Paul Stanley “You Don’t Pull My Strings”
On the eve of KISS finally being officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, founding member Paul Stanley sat down with Ron Bennington on The Ron and Fez Show. He’s written a brand new book, “Face the Music: A Life Exposed” and had a lot to say about the book, his career, and of course, how he feels about the Hall of Fame. Two seemingly contradictory things Paul made clear in the interview, first, the original four members of KISS will never perform together as KISS ever again, and secondly, the band KISS can and will continue even without him or Gene Simmons performing. How can that happen? More on both of those things below.
Listening to Paul Stanley talk about KISS, it’s clear that he has succeeded at becoming comfortable with being different. KISS is unlike any other band– and not just because of the patented makeup and uniform, but also in the philosophy and the way the band is branded and managed. For forty years it has been that way and from the sounds of it, that philosophy will continue, possibly for the next forty years and even beyond. But one thing will not happen. Stanley made it clear that the original four members of the band KISS will never play together as KISS, again. Bennington asked him straight out, “you’ll never play with the original four members again?”
“I don’t see any reason to– I– well how about this? No. That would never happen. That’s not only not in the cards, we don’t even have a deck with that in the cards.”
KISS was asked to perform as the original band tomorrow night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony but declined. Stanley was willing to perform with the band’s current line up, and even agreed to bring out Ace and Peter to join them, but refused to play under the conditions the Hall of Fame was looking for. “You don’t pull my strings” he told them. “I’ve been doing this for forty years, successfully, without you, so to start telling me what you want me to do and how high to jump, I resent it, and don’t respond well to it.”
Stanley said he didn’t know exactly who was behind the decision, nor does he have any idea who, if anyone will be performing KISS songs at the ceremony. In fact, he’s only attending the ceremony “reluctantly.” After years of being passed over by the selection committee—and then being told that only the original members could be inducted– he doesn’t consider being chosen to be an honor. Some of the other members of the band, he explained, have played on multi-platinum albums. Stanley also pointed out other bands that weren’t limited in that manner—bands like Metallica, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Grateful Dead. So no, he doesn’t consider it an honor.
It’s not important to me. It’s important to some of the fans because they see it as a validation of their championing the band, and that’s good enough for me to go. but I say shame on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for misrepresenting what it is. Its Jann Wenner and friends popularity club and who they nominate and who they let in every year has nothing to do with the public. That’s why every year when people get inducted, the public goes who? Because it has nothing to do with popularity it has nothing to do with influence on other bands. It has nothing to do with anything except their own romanticizing of some bands that have failed and some bands that have done well, but it has nothing to do with the public. It’s a small group of people who grudgingly are letting us in their club now because they look absurd at this point.
KISS is four guys, he later explained, and he doesn’t want to be “almost KISS” or “part of KISS” or “KISS plus”. But don’t misunderstand him– it doesn’t have to be the four members that currently make up the band to be KISS. Confused? Just wait. Stanley explained that the band can go on, even without him or Gene Simmons or either of them.
“Kiss is Kiss. And Kiss is a way of putting on a show. Delivering a mentality, a point of view. I’m not stupid enough or big-headed enough to think that I’m the only person who can do this. I’m great at what I do, but who I am as a performer was built on influences, and likewise there are people in the wings..who have been inspired by me and others who could pick up the flag and run with it… KISS is KISS because it sounds like KISS, looks like KISS and can deliver like KISS.”
You don’t need Babe Ruth to call yourselves the Yankees, according to Stanley. “I know to some people that’s so odd,” he told Bennington. “You just have to remember that there was at time people thought that the band without the original four members couldn’t exist, and initially I thought that too.” But he changed that thinking as the band evolved. “The issue becomes paramount when somebody is either thrown out or wants out or isn’t doing their job. Do we suddenly go ‘it’s over’? No. No no no no no. I’ve put hard-earned time, I’ve committed myself to this. And if somebody else is no longer holding up their end, I’m not going to just give it up.”
It’s just one more way that KISS is proving that they are just different. “We’re not like other bands” he insists. “We don’t look like them, we don’t sound like them, and we don’t play by those rules. We don’t have to.” he said.
So what are they? “We’re super heroes with guitars.”
Paul Stanley is one of the founding members of KISS. His new book “Face the Music: A Life Exposed” is on sale now and available on Amazon.com and at your local bookstore. You can follow him on twitter @PaulStanleyLive. Ron Bennington is the host of Ron Bennington Interviews on SiriusXM and The Ron and Fez Show. You can hear The Ron and Fez Show weekly on Raw Dog 99 from noon to 3pm et. Want to hear the entire interview? It’s available on SiriusXM On Demand.
