Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider is slamming KISS for its reuse of original makeup by non-original band members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.
Thayer dresses in original lead guitarist Ace Frehley’s makeup and stage outfits while Singer does the same with original drummer Peter Criss’ gear, while each perform songs by their original counterparts.
“I don’t see how people could accept this,” Snider tells Eddie Trunk. “Tommy Thayer? I’m sorry. It’s insulting. Not only did he play with a tribute band of Kiss, he’s imitating Ace in his entire act!”
Snider takes particular exception to Thayer performing Frehley’s track, “Shock Me”, from 1977’s “Love Gun.”
“Oh, my God, that’s disgraceful,” adds the singer. “When Kiss replaced Ace and Peter, and they brought in guys (drummer Eric Carr and guitarist Vinnie Vincent) who had their own makeup and their own thing, that was acceptable. That was awesome. They were their own characters.”
The pair discussed the difference between longtime fans who care to differentiate between the men behind the makeup and those who simply want to see the KISS live experience regardless of which musicians are involved.
“My theory is, they forgave Kiss for ‘I Was Made for Loving You,’ and anything is acceptable after that,” says Snider. “It was a disco song, people! It’s not okay! It was never okay, and they’re playing it live now. Unbelievable. They play ‘I Was Made for Loving You,’ a fricking disco song!”
Last fall, frontman Paul Stanley defended the use of original makeup by Thayer and Singer, saying, "I think where we went astray is when we first replaced Peter and we decided we needed a new character. And the problem with that kind of stuff is that it started to become — interestingly, I think — disingenuous. It took an air of 'fake' in the sense that it became a menagerie. I mean, we had a Fox [Eric Carr] and an Egyptian Warrior [Vinnie Vincent]. Next we would have the Turtle Boy and The Frog Man.”
Stanley revelead that the momentum the group enjoyed as a result of their extended 1996 reunion tour with Frehley and Criss made it difficult to introduce new characters once the band’s 2000 farewell tour ended and he and bassist Gene Simmons decided to move forward with new players.
“I thought, you know, we really built these four images,” Stanley explained. “And, arguably, you can go anywhere in the world and people know who KISS is, regardless of whether they know who those people are. So to give up that because we found that those guys were no longer either capable or wanted to give it a hundred percent, well, then who loses out? The fans. So, no. Those images are the images that will continue when I'm not here either."
See also:
KISS add Steel Panther, Lita Ford and Fozzy to Kiss Kruize V
KISS announce Australian tour
VIDEO: KISS unplug for Led Zeppelin and Beatles covers in Tokyo
Ace Frehley announces European tour
Search KISS at hennemusic
