There have been many great decades of rock and roll. But my favorite was the 1970's. There were many reasons. But perhaps the most compelling was being introduced to the "hottest band in the land", Kiss.
The theatrical element was what initially caught my eye. But I was also hypnotically drawn to their music. Without being overly sophisticated, their songs had catchy guitar riffs and infectious hooks that had all of their young fans singing along and playing air guitar. One of their biggest hits, "Rock and Roll All Night", became an instant rock and roll anthem.
While all of the band members were uniquely entertaining, the one that I found to be the "coolest" was Ace Frehley. The self-proclaimed "Spaceman" had a laid-back presence that emphasized his mystique. With his signature sunburst Les Paul, he would ultimately rip into a solo as smoke poured out of his humbucker pickups. As hordes of fans witnessed this every night, Ace rapidly solidified his status as a rock and roll icon.
Ace Frehley inspired countless youngsters to pick up the guitar. Many successful guitar players of today will give Ace credit for peaking their rock and roll interest. Back in the day, every aspiring young guitar had dreams of being Ace one day. Some achieved that goal while others had a hell of a time trying.
I had all of the Kiss albums when I was growing up. But the one that I found especially interesting was "Love Gun". While it was chock full of the signature Kiss sound, there was one song that stood out for me. Unlike the previous Kiss albums, "Love Gun" featured a song ("Shock Me") with Ace on lead vocals. Quite a bit different that Gene Simmons' deep demonic voice, Paul Stanley's power vocals or Peter Criss' raspiness, Ace Frehley's voice had a quirky tone to it. But I really liked it. It was a slightly different flavor on the traditional Kiss recipe.
"Shock Me", somewhat poetically, was written as a result of Ace being electrocuted at a 1976 concert in Florida. The short version of the story is that Ace touched an ungrounded metal staircase railing. Besides knocking the Kiss guitarist down, the shock also caused him to lose feeling in his hand for the rest of the concert. But as they say, the show must go on. And it did as well as inspiring Ace to write one of Kiss' most classic songs.
A short time later, the iconic Kiss solo albums were released. The first one that I bought was none other than Ace's. I loved the whole album but the most popular song on the album was "New York Groove". The song had a nice groove (no pun intended) to it and Ace's vocal style complimented it perfectly. The song was the popular of all of the Kiss solo songs, reaching #13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1978. Unknown to even some of the diehard Kiss fans, Ace did not write "New York Groove" It's actually a cover song that was recorded a few years earlier by a glam band called Hello. The Ace solo record, not surprisingly, was the most successful of the four.
Ace left Kiss in the early 80's to pursue a solo career. He went on to release nine studio albums as a solo artist. While he had a following of loyal fans, he did not achieve the level of success that he had seen with Kiss.
Ace reunited with the original members in 1996. I caught one of those shows at the old Capital Center in Largo, MD. And it was everything I had hoped for. Donned in full Kiss make-up, the energetic stage show brought back memories of those early concerts of the 70's. Of course, all good things must come to an end (again). A few years later, Ace left the band to resume his solo career.
Ace also wrote his autobiography ("No Regrets - A Rock and Roll Memoir") in 2011. It's a very interesting read, told in a true Ace-like way. I highly recommend it.
Sadly, Ace passed away yesterday at the age of 74. He was still performing right up until the very end. Ace was a rock and roll trooper. He made his carved his mark by becoming one of rock's most recognizable and influential guitar players. There will never be another like him. Rest easy, Spaceman. And thanks for the memories....
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