When Ace Frehley laughs, he sounds like Batman’s great foe, The Penguin – and he laughs a lot as he talks to Classic Rock about some of the music that has shaped his eventful life.
Born Paul Daniel Frehley in New York City on April 27, 1951, he became a world-famous rock star in the 70s as lead guitarist in Kiss, which he left in 1982 and embarked on a solo career. That was put on hold temporarily when he rejoined Kiss in 1992 for a reunion tour. He's been bickering with them ever since.
Ace Frehley's last 10 years have been his busiest as a solo artist, and his albums retain the streetwise rock’n’roll attitude and eccentricity that has always defined him. As he explains, “It all started for me with the British Invasion.”
The first music I remember hearing
There was Elvis and Chuck Berry on the radio when I was in junior school, but it was when I started playing guitar, at age thirteen, that I got really crazy about music. The Beatles and the Stones and the whole British Invasion played a big role in nurturing me.
The guitar hero
I copied guys like Clapton, Hendrix and Jeff Beck. I used to slow down the records so I could figure out the solos. But the biggest influence on me was Jimmy Page. The way Jimmy played was unorthodox. And my style is unorthodox because I never took guitar lessons; I play differently to how a schooled musician would. If it sounds good, do it. That’s always been my motto. That’s rock’n’roll.
The first song I preformed live
A long time before Kiss I had a band with my brother, and one song I distinctly remember us performing is Kicks by Paul Revere And The Raiders. We did it because it was a big hit in the US – and because it was pretty easy to play
The greatest album of all time
Led Zeppelin changed my life. And Hendrix’s first record, Are You Experienced, was revolutionary. I used to carry that record to high school and just stare at the pictures on the cover.
The singer
Paul Rodgers is way up there on top, and I love Robert Plant and Mick Jagger too. Nobody sounds like Jagger. He has his own style.
The songwriter
Paul McCartney is such a great writer. Look at what he’s done since he left The Beatles!
The anthem
That song by Queen: [sings] ‘We will, we will, rock you!’ That’s a great anthem.
The best record I've made
It’s a toss-up between my first solo album from 1978 and Spaceman [2018]. The first one still holds up after forty years, and so many guitar players cite that album and the Kiss Alive! record as what got them into playing guitar. And I’m really happy with how Spaceman turned out. The whole thing rocks.
The worst record I've made
Music From ‘The Elder’ (Kiss’s 1981 concept album) wasn’t a bad album, but it was the wrong album at that time. I don’t think Kiss fans were ready for an album like that.
The best live album
Kiss Alive! It was the album that broke the band, and it really did capture what Kiss is all about, because our live show was our biggest strength. A lot of the show was choreographed, with all the special effects – the bombs, the fire, and me shooting rockets out of my guitar.
The best live band I've seen
I was lucky enough to see Led Zeppelin’s first New York appearance, at the Fillmore East. They were opening up for Iron Butterfly. Zeppelin were amazing. After they finished their set, half the people walked out, which was very embarrassing for the headliner.
My cult hero
Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks. They never made it big, but it was a really interesting group. The music is really hard to categorise. Also I think that [Free guitarist] Paul Kossoff was a great player who never got the adulation he deserved. And it was really tragic the way he died.
The most underrated band of all time
I always thought that The Kinks should have been bigger. Some of their songs are genius. Ray Davies knew how to mix simple chord work with great vocal melody, and the lyrics were always cool.
My Saturday night party song
In the late seventies and early eighties I’d get together with my friends and we would blast some Slade. Noddy Holder was just such a maniac. Cum On Feel The Noize is a great drinking song. I guess all of Slade’s songs are great drinking songs.
My 'in the mood for love' song
If I’m with a gal, I’ll play either Stairway To Heaven or Frank Sinatra.
The song that makes me cry
On Spaceman I did a remake of this old song I Wanna Go Back that Eddie Money had a hit with in the eighties. That song makes me cry. The words take me back to my youth and my high school days. I identified so much with that song, so I knew I could do a good job with it.
The song I want played at my funeral
New York Groove, I guess. It was my big hit, so why not?
