Well HOOOOORAY!
Vinny Vincent is back! And for all the hype and praise he's getting one might think V.V was, in fact, Jesus's Rock n' Roll pseudonym when he decided he was the only one who could fill Ace Frehley's shoes' in 1982. Because the hype both prior to and following his appearance at the recently concluded Atlanta KISS Expo was of a sort that only Elvis or Jesus returning should have been able to generate.
But apparently, absence makes the heart grow crazier, and when neither the King or the Messiah showed up, the slight figure of what appeared to be my Mother at first glance, but later revealed it's self to be Vinny Vincent soaked up the hero's welcome instead.
How quickly some forget, and you may be one of them, exactly what it is Vinny Vincent brought to KISS and exactly what they were under his two-year reign of terror,
First let's do a little mud-check: How many of you think Creatures of the night and Lick it up are the best KISS records?
Umm huh, ok, now of those people who put their hands up, how many of you feel the rest of KISS's records are garbage? (Except Anamalyze of course)
Ahhhh, that's what I thought.
See, my first and biggest problem with Vinny are that I am a Rock n' Roll fan. The Sex Pistol, Eddie Cochran, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, The Misfits, Chuck Berry, Blondie, Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, NIN, Ministry........and my favorite KISS exemplify the type of music I prefer.
Did you notice that list did not include Accept, Saxon, Armoured Saint, Testament, and even though I like some of their music Judas Priest or Iron Maiden?
That's because I'm not much of a heavy metal fan and never once in my life did I buy a KISS record for my fix of "Heavy Metal" why would I? KISS was never a heavy Metal band...
...until the man of the hour, VV showed up that is and help construct one record that a lot of people who never liked KISS to begin with, think is their best, but in reality, sold fewer copies than The Elder upon release: Creatures of the night
And another record that up until recently has caused all fans to pinch their noses for fear of catching a whiff of a record that we hoped never to hear again save for its title track and the lone, sans make-up Gene 80's gem (Fits like a glove) we didn't want to breathe in the records metallic fumes, let alone LICK IT UP as we were instructed to do, and for years this record, the one record Vinny truly held sway over (He only Co-wrote 3 songs on Creatures, and possibly played on fewer) sat near the bottom of nearly all "Best to Worst KISS records" lists.
Ah, but let's not forget REVENGE and Vinny 3 co/writes on that record. He certainly helped up the quality of two of the record's singles, and I'll give him credit for that. But he had no influence over the record it's self, other than what material he co/wrote Paul and Gene decided to use (one of his songs was a complete dud, the "What? how much more time do we have to fill on this thing?" classic Heart of Chrome. And might I add that Revenge was a disappointment in terms of sales and was the first KISS record to fail to reach Platinum status since.....well hey! Lookee here! The last one was LICK IT UP!
So what's my point?
My point is, that if you are gushing with nostalgia over Vinny's return, then you probably never liked KISS much to begin with as his influence took them far away from what they did best, and that you would be best served going back to singing along with your cassette copies of the two INVASION records that you've been playing non-stop for the last 20 years.
As for Vinny being some sort of surviving hero who has weathered the storm of the evil KISS empire and lived to tell the tale (as Eddie Trunk would have you believe) I will refer you to the public record court documents of ANY of Vinny's lawsuits against KISS. They are a textbook for frivolous lawsuits that are jamming up the nation's courts and taking time away from legal matters that actually involve justice. And for character references, I'll say talk to ANYONE who has EVER worked with VV, Nuff' said on that front.
Now I'm all for forgive and forget, I certainly would never be rude to Vinny if I met him, or deny him a second chance to make a first impression, 20 years is a long time and maybe he has changed? I would certainly give him the opportunity to show that if he claimed it.
And hey, who hasn't been spellbound by the Vinny Vincent story over the past decade? I always say: "Micheal Jackson, Axl Rose, and Vinny Vincent are the true three craziest people music has ever produced" and of those three I find Vinny to be by far the most fascinating.
I was so enthralled with the VV story that two years ago I emailed Bruce Kulick and asked him if he would host a "Searching for Vinny Vincent" documentary. Bruce politely declined, and I let it go.
Until last year, when the Swedish film that claimed to have found him, and that he was now a transexual appeared. I quickly re-emailed Bruce for a quick "I TOLD YOU SO" and a last-ditch invite to revive the project as the Swedish film's authenticity was called into question.
Bruce let me know that this was not his style and he was DEFINITELY not interested, to which I said, "Fair enough, I won't bring it up again"
But I'm not going to let fascination with his story get cross-wired with nostalgic historical re-writes where LICK IT UP is the greatest record ever, and Paul and Gene never did anything but abuse poor Vinny.
Paul and Gene gave Vinny the opportunity to become a household name and to ply his craft on a national stage. Without KISS there would have been no invasion records and there would certainly be no interest in his presence at a KISS expo 30 years later. Vinny owes KISS thanks for his being able to make a buck in 2018, or that anyone even knows who he is.
And THAT is my point, we KNOW who he is....
Yet, some seem in critical need of a reminder, so take this as your wake up call. Unless you think frivolous harassment lawsuits, swindling fans with phony guitars and LICK IT UP are just the greatest things this world has to offer...
...let's reserve some of this adulation for Elvis and Jesus if they do decide to make their returns anytime soon......because I may have never heard Jesus play guitar...
...but I'm pretty sure he plays EXACTLY like Ace..
...And would turn your wine to water if you suggested he trade his Les Paul in for a Jackson Flying V with an 80's whammy (jerk-off) bar.
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