6/7/08: Great to have the legendary Lita Ford in the studio for about 90 minutes last night on my Q104 NYC/syndicated show. Lita is one of the few artists left in my 25 years in radio from this genre that I really don't know personally and she could not have been cooler. She pretty much checked out of the music business 15 years ago to raise a family and now lives in FL and on a remote island with her husband Jim Gillette (yes the guy from Nitro, now a businessman) and two kids. Now she is back and all the way back! Lita confirmed that this is not just testing the waters, she plans to totally relaunch her career, tour, record, and be active again in the business of music. She will do some warm up dates in the NYC area under the name Kiss Me Deadly (badly kept secret, this "tribute" is really her and her new band!), then play Rocklahoma, then start to think about more shows and new music. She also has a brand new band that she is getting to know now, which includes Stet Howland on drums from WASP. Lita is totally ready to rock and said it is back in her blood again. I have video and audio coming soon to this site of Lita's visit and interview, and of course you can hear it again next weekend on all affilate outlets. She was also once again be live in studio with me for XM this Monday and will be my guest for the pilot I am shooting for VH1 Classic this Wednesday in NYC. Female fronted hard rock artists are way to scarce so it's great to welcome back of the true legends. I thank Lita for this exclusive interview to break her 15 year silence and look forward to hanging with her a couple more times this week. And since I know many of you are all asking, yes she still looks great as you will see in the video and exclusive photos coming to this site. We even did a late night photo shoot together at the police station next to the radio station. All coming soon to this site!
So many people asking me for my comments on Kiss rerecording old material with the current lineup. I know this is extremely hard for people to understand but I don't dwell on the world of Kiss anymore and what they do or don't do. I will always be a fan of the band and they will always have a special meaning to me, but as I have said a million times, it lost much for me when they started dressing others as Ace and Peter. That was my own personal line they crossed that I have a hard time with. Love Tommy and Eric, love many of the non original eras of Kiss, but it's just hard for me to accept. I've really moved on from caring what they are doing now. I've spent my whole life supporting this band and I still do for my audience, but personally it doesn't mean what it once did anymore. If Tommy and Eric had their own identity I'd be much more interested and excited about Kiss in 2008.
As for rerecording the old songs this is not something all that shocking. Many bands have done this recently and the main real reason they do it is to own the master and copyrights. Artists make MUCH less money on album sales and royalties from original recordings from the 70's and 80's because of the nature of those deals. If an artist can sell a newly recorded version of a classic song that they own, they can make much more and call the shots. It rarely works as the public and advertisers always want the classic songs. Twisted Sister rerecorded Stay Hungry, but the TV spots that recently aired using those songs insisted on the original versions. But thats the real reason bands do this, to own the performance and copyright. Not saying that's the only reason Kiss is doing it, but I assure you it's a huge reason. No fan ever is going to want a rerecorded version with a different lineup over an original. The greatest offense ever in this area remains the rerecording of the bass and drums on Ozzy's first two albums. Again, this is all over one thing, money. As always, do your homework, if you want to buy and support it great, but you vote with your wallets on all this stuff. Nobody is telling you to buy it!
I am days away from announcing a MAJOR event to celebrate my 25 years in hard rock/metal radio. One of the biggest bands in metal history is going to do an amazing this and pay tribute to me and my support for them and metal and hard rock in general. Keep a close eye on this site. It will be the party event of a lifetime and tickets will NOT be sold, they can only be won. Be sure we have your email address as well in the data base on the home page.
Huge XM show this Monday, Carmine Appice, Steve Harris, Lita Ford and Jack and Brad of Night Ranger!
Many have asked about merch on this site for sale. It's coming. Also lot's more video, audio and special features.
Look forward to shooting this new show for VH1 Classic this week. I've worked for a year developing this and I'm excited to have Lita Ford as a guest and have my buds Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson as cohosts. Again, there are no promises this show will air or make it to series, but we are all hopeful and will know soon after the taping. If you want to be in the audience contact VH1 through the info in the home page.
