 Kiss | Kiss may not be planning on hitting the recording studio any time soon, but vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley Kiss release since his self-titled 1978 album, issued in tandem with solo projects from the other three original Kiss members. "So far everybody that's heard [the album] thinks it's great, so I'm real pleased with it," Stanley tells Billboard.com of the as-yet-untitled set. "Again, at this point, if it sells 100 copies or 100,000 copies or 10,000,000 copies, it won't change my life either way. All it's about is doing what I want to do and what I have the freedom to do. That being said, it's a very mainstream album. I don't think I'm going to surprise anybody being mistaken for somebody else. It was important to me to do the album I wanted to do, without any regard for anybody else's opinion or direction." |
GIVEN THE TOOLS TO ROCK 'N' ROLL
By Sophia Tareen
KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer helps W.L. Henry students form the school's first full band
HILLSBORO -- For one afternoon, W.L. Henry Elementary School was the School of Rock. Hillsboro High School's jazz band grooved. Teachers rolled out the red carpet. And Tommy Thayer, lead guitarist for the glam rock band KISS, presented 12 new musical instruments to boost the school's band program from three members who provide their own instruments -- two clarinets and a flute -- to a full-force 15-piece ensemble. "It's near and dear to my heart because it's where I started," Thayer said Thursday of school band programs. "It worked for me." Thayer, who grew up in Cedar Hills, where his parents Jim and Pat Thayer still live, played the saxophone at Sunset High School. He also learned the guitar and eventually took over for original KISS member Ace "The Spaceman" Frehley. For the past few months, Thayer has been rediscovering his Oregon roots: He was recently elected to Pacific University's board of trustees, is building a house at the Oregon Coast and has donated money to Sunset High.
Thayer met W.L. Henry Principal Enedelia Schofield at a recent administrative retreat for Pacific University in Forest Grove. She mentioned to him that the school has never had a full band. The 620-student elementary school has the second-highest poverty rate in the district: 90 percent of its students receive free or reduced-price lunches. "A lot of our students have a lack of role models (for music education)," Schofield said. "They don't have the exposure to music. Music could be the key to their success."
Thayer used his professional connections with Samick Music Corp. to win the donation of $5,000 worth of band instruments: a flute, clarinet, alto sax, trumpet, trombone and snare drum. The school matched the donation with six instruments purchased with fundraising money. "I've been waiting seven years to be able to have a band," said sixth-grader Mykael Moore, the school's lone flutist. At Thursday's assembly in the school's gymnasium, Schofield and Thayer announced winners of coveted spots in the band. Of the school's 80 sixth-graders, 24 requested a chance to be in the band. Twelve were selected to use the instruments. The new musicians begin rehearsing next week.
After the presentation, the students sang "Happy Birthday" in English and Spanish to Thayer, who turned 45 Monday. On the road, Thayer dons elaborate makeup, jeweled spandex and platform boots to "rock and roll all night and party every day" with tongue-waggling frontman Gene Simmons. On Thursday, he was just Tommy as he shook hands with a few students while touring the school with his fiancee, Amber Peek, and his father. "I left the makeup and platform boots at home," he said.The low-key look didn't seem to matter to students. "They've been going crazy," said fourth-grade teacher Veronica Dolby. "They didn't want to wash their hands." Students had their reasons for forgoing the soap and water. "Because he's a rock star," said Miguel Meza, 9. "Because he's famous," said Daniel Magana, 10. "Because girls dig him," said Anthony Farris, 9.
source: kissonline website
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