Ace Frehley – ‘No Regrets’ (Simon & Schuster)
Written by Gaz E
Sunday, 27 November 2011 05:30
“KISS was no longer a dream job. It was merely a job.”
Ace Frehley was always the coolest member of KISS. It is hardly surprising that, when a little more honesty concerning the once-great band is in desperate need, the Spaceman steps up to the plate and strikes a legion of myths out of the ball park, tossing in a couple of home truths rather than home runs, however.
‘No Regrets’, written with Joe Layden (who did a similar job on the ‘Mustaine: A Life In Metal’ tome) and John Ostrosky, is essential reading for fans of the hottest band in the world but, while a hefty chunk of the action is greasepaint-centric, this is a book about Ace Frehley…and it pulls few punches when talking about his former band mates.
“Older [KISS] fans either turned their backs on the band or bit the bullet,” he declares when discussing fan reaction to Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer slapping on the Spaceman and Cat makeup and replacing himself and Peter Criss in the band. If you are one of those that bit the bullet, bought your tickets for the ‘Sonic Boom’ world tour and pretended everything was okay then you, possibly, will not like some of the content of ‘No Regrets’. If you, like me, feel that there is a joyous hard rock legacy being pissed on at every available opportunity then you will, again, like me, laugh out loud when reading of Ace punching Thayer to the ground in an Australian dressing room. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves….
The tales of a young Paul Frehley that open the book paint an enthralling picture of the guitar legend at a young age. Splitting his youth between passion for both gang violence and guitar, what becomes evident is our hero’s addiction to a trio of catalysts to self destruction that would (will?) curse him, seemingly, forever: women, drugs and alcohol. His love of music and guitars would eventually take him away from the gangs and into a blur of random musical activity that would see him form a band called The Muff Divers and blag his way into being a roadie for Jimi Hendrix…kinda.
The infamous ad in the Village Voice – placed by a mysterious ‘Paul’ – and the legend of the odd sneakers are explained in full, to the joy of KISS Konspiracy theorists worldwide. The facts are hardly surprising, as is word of Frehley’s inability to bond with a certain Gene Simmons from the off. What will surprise readers is Ace’s honesty when documenting and setting straight rumours concerning his guitar parts being played by session musicians and the large amount of overdubbing that flavoured the timeless first live (?) album, ‘Alive!’, in 1975. There are revelations here that will break the hearts of KISS fanatics…if they haven’t already been shattered by the antics of Messrs Simmons and Stanley in recent times.
Ace’s difficulties in both working with Bob Ezrin and accepting the massive commercial success that culminated in the band becoming kiddie-friendly are tackled with honesty and should be commended by all. They won’t be. There are swathes of this book that will be condemned by the SS of the current monstrosity of a KISS line-up, again, hardly surprising when you delve into this book and discover some of the despicable acts that Frehley’s bandmates have soured this rock ‘n’ roll world with. The quote that modern day KISS are “a bunch of dirty rotten whores” is already scarred with infamy, its place in the book an example of perfect comic timing, possibly honed when in the company of the late, great John Belushi. Ace’s reminiscing of hanging out with the likes of Belushi, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Alice Cooper, dancing with the Bionic Woman herself, Lindsay Wagner, at Studio 54 and the like are what you would probably expect from a book of this ilk. They are, however, heavily outweighed by tales of destruction, car wrecks, drug deals, and death defying close calls; the recollection of Frehley being stuck on a runaway rollercoaster the most appropriate metaphor ever committed to paper.
Thoughts on classic KISS albums will surprise, upset even, fans of the band; “not really a terrible album, just a terrible KISS album” being one of the lines used to describe a “ludicrous” album sure to be in your collection. The saddest thing for me though was the realisation that Ace Frehley was already disillusioned with the band before I had really gotten into them. Before, I guess, many (possibly all) of you had gotten into the band: the timeline will shock and surprise. The sadness of events such as Peter Criss being ousted from the line-up are tempered with laugh a minute tales of debauchery and wackiness; Tutankhamun stopping Ace from walking out on the legendary ‘KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park’ movie, described here, as you can no doubt imagine, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, for example. Honesty prevails on the subject of the car crash that could so easily have taken the lives of Frehley and drummer Anton Fig and Ace’s (again) infamous arrest over prescription drugs. Honesty will have you spitting too when reading some of the dirty tricks pulled by his former colleagues, taking in the barring of Eric Carr’s planned guest appearance on ‘Trouble Walkin’ and the footage of Frehley’s daughter Monique for the movie ‘Detroit Rock City’ ending up on the cutting room floor even though a certain Mr. Simmons had insisted on her flying out to star in the flick….the same Mr. Simmons who would be present at all times when the film was edited – hmmm. This underhanded move would, as you will discover, prove the catalyst for Frehley’s departure from the reunited KISS line-up. Punching Thayer an afterthought, obviously.
“Regrets are a son of a bitch. Thank God I’ve learned to live my life without them,” states Ace Frehley in a quote plastered like white pan stick over the jacket of this book: have no regrets 
yourself by acquiring this must-read rock ‘n’ roll memoir which, and this is the most incredible thing, has made Ace Frehley even cooler. Essential.