In 1982, Kiss found themselves at a crossroads when founding member Ace Frehley decided to leave the band. In search of their next lead guitarist, the band made several calls – including to Slash and Richie Sambora – before settling on Vinnie Vincent.
Punky Meadows, the guitarist of glam-rock band Angel, was also in the mix, although, as legend has it, he was the one who actually rejected Kiss. Now, Meadows is setting the story straight on what actually happened during the auditions and why he never ended up joining Kiss.
“Angel was broken up, and Gregg [Giuffria, keyboardist] and I had a band called Legend,” he tells Guitar World. “And then, Barry Levine, a photographer who did all the Casablanca stuff and did the Kiss and Angel photos back in the day, called me up. He said, ‘Listen, Punky, Kiss is looking for a guitar player. Ace is gone.’
“I said, ‘Yeah, I kind of heard something about that, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.’ He said, ‘Well, they’re looking for a guitar player. I’m at The Record Plant right now with Gene and Paul. I mentioned your name, and Gene said, ‘That’s a great idea!’’ I said, ‘Okay, well, have Gene call me.’”
Turns out, Simmons did indeed follow through, as Punk Meadows recalls: “He goes, ‘Hey, we’d like you to come down and sit in with us. Learn one side of Alive! We don’t care which, just learn one side and come down.’
“I probably learned the first side, went down to their rehearsal space, walked in, and Gene, Paul, and Eric Carr were there, playing Zeppelin’s Communication Breakdown.
“I just walked in, plugged up, played, and it sounded really great. Everybody was really happy, and so I sat down on the drum riser with Gene, and he said, ‘You got the gig. Let’s talk.’ I go, ‘Well, Gregg and I are shopping a deal. I have to talk to Gregg… I gotta let him know.’”
However, Meadows' reluctance to accept the gig on the spot ultimately cost him the spot as Frehley’s successor.
“As soon as I said that, Gene got up and said, ‘Come on, Paul. Let’s go.’ They stormed outta there, and just left me sitting on the drum riser, talking to Eric for about a half hour, or so. Anyway, I got home, and Barry called me up, saying, ‘Punky… what’d you do?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’”
He continued, “He said, ‘Gene and Paul came back to the studio with their jaws on the floor. Gene said, ‘No one has ever turned down Kiss.’ I said, ‘Barry, I didn’t turn them down. I just said I had to let Gregg know.’ But I guess I insulted Gene so much by not just taking it and saying ‘yes’ right away.
“Barry then said, ‘Well, they were going to offer you $200,000 a year plus points…’ And at the time, I was broke, you know?” he concludes with a laugh.
And, speaking of Kiss near-hires, Marty Friedman also revealed that he once nearly auditioned for Kiss but was turned down before that even happened because of his height.
Guitar World's full interview with Punky Meadows will be published in the coming weeks.
