Ace Frehley will always be know first and foremost as a guitar player. After all, he was the original lead guitarist in Kiss. But what some may not know is that Frehley is also a talented artist: creating his own “spaceman” makeup design, and depending on whether you ask him or Paul Stanley, may have designed Kiss’ iconic logo.

During an interview with the Guitar Tales Podcast, Frehley explained his art background. And also, dropped a bombshell concerning a pricey gift that a former Kiss bandmate supposedly once gave him.

“I was always a computer nut,” Frehley admits (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “The early Macs, you used to be able to hot rod the CPUs and put in faster CPUs and ‘overclock them’ with special gadgets. I used to hot rod my computers because I did animations.”

“I did the animation for the ‘Psycho Circus’ tour, where the four faces morph from one into the other. I did that animation on my laptop. Gene [Simmons] saw it, and he goes… He took me out the next day and bought me $15,000 worth of computers. ‘Ace, keep going with this. It’s good!'”

Frehley also discussed his high school career and how a teacher recognized his talents, revealing that it’s not uncommon for rockers to be into drawing.

“You’d be surprised, but most musicians can draw. Art and music go hand in hand. When I was in high school, I was an A+ art student. I doubled up on art, actually. I went to DeWitt Clinton High School [in the Bronx], and I was really good friends with the head of the art department. He’d get me out of trouble and give me hall passes and stuff, even though he wasn’t supposed to, because he knew I had the gift of art.”

“Eventually, when I joined Kiss, designing the Kiss logo and worked on the ‘Anomaly’ album. But I don’t really have the time to do art much anymore, between touring, doing videos.”

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Throughout the history of rock music, there have certainly been quite a few close calls and “What if?” scenarios. And high on the list would be when Gene Simmons spotted a still-unsigned Van Halen playing a Los Angeles club, took them under his wing, but failed to convince the other members in Kiss, nor their manager, Bill Aucoin, to take the group on.

During a recent interview with Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson, Simmons revisited his seemingly close call with signing Van Halen, revealing that he regrets not convincing his long-time Kiss partner to see the band’s greatness. Gene offered (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):

“Paul [Stanley] knew stuff I didn’t know. I knew stuff he didn’t know. He should have taken my advice and signed Van Halen. I found that band.”

“I couldn’t convince Paul or the rest of the guys in the band or the management. They just said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘In a year or two, this is going to be the biggest band.'”

Going more into it, Simmons also discussed important career advice he gave them at the time, which they apparently followed. The bassist continued:

“[I] convinced them not to sign with a yogurt manufacturer. Literally. And I told them, ‘Forget about money. I’ll pay for it. I’ll fly you to New York. I’ll put you at Electric Lady Studios. I’ll produce your first 15-song demo.'”

Simmons’s demo has since been largely referred to within Van Halen bootleg trading circles as “Van Halen Zero.” It was recorded in 1976 and contained tracks that appeared on the first few classic Van Halen albums—tunes that were never re-recorded for subsequent VH records.

Luckily for the band, they caught the eye of producer Ted Templeman not long after their close call with Simmons, who helped get the fledgling band signed to Warner Bros. Records. And the rest, as they say, is history.

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KISS’ Gene Simmons has a message for fans who were upset about the cost to go see Britpop band Oasis reunite for the first time in 15 years.

Simmons said in an interview with Forbes that fans who were upset when dynamic pricing was used to sell Oasis tickets are “entitled to (expletive) off.”

“You have the ultimate power, supply and demand,” the 75-year-old rocker told the outlet. “Whatever the pricing is, is all academic. Somebody sits in a room and tries to figure out how far the rubber band can stretch. And if you’re not selling tickets, guess what happens? The price goes down. Capitalism! If you don’t want to pay that amount, don’t go.”

“It’s a way to get attention,” Simmons added. “You don’t like the ticket pricing? Don’t buy a ticket.”

Fans have reported having “significant issues” with Ticketmaster while trying to acquire Oasis tickets, according to the U.K. government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which launched an investigation into the problems.

The CMA is looking into whether Ticketmaster violated consumer protection law by using dynamic pricing, which is when ticket prices are inflated based on demand.

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Ronald Matthew Boutwell, vivacious husband and best friend of Kate Boutwell, and beloved father of Jenny, Shilo and Breanna, passed away on September 5, 2024 at the age of 82.

Ron was born on January 3, 1942 in Woburn, MA, and died in his home in Ashland, OR with Kate by his side. They were married for 53 years. Ron was the youngest of four sons born to Margaret J. (Hansen) Preston and Clinton E. Boutwell.

Always ambitious and outgoing, Ron became a DJ in the early 1960s, after graduating from the Don Martin School of Broadcasting. He also worked as a writer both at CBS, and in the Communications Office while in the Army. Over the years he was known to radio listeners variously as “Ron Statler,” “Charlie Brown,” and lastly as “Ron Matthews” at KBOY in Medford, where he hosted the morning show with Bill Meyer in the 1990s.

Ron was perhaps best known for transforming the rock ‘n’ roll merchandising industry in the 1970s, by pioneering the selling of branded T-shirts, and managing merchandise sales for artists such as KISS, The Police, Metallica, Slayer, Bobby Sherman, Elton John, Queen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Exodus, Anthrax, The Go-Go’s, Talking Heads, The Osmond Brothers, Steve Earle, The Clash, Barry Manilow, Barry White, U2, The English Beat and numerous other legendary rock ‘n’ roll acts. Posters stating “Produced by Boutwell, Inc.” on the bottom right corner hung proudly in the homes of millions. Ron’s pins adorned the jackets and vests of generations of music fans!

After retiring from radio in the early 2000s, Ron brought his exceptional creativity and business acumen to Oregon’s rodeo scene, and built a highly successful rodeo-themed merchandising business from scratch, which his daughters carry on to this day.

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BEAVER DAM, Ky. —

There’s a chance to see a rock icon at a Kentucky venue that maybe you haven’t been to or even heard of yet.

Legendary KISS band member Gene Simmons is bringing his Gene Simmons Band to The Dam in the spring next year.

Simmons and his band will be playing at the venue in Beaver Dam, Kentucky on Saturday, May 3.

Beaver Dam is about an hour and 45 minutes drive southwest of Louisville.

The Iron Maidens, an all-female tribute to Iron Maiden, will open the show.

Tickets for the show went on sale Friday. You can get them here.

Certainly, Kiss has been one of the most-merchandised rock bands for decades. Name a product, and chances are, there is some form of it that has either the Kiss logo on it, or the demon, starchild, spaceman, and catman make-up designs.

During an interview on Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson, Kiss’ Gene Simmons discussed the music business. And how important it is for musicians to familiarize themselves with it.

“Unfortunately, most guys that strum guitars never paid attention to truth in advertising,” Simmons said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). It was never called ‘music,’ it was always called ‘music business.’ ‘Yeah, but music is more fun. ‘Business’ is guys with Jewish names.’ Predominantly, yes. ‘But I don’t want to pay attention to that.’ Well, too bad. And so, from the outset, we took care of that. Created trademarks.”

“There was a Kiss before Kiss, they never trademarked the name. You snooze, you lose. ‘I didn’t know that.’ Well, it was your responsibility. You have an inferred fiduciary duty to yourself to find out who, what, when, where, how. Having the right thing at the right place at the right time. That’s your responsibility.”

Simmons also discussed when he first realized that that was a demand for Kiss products other than merely albums and concert tickets. And he has early fans of the band to thank for it.

“We saw fans, early fans or curiosity fans, who started to make their own Kiss t-shirts. They’re telling you what they want, or what they’re willing to pay [for]. So, the audience is always right. And since then, it’s been… Oh my God, over 50 years, and boy do I look good!”

“It’s been over 50 years. And during that time, I get to do the joke, but it’s also true: we’ve had literally thousands of licensed products: everything from Kiss condoms to Kiss caskets. We’ll get you coming, and we’ll get you going.”

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Episode 590. This week Lisa is back AND Izzy joins us to audition to maybe replace Tommy Sommers. As part of his audition Izzy thought doing a short comedy routine would help, did it? What do you think? Is Izzy ready to get called up to the big leagues? You have to let us know… does Izzy make the cut?

Episode 589. We talk about Mark Cicchini being on the show for 10 years. What is your favorite Mark moment or quote? Mike talks about how 3 of his 5 all time favorite bands are essentially no more… KISS, ELO and Molly Hatchet. We are reaching a point where you can no longer count on your favorite bands being there every year with another tour and another album. Hard to imagine.

Happy Anniversary Solo Albums 1978!

\Paul Stanley says the upcoming KISS avatar show will be “beyond anything that anyone else has contemplated”.

Last year saw the glam rockers play their last ever gig and usher in a “new era” by announcing that they’d be getting the avatar treatment.

Now, the 72-year-old musician explained he is confident the show will wow fans after KISS’ catalogue, brand name and IP were acquired by Pophouse Entertainment, the company behind the ABBA Voyage show.

Speaking on Billboard’s podcast Behind The Setlist, he said: “People just are thrilled with [‘Voyage’]. I took my wife last month, and I had seen it last year. So Pophouse understood what we wanted to do and that what we wanna create is something that’s state of the art today.”

The Rock and Roll All Nite rocker added that the technology has improved further since ABBA Voyage launched and said that he’s confident the addition of George Lucas’ Industrial Light Magic, will provide a thrilling experience for fans.

“What I can tell you is that the technology that’s being used, which is a furthering of the technology used on the ABBA show, has to be installed and basically a building has to be built around it,” teased the band’s co-founder.

“So this isn’t something where you’re in Kansas City today, and tomorrow you fly with your projector to do it. It demands an arena, so to speak that’s really solely used for a show like this.”

Despite his excitement for the shows, Stanley is not keen about it being referred to as an “avatar” show.

“That term seems to get thrown around a lot, but the idea of a simulated concert is not what we wanna do,” he said. “Frankly, I would find that that boring. What we’re creating is an immersive experience that KISS fans will love and people who have never been exposed to KISS or might not like certain aspects of the band will have to see.

“It’s a must-see go-to experience. So it’s beyond anything that anyone else has contemplated. The whole idea, again, of doing a simulated concert is — that’s the dark ages to us.”

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Happy Anniversary Asylum!

2024 has been a record-breaking concert season at the Beaver Dam Amphitheatre. From the sold out Oliver Anthony show to the record crowd at the Nelly & Chingy concert, it’s been one of the best seasons in the history of the venue. While there’s still one more show left this year (Hairball on Saturday, September 28th), Beaver Dam Amp officials are already looking ahead to 2025. This morning, they made a huge announcement.

Rock icon Gene Simmons is bringing the Gene Simmons Band to The Dam to kick off the 2025 season. The show is set for Saturday, May 3rd and tickets will go on sale this week.

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