Paul Stanley And The Overnight Success

Paul

Paul Stanley seems to be everywhere lately.  Yeah, he wrote a book and yeah the Hall of Fame is two thousand years ago but he is still around on the press junket offering up his wisdom.

You have had your fill of Gene Simmons (or so it seems) so the Starman is up to bat to make sure that KISS never fades away and is perpetually in the media.  His interview with The Globe goes on forever but there was one bit that caught my eye.  I have to say I agree with Paul on this one- the ease of superstardom of todays ‘pop stars’

 Overnight success is overrated: “The problem with music today is that nobody learns their craft any more. We live in a time where you can become a sensation by posting a video on YouTube and you can get a record deal because you won a talent contest on television. The Carrie Underwoods and Kelly Clarksons are few and far between. For the most part, there is no substitute for hard work. You learn your craft by applying it over the years – by seeing what works and what doesn’t. You can’t learn to hold an audience of 10 or 20 or 100,000 people if you were making your album in your living room the week before. KISS started off as a club band. From tiny clubs we worked our way up to being third on the bill in theatres, and then we were headlining at theatres, then we were second on the bill at arenas. By the time we were headlining those huge venues we knew exactly what we were doing.. 

Now that sounds a bit lofty considering the ‘craft’ Stanley got famous for was make up but it does ring true.  Today acts go from their bedroom web cam to arenas of screaming fanatics in the blink of an eye.  This wont change  of course, its the money making machine, but it is something to ponder as we watch todays teen idols lose control crash and burn.