ACE FREHLEY: Why GENE SIMMONS Doesn't Appear On 'Origins Vol. 1'

Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed on “The Boris & Robyn Show” on WPDH 101.5 FM in Poughkeepsie, New York. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Asked why KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons ended up not appearing on Frehley‘s upcoming “Origins Vol. 1” collection of covers, Ace said: “Well, I tried calling Gene a couple of times and I got his answering machine. So I shot him a few different texts. I even went as far as to get ahold of Doc McGhee [KISS‘s manager] and tell Doc to let Gene know I wanted to get ahold of him. And I guess either he didn’t get the message or he was just too busy. So I said, ‘Well, let me reach to Paul [Stanley, KISS frontman].’ I had Paul‘s cell phone [number] in my phone. I gave him a buzz, and he picked up immediately. And from the outset, he thought it was a great idea and would be a lot of fun. It took a while to choose which song we wanted to do. We were originally thinking about DEREK AND THE DOMINOS‘ [version of Jimi Hendrix‘s] ‘Little Wing’, then we were kicking around maybe ‘My Generation’ [by THE WHO]. But towards the end of the elimination process, I came up with the idea for [FREE‘s] ‘Fire And Water’, and he loved it.”

“Origins Vol. 1” will be released on April 15. Other guests are none other than Slash trading leads on THIN LIZZY‘s classic “Emerald”, Lita Ford singing and playing lead on THE TROGGS staple “Wild Thing”, ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 playing guitar alongside Ace as he sings his classic KISS composition “Parasite” for the very first time, as well as Jimi Hendrix‘s “Spanish Castle Magic”, and PEARL JAM‘s Mike McCready also plays guitar with Ace as he finally sings his KISS “Alive!” mainstay “Cold Gin”. “White Room” is also an iTunes instant gratification track, meaning fans who pre order the LP on iTunes will receive the CREAM cover song instantly.