Well before Ghost and Sleep Token took anonymity to the extreme, Kiss kept rock & roll fans guessing with simple makeup and high heels. But no matter how obscured Ace Frehley’s human face and torso may have been, it was easy to discern that a comedian with crackerjack timing lived beneath his Spaceman costume.
Kiss’ lead guitar player, who died Thursday at 74, had a razor-sharp wit and electrifying, often imitated laugh — fans called it the “ack!” — that counterbalanced Gene Simmons’ perpetual sourpuss. If Simmons’ Demon was Kiss’ scowl, then Frehley’s Spaceman was its cackle.
Look no further than the band’s infamous 1979 appearance on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow Show. Even for non-Kiss fans, it’s required viewing, simply for how it captures the freewheeling, unrehearsed nature of the era’s talk shows. When Snyder attempts to introduce the members, each in full costume — Paul Stanley as his Starchild, Peter Criss bare-chested as the Catman, Simmons in demonic getup, and Frehley in the Spaceman gear — he mistakenly calls Simmons the “bass” player, pronounced like the fish.
“I’m not the lead guitarist,” Frehley interjects, “I’m the trout player.”
The interview continues to derail. “Tell me what each outfit means,” Snyder says, starting with Frehley. “I think this outfit is self-explanatory,” Frehley replies, letting loose that funhouse howl.
From there, he goes full supper-club comic, diving into a routine that touches on his “utility belt,” what’s below it, and his theft of Flash Gordon’s closet. When Snyder suggests correctly that he’s dressed as a spaceman, Frehley seizes the moment: “No, actually I’m a plumber!”
Snyder, trying to his best to match him jab for jab, replies that he has a “little piece of pipe backstage” that he wants Frehley to work on. “Tell me about it!” Ace zaps back, letting loose a laugh punctuated with manic handclaps.
Through it all, Stanley smirks, Criss chuckles, and Simmons maintains his dour demeanor. Frehley doesn’t care. In that moment, he knows it’s his spotlight.
Onstage at Kiss concerts, Frehley relished his time to shine. His guitar solos were highly produced affairs, full of smoke, sparks, and sometimes even rocket launches. During a 1980s TV appearance in which he attempted to show the trick behind the smoking guitar, he inadvertently set off the instrument’s smoke bomb.
“This is how I got bronchitis,” he ad libs as smoke fills the studio. Once again, Ace had the last laugh.
