Having only recently heard "New York Groove" for the first time, and enjoyed it, I might need to revisit KISS.
Since I wasn't alive in the '70s, I didn't see them in their prime, and could never understand what people saw in them. But you obviously knew what they were about.
I would be curious to hear your thoughts on them once you dig deeper. In some ways, they were a real “you had to be there” phenomenon — but a lot of their seventies stuff still holds up really for me.
I feel the same way about Parliament/Funkadelic. On tour, those guys dressed up in weird outfits a la KISS (they conceived themselves as "spacemen" of a kind, and they both recorded for Casablanca Records). But their records have excellent arrangements, clever lyrics and a non-stop bunch of verbal and instrumental "hooks". So I can provide evidence of them being popular and hip at the same time and in the same way as KISS was.
Ace was my first guitar hero. He and KISS were my gateway to rock and roll and discovering Hendrix, Eddie Hazel, John Cipollina, Randy California, and even Nick Drake (not to mention countless other bands). While I detest Gene's greedy lust for capitalism and Paul's transphobic rants, it was the quiet one, Ace, who I always dug (and yes, I was Ace for Halloween one year later, in 1977).
Four great guitar riffs by Ace; #1 has to go to "Parasite" on 'Alive!" It's insanely groovy, thick, and noodly. It was also the one song that, while in my bedroom, I would air guitar to over and over. Second, I love the guitar on "Strange Ways" from 'Hotter Than Hell.' It was quite possibly the first time I heard sludgy psychedelic guitar before I even knew what the term meant (and I took my record and portable record player and played it for my fourth grade class during show and tell!). Third, while I HATE the misogynistic lyrics of the tune, I LOVE the guitar in "Makin' Love." Lastly, it would have to be "She" from 'Alive!' Both it and "Parasite" brilliantly capture Ace's electric energy, and a young, sinister Gene on bass and vocals.
I don't listen to the albums anymore, but during a recent purge, I couldn't get rid of them. There are simply too many childhood memories embedded in those grooves. There was also a time when it was uncool and almost embarrassing to admit one was once a KISS fan. But I think it may have been The Replacements, and later Nirvana and The Melvins, who allowed one to stand up and give credit where credit is due.
My brother.... So awesome seeing that interview again after all these years! I laughed so hard when you called me afterwards telling me that, as the interview was about to start, Ace said, "WAIT A MINUTE! ARE YOU GONNA BE SITTING ALL THE WAY OVER THERE?!" 🤣 I'm also very happy to play a small part in the retrieval of that great photo ❤️
Wow! Dan, you are heroic! Fuckin' Ace Frehley! So sad for the reason you had to dig this out but what a day indeed - he so makes Paul & Gene look so foolish again and again. Is the "Anomaly" album as good as reviewed? I lost track after "Frehley's Comet" & "Second Sighting," was lucky enough to see Ace & crew on the "Frehley's Comet" tour of 1987 at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo sandwiched between opener Faster Pussycat and headliner Alice Cooper - sadly this was my first time seeing Alice and it was his band with all those muscle heavy metal dudes - Ace killed it.
"Fractured Mirror" has always impressed the hell outta me too, crazy, it came up on the random youtube feed a couple weeks before he died and I just let it play the whole album, Anton Fig simply kicked ass on all the stuff he did with Ace.
I love your re-discovery of Kiss, I had a similar early one - by the time I discovered Zeppelin and Van Halen I too renounced my early Kiss fandom long before I started partying even. At some point during the teenage partying years I put "Alive" on and had that same revelation with the stage patter - "oh, that's what Cold Gin is about" etc. etc. - I was livin' it now baby!
I remember really liking Anomaly at the time, though I haven't heard it in probably a decade. I do recall that it seemed like more of an intentional throwback to the 1978 solo album than the more metallic Frehley's Comet stuff; it even came complete with another glam cover ("Fox on the Run" this time).
You hit it on the head in a way with the "Black Diamond" citation:
It was a "clarion call" moment...
At just the right time for an entrie cohort of a certain generational age, .... who had
discovered the Velvet Underground/ embraced the Ramones/were intrigued by the Huskers, et.al,
and distanced ourselves from our teen knuckle-head musical preferences by way of everything from wardrobe to hair length to literary tastes to all-around atttude, to realize that ...
-- hey! -- it was now O.K. to listen to Toys in the Atiic again somehow!, ...and admit that you'd never sold back your Zeppelin albums...
Double Nickels on the Dime contained covers of Steely Dan, Creedence and Van Halen, among others, And Redd Kross covered "Deuce" on record not long afterwards... All of sudden it was alright to not only "own" the residue of your "Columbia Record and Tape Club" detritus, but to actually enjoy listening to it, occasionally, as well....
Complete game-changer in dictating what was acceptably "cool," at that point in time.
Definitely! I remember getting bummed at my Freshman year roommate for playing his 45 of "Whole Lotta Love" during a party in our dorm — and not even a year later, I was playing sped-up versions of "Communication Breakdown" (and "Rock n' Roll All Nite" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love") in my college band along with Ramones, Cramps and Hoodoo Gurus covers. And "Black Diamond" was (for me at least) the start of that shift.
His quip on that interviewer’s Paul Stanley question is surely one of the best comebacks I’ve ever read about!
He really could’ve been a stand up comic; he was so sharp and effortlessly funny!
Having only recently heard "New York Groove" for the first time, and enjoyed it, I might need to revisit KISS.
Since I wasn't alive in the '70s, I didn't see them in their prime, and could never understand what people saw in them. But you obviously knew what they were about.
I would be curious to hear your thoughts on them once you dig deeper. In some ways, they were a real “you had to be there” phenomenon — but a lot of their seventies stuff still holds up really for me.
I feel the same way about Parliament/Funkadelic. On tour, those guys dressed up in weird outfits a la KISS (they conceived themselves as "spacemen" of a kind, and they both recorded for Casablanca Records). But their records have excellent arrangements, clever lyrics and a non-stop bunch of verbal and instrumental "hooks". So I can provide evidence of them being popular and hip at the same time and in the same way as KISS was.
If you go for it, just start with "Alive!". If that doesn't do anything for ya, nothing else probably will.
Ace was my first guitar hero. He and KISS were my gateway to rock and roll and discovering Hendrix, Eddie Hazel, John Cipollina, Randy California, and even Nick Drake (not to mention countless other bands). While I detest Gene's greedy lust for capitalism and Paul's transphobic rants, it was the quiet one, Ace, who I always dug (and yes, I was Ace for Halloween one year later, in 1977).
Four great guitar riffs by Ace; #1 has to go to "Parasite" on 'Alive!" It's insanely groovy, thick, and noodly. It was also the one song that, while in my bedroom, I would air guitar to over and over. Second, I love the guitar on "Strange Ways" from 'Hotter Than Hell.' It was quite possibly the first time I heard sludgy psychedelic guitar before I even knew what the term meant (and I took my record and portable record player and played it for my fourth grade class during show and tell!). Third, while I HATE the misogynistic lyrics of the tune, I LOVE the guitar in "Makin' Love." Lastly, it would have to be "She" from 'Alive!' Both it and "Parasite" brilliantly capture Ace's electric energy, and a young, sinister Gene on bass and vocals.
I don't listen to the albums anymore, but during a recent purge, I couldn't get rid of them. There are simply too many childhood memories embedded in those grooves. There was also a time when it was uncool and almost embarrassing to admit one was once a KISS fan. But I think it may have been The Replacements, and later Nirvana and The Melvins, who allowed one to stand up and give credit where credit is due.
RIP Ace.
I appreciate the shout out and thank you for reading my piece.
“Parasite” is incredible - I love the studio version from Hotter Than Hell, too!
Thank you for this
Thank you for reading it, Lori!
My brother.... So awesome seeing that interview again after all these years! I laughed so hard when you called me afterwards telling me that, as the interview was about to start, Ace said, "WAIT A MINUTE! ARE YOU GONNA BE SITTING ALL THE WAY OVER THERE?!" 🤣 I'm also very happy to play a small part in the retrieval of that great photo ❤️
"I'm not a lip reader!" What a great day that was...
Wow! Dan, you are heroic! Fuckin' Ace Frehley! So sad for the reason you had to dig this out but what a day indeed - he so makes Paul & Gene look so foolish again and again. Is the "Anomaly" album as good as reviewed? I lost track after "Frehley's Comet" & "Second Sighting," was lucky enough to see Ace & crew on the "Frehley's Comet" tour of 1987 at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo sandwiched between opener Faster Pussycat and headliner Alice Cooper - sadly this was my first time seeing Alice and it was his band with all those muscle heavy metal dudes - Ace killed it.
"Fractured Mirror" has always impressed the hell outta me too, crazy, it came up on the random youtube feed a couple weeks before he died and I just let it play the whole album, Anton Fig simply kicked ass on all the stuff he did with Ace.
I love your re-discovery of Kiss, I had a similar early one - by the time I discovered Zeppelin and Van Halen I too renounced my early Kiss fandom long before I started partying even. At some point during the teenage partying years I put "Alive" on and had that same revelation with the stage patter - "oh, that's what Cold Gin is about" etc. etc. - I was livin' it now baby!
I bet he dug your Lamborghini shirt!
I remember really liking Anomaly at the time, though I haven't heard it in probably a decade. I do recall that it seemed like more of an intentional throwback to the 1978 solo album than the more metallic Frehley's Comet stuff; it even came complete with another glam cover ("Fox on the Run" this time).
Thanks for turning me on to "Fractured Mirror".
My pleasure! Great track, isn't it?
Hey Dan,
You hit it on the head in a way with the "Black Diamond" citation:
It was a "clarion call" moment...
At just the right time for an entrie cohort of a certain generational age, .... who had
discovered the Velvet Underground/ embraced the Ramones/were intrigued by the Huskers, et.al,
and distanced ourselves from our teen knuckle-head musical preferences by way of everything from wardrobe to hair length to literary tastes to all-around atttude, to realize that ...
-- hey! -- it was now O.K. to listen to Toys in the Atiic again somehow!, ...and admit that you'd never sold back your Zeppelin albums...
Double Nickels on the Dime contained covers of Steely Dan, Creedence and Van Halen, among others, And Redd Kross covered "Deuce" on record not long afterwards... All of sudden it was alright to not only "own" the residue of your "Columbia Record and Tape Club" detritus, but to actually enjoy listening to it, occasionally, as well....
Complete game-changer in dictating what was acceptably "cool," at that point in time.
Ramblin' Pete
Definitely! I remember getting bummed at my Freshman year roommate for playing his 45 of "Whole Lotta Love" during a party in our dorm — and not even a year later, I was playing sped-up versions of "Communication Breakdown" (and "Rock n' Roll All Nite" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love") in my college band along with Ramones, Cramps and Hoodoo Gurus covers. And "Black Diamond" was (for me at least) the start of that shift.