Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley comes clean on rock riffs and reunions

ROCK ’n’ roll has saved Ace Frehley from self-oblivion more than once.

It’s probably kind of difficult for the original “Spaceman” from KISS to remember exactly how many times.

Life on the road with the biggest band in the world can be like that.

Even more so in the “hottest band in the world”, as KISS still bill themselves after almost 45 years! (Cynics would suggest the band overheated long ago, then reheated and overheated again).

Frehley’s first rock ’n’ roll rescue came in the mid-1960s while he was still living with his family in the Bronx, where he grew up. He had been running with a gang called the Ducky Boys, daring to be dangerous, fighting in the street and dabbling in all sorts.

Now the Ducky Boys may sound quirky, quacky even, but they were serious. Deadly serious. Remember the cult film The Wanderers? Well, the Ducky Boys featured in that.

“That was a long time ago,” Frehley, now 66, tells Fairfax Media.

“I was growing up in the Bronx, you know, being in a gang and getting in trouble with the police.

“A lot of crazy shit went down. Luckily, I got out of it unscarred. When I started playing in bands, it got me away from that negative element.

“And it did save my life."

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