Joe Polo
Monthly Archives: June 2014
Paul Stanley of KISS guests on Hallmark TV’s Home & Family
KISS frontman Paul Stanley was the featured guest on Tuesday’s edition of “Home & Family” on the Hallmark channel.
Stanley was on hand to promote his recently-released memoir, “Face The Music: A Life Exposed”, as well as demonstrate his home cooking skills.
The memoir debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times “Hardcover Nonfiction” best sellers list.
Published April 8, the book chronicles Stanley’s life and rise to global success with KISS, which he co-founded in January of 1973 with bassist Gene Simmons from the ashes of the pair’s previous band, Wicked Lester.
Ace Frehley talks recording Hotter Than Hell and Dynasty
Gene Simmons of KISS to produce ‘Ugly Models’ TV show
KISS’s long-tongued God of Thunder, the incomparable Gene Simmons, is going to produce a series titled “Ugly Models.” The show’s name mimics a British modeling agency that takes on “character models” of every description.
The modeling agency actually has the word “ugly” in capital letters sprawled across its home page. If you’d like to see what they call “character models,” click HERE. The site says, “We like our women fat and our men geeky, we like the extremely tall and the shockingly small. No one is too abstract for our books! We are Ugly. And we are the leaders in character modeling. With a unique outlook on modeling [sic], our philosophy is simply – ‘Any beauty can be airbrushed but we want our look to have true character.’”
Not everyone at Ugly Models is just an ordinary character. They have some folks on the roster that are also in the Guinness World Records, such as the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen, who is 8 feet, 1 inch tall. They also have more traditional looking models. According to the site, “If you have luscious locks and fab abs, you’re still Ugly to us!”
Strange Ways podcast 22 – It’s all about Paul, part 1
Jody Havenot
Dude…It’s all about Paul!!! Episode 22 and 23 finds us joined by our PODCAST ROCK CITY bro, Joe Polo!!! We celebrate and discuss all things Paul Stanley!! The conversation was a blast, but it went a little long…So it is divided into 2 episodes..so make sure you get both parts!!! And as always, thanks for listening. and keep on rockin’!
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 78 – We open another can of worms
Michael Brandvold
Alternate Kisstory: Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer & Bruce Kulick Speak Out
Brian Hiatt | Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone‘s first-ever Kiss cover story mostly focused on the original lineup of the band: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. The Rock and Hall of Fame also chose to induct only those members – a decision Simmons and Stanley made quite clear that they opposed. They invited current Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer, current drummer Eric Singer and former guitarist Bruce Kulick (who played in the band from 1984 to 1995) to join them at their table for the April 10th ceremony, and thanked them from the stage for their contributions. In that spirit, here are Kisstory-spanning conversations with each of those musicians, culled from the cover-story transcripts.
20 Best Moments at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2014 Induction
Tommy Thayer
When Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent wore makeup in Kiss, they had new characters. Did you have any discomfort about simply wearing Ace’s makeup?
No, first of all, I didn’t have any input on that. That was a decision that those guys made. There was not even a conversation about it, because I think it was so obvious, that they weren’t going to introduce new characters 30 years into the band. I never thought that there should be some new designs or something. I thought that would have been ridiculous. And the only thing is, you’ve got a lot of push-back from some of the diehards. And that’s understandable. Hey, you know, if you lived in the Seventies and Kiss was your favorite band, and that’s what you grew up with, and suddenly there’s another guy wearing that makeup, I can understand how some people, it might not have appealed to them as much. But as time as gone by, a lot of people have changed their mind.
You can imagine what Ace has to say.
He probably wouldn’t agree with that, would he?
He told me, “A supergroup has one of the most dynamic, greatest lead guitarists in the world leave the band, and who did they hire to play lead guitar? Their road manager, who used to be in a Kiss cover band. How insane is that? You can’t make this shit up.”
[Laughs] You know, that’s one way to… that’s one way to put it, I guess, even though that’s not really accurate. These guys like to say that, oh, he was the road manager. He never paid his dues. Well, you know, if you look back, I’ve been in music professionally for over 30 years now, and I’ve made just as many records as they have, probably. And it’s not to detract from what he’s saying as far as, he was iconic in the Seventies, you know? And he did influence a lot of guitar players, and he did record and write some great stuff. Specifically, the first three or four Kiss albums, up to Kiss Alive!