Ever since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voted to induct Kiss, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have been whining about the fact that they only want the four original members...the two of them plus Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

They're so upset about it that they've refused to entertain the idea of any kind of KISS performance at the induction ceremony.

Well, the Rock Hall is finally standing up for itself.  CEO Joel Peresman says that current KISS members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer are "fine musicians."

But he adds that they, quote, "basically have the same makeup and are the same characters that Ace and Peter started.

"It's not like they created these other characters with different makeup and [are] playing different songs.  They took the persona of characters that were created by Ace and Peter."

It's interesting to note that the two guys who replaced Ace and Peter in the early 1980s DID have different characters.

Drummer Eric Carr was "The Fox", with fox-like makeup.  And Vinnie Vincent was called "The Wiz"...and his makeup, for some reason, included the ancient Egyptian symbol known as the Ankh.

But KISS took off their makeup in 1983, and didn't wear it again until the original lineup reformed in 1996.  So everybody else who came and went from the band in between wasn't playing a "character".

Since KISS put the makeup back on, the lead guitarist and drummer...whoever they've been... have always worn the Ace and Peter makeup.

I have my beefs with the Hall.  The amount of time it took to put Alice Cooper in and the fact that bands like Deep Purple and Motorhead still aren't in there come to mind.  But they're SPOT-ON this time.

It doesn't matter how long KISS have been together, or how long any of the other guys have been in the band.  There's ONE REASON they're getting into the Hall, and it's because of what Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter did in the 1970s.  Period.

And Gene and Paul need to go cry on a bag of money until they can come to terms with that.

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