ACE FREHLEY: In A Giddy Mood

“Say ‘Dukakis’ and ‘hanging out’ in the same sentence,” requests Ace Frehley, on the phone from New York City.

Dukakis?

“Yeah, like the Presidential candidate’s last name. You know, Du-ka-

kis..."

Do there have to be words between them or should I just say them together?

“Oh, you can just say them together,” Frehley answers, innocently enough.

Don’t even think about it. I’m onto your game.

“Umm, well, you’ll have to forgive me then. It’s been a long day and I guess I’m in sort of a giddy mood . . .”

Giddy mood notwithstanding, Ace Frehley’s really calling to tell me how serious he is about his not-so-new band, Frehley’s Comet. Ace Frehley, the man who once covered his face with silver and white grease paint as one of the founding members of Kiss, has a new lease on life—and he says it’s all because of this band.

“Look, I consider myself a musician first and a showman second,” Frehley says. “And this is a band. We play like a band and everyone has a say in what we're doing, so the sound really represents where we are when we go in to make a record. We wouldn’t change a note of it.”

Coming off eight months on the roadincluding a stint in Europe—would be enough to tighten any band up. Frehley sees Second Sighting as a much better representation of Comet's own sound.

Sure, songs like “Insane” and “It’s Over Now” call to mind Frehley’s prior combo, and Second Sighting is more like hard-rock/power-pop than menacing metal. But Frehley likes it—and for the guitar-slinging bandleader, that’s enough.

“If some of the songs sound like Kiss,” Frehley says unapologetically, “it’s only because I was an integral part of their sound from the very beginning. I can’t change who I am, so that’s what you’re hearing on Second Sighting."

Bring up Kiss and Frehley’s got a lot to say, though he’s quick to stress that he’s now patched up his differences with former bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. In fact, the pair joined him for a few songs during a recent Frehley’s Comet show. But Frehley’s departure from Kiss was considerably less cordial. “What can I say? I was really unhappy with The Elder album. And it seemed that when Peter (Criss) left the group, the power balance shifted to where Gene and Paul were making all the decisions, and I wasn’t happy with the decisions they were making.

“They wanted to work with (producer) Bob Ezrin on The Elder, which I didn’t. He switched a guitar solo without telling me on Destroyer, just brought in a studio musician and put in another part. And when it came time for the final mix of The Elder, he ended up cutting half my guitar solos! That really put me over the edge.”

Walking away from a band that was a guaranteed money-making machine obviously wasn’t an easy decision, and Frehley attempted to numb his disgust with an array of controlled substances. “For me, leaving the band became a matter of self-preservation,” he explains somberly. “I was to the point where I was becoming self-destructive because I was so unhappy. Ten years with a group is long enough, especially when that group isn’t stimulating your creativity. And it go* old, putting on the make-up night after night, kind of like a marriage gone sour.

“It got to the point where people were coming to see the shows and the music was secondary. Being a musician, it didn’t make me feel very good. I mean, if I went out straight one night and played great, that was one thing. Then if I got completely wasted the next night and I really didn’t play very well, but I ran around the stage and was more active, that would be the night that some kid would come backstage and tell me what a great show I had done and how well I played.”

Once the ties with the Kiss organization were severed, Frehley had a long hard climb back from substance abuse. There were the much-publicized car accidents, and eventually a less-thanenviable reputation, which Frehley realized he’d have to overcome if he wanted to regain his position in the music world. “There’s definitely a message in those songs,” Frehley says, adding, “I don’t think kids should do cocaine, or drugs, period. I’m totally against drugs, I know what they can do. But I’m especially against kids doing drugs because they’re a lot more harmful when you’re growing up. It’s hard enough to grow up in this world with all the bullshit. And drugs will just make it even harder—who needs that?”

Certainly not Frehley, who hit the road with “old friends” Iron Maiden for a summer tour beginning July 1. After spending years headlining in sold-out arenas, Frehley’s got to prove himself once again. “It’s challenging, to go out there and have to get those kids fired up,” he says. “What’s funny is that some of them are young enough that they don’t even know that I was in Kiss. So, when they’re responding, I know they’re responding to this band!”

And, Frehley stresses once again, the Comet is a full-fledged band effort. “It’s nice that after rehearsals or the studio or a gig, we don’t just disappear. We can all go out together and have dinner, hang out. I’m actually in a band where I enjoy being with these guys all the time. We all enjoy hanging out together.”

Though he never comes right out and says it, Frehley conveys a sense of wanting to equal the success of his former band. The man obviously wants hit singles, platinum albums, headliner status on a major tour. He believes he can have it too, otherwise “I wouldn’t be out here breaking my ass!”

To that end, the music on Second Sighting is far more pop-oriented than Frehley’s first solo outing. Given the success of light-metal acts like Bon Jovi, who give you all the flash but only half the crunch, Frehley may view this as the path of least resistance. He’s certainly quick to defend the direction taken. “We want to get away from being a heavy metal band,” he says. “We think we’re more of a hard-rock act, so we want the music to reflect that. We certainly wouldn’t mind getting played on pop radio—and I think we’ve got some songs on this record that could do it.”

But, what about credibility?

“Look at Kiss,” Frehley responds, pointing to the obvious. “One of their biggest records was ‘Beth’ and it was a ballad. So that doesn’t have to mean an act’s gone soft.

“I realize that a lot of people are always going to think of me as the original guitar player for Kiss with all the make-up and the crazy antics,” Frehley concludes. “But if we can accomplish anything with this band, I’d like it to be able to stand on its own musicianship and have people recognize us for that.”