Michael Brandvold
Paul Stanley Hails, Criticizes New York City’s Scene on ‘Sonic Highways’
Nick DeRiso | Ultimate Classic Rock
An invitation to appear on the New York City-based finale of Dave Grohl‘s ‘Sonic Highways‘ series opened up a treasure trove of memories for Paul Stanley. Kiss came of age during one the city’s golden eras of music in the ’70s, a period when Electric Ladyland Studios and the Fillmore East attracted every big name in rock.
Even as Kiss began to work their way into that pantheon, Stanley tells Rolling Stone, they were in awe of the scene.
“I remember when Kiss was in the studio,” he says, “I was in the waiting area just taking a break — and Jimmy Page came out of studio A at that time they were mixing ‘The Song Remains the Same,’ and he knew who I was. For a kid from Queens who sat in the audience spellbound watching them play, it was a transcendental moment to suddenly be on his radar. That was one of those moments that I don’t forget.”
As for appearing on the celebrated HBO documentary series, Stanley was more than happy to participate. “Some people are hams,” he quipped. “I’m the whole pig.”
Vinnie Vincent auctioning off copyrights to songs
You can not only buy his guitar and clothes from former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent, you can also buy the copyrights to his songs!
An auction has been set up on his website where he has 24 items up for sale. His famous Jackson Shark Fin guitar, stage and video outfits he wore including the belt he wore on the cover of “Lick It Up,” are all up for auction.
Most shocking is the copyrights he is selling for the 21 songs that appeared on the two Vinnie Vincent Invasion albums. Even more interesting is that he is trying to sell the unsigned employment contract with Kiss, which as described, led to “decades of controversy between Vinnie and Kiss.”
These are not selling at a bargain though. Bidding on the contract starts at $10,000 and the copyrights to his songs can be bought for $200,000.
Peter Criss Drums website
Luke
If you’ve never checked it out, go to PeterCrissDrums.com for an in-depth amazing journey through Peter Criss’s entire library of drum kits from childhood to the present! An unbelievable resource of photos and info about Peter and his hardware, definitely worth a look!
What’s new in KISS collecting – Adrianna’s First (KISS) Concert, children’s book
The adorable true story of a little girl’s first KISS concert. Follow Adrianna as she gets dressed up for the show, sees the concert and ultumately meets the band back stage! Written by Petey Mongelli, one of the legendary KISS fans/collectors/dealers of all time and currently the promoter for the annual Spooky Empire show in Florida.
Hard cover, published 2014. 11 x 8.8 inches.
$19.95 at KISSmuseum.com
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 104 – Where the Hell is Rip It Out! Ace Frehley’s Space Invader Tour is Under Way
Michael Brandvold
Original KISS Drummer PETER CRISS Says He Wants To Make His Next Solo Album ‘Heavier’
Original KISS drummer Peter Criss
is continuing work on a new rock solo album, which he promises will be “heavier” than the stuff he has done in the past.
Criss‘s last solo CD, titled “One for All”, came out in 2007. Peter produced the album himself for the first time, and was joined by guest musicians that included keyboardist Paul Shaffer and bassist Will Lee of “Late Night with David Letterman“. The album featured a range of styles, from rock and jazz to blues and Broadway, and included covers of “What a Difference a Day Makes” and “Send in the Clowns”.
Speaking to an audience of fans at a question-and-answer session hosted by VH1 Classic “That Metal Show” co-host Eddie Trunk on November 28 at the “All Things That Rock” festival in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Criss stated about the progress of the recording sessions for the follow-up to “One for All” (see video below): “I’ve been sitting on a record … I’d done this thing, like, five years ago and I’m still messing with it. I’m not done, because I don’t wanna rush it.”
Old pal says Gene Simmons would ‘KISS’ and tell
Richard Johnson | Page Six
Gene Simmons — the long-tongued KISS bassist and author of “Me, Inc.” — didn’t suffer from shyness as a kid in Forest Hills, Queens.
Alan Stuart Graf recounts in the book “I Inhaled: Rantings, Ramblings and Ravings of a Hippie Lawyer,” how he and Gene Klein, as he was known then, were in a band together called the Long Island Sounds.
“We were about 14 at the time, and this other guitar player and I were playing Ventures [surf-rock] music with a cool cat drummer named Stan,” Graf wrote.
“But we needed a bass player. So I talked Gene into getting a bass. We went down to Manny’s Music Store in downtown Manhattan and picked him out a Paul McCartney imitation white bass. He was in love with it and kept on fantasizing that he was Paul and all the girls loved him because of his fine bass.”
Ace Frehley to cover KISS songs on next solo album
Nick DeRiso | Ultimate Classic Rock
Ace Frehley‘s upcoming album of cover songs will hold a special treat for his long-time fans — new takes on classic Kiss songs.
“Absolutely, I’m re-recording some Kiss tracks,” Frehley tells 100% Rock Magazine. “I believe I’m going to be doing ‘Parasite’; I’m not sure which other ones, you know, and some covers that I’ve always wanted to do that I haven’t done.”
‘Parasite’ was one of three songs written or co-written by Frehley for 1974′s ‘Hotter Than Hell,’ though he didn’t take his first lead vocal until ‘Shock Me‘ from 1977′s ‘Love Gun.’ Frehley also wrote ‘Cold Gin,’ ‘Getaway’ and ‘Strange Ways’ for Kiss, among others.
This new project, which follows Frehley’s well-received ‘Space Invader,’ is said to include a number of featured performers, including Slash, Lita Ford and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam.
“I’m going to get a lot of different guest stars to play with me on these tracks,” Frehley adds. “And it’s going to be a much easier record than this last one, because I don’t have to write solos, and I don’t have to write lyrics because they’re already set. So, that’s going to be another fun record for me, and I’m looking forward to that, you know, start tracking it out in between tours and whatnot.”
‘Space Invader,’ Frehley’s first new album in five years, rose to the Billboard Top 10. Frehley’s current tour is in Texas this week, with future dates planned in California.
Paul Stanley Says Kiss ‘Screwed Over’ by Thanksgiving Day Parade
Daniel Kreps | Rolling Stone
Kiss‘ performance was among the highlights at this year’s 88th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sure, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s performance of “Rock and Roll All Nite” was clearly lip-synched, but it was an unexpected surprise to see the Destroyer crew in full makeup aboard a float cruising alongside giant balloons of Pikachu and Spongebob Squarepants. However, guitarist Paul Stanley wasn’t too happy following Kiss’ Thanksgiving appearance.
“Bluntly, We were screwed over & misled by the exec in charge of #MacysThanksgivingDayParade. We ALL deserved better,” the guitarist tweeted the day after Thanksgiving. Stanley never elaborated why he was upset about the performance but Ultimate Classic Rock offers a few theories. First, NBC didn’t begin showing Kiss on television until almost the first chorus, and cameras were focused on Simmons during Tommy Thayer’s guitar solo.
What’s new in KISS collecting – New line of KISS T-Shirts
Just in – A second manufacturer has stepped up to fill the void since long-time KISS T-Shirt producer Live Nation gave up it’s KISS license. We have new all-over prints, some with up to 3X sizing along with some new MLB KISS Team Baseball shirts! Plus, we are re-stocked and have all the sizes available from the last wave of shirts that hit us recently.
KISS at the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade
The Cassius Morris Show – Michael Brandvold Interview
Cassius Morris
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 103 – The Return of Chuck (Klosterman) A Vinnie Vincent Smackdown
Michael Brandvold
KISS’ Ace Frehley is clean, sober, and back on the road
Scott Mervis | The Blade
This was the year that Kiss’ long-awaited entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame became a case of “be careful what you wish for.”
The honor that the band and its Kiss Army lobbied for years to achieve turned into a mess when the Rock Hall limited the induction to the original members and also insisted that any performance would have to involve Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
In the end, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley refused to play, a spotlight was fixed on Kiss’ dysfunctions, and everyone came away a little bitter.
Stanley said in an NPR interview recently that a performance by the original four would have been a “disservice” to the band: “That lineup has not been together for 14 years and, physically, perhaps, wouldn’t have looked that great, and musically, undoubtedly, probably, would have sounded a bit suspect.”
Later in a phone interview, Frehley scoffed at that notion.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “I had just jammed with Peter a few months earlier at [Eddie] Trunk’s 30th Anniversary Party at the Hard Rock in New York. Peter played great. I’m playing better than ever. I don’t think they wanted to open up the whole can of worms that surrounds the fact that they got two other guys dressed up like us. I mean, the last time they performed with us, at ‘Unplugged,’ they had to scrap their album and do a reunion tour. Since they had a tour planned with the current lineup this year, I think they wanted to leave well enough alone and not confuse the fans.”
It wasn’t the only disappointment at the ceremony. Frehley was supposed to be part of a final all-star jam session, but it was scrapped due to the E Street Band speeches going on so long.
There were also some comments thrown around that he didn’t like.
KISS record song with Japanese pop band Momoiro Clover Z
Jeff Giles | Ultimate Classic Rock
Kiss fans waiting impatiently for a follow-up to 2012′s ‘Monster‘ LP will get a little something to tide them over in January, although it may not sound anything like the band they’ve come to know and love.
According to the official Kiss website, the group has teamed up with Momoiro Clover Z, a hugely popular Japanese “idol” pop group, to record a new single. The song’s title has yet to be revealed, but the two acts have already filmed a video, with plans to release the track to stores on Jan. 28.
Ace Frehley hits the Keswick Wednesday
Chris Cameron | The Mercury
Jayme Thornton
Ace Frehley, founding member of the rock band KISS, has had a busy year. The rock/metal guitarist sometimes known as “Space Ace” for his out-of-this-world performances and his sci-fi stage persona, recently released his first album in five years titled, “Space Invader,” he got engaged, and he was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame with his old bandmates from KISS.
The long-time New York native moved to the West Coast to live with his fiancé, Rachel Gordon, who shares some of the songwriting credits on his new album. Moving to San Diego has helped fuel his creativity.
“It’s a less stressful place and moving here allowed me to focus on the songwriting,” Frehley said.
The guitarist has Attention Deficit Disorder and sought out a quiet studio in California to write and record the new album.
“I don’t have a formula for writing,” he said. “Sometimes it starts on an electric or acoustic guitar just as a melody. It might come to me in the morning or if I’m driving and I’ve noticed that if I buy a new guitar, playing it always inspires me to write new songs.”
Frehley notes that he has about 60 guitars in his current collection, but that collection exceeded more than 150 instruments at one time. Within that collection are the guitarist’s signature Les Paul models manufactured by Gibson and Epiphone.
KISS to close Download Festival
KISS will bring Download 2015 to a close when they headline the main stage on Sunday, June 14.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have carved themselves emphatically into the pantheon of Rock mythology with their huge choruses, unmistakable visuals and extraordinary, pyrotechnical live performances. KISS return to Donington having graced Monsters of Rock in 1988 and 1996 and headlined Download, Europe’s biggest rock and metal festival, in 2008.
Meanwhile, bassist Gene Simmons said: To all our fans – our intention is to get on that stage, blow the heavens to smithereens and take no prisoners.
Main support comes in the form of the final ever UK Festival Performance by iconic hell-raising metalheads Mötley Crüe. With the Crüe due to disband for good in early 2016, Download will have the honour and privilege of bringing a truly unique festival career to a blazing conclusion.
Bassist Nikki Sixxx said: “It’s always an over the top day and night at Download Festival and we’re really excited to be coming over to the UK and playing the show.”
Rock legends making the ultimate festival pilgrimage don’t stop there as seminal shredder Slash polishes and shines the trusty top hat to make his second appearance at Download with one of rock’s top vocalists, Myles Kennedy, and The Conspirators.
Gene Simmons slated to be at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp
The legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp that has been making dreams come true in the U.S. for the past 18 years is now launching in Canada. The first-ever Canadian camp will take place in Calgary, Alberta from January 8th-11th, 2015 and features the Rock Legend, singer-songwriter, businessman, arena football co-owner of the LA KISS and media icon – Gene Simmons.
Simmons will be visiting Calgary to excite the Rockers of Canada and bring awareness to this life-changing experience. The Rock Legend has been involved with previous Rock Camps, and is excited to pass on his knowledge and Rock out with Canadian Rockers like you!
“Mentoring adult and young rockers at the fantasy camp has always been an amazingly rewarding experience for me,” said Simmons. “I enjoy teaching and handing over lessons I’ve learned from the business to musicians and upcoming talent”.
George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob, Souls of We) and Leland Sklar (who has contributed to over 2,000 albums) will also be joining Simmons as Rock Star Guests of the first Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp in Canada. Additional Rock Star Counsellors include: Lita Ford (The Runaways), Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, DIO, Rick Derringer, John Lennon), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Queensryche), Teddy Andreadis (Carole King, Guns N Roses, Alice Cooper, BB King, Michael Jackson), Nick Catanese (Black Label Society), and four members of the Canadian Rock group Loverboy – Paul Dean, Matt Frenette, Doug Johnson, Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve.