat. Finally, sort of,wrote a song with Beth(Bob Ezrin had to basically rewrite the whole thing) and with a lot of luck became a huge hit. Beth is basically not a KISS song and it gave Peter delusions that he actually had talent. He did not write Hard Luck Woman and the song probably would have been better with Paul singing it or even Rod Stewart for whom it was intended. Baby Driver and Hooligan are decent songs but probably the worst songs on their respective albums. Basically does not appear again on a KISS studio album except for the piece of crap Dirty Livin’ on Dynasty. Must have been nice to have your face on the cover of albums and lie to the public that it was actually you playing huh Pete. So overall Peter appeared on 6 Kiss studio albums and wrote 4 songs. Any of his solo work is unlistenable, he has never been offered to be in any other bands. His drumming ability is less than average, I have read stories of record producers making fun of it. I for one have seen his drum solo one time, and it was intolerable, every other time I went to see KISS with Peter, I took his drum solo as an opportunity to go to the bathroom. And yet I have to watch Peter come on TV and declare how important he was in the history of KISS and how hurt he was that Paul and gene will not let him play. What a bunch of garbage. Nobody should be playing. Paul’s voice is shot, ace hits one out of every ten notes correctly and Peter is lucky if he can lift a drumstick. The real tragedy in all this, as I have said a million times is that Eric Carr is not being inducted at all. He is far more deserving than Peter. Shame on Gene and Paul for allowing that to happen. That is what they should be criticized for, not for not wanting to perform with Peter Criss, who never respected how lucky he truly was.
I agree that Peter Criss is one lucky bastard. In fact they all are. I sometimes wonder how the whole Kiss story would have evolved if P & G found better and more committed people to join up with. Maybe they wouldn’t even had considered makeup and costumes. Or if they did how the critics would have responded to them with above averge musical talent.
I stopped being fan of the music a long time ago. Now it’s just a part of a much bigger picture for me. I sit back and watch this soap opera unfold like a tv show. I have no control of the plot or story but I enjoy each and every filthy little piece of it. That’s what KISS is to me, a guilty pleasure tv show that we all talk about. Some hate it, some love it but we all participate one way or another. A new episode and plot twist is right around the corner.
You have all valid points, yet nobody dresses as Tommy Thayer for Halloween. Point being, the original Kiss is iconic and no matter what happened or who wrote what or this song or that song etc etc etc, it will ALWAYS be Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace that the world will remember long after they are dead and gone. That’s powerful. And Gene and Paul know this. It’s bigger than music. You say “Ace”, people get it. It’s like saying “Ringo”. That’s iconic. Bottom line is what will people remember? Eric Singer? Please.
Pretty much dead on John…agree.
Dirty Livin a pos? WOW.
Can anyone tell me why every story on Kissonline features either Paul or Gene or both but rarely Thomas Thayer or Eric Singer? Why aren’t Tommy & Eric involved with LA Kiss or Rock N Brews? How come Thayer & Singer are barely mentioned in this whole ordeal except by Paul & Gene? Because they don’t matter nearly as much as Ace & Peter! Fact!
Yes, we all want to know about Copycat’s watch collection and Tommy’s golf shindigs. Add a football team and Rock and Brews with a bunch of coheadline tours because they can’t fill arenas in America anymore, and you have got yourself Kiss 2014. How exciting!
Tommy and Eric are employees in Kiss, they are not employees or even shareholders in these other businesses that Paul and Gene have started. I thought that was pretty clear.
The Gene and Paul Experience love to try to convince themselves that whatever it is that they put their hands to, it is “for the fans”. The reality is, it is solely for themselves. I can count the classic KISS sounding songs on their last 3 studio records on one hand, and one of those songs is “Out of this world”. It’s sad when Tommy knows Kiss better than Gene and Paul. I hope they are treating him really well, because he is a lot more valuable to them than they know. That being said, I cannot see one good reason why the original 4 cannot give us longtime fans one more time on stage. 2 songs. That’s it. The only thing I can think of is Paul’s voice. It sounds awful, and the last thing Paul wants to do is sound bad in front of his peers. Whether he admits it or not, he craves respect. You know, I have been a Kiss fan since 1976. For 38 years, I feel as if I kind of “know” the members. You longtime Army members know exactly what I am talking about. The saddest part of Kiss is that Gene and Paul think we are idiots. The same boring soundbites. The same ego inflated blah blah, over and over and OVER. I used to be proud to be a Kiss fan. Now, not so much. We fully realize Kiss probably cannot do a reunion tour again. We get that. But if they are so concerned with what the fans REALLY want, and feel that what Kiss has marketed the last 13 years is truly strong, they should have no problem doing 2 songs with Ace and Peter. It reminds me of someone who wins big at the lottery and then forgets about his friends back home that he grew up with. All the excuses in the world cannot hide the fact that he is being a douche.
Ace/ Peter should get up on the hall of fame stage and jam without Gene/ Paul as as a big surprise and pan over to Gene/ Paul and see the look on there faces. It would be so classic!
I agree!