George Varga | San Diego Union-Tribune
Kiss singer and guitarist Paul Stanley covered a lot of ground in his 2014 autobiography, “Face the Music: A Life Exposed,” including his disclosure that he was born without a right ear. But he didn’t drop a single hint to even suggest he was yearning to front a new band that will focus entirely on classic soul and R&B songs from the 1960s and ’70s.
That, however, is precisely what Stanley, 63 will do next month at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood. On Tuesday, the veteran rocker announced the official launch of Soul Station, a 10-piece music “coalition” that will makes it debut at the Roxy on Sept. 11 and features longtime Kiss drummer Eric Singer. Stanley will dispense with his usual guitar duties to focus exclusively on singing.
“We’re living in a time of being fed canned pre-programmed backing tracks and lip syncing in place of the electricity and passion of real live R&B,” Stanley said in a statement released Tuesday.
“When I was a boy, before I ever saw The Who or Led Zeppelin, I saw Solomon Burke and Otis Redding. I saw The Temptations and all that music is part of the foundation of the music I’ve made. Soul Station is my chance to celebrate it for a night that’s real, live and faithfully recreates the sound with the respect it deserves. Whether it’s The Stylistics, The Dramatics, The Temptations, Smokey (Robinson)and The Miracles, Blue Magic and (so) on, these songs, arrangements and sound just blow you away.”
Since Stanley is not a jazz fan, it seems unlikely he named “Soul Station” after the classic 1960 album by sax great Hank Mobley. There are currently at least four other bands called Soul Station, including one in Italy, one in England, one in Australia and another in France.
As of this point, Stanley has announced no other shows with his Soul Station and no plans to record. He will rejoin Kiss for an October tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Will Stanley mix “Strutter,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “Rock and Roll All Nite” or any other Kiss favorites into Soul Station’s concert repertoire, which will reportedly include covers of The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination, The Miracles’ “Ooo Baby Baby” and The Stylistics’ “You Are My Everything?”
In a word, no.
“I don’t play guitar in the band and we don’t do a single Kiss song,” he said. “That’s not what this is about. It’s magical to hear those songs played right and we’re making magic.”
To aid him in his quest to create magic, Stanley will be assisted by a group of “legendary band members.” The lineup includes Rafael “Hoffa” Moreira (guitar & backing vocals), Sean Hurley (bass), Alex Alessandroni (keyboards), Ely Rise (keyboards), Eric Singer (drums & backing vocals), Ramon Yslas (percussion), Nelson Beato (backing vocals), Crystal Starr (backing vocals) and Ayana Layli (backing vocals).
Apart from Kiss drummer Singer, none of Soul Station’s members qualify as legends, in any conventional sense of the word, although most of them have solid resumes. No fewer than five of the nine musicians have performed on “American Idol” or “The Voice,” although not as contestants.
Tickets, priced at $69.50 each, are now on sale for Soul Station’s Sept. 11 Roxy Theatre performance. There is, apparently no significance to the date of their show.