Loudwire

Arlo Pepper

They say music is subjective, right? There is no right or wrong, just preferences. Don’t tell that to Kiss fans. With an obsessiveness rivaled only by Trekkies, soldiers of the Kiss Army have been known to spend countless hours arguing over the most minute of details. Old-school purists will sing the praises of 70’s staples like “Parasite” or “Shock Me”, while latter-day fans will strongly espouse the merits of “Hide Your Heart” or “Unholy”. Certainly there must be a way of once-and-for all settling the notion that not all Kiss songs are created equal?

That’s exactly what listeners of Pod of Thunder, the long-running Kiss related podcast are doing. For the next few months, diehard fans (affectionately known as “POTheads”) will be voting via Facebook on their favorite Kiss songs. They will be pitted against one another in a March Madness style single-elimination tournament until one song is crowned the all-time “Stone Kold Kiss Klassic” (SKKK).

Over the course of its 200-plus episode run, Pod of Thunder’s three hosts – Nick Jones, Andy Jones and Chris Lathrop – have hilariously critiqued and analyzed every song in the extensive Kiss catalog. Some have been declared real stinkers, but many have been elevated to the lofty status of SKKK. It’s these best-of-the-best songs that are competing against one another in a tournament dubbed “The SKKK Tournament of Champions”.

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Mark Strigl | Talking Rock

On a recent episode of the 3 Sides of the Coin show, former Kiss producer Michael James Jackson was asked about Ace Frehely’s involvement on both the Killers and the Creatures of the Night albums. He said “Ace did play. I don’t remember; It was along time ago, I don’t remember what he played on. We recorded him in New York.”

When asked if this was for the Killers, Creatures of the Night or both? His response was “I honestly don’t remember. It was a very long time ago.”

He is then asked if it is possible that Ace’s guitar playing may be part of the basic rhythm guitar parts on the Creatures Of the Night album to which he responds “yeah, yeah., I remember we recorded him at Electric Lady. I don’t remember whether it was on a track or several tracks for Killers or on Creatures.”

In the 2003 official Kiss book Behind the Mask, Michael James Jackson is quoted as saying Ace was not on the Creatures of the Night record. In the same book, Vinnie Vincent talks about meeting Ace at this time. Could this meeting have taken place in the studio while they were recording Creatures? Ace Frehley, of course, went on to appear on the album cover, in the promotional music video for the track “I Love It Loud” and also did some press for the record. Around this time Ace claims that Kiss was encouraging him to go and do solo records but also to stay on as a member of the band.

Why has Michael James Jackson’s recollection of Ace’s involvement with a Kiss at this time in history changed? Again, in the 2003 book, he says Ace was not on the Creatures record and now in 2018 he claims he did record guitar sessions with him for either Killers or Creatures. Could his account had been altered for the “official” Kiss book in 2003 or is he now remembering things differently? Thoughts? Let us known the comment section.

This post was written by Mark Strigl Continue reading →