Face the Music: A Life Exposed: Paul Stanley

Yes, as I said in my post about being street legal as I passed my driving test, I bought the book with the above mentioned title as a reward for myself. I have finished the book and it was awesome. My mom thinks I'm so predictable for reading it while my sister looks at it as "Reading about your fantasy hard rock husband, I see?", lol!!!!

-I can't help but feel a little sorry for Paul. Growing up deaf in one ear, having to deal with ignorant people calling him names like "Stanley the one eared monster" and coming home to parents who weren't much better, like his dad who called him "Stanley fat a--". Poor guy. Turns out, he was bullied as a child and also, one day while taking a girl he knew home, he found out that her mother wouldn't let him in, only for the girl to tell him "I thought you were Italian, but turns out you're a Jew". That was his first taste of anti-Semitism. Also, unlike what some sites say, his birth name, according to this book, is Stanley Bert Eisen instead of Stanley Harvey Eisen. Not sure where the 'Harvey' came from. He also said that when he was younger, he was always very self conscious about his right ear, which is from a condition called microtia, which means the outer ear hasn't developed fully, leaving him completely deaf in his right ear. Also, not a lot of people know that his real name is Stanley Bert Eisen instead of Stanley Harvey Eisen as almost all sites suggest. Not to mention, he also seen a psychiatrist when he was a child to deal with the stress of having an older sister with mental problems

-Also, he played the Phantom of the Opera in a Toronto version of the play. It was there that he got a call from someone at a foundation called AboutFace, which helps people with facial deformities. She said she watched the play and never seen someone identify with the Phantom as much as he did. And because of that, he became the spokesperson for AboutFace. Some other things I never knew about him include having an older sister named Julia, who went into depression and started abusing drugs. Soon she had to be admitted into a mental hospital. One day when she was home and their parents were not, she suddenly went into a psychotic break and started chasing Paul with a hammer. He hid in his room, in a fetal position, crying, wanting his parents to come home while his sister was trying to break down the door with a hammer

Phantom of the Opera

-And throughout the years, because of his insecurities as a child, he was very defensive, afraid to let anyone get close to him. And then, along comes Pamela Bowen, an aspiring actress, with whom he fell in love. With her, they had Evan. But then he discovered both of them had fallen out of love and when they divorced, it hit him hard. He treasured the time he spent with his son, learning to cook food for him and trying to be a good dad, until one day, he met a practicing attorney named Erin Sutton. With her, he describes it as falling head over heels. Initially, he started bringing her around when Evan was with his mother. But then, he started having her and Evan meet in neutral locations and after a while, he started introducing her as a friend. After a while, they started showing affection towards each other. Paul didn't want to do this earlier on because the divorce was bad enough on Evan; he didn't want to trouble him further with a new person in his life. This just goes to show you just how sweet a guy Paul is. When they all vacationed together in Hawaii one year, his son asked him "Dad, where's she going to sleep?" and Paul replied "With me." In Nov, 2005, they got married. Gene was the only one not present. Paul didn't want someone who thought of marriage as an "institution" at a wedding.

Paul and Pamela Bowen with son Evan

Paul at his 2005 wedding to Erin Sutton



Paul and his son Evan, who's now in college and met Jimmy Page, Paul's longtime idol

-He also talks about some of the songs and videos he's done for Kiss. He describes the videos for "(You Make Me) Rock Hard" and "Let's Put the X in Sex" as not being one of his finer moments because of how the videos look. Not to mention, in the "Sex" video, he had some kind of black leather corset thing on that gets practically ripped off of him by one of the models, who he thinks would have looked more appropriate in a Robert Palmer video and in the "Rock Hard" video, he had a chain mail shirt on, white spandex pants and here he was, running and jumping onto a trapeze, like some kind of circus act

Let's Put the X in Sex



(You Make Me) Rock Hard. I think he looks very handsome

-One day, while out in L.A. recording Hotter Than Hell, he got a tattoo at a local tattoo parlor and when he told his mom, she said "Oh Stan, now you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery", referring to the ages old tradition that you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery if you have body ink. He replied "Cut my arm off." Also, when he first met Gene, he thought Gene was condescending and a little arrogant, thinking such high opinions of himself (which must be no different than now, lol!). In addition to playing music, he also paints. He says this helps him keep calm and express emotions through a nonviolent way. Nowadays, all of Paul's kids, Evan, Colin, Emily and Sara Brianna, come to the Kiss concerts to see what Dad does for a living. Evan, when he was younger, even got to watch as his dad underwent makeup to become the Phantom of the Opera. He kept saying "I love you, Daddy". Paul wanted him to see it was the same person as always, but currently wearing makeup is all

Paul's paintings



Ace Frehley

Gene Simmons



Himself

Peter Criss