KISS’ PAUL STANLEY SAYS THAT FRONTMAN DEE SNIDER, AND HIS TWISTED SISTER BANDMATES, ARE ALL “BUFFOONS”
Blabbermouth.net reports:
During a recent appearance on Eddie Trunk’s show, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider criticized KISS frontman Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons for having current KISS members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer dress up as Peter Criss’s and Ace Frehley’s respective “Spaceman” and “Catman” personas. Dee told Trunk, “I don’t see how people could accept this. Tommy Thayer? I’m sorry. It’s insulting. Not only did he play in a tribute band of KISS, he’s imitating Ace in his entire act!” Snider went on to bash Thayer for allegedly copying Ace’s stage moves. He said, “Oh my God — that’s disgraceful. When KISS replaced Ace and Peter, and they brought in guys [Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent] who had their own makeup and their own thing, that was acceptable. That was awesome. They were their own characters.”
Stanley got an opportunity to respond to Snider during an interview for Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast. He said, “Well, let me put it in the simplest terms. In this case, this guy is a wannabe, has always been a wannabe and desperately wants attention and to be taken seriously, and that will never happen because he’s obviously clueless that he and his whole band are a bunch of buffoons.”
A few months ago, Stanley told Rolling Stone magazine that part of the reason the new characters in KISS didn’t work is simply that “people didn’t buy it. It lost its believability.” He added, “We saw a decline that started gradually, but quickly we fell off the edge of the cliff. To go from doing multiple nights in an arena to, next tour, not being able to sell out a theater, is stark.”
During an interview on Eddie Trunk’s podcast, Frehley was asked what his “evaluation” is of Tommy “dressed as [Ace]” and “doing [Ace’s] thing.” He responded, “[Tommy is] not Ace Frehley by any stretch of the imagination, number one. Number two, what bothers me the most is that I know the new fans that KISS are getting don’t know it. A lot of people that see Tommy up there think he’s the original guy that created the makeup, that wrote great songs and wrote all those solos that he’s performing, but he’s not. He’s just a guy up there copying me and trying to move like me and trying to sing like me and trying to play like me. And that’s what bothers me the most. I mean, the real hardcore fans know. But the new fans, a lot of them don’t know.”
source: blabbermouth.net
Cripes, so sad to see the rock heroes of my youth (not just these two) reduced to crabby old guys shaking their fists at kids on their lawn. Liking bands or artists doesn’t have to be a zero/sum game or a sports competition. The whole “Tommy Vs. Ace” thing now is boring and played out. Everybody has chosen their side and made it known, for YEARS now. The whole “bash another band to build mine up” is boring and played out too. It was lame in 1985 and it’s still lame now.
So … concert attendees are too ignorant to know it isn’t Ace in the Spaceman make-up, but they’re knowledgeable enough to reject the Ankh?
New characters aren’t believable and the fans won’t buy them, but Thayer and Carr in the make-up ARE believable and the fans ARE buying them?
I’ll bet that when Dick Sargent replaced Dick York in Bewitched, Paul didn’t even notice.
Where’d he say that they were trying to convince ignorant concert attendees that it is Ace up there. ?
Huh? That isn’t even what I said!
Which Dick did you prefer? Sargent or York?
WOW!!! So…let me get this straight. Paul is blaming KISS’ late ’70s/early 80’s “decline” on the fact that they had to replace Ace & Peter with 2 new characters? So it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact they had been releasing s–t albums since 1979 (that btw him & Gene were almost wholly responsible for writing & overseeing to make sure their “vision” for KISS was maintained)?? That makes total sense…NOT!!! As Eddie has said many times, Paul is just butthurt that someone dared to criticize his thoughts, feelings, &/or opinions concerning KISS. For him to blame Eric (RIP) & Vinnie is bad even for him.
Where did he blame Carr or Vinnie ? Right or wrong he correlates the early 80’s decline with new make up. I don’t think it was the case,even though you could make the case for it because the Creatures touring line up was more successful during the Lick It Up period,without make up. He didn’t blame the members, just the decision to change make up.
Another KISS (cover band) fan drinking the kool-aid it seems…
Please answer the question, you made a false statement about PS blaming former members ,when right or wrong,he blamed the changes in make up ? Doesn’t take Kool Aid to spot that.
I agree with Ace & Dee 100%, this “version” of Kiss is really twisted.
Paul needs to understand that having people other than Peter and Ace wearing the iconic makeup they created and imitating their stage acts will be subject to criticism. In my opinion, the current state of the band is a tribute act, and I used to worship this band as a kid. The legacy of KISS, a once mighty iconic band, is going downhill as long as this joke of an act continues in its present form. I would rather pay $20 to see one of the many tribute acts impersonating this band rather than pay big dollars to see the KISS tribute act. The songs would definitely be performed better.
Paul needs to get thicker skin about this controversial topic and quit firing back at those expressing their opinions about it. The fact that people are so passionate about this topic is because they are real dedicated fans who are passionate of the band. That, in itself, should make Paul feel proud of the legacy this band created with its four original, iconic members.
Paul’s comments are childish
People expressing opinions shouldn’t be worried about opposition to their opinions.