He hasn’t been part of the band since 2002, but in the wake of Kiss’ retirement from touring at the end of last year guitarist Paul “Ace” Frehley — aka The Spaceman — finds himself a kind of last man standing for fans who want to hear the group’s music on stage.
“Yeah, right now I’m the only game in town because Kiss is supposedly retired — which I don’t believe is gonna happen,” the New York-born Frehley, 73, says via phone. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they reformed. But be that as it may…I’ve actually added two more Kiss songs to my set. I added ‘Shout It Out Loud’ and ‘Rock and Roll All Nite,’ and…Everybody was on their feet and having a good time.
“As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter who wrote the song; I played the guitar solos on those records, and that’s good enough for me.”
Frehley was playing in a variety of other New York bands — including one, Molimo, which released an album in 1971 — before answering an ad in the Village Voice that introduced him to Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss the following year. He quit his job as a taxi cab driver and signed on, and as Kiss the quartet adopted face paint, elaborate costumes and theatrics — eventually becoming the self- (but accurately) described “hottest band in the land” after the release of 1975’s “Alive!” album (recorded at Detroit’s Cobo Arena). Frehley co-wrote a number of the group’s biggest hits and sang lead on 1977’s “Shock Me,” and his self-titled debut solo album was the best-selling of the four the band members released simultaneously in 1978.
Frehley left Kiss for the first time in 1982 and returned for the 1996 reunion of the original lineup, leaving again six years later. There’s been plenty of acrimony expressed by all concerned — and acknowledgements of substance abuse issues — but The Spaceman has a more benevolent view of things these days.
“We had some great times together — more good than bad,” acknowledges Frehley, whose concerts are dominated by Kiss songs. “We’re all still friends. I know a lot of people think we hate each other, but that’s not true. We’re just like a family; sometimes brothers and sisters have arguments and so on, but when the s*** hits the fan, we’re there for each other.