We got news last night that Ace Frehley had passed away from a brain hemorrhage sustained after a fall a couple of weeks ago, a shockingly pedestrian cause of death for the man that was nicknamed The Spaceman.
We put this playlist together to help you honor the man by blasting a few tunes to accompany him on his last Rocket Ride... But as always with these things, choosing the tracks was an arduous task. His career with KISS is full of iconic solos. Certainly, "Detroit Rock City" or "Strutter" would need to make the cut. "Deuce," as well. "Rock and Roll All Nite" seems like a no brainer... There are just too many. And as far as vocal performances go, "Cold Gin" can't not be in there... How about "Shock Me?" Surely it's one of his signature songs... Do we include covers like his famous re-working of "New York Groove?" His guest spot on Poison's "Nothin' But A Good Time?" It's a hard choice, especially when you factor in that some lead guitar on KISS albums were actually performed by ghost session musicians...
But, as KISS sang... Got to choose! So we settled on a few iconic tunes as well as some more recent recordings to give an overview of the Space Ace's talents, which he so predictably squandered in the all-too-common clichés of the rock n' roll lifestyle. As a testament to his talents, he has had more comebacks than than most mortals get chances. It's hard to fathom that his time visiting our planet has come to an end for good...
"And now, we've got a little surprise for you tonight... We're gonna turn to microphone over to... Ace Frehley! Shock Me!"
