wicked lester

WICKED LESTER Reunion In The Works?




According to a post at the official KISS FAQ forum (found here.


Tony Zarrella, drummer for the pre-KISS band WICKED LESTER, posted the following message on his Facebook page on April 12th:


"Thanks to FB and all the international KISS and Wicked Lester fans,
I've connected with the original members and organizing a Wicked Lester
reunion. Thank you all for following and will keep you updated!


Yes, we will be performing most of the original tracks recorded at
Electric Lady Studio in NYC, including new songs never released before.
Wicked Lester is considering international dates in France and Germany
as well as the US. We are very excited about bringing this tour to you
and dedicated to original member and good friend Brooke Ostrander
(keyboards), who recently passed away."





Back in December 2012, Legendary Rock Interviews' John Parks has
issued an interview with Steve Coronel, best known as the original
guitar player in Wicked Lester, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley’s pre-KISS
recording act. An excerpt follows:


Q: You have such a unique vantage point to the KISS story from having grown up with Gene. Have you thought of writing a book?


A: "You’re probably the 6th person to ask me that John. I’m not sure
how many people are going to wanna read a book of my memories of Gene
although if you’ve listened to any of my other interviews it is pretty
insightful for the die-hard KISS fans. KISS has an audience that are
into every little fucking detail about these guys, how they lived, how
they ate, how they shit (laughs). I could tell you everything about Gene
from age 13 to age 21, everything, because I was with him all day,
every day and the things I remember are unbelievable but to me it’s just
the way it was. It’s not a big deal, it’s the same teenage stuff that
all of us go through, regular shit. When Gene and I were together we
were kids and we did what we did you know? If I did a book it wouldn’t
be for the money. I’ve made a lot of money designing expos over the
years. I’ve designed for every kind of budget, everything from 20,000
dollars to 44 million dollars, I’m not rich like a rockstar is but I’ve
done okay. I’m comfortable talking about my time with those guys and I
can tell all those stories all day long but I’m not looking to get paid
for it. I’m realistic about that."





Q: You went backstage on the recent KISS/MÖTLEY CRÜE tour? How was that?


A: "It was brief but nice, it was nice seeing Stan and Gene again. I
hadn’t seen Gene since about 1995 when we had met at a Japanese hotel
on 55th street off of Madison Avenue. I was working at the Sony building
as a designer at the time. We had dinner together and talked a couple
hours, Steve Leber (former AEROSMITH manager) and we were all munching
on cookies together and I think he just thought I was part of the
entourage because he was asking Gene all this stuff like, 'How much do
we charge for tickets', and Gene was saying 75 or 80 bucks and then they
started talking about going after callgirls and I was like, 'I gotta
get going guys, I have to go home to my wife she’s going to kill me'
(laughing), and Gene was like, 'Oh, Steve has to go home to his wife',
and was pissed off at me and I was like, 'Whaddya want from me? I can’t
get away with what you get away with, my wife is all over me, I can’t do
that I’m just a regular married guy'. It was funny. I did hear from
Gene back in 2001 when my mother died, I was out at my father’s place in
California and Gene calls up and I said, 'How did you get me???', and
Gene said, 'Your wife called me up and told me your mother died'. Now my
wife is Jewish, I’m half Jewish but she and Gene are full Jewish so she
had Gene’s number and she just calls him up and says, 'You better call
Steve his mother died!!' (laughing) and Gene, the big star that he is,
to his credit, he called me. That’s the thing a lot of people miss about
Gene. He has a great heart. Don’t mistake his arrogance and all of that
on TV because he has a very kind and considerate side to him.
Underneath all of that is a very, very good person. As a friend, he
would do anything for me, if I really had a problem, he’d do anything
for you. He’s a very sincere and kind guy but back to this recent
backstage thing, it was not a long meeting but it was very nice. The
show was FUCKIN great, I have seen lots and lots of KISS shows since
1974. They’ve changed everything that they used to do physically to
digital media like the background and the fire lights and the logo but
they have some great artists. As a designer, I was impressed. I really,
really liked the show."


Read the full interview at this location.