The Spaceman Has Left Orbit
Ace Frehley, RIP
As the famous story goes, Ace Frehley showed up to audition for this band called Wicked Lester (soon to be known as KISS) wearing mismatched sneakers. One orange and one red. Paul Stanley thought a homeless guy had wandered in off the street. Gene Simmons was equally unimpressed and threatened to kick his ass if he was wasting their time. Ace plugged in his guitar, and suddenly, none of that mattered.
That’s the entire story of Ace Frehley right there, isn’t it?
The news came on Thursday. A fall in his home studio, complications, the remainder of his solo tour cancelled, horrible rumors of a stroke, suddenly he’s on life support for a brain bleed, and then he was gone. Seventy-four years old. The Spaceman finally left orbit for Jendell.
I’ve been listening to Ace Frehley songs all day. It’s what you do when an artist you love has passed away. I’m not hearing any deep meaning in the lyrics or gaining any new insight into his vocal stylings. I’m just celebrating my first guitar hero and smiling.
I’m not going to tell you that Ace made me want to pick up a guitar. He may have inspired a whole generation of players, but I’m not one of them. What I love about Ace Frehley was how he moved through the world with a particular kind of oblivious grace.
Here’s a guy who influenced literally millions of guitarists. Slash, Dimebag Darrell, John 5, and many more were inspired by him and picked up their own guitars. One of his famous quotes is, “If I had known I would influence so many guitarists, I would have practiced more.”
Think about that for a second. The man changed rock music, inspired generations of players, and his attitude was basically “whatever.” Is there anything more rock and roll than that? Ace never really cared that much about his impact, but he was incredibly impactful, especially on the first six KISS records. Ace just showed up in mismatched sneakers and played.
Authentic. Messy. Iconic.
His ’78 solo album outsold the other three KISS solo records combined, and nobody was more surprised than Ace himself. He was always the most “rock and roll” of the members of KISS. When I was a kid, I didn’t know how much drinking and drugs he took. I just knew he was the coolest member. Gene Simmons turned KISS into a merchandising empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Paul Stanley became the ultimate showman. And Ace just wanted to play guitar.
When I told my wife that Ace Frehley had passed away, she did not know who that was. To be fair, my wife probably couldn’t name a single KISS song if you held a rocket-shooting guitar to her head. And that’s fine. Not everyone needs to be concerned with rock music history. Besides, outside of a few headlines, I’m not sure the world will care that much either. And that makes me sad.
There won’t be a tribute show like what was done for Taylor Hawkins. At best, someone will play “Shock Me” at the Kennedy Center Honors in December (my guess is John 5). Everyone who matters has already dropped their condolences and remembrances on social media.
And this is mine.
His music was the soundtrack of my teenage years and beyond. He wrote incredible songs, created memorable guitar solos, and through it all laughed like a maniac.
Gene Simmons might’ve been the one to sing “Rock and Roll All Nite,” but it was Ace who really did rock and roll all night and party every day.
All the way until the end.
Be seeing you.
Getting Yelled at By Dumbasses
This might be one of my favorite essays I’ve ever read.
Diane Keaton Was Nobody’s Fool
Tim Grierson’s piece in Rolling Stone is the best breakdown of the late actress I’ve read. Richly detailed and lovingly put together. My wife wondered why there wasn’t anything out there regarding her role in The Family Stone and how it mirrored her real-life experience, and then I found this perfect story in Slate about that very thing.
The Ballad of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham
I’ve always been taken by their story. This article really dives into the days before they joined Fleetwood Mac.
Dad Shushes Family While Focused On Jumbotron Hat Shuffle
“According to witnesses, Fahlen later pumped his fist in triumph and claimed to have correctly chosen the left hat, despite having shouted ‘Right!’ just before the ball was revealed.” The Onion consistently makes me laugh.
Cadillac Rock City
This month, Cadillac, Michigan, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most legendary events in KISStory — the weekend KISS adopted a high school football team and turned a small town into the center of the rock ’n’ roll universe. I can’t think of any other band in history that has done something even remotely similar.
Religion for the Modern World
This piece caught my eye. It inspired me to learn more about Shinto and explore how it could be applied in the modern world. This post helped me better understand.
Full of Shildt
The story about Mike Shildt retiring seemed… off. And now we know. He’s got an anger issue. The Cardinals figured it out. Now, the Padres have figured it out. It just seems like Mike Shildt is the last one to figure it out.
Drew Struzan, the King of the Movie Poster, Has Died
Drew Struzan, the legendary illustrator behind some of the most iconic and beloved movie posters of all time, has died. ScreenCrush has a post with some of his amazing work. I’m rather partial to his teaser poster for Revenge of the Jedi, before the name change, and the rest of his Star Wars work. The one for Goonies is especially memorable, and, of course, Back to the Future.
My Conversation with Marc Maron | WTF Podcast
After more than 15 years and nearly 1,700 episodes, “WTF With Marc Maron” came to an end. As his final guest, Maron brought it back to someone who helped the show (and podcasts in general) make its mark: former president Barack Obama.
Dozens of Bob Ross paintings will be auctioned to help public TV after funding cuts
Was there anything more calming on television than watching Bob Ross paint a picture? He could start a painting at the beginning of an episode, maybe a forest scene or a lake or mountains, and was so patient and methodical you’d assume there was no way he was going to finish it by the end of the episode. But he did. And it was beautiful! Now, thirty of Ross’s paintings will be auctioned off to help PBS, which recently had its federal funding cut.
