ROCK HALL DEFENDS THEIR POSITION ON KISS, CEO JOEL PRESSMAN SAYS SINGER AND THAYER “TOOK ON PERSONAS CREATED BY ACE AND PETER”

KISS400 Gary Graff of Billboard reports:

With the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony looming closer, neither KISS nor the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation seem ready to relax the entrenched positions that led to the group’s decision not to perform April 10th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

KISS, according to frontman Paul Stanley, is upset that the Rock Hall plans to induct only the group’s founding lineup and tells Billboard that discussions about subsequent members “was shut down as a non-starter.”

Nevertheless, Stanley says KISS feels that honoring the other six musicians who have played in the band is “a very valid argument considering that there are people who played on multi-platinum albums and played for millions of people and were very important for the continuation of the band. And clearly when you’ve got a busload of Grateful Dead (members) who have been inducted and guys in the Chili Peppers who nobody knows who they are because they played on the very earliest albums are inducted…The list goes on and on of the inconsistencies. Now, I’m not pointing fingers at any of those people, but I’m certainly pointing a finger at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The only consistencies are inconsistencies and the rules clearly are there are no rules because the criteria for how and who gets in is purely based upon a personal like or dislike. And when I feel we’re being treated unfairly, I have issues with that.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation CEO Joel Peresman says that the decision about who to induct from any band is made by the Rock Hall’s nominating committee as well as an adjunct group of “scholars and historians” familiar with specific inductees and genres. “This isn’t chemistry or physics; it’s not an exact science,” Peresman acknowledges. “Sometimes there’s an entire body of work up until (the artists) are inducted, other times it’s a specific period of time that established the band as who they are. With KISS there wasn’t one person here who didn’t agree that the reason Kiss was nominated and is being inducted was because of what was established in the ’70s with Ace (Frehley), with Peter (Criss), with Paul and Gene (Simmons). That’s what put them on that map.”

Peresman adds that KISS “is a unique situation where you have artists who wear makeup as part of what the band’s about,” but the Rock Hall felt that the later members — including current guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who are wearing Frehley and Criss’ makeup, respectively — “are fine musicians who…basically have the same makeup and are the same characters that Ace and Peter started. It’s not like they created these other characters with different makeup and playing different songs. They took the persona of characters that were created by Ace and Peter.” Persman notes that last year Heart was in a similar position, where the Rock Hall chose to induct the original ’70s sextet and not later musicians that played in the band.

But Stanley feels the situation with KISS is a bit more personal. “That it’s 14 years on (of eligibility) and we’re getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a clear indication that the people who hide behind that moniker don’t like us, but it reached a point where it was so absurd and ludicrous (to exclude Kiss) that they caved,” he says. “It’s like them swallowing a teaspoon of medicine they don’t want. It’s a bitter pill for them to swallow, so they’re making it as small as possible.”

Stanley says that the Rock Hall asked KISS to perform as the original quartet, in make-up, but he and Simmons — who have been playing with three-time KISS member Singer again since 2002 and Thayer since 2004 — were not confident the performance would be up to standard. “Honestly, I don’t want to roll the dice and possibly negatively impact on what I personally have been involved in building for 40 years,” he explains. “I have too much invested at this point. It really is a can of worms that I feel is better off left closed.” Peresman, meanwhile, says the Rock Hall has no plans for a performance stand-in for Kiss at the ceremony. “We have other artists, other inductees showing up and performing when they can,” Peresman says. “We’re very hopeful that Ace and Peter and Paul and Gene come and accept their award. We’re obviously honored to have them inducted.”

Read more at Billboard.

source: billboard.com

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208 Responses

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  • Mark on

    Paul and Gene don’t seem to realize that when they lie abut things like multi platinum album sales its easy to look that stuff up, they haven’t gone platinum since Hot in the Shade in the late 80s, if that’s they’re criteria, i.d be fine with Bruce going into the hall


    • Dave Esselburn on

      Except that Platinum Albums are not part of the criteria. In fact, according to Peresman, the criteria is “influence” (whatever that means) and who wore the original character makeup. If a concrete measurement of quality like Platinum Albums was used, then Kulick, Carr and Vincent would be inducted. See, that’s objective criteria for induction. But the RRHOF doesn’t have any standardized criteria. If they did, then there’d never be any controversy for any band/lineup. The problem isn’t Gene and Paul. The problem is the lack of transparent voting and standardized criteria used by Wenner and his cronies.


    • John Gross on

      Last KISS cd to go Platinum was Psycho Circus.


  • Roger on

    I’m going to see KISS in Austin, TX. I can’t wait!!!!!!


  • Det Pak on

    Does this mean Steve Perry won’t make it to the RnR HOF too, he wasn’t an original Journey member,but as stupid minded as they are Journey or Deep Purple won’t ever make it in,crap that means Gillan and Glover Coverdale and Hughes are out too,none of them were original members of DP either!!


    • Dave Esselburn on

      The RRHOF will say that Gillan and Glover had “influence” and will induct the Mark II lineup. They’ll then say Hughes/Coverdale Mark III version and all subsequent and prior versions had no “influence” and dismiss them as they’ve done to the other KISS lineups. The lack of criteria and transparency by the RRHOF invalidates all these inductions and the institution.


    • John Gross on

      Deep Purple will not be the same, all members will get in. Better band. Just the facts


    • Dana on

      John, I agree with you. The fact that Deep Purple is not in, is a travesty.

      Dana from ET.com šŸ™‚


    • John Gross on

      I don’t understand it, if you actually listen to them you can quite clearly hear the quality. Same with Cheap Trick, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Motley Crue.


    • Dave Esselburn on

      Oh, I agree DP is the better band. But the RRHOF is not putting in Satriani, Bolin, Joe Lynn Turner, Don Airey, and Steve Morse. They’re going to say that either they didn’t play on influential albums or were not in the band long enough. And then we’ll all be back here arguing again and Wenner and company will be laughing at the fans….again. Or maybe they will put them all in if they put Trujillo in with Metallica. But that brings us back the snubs of the KISS members. :/


  • Gene'sRaccoonWig on

    “So F@cking what, the magic is back!” – Gene Simmons Reunion Press Conference.
    : ) šŸ™‚ šŸ™‚ )

    F you Gene and Paul


    • Cali on

      LOL, Gene’s RaccoonWig- hahahahha….. did anyone catch him on CSI last week??

      That wig looked like he was wearing a hairnet over it. If you caught him in near side profile and the light was shining on his hair, I swear he was wearing a net.



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