All seemed relatively jolly in the Kiss camp last month when the three surviving members of the band gathered in Washington to receive a Kennedy Center award. But the general bonhomie didn’t last long.
The latest edition of the video series “Professor of Rock” features an interview with Kiss bassist / vocalist Gene Simmons. As usual, Simmons once again proves that he is a dick among dicks, trashing Kiss drummer Peter Criss and claiming that he did not really write the band’s hit song “Beth.”
After declaring that Criss was unable to write an actual song, Simmons goes on to disparage his former bandmate and, while he’s at it, all drummers. “”He doesn’t play a musical instrument. Drums are not a musical instrument, by definition. They’re called a percussive instrument.”
In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley made similar claims, stating, “Peter can’t write a song, because Peter doesn’t play an instrument.”
Criss responded to Stanley’s statement by saying, “”Paul is so full of fucking shit, because as a lead singer of the band he never got to write the hit. That’s his problem. They hated the fact that I wrote a hit record and won a People’s Choice [award].”
According to “Beth” co-writer Stan Penridge, the song’s lyrics were, in fact, based on an experience that he and Criss had while playing together in the band Chelsea, prior to Criss joining Kiss. The story goes that the lyrics came, virtually word for word, from a bandmate’s answers to his wife when she would call the studio and wonder when the errant musician might be returning home.
Pentridge recalled, “It got to the point where I wrote down his remarks over a period of three or four days… If you look at the lyrics and view them as a hen-pecked hubby’s remarks to his nagging wife, you’ll see what I mean. Just pause after every sentence and pretend there’s a bitch at the other end of the line. You’ll catch it. I’m sure.”
Ticket Alert
It is unfortunate that GWAR was not around when I was about 12 years old. Because, as a young devotee of horror movies and loud rock and roll, I would have been nuts for the band’s combination of costumes, gore and heavy metal. The kings of gross-out rock will perform at Warehouse Live Midtown on Friday, April 24, and tickets are on sale now.
After fronting the metal / punk band Attack Attack!, Johnny Frank adopted the onstage persona Bilmuri (pronounced “Bill Murray”) and began releasing a string of eccentric albums like Eggy Pocket, 400lb Back Squat and American Motor Sports. Tickets are on sale now for his concert at the Bayou Music Center on Sunday, April 26.
British singer-songwriter phenom Olivia Dean will perform at Toyota Center on Tuesday, August 25, in support of her album The Art of Loving. Tickets for the show are on sale now, and you shouldn’t have to worry about paying a fair price, as Dean has been all over Live Nation, Ticketmaster and AEG for allowing tickets to her concerts to be resold at inflated prices on their websites. Wow, an artist with principles!
Peter Hook made his mark as the bassist for post-punk pioneers Joy Division and New Order. These days, he fronts Peter Hook and the Light, a band which features his vocals and distinctive, way-up-the-neck bass playing. Tickets are now available for Hook’s concert at the White Oak Music Hall on Thursday, September 10, which will include a performance of the New Order album Get Ready in its entirety.
Concerts This Week
San Antonio’s Two Tons of Steel has been cranking out its unique blend of honky-tonk and punk for many years now, but tonight’s show at Main Street Crossing represents something a bit different for the band. “Nothing but Buddy” is a tribute to Texas music legend Buddy Holly and his repertoire, which includes songs like “That’ll Be the Day,” “Peggy Sue” and “Rave On.” Can’t think of a better act to knock the dust out of a golden-era rock and roll catalog.
If blazing acoustic guitar is your jam, then you won’t want to miss Monte Montgomery on Friday at the Mucky Duck. Though he was then known within the Texas music community, Montgomery first gained national attention when he appeared on “Austin City Limits” in 1999. Since then, it’s been nonstop touring and recording, along with numerous accolades, like inclusion in the list of “Top 50 All-Time Greatest Guitar Players” in Guitar Player magazine.
Hunter Perrin is not just another guitar picker. He holds a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar from the University of Texas and a master’s degree from Yale University. As for rock and roll bona fides, Perrin has performed with Little Richard, Billy Gibbons, Jerry Lee Lewis and John Fogerty. Accompanied by a gaggle of musical friends, Perrin will crank it up on Saturday at the Big Top.
Singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock’s music has been called many things over the years. Surreal, sardonic and psychedelic, but never boring. Catch this British visionary on Tuesday at the Mucky Duck. ‘Cause Knowledge is Power: Hitchcock’s father, novelist, screenwriter and cartoonist Raymond Hitchcock, achieved fame in 1969 with the novel Percy, which told the tale of a man who received the world’s first penis transplant. The story was extended in 1972 with a sequel, Percy’s Progress.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.