Ace Frehley plays a custom Les Paul
In case you haven’t heard, Ace Frehley is coming to the Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, NC this March 23-25. While Ace isn’t in any horror movies I could find listed, I’d go out on a limb and guess that lots of horror fans are also fans of KISS. So I’ve decided to do a post on Ace Frehley! Time to learn some stuff.
Learn more and watch some videos after the leap…
Meet Paul Frehley…aka Ace Frehley
According to interview on Gibson.com, Ace states that his first band was called The Four Roses. He went on to be in The Exterminators, Honey and Molimo. Check it out below, I found a pic of Molimo.
Ace Frehley with Molimo
He also discussed that he saw an ad for KISS (well technically Wicked Lester at the time) stating they they were a band with a record deal. After he joined the group he was informed that they didn’t have a deal after all. Ace Frehley was the one that designed the KISS logo with the two lightning bolts at the end. When they started painting their faces, Ace painted two silver stars on his eyes and became “Space Ace” which went to be known as “The Spaceman.”
Ace’s songwriting skills with Kiss started on the first album, Kiss. He wrote “Cold Gin” and “Love Theme from KISS.” When the other 3 members released solo albums, Ace’s was the best selling. As a guitarist, one thing I’ve seen in guitar magazines since I started playing is Ace Frehley. He has spawned guitarist since KISS hit the scene in 1974. As a guitarist, the first thing I think of when I hear “Ace Frehley” is Les Paul with 3 humbuckers. This may have just lost some people but if you’re a guitarist, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I remember seeing his Les Paul that was modified so it would shoot sparks and smoke while he played solos. How bad is that?
In 1984, Ace started his solo career and was replaced by Vinnie Vincent. Apparently he retained a one quarter share in Kiss until 1985. He brought together a band of keyboardist Arthur Stead, vocalist/guitarist Richie Scarlet, bassist John Regan (worked with Peter Frampton) and Anton Fig (you’ve probably seen him on David Letterman). The band was also known as Frahley’s Comet. In 1995, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley played on MTV Unplugged. By December the paperwork was complete. At the Grammy’s in 1996, KISS appeared in full costume and make up. They kicked off the tour at Tiger Stadium in Detroit and the tour earned the group $43.6 million. Ace’s last appearance with KISS was at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics. He was replaced by Tommy Thayer. Some fans were not happy that KISS dressed Thayer up in Ace’s “Spaceman” gear and makeup and had him use the same tricks Ace developed. If you want evidence of this just look around the net. There is one example in the link to the Gibson.com site earlier. One fan stated they’d rather see a tribute band than Thayer making money off tricks Frehley invented. KISS owns the rights to the costume and makeup, so there is nothing that can be done.
Now…Let’s hear some Ace solos and interviews!
