Kiss and Tell - Interview with Kiss' Paul Stanley

Kiss Singer-Guitarist Paul Stanley Dishes on New Book, Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame Induction, Summer Tour

When Kiss performs at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on July 26 as part of its 40th Anniversary Tour, only half the band will be newly-minted members of the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, and singer-guitarist-band co-founder Paul Stanley is not pleased.

“They are only inducting the original members,” Stanley said by phone. “It’s disrespectful. We never could have started without [original guitarist and drummer] Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, but this band has a 40-year history, many with other band members, that should not be ignored. ”

Stanley, bassist Gene Simmons, Frehley and Criss will be inducted into the Rock Hall during a ceremony on Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The band’s current lineup consists of Stanley, Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer.

Stanley and Simmons are the lone constants in Kiss, the over-the-top, makeup-adorned band that has carved out a unique spot in music history with its anthemic party rock, spectacular stage productions and extensive marketing and merchandising efforts. 

Stanley believes that Thayer and Singer, who have been in the band for a decade, also belong in the Hall, as do former guitarist Bruce Kulick and drummer Eric Carr, who died of cancer in 1991.

Arguments about which members of the band, past and present, could or should play at the induction ceremony led Stanley and Simmons to pull the plug on any performance.

“They wanted to strong arm us into playing with the original guys only and that was a nonstarter,” Stanley said. Stanley was on the phone to promote his biography, “Face the Music: A Life Exposed,” which hits store shelves today.

“Many of the books that have been put out by so-called rock celebrities are tripe,” Stanley said. “If I was going to write something, it would be based on the idea that it would be inspirational and give people some confidence from what I could achieve.”

 Last week, Kiss released the first in a series of 40th anniversary vinyl collections. A double CD featuring previously unreleased live songs will be released on May 27. We spoke with Stanley about his book, the Hall of Fame induction and Kiss’ summer tour with Def Leppard.

Q: What is the main message you want people to take from your book?

A: I wanted to be able to write a book that shows how you can go through unsettling times and turmoil and come out on top. There’s no substitute for determination and drive. My life has a happy ending. I thought my story was something people could benefit from. My 19-year-old read the book and I got the response I hoped for. He thought it was fabulous and very inspiring.

Q: You were born with microtia, a birth defect in which part of your right ear is missing, and you’re also deaf in that ear. How did that affect your musical ambitions?

A: It never affected my music. It affected my social interactions, how I was seen and sometimes ridiculed. Music became my refuge. Although I may not hear music the same way that someone who has hearing in both ears hears it, I never missed anything because I don’t know what things would have sounded like otherwise.

Q: You’re the last of the original members of Kiss to write a book. Have you read the other guys’ biographies?

A: Gene’s book is understandably written from him being in the center of everything, because that’s what he’s like. The other two [by Frehley and Criss] go from being questionable to absurd. When people’s recollections are tainted by substance abuse they’re not usually people an attorney wants to put on a witness stand. The few bits I read were so ridiculous that it was frightening to think that either of them believes it. For a lot of reasons I feel I’m more objective.

Q: It seems like the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame induction has been more a cause for headaches than celebration. How do you feel about it?

A: The Hall of Fame people said that inducting other members who were not in the original lineup but who were in the band for decades and played on multi-platinum albums like [guitarist] Bruce Kulick and [late drummer] Eric Carr was a non-starter. That’s not how it has worked with other bands. There’s a commune of Grateful Dead members in there including a writer who never played an instrument, and a bass player in Metallica who had only been in the band for seven years when they were inducted. The Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame is a small boys club who trademarked a name that sounds very official and change the rules to suit their needs. We are in the Hall of Fame not because those people want us there but because it began to look absurd not having us there. To have a band that many pop bands cite as an influence and to be ignored year after year takes a lot of effort. Whether it’s official or not I will be there to celebrate 40 years of this band.

Q: Kiss is the all-time leader in rock music when it comes to branding.  There has been everything from makeup sets, action figures and board games to Kiss coffins and coffeehouses. What was the mindset behind the marketing effort and do you feel it led to people thinking Kiss was style over substance?

A:  You can put all the icing on the cake that you want but you better have the cake. It must start with viable songs, consistently having viable songs, and we have that. With the makeup, we wanted to be larger than life. With merchandise, we wanted to give our fans what they wanted. When we first started doing t-shirts and belt buckles we were laughed at because it was considered uncool. We saw it very much the opposite. If our fans wanted it then it was cool.

 Q: What can you tell us about your summer tour with Def Leppard?

 A: This is our 40th anniversary tour. We couldn’t be more proud about going out and doing the biggest show we’ve done, with arguably the best stage we’ve had, and we couldn’t have a better band with us than Def Leppard. We have never had more fun being on tour than today. We go out there to live up to all expectations. Every night we blow the audience away.

IF YOU GO: Kiss and Def Leppard, 8 p.m. July 26, PNC Bank Arts Center, Garden State Parkway, exit 116, Holmdel. Tickets range from $36 to $250. Call 732-203-2500 or visit livenation.com.