Angel guitarist Punky Meadows is featured in a career-spanning interview with Andrew DiCecco. An excerpt from the chat is available below.
You had an offer to join KISS, one of the world’s most renowned rock acts. Why did that opportunity never come to fruition?
Punky: "Well, what happened with KISS was, Angel had broken up and Gregg (Giuffria - keyboards), Barry (Brandt - drums), and I stuck together. We put a band together with Ricky Phillips from The Babys and Fergie Frederiksen, who was a great singer, too, and Gregg and myself. So, we put this band together and were getting ready to shop a deal. KISS and Gene, those guys all loved me so much; they always raved about me. And I loved them, too. Gene and Paul were in the studio recording and Barry Levine was their photographer. He did all the pictures for KISS and Angel and he was a friend of ours, too. He was in the studio with Gene and Paul, so he calls me up one day. He said, 'Hey, Punky. I guess you heard that KISS is looking for a guitar player.' They put an ad out in some music paper in L.A. and they had some people come down and audition. So, Barry says, I mentioned your name to Gene, and he said, 'That’s a great idea!' So, Barry Levine called me and said, 'They’re looking for a guitar player and Gene thinks it would be a great idea if you sat in with him and played.' I said, 'Well, have Gene call me.' So, Gene calls me up and says, 'Hey, yeah, it would be great to have you come and play with the band.' He said, 'Just learn one side of the KISS Alive! album. Doesn’t matter which side it is. Any side.' So, I had to tune my guitar a half-step down because they always did; I never did. [Laughs]."
"So, I learned a couple of their songs and said, 'Okay, I’ll go down,' because Gene asked me to go and we were friends. I went down to SIR Studios, I think that’s where it was, and I walked in and they were playing 'Communication Breakdown' by Led Zeppelin. It was just Paul and Gene; Eric Carr was on the drums. So, I walked in and I plugged up and played. It went great; sounded great. So, Gene comes over to me and says, 'Let’s sit down and talk business. You got the gig.' I said, 'Well, Gene, you know, I have to talk to Gregg first. Gregg and I are getting ready to shop a deal. I have to talk to him first.' As soon as I said that I insulted Gene, I guess. Gene got up and said, 'Come on, Paul. Let’s go.' So, they left. They stormed out. Then I went home and Barry Levine calls me up and he goes, 'Punky, what’d you do?' I said, 'What do you mean?' He goes, 'Paul and Gene came back with their jaws to the floor. Gene said no one’s ever turned down KISS!' And I said, 'I didn’t turn them down, Barry, I just said that I was with Gregg, we put this band together and were getting ready to shop a deal, and he just left.' He goes, 'They were gonna give you $200,000 a year plus points.' At the time, I was broke. I said, 'Well, I didn’t mean to do that. I don’t know what to say.' So, that was the end of that; I never followed back up on it."
Read the complete in-depth interview here.
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PUNKY MEADOWS Of ANGEL Recalls His Offer To Join KISS - GENE SIMMONS Said, "You Got The Gig" - bravewords.com
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