DEE SNIDER To PAUL STANLEY: ‘Why Do You Have To Be Such A Dick?’
Dee Snider says that Paul Stanley was being “a dick” when the KISS leader slammed the TWISTED SISTER frontman as “a wannabe” who “desperately wants attention and to be taken seriously.”
During a recent appearance on Eddie Trunk‘s show, Snider criticized Stanley and KISS bassist Gene Simmons for having current KISS members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer dress up as Peter Criss‘s and Ace Frehley‘s respective “Spaceman” and “Catman” personas. Dee told Trunk: “I don’t see how people could accept this. Tommy Thayer? I’m sorry. It’s insulting. Not only did he play in a tribute band of KISS, he’s imitating Ace in his entire act!” Snider went on to bash Thayer for allegedly copying Ace‘s stage moves. He said: “Oh my God — that’s disgraceful. When KISS replaced Ace and Peter, and they brought in guys [Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent] who had their own makeup and their own thing, that was acceptable. That was awesome. They were their own characters.”
Stanley got an opportunity to respond to Snider during an interview for Chris Jericho‘s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. He said: “Well, 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.”
Snider responded to Stanley‘s comments by writing an open letter to the KISS frontman in which he accused Paul of being “oddly threatened” by him an insisting that he would “bury” Stanley in a hypothetical “old-school” rock battle, featuring ” no costumes, no pyro [and] no bullshit.”
At the 2015 Long Island benefit to fight hunger on September 20, Snider spoke to “The Real Radio Show” about his war of words with Stanley. He said (see video below): “Look, it’s crazy how international this feud between me and Paul Stanley has become. Not bad for a ‘wannabe’ or a buffoon. ”
He continued: “Let me lay out my KISS credentials. [I] own the first seven albums. I bought the first album before it had ‘Kissin’ Time’ on it. I bought it in February, ’cause I lived in Nassau County, they lived in Queens, and there was a rumor about this cool band that had an album coming out, and I got it the minute it came out. I have stood in front of a mirror and lipsynched Paul Stanley vocals, made Paul faces in the mirror, okay? So I don’t think I’m out of line to say that I have an opinion and that I feel that the Ace Frehley impersonator playing guitar now is an insult to fans. People disagree — that’s fine. People agree — that’s fine. But Paul reacted to me making a statement — anything negative about KISS; I mean, you’re not allowed to do that, apparently — and decided to call me a wannabe and a buffoon, and I had to address that in an open letter to Paul, where I pretty much took him out at the knees.”
Snider then addressed Stanley directly, saying: “Paul, I love your band, I love your music. Why do you have to be such a dick? Alice Cooper is not a dick. Alice Cooper has inspired a million people and he’s the coolest guy in the world, yet Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] and Paul, they’ve got this arrogance about them, like the world owes them something. We do owe you something, but let us offer it; don’t insist we buy it from you.”
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