Committee Chairman

Ace Frehley says he won't play the RRHOF ceremony

Feb 23, 2014

If KISS fans were hoping to see a reunion of the original four members on stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it looks like they will be disappointed. In a previous article, we mentioned how Paul Stanley disclosed that his apathy towards the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has not changed. We focused on that portion of his words, but perhaps we should have taken more note of his comments about how the Hall has been inconsistent by not always inducting what he felt were key members of bands.

He cited how when the Canadian Progressive Rock band Rush was inducted that John Rutsey, who performed on the first album was not included and how Rob Trujillo who “did not play on the classic Metallica” albums was not included when the Heavy Metal act entered the Hall of Fame.

We didn’t think much of it at the time, but according to Ace Frehley, one of the band’s original members, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have elected to perform with current members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, both of which are not to be inducted (only the original four of Simmons, Stanley, Frehley and Peter Criss will be.)

Clearly Stanley was insinuating that Thayer and Singer should also be inducted. Tommy Thayer officially replaced Ace Frehley in 2002, but was associated with the band for years before. The same can be said of Eric Singer, who replaced Criss in 2004, but was in the band from 1992 to 1996. Stanley would state that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would not even entertain the idea of inducting anyone other than the original band.

Initially all four members of the original lineup expressed an interest of performing together, but based on what Frehley has said, this does not appear to be happening. The news came from an interview that Ace did with New York City’s 104.3 radio station. Frehley wanted the news to get out as he did not want the fans of the popular band to think they would see a reunion on stage.

As for Frehley performing with the current band, he stated that there was no point if Thayer was up there doing the same thing. In fact, we are not sure that he will be there based on this statement:

“If I’m not gonna put on the makeup and do a three song reunion for the fans, then what am I gonna do? And right now I’m not even sure if I’m gonna show up for that, you know?”

Ace Frehley continued by saying that the fans are the ones who really losing, insinuating that they are being cheated out of what they really want to see as when asked why Simmons and Stanley wanted to go in that direction, he had this to say:

“I don’t know, and at this point, I don’t really give a shit. I don’t really care. It’s like, enough already. You don’t wanna do something for the fans after forty years of them supporting you?”

Whether Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley wants to admit it, the fans do want to see the original four in this capacity. This is no disrespect meant to Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, but they were not part of the band’s zenith, and this partly is a slap in the face to the fans of KISS who lobbied so hard for the band to get inducted in the first place. As always even when bands are inducted, controversy and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will forever be married.

RIP: Nelson Frazier

Feb 19, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

It was sad news that we learned of the passing of former WWE superstar, Nelson Frazier who passed away at the age of 43 due to a massive heart attack. Frazier had multiple personas in World Wrestling Entertainment, most recently as “Big Daddy V” in the ECW brand.

Frazier was known for his large size (his billed weight was over 500 pounds) and as such could always be used as a large man who could constantly be reinvented to keep him relevant in the world of wrestling. He would have many stints in the WWE and has a tenure in the largest professional wrestling organization in the United States that few can match.

Frazier debuted in the WWE in 1993 as Mabel, one half of Men on a Mission, a pair of positive African-Americans looking to make a difference from the ghetto. They would hold the WWF World Tag Team Championship for a week, winning and losing them back to the Quebecers (Jacques Rougeau and Pierre Oullette), but it was a heel turn that launched Mabel to his highest profile run.

Mabel would win the 1995 King of the Ring and compete in the main event at that year’s Summer Slam, in a World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title Shot against Diesel (Kevin Nash). He would spend the rest of the year feuding with the Undertaker, before leaving in early 1996.

He would return a few years later, with coloured contacts and a vinyl body suit as “Viscera”, a member of the Undertaker’s “Ministry”. Once that petered out, he would leave and return, though enjoy a rare face turn as Viscera; “The World’s Largest Love Machine”. It was entertaining watching the big man in his Hugh Hefner like pyjamas, but he would be repacked as “Big Daddy V” with his large frame and extensive tattoos exposed. He would stay with the WWE until 2010, but the big man would find success with All-Japan, and with the Asian Tag Team Titles there a couple of years ago.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Nelson Frazier at this time.

RIP: Bob Casale

Feb 19, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Today it was announced that Bob Casale, a founder of the influential band, Devo passed away today of heart failure at the age of 61. The Ohio based band was best known for their biggest hit, “Whip It”, which was a heavy staple on the early days of MTV. They did not have any other song that even approached that popularity, but their music charted new ground.

Devo, and the New Wave movement was in direct contrast to the traditional Blues Rock, and was a reaction to Punk Rock. The band’s name was short for De-Evolution, which was a commentary on the band’s view that the world was devolving as opposed to evolving. Devo embraced the visual medium in their work in their videos and embraced the concept of putting video to music long before MTV was ever conceived.

They received a warm response at their appearance at the Coachella Festival in 2010 and released their first album in nearly twenty years, and toured extensively after. The death of Casale marks the second passing of a Devo member in the past twelve months. Last June, drummer Alan Myers died of stomach cancer.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com offer our condolences to the friends and family of Bob Casale at this time.

Paul Stanley speaks out

Feb 16, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

We don’t normally cut and paste articles from other sites but the Classic Rock website interviewed Paul Stanley of KISS, which were finally inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after fifteen years of being eligible. Stanley and his bandmate, Gene Simmons have long trashed the Cleveland based institution and we were curious to see if maybe they changed their position now that have finally been chosen. As we see from this Q&A, at least where Paul Stanley is concerned, nothing has changed.

Say what you want about KISS, but we have to hand it to Stanley for maintaining his stance about the Hall of Fame. You can never call him a hypocrite!

Did you feel honoured at being inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?

No, it was done begrudgingly and because it had become absolutely ludicrous that they were choosing to ignore us. At the end of the day most people don’t realise that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was a privately created establishment and that it has a self-appointed board. It’s a perfect case of perception becoming reality. People heard ‘Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’ and gave it credibility. So whether it deserves the title has to be weighed against who it inducts.

So was it an honour to be nominated?

No. It means a lot to the fans and I understand it because it’s validation for them. So for that reason I accept graciously and accept on their behalf. My feelings and my ambivalence about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame hasn’t changed any. Their attitude is elitist and it doesn’t reflect the public. It reflects a small group who dictate who meets the criteria that they set up as ‘rock and roll’. I’ve always felt the spirit of rock and roll meant not only ignoring your critics, but ignoring your peers and going your own way. I think we’ve done that pretty much with few exceptions for forty years. So that same criteria that kept us out has not gotten us in. I scratch my head a little and I also take issue with a certain arrogance within that group. Nonetheless I look at some of the inductees and any club that has Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and The Who and the Beatles and the Stones is company I don’t mind being in and my feelings have nothing to do with any of them, it purely has to do with a system which I think is tainted, corrupted and distorted.

Are you looking forward to playing it?

Honestly, I have no plans at the moment to do anything, and that includes playing with Ace and Peter or anyone else. My plan at the moment is to go and accept the award. Anything else, we’ll see how it unfolds or unravels. It was interesting to me, or offensive to me, that when the question was broached with the hierarchy about inducting additional members it was shut down immediately as ‘a non starter,’ which to me is arrogant. People who sit behind desks need to respect the people who are actually either inductees or possible inductees into this so-called hallowed organization. So the fact that there are 30 or 40 or 50 or some absurd number of Grateful Dead members all inducted, the fact that all of the Chili Peppers, including people who played on early albums that never amounted to very much are inducted, the fact that John Rutsey, the drummer on the first Rush album is not inducted, the fact that Rob Trujillo, who’s a great guy but didn’t play on any of the classic Metallica albums, was inducted after being in the band six years makes me wonder exactly what are the rules? If the rules don’t apply to everybody then they’re not rules.

Do you plan to bring Ace and Peter up on stage with you?

Of course it goes without saying that Ace and Peter deserve this moment in the spotlight. We wouldn’t be here without them. We couldn’t have built what we did without them at the foundation. That being said, we couldn’t have built what we built without a lot of people who followed them. We couldn’t have been here without them and we couldn’t be here today with them. So absolutely, of course they deserve and belong up there.

Ace and Peter jammed together at recent party for That Metal Show presenter Eddie Trunk. How did you feel about that?

I didn’t feel one way or the other. I don’t own those songs, I only wrote ‘em. There’s nothing to guard or lock away. Those songs are public domain and they played on those songs so why wouldn’t they play them? For that matter, why wouldn’t anybody play them?