Ace Frehley: That 70s Sound

Ace Frehley: That 70s Sound – by Rob Skane.

Ace Frehley was my first guitar hero. When I heard him play the guitar, I was transported to places that I didn’t even know existed. Maybe you can relate? I can’t quite describe the feeling, but his guitar solos resonated with my entire being. The phrasing, the note choices, the vibrato … it all just floored me – especially the flashy minor thirds. It was ballsy, Jimmy Page-y, and a whole lotta loud. It freaked me out then, and it still does now.

From 1975 until 1979 or so, KISS was blowing up just about every hockey rink in the world. This is when Ace was at his peak, I’d say. Check out bootlegs from back then, especially the 1977 tours – he was absolutely blazing. There was something magical about the sloppy, rocknroll swagger in his playing that blew minds. And speakers. He left it all out there every damn night. KISS never mailed it in back then – they couldn’t afford to. I think they knew that a lot of us were relying on them to offer us an escape. In many ways, they really were the Kings of our Night Time World.

Ace’s playing inspired countless guitar players. It had attitude, lots of DiMarzio PAF treble pickup bite, and the solos were so memorable, you could sing along with them. Gene Simmons sometimes referred to Ace making “dinosaur noises,” and that’s evident in “God of Thunder” and also in “Dr. Love.” But most of all, the music was FUN – with a capital FU. Big Rock, Arena Rock … call it whatever you want. KISS made people happy at a time when music actually brought people together to have a good time, all the time. They polarized people too, but good rocknroll will do that, lads. Never forget that part of the equation. The equation being E=MC5, but I digress.

The first fan letter I ever sent was to Ace, at his house in Connecticut. Creem Magazine had a thing called Stars Cars, and they featured Ace. So, I wrote down the license plate number, and when your dad’s a cop – things can happen, if you catch my drift. And while I cannot comment on rumor and speculation, let’s just say – where there’s a will, there’s always a way, kids. My letter went unanswered, but man … I would check the mail every day for months and months. I am not kidding. Not to get all Tom Petty on you, but the waiting really is the hardest part. And years later, when I saw KISS from the fifth row, on Ace’s side of the stage, I might have screamed “You never wrote me back!!!” a few times … Don’t judge.

KISS was a true American Band in their heyday. The songs were very “knees/please and fire/desire,” but so what? Ace’s guitar smoked, Gene breathed fire, drooled blood, and probably did the books after each gig – who knows, right? The sound of Ace Frehley’s guitar meant everything to me at one point in my life, and that will never happen again. It seems those inspirational figures only come around once in a lifetime. Like I said before, there were a lot of people whose minds were blown when they heard Ace play the electric guitar, and I was one of them.

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