Saturday, September 12, 2015

Wannabuffoon

Paul Stanley, of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame enshrined band KISS, recently referred to Dee Snider as a "wannabe." Pretty tough talk for a guy who has spent most of his professional life made up and dressed as Starchild. Okay, it was in defense of one of his bandmates, Tommy Thayer who replaced original member Ace Frehley. Mister Stanley said, “Let me put it in the simplest terms. In this case, this guy is a wannabe, has always been a wannabe and desperately wants attention and to be taken seriously and that will never happen because he’s obviously clueless that he and his whole band are a bunch of buffoons.”
I have never been to Paul Stanley's house. I'm sure that it is vast and palatial. He probably has hot and cold running cash pouring out of spigots that he isn't even aware of. There are likely acre upon acre of gaming fields used by those who stumble upon them in their haste to reach the expansive manse that is Paul Stanley's house. But I'm almost certain that it is made of glass. Wannabe buffoons? I'm not sure if Starchild has taken a good look at himself in the mirror lately. On any given evening, that is precisely what all of these gentlemen are doing to promote their art. Howling "Lick it up" wearing orthopedic platform boots as the drum riser behind you billows smoke and fire or yowling "We're not gonna take it" as flame shoots from the neck of your lead guitarist's axe is all pretty buffoonish behavior. Especially when one takes into account these gentlemen's approximate age. Dee Snider is sixty years old. Paul Stanley is sixty-three. Both of them are probably more familiar in the pages of AARP magazine than Rolling Stone these days. These are, for better or worse, the elder statesmen of Rock and Roll. They should be spending their time and energy refining their act, helping shape a new generation of bands, the ones the influenced on their way up.
Like Keith Richards. The guy who is taking wild roundhouse swings at every piece of china in the shop: Beatles, Rap, Metallica, Black Sabbath. Sergeant Pepper was "rubbish." Describing rap's appeal, Keith says, "There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another." Just like there's an enormous market for wannabe buffoons. Go figure. 

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