Vinnie Vincent

Vinnie Vincent (born August 6, 1952 in Bridgeport , Connecticut , actually Vincent John Cusano ) is an American guitarist who was at times lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss . After this engagement he formed his own band, which he called Vinnie Vincent Invasion .

life and career

Vinne Vincent was born to Alphonse and Teri Cusano. He had two sisters, Donna and Diane.

Early years

The session musician and guitar teacher had worked in the 1970s under his real name Vincent Cusano for Dan Hartman, among others, and as an employed songwriter for two television series in the USA . He played on the Instant Replay Tour in the Dan Hartman Band and later in the touring band of Edgar Winter, he was also a member of the group "Treasure" (1978-1979) and wrote the song Tears with Adam Mitchell , which was written in 1984 by John Waite recorded for his album No Brakes and released as a single. The title reached number 37 on the US charts. 2001 John Waite released the album Live & Rare Tracks (Archival Edition) , which included a live version of Tears . Even Peter Criss took the title and published it in 1982 on his second solo album Let Me Rock You . Vincent also played the second lead guitar for the track Smile by Was (Not Was) , which Doug Fieger of The Knack sang.

Lead guitarist at Kiss

The Ankh Warrior

Vincent replaced Ace Frehley at Kiss in 1982 after he had recorded many lead guitar parts on the album Creatures of the Night . When the album was released, Frehley, who had actually only contributed to one song ( I Love It Loud ) on this LP , was still an official member of the group. Frehley also took part in promotional appearances in the US and Europe and was featured on the album cover.

Vincent wore the Egyptian Ankh as a mask after its official introduction until the unmasking of the band on September 18, 1983 . The collaboration with Kiss was short-lived, however, as Vincent apparently wanted to have a massive impact on the band's musical direction. According to the drummer Eric Carr , Vincent “differed too much in all his interests and in his type” from the other Kiss members; he actually “did not really fit into the group from the start”.

Vincent played long solos at the European concerts of the “Lick It Up” tour and made other extravagances, which led to his dismissal on November 25, 1983. However, since the time was too short to hire a new guitarist and rehearse with him, Vincent was hurriedly brought back, but he refused to sign a new contract. In a conversation, rules of conduct for appearances in public (concerts, press, etc.) were imposed on him, and the tour continued in the USA from December 26, 1983. Vincent initially kept to the agreements, but gradually extended his solos again. In order to keep control of the group they founded, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley ended their collaboration after the tour on March 17, 1984. Vincent was replaced by Mark St. John for the album Animalize (1984) . Stanley stated that "you can't get into a band that's been successful for so many years and suddenly ask the entire team to do your thing."

Later career

Vincent founded the group Vinnie Vincent Invasion after his time at Kiss , with whom he released two albums. His record deal was signed in 1985 for a total of eight albums. On the self-titled debut singing ex- Journey singer Robert Fleischman, who was replaced by Mark Slaughter immediately after the shootings, also on the second album, All Systems Go , sang. Both albums reached number 64 on the US album charts and stayed there for 14 ( Vinnie Vincent Invasion ) and 16 weeks ( All Systems Go ). In 1988 REH Video (USA) released a VHS cassette entitled Vinnie Vincent - Metal Tech Style, Speed ​​& Phrasing , in which Vincent demonstrated his technique. This instructional video was offered in the United States and Japan. After the Invasion's second album, Vincent lost his record deal with Chrysalis Records in 1989 when it was terminated. Two months later, he filed for personal bankruptcy.

Vincent quickly disappeared from the public eye after the end of the band, but wrote the song Make a Play for Her Now with Vikki Peterson of the band The Bangles , which appeared on the Bangles album Everything . For this song he was also active as a guitarist. For the Kiss album Revenge he wrote the song Unholy with Simmons as well as with Stanley Heart of Chrome and I Just Wanna , but then only appeared in legal disputes with Kiss. The tracks Unholy and I Just Wanna were both released as singles, I Just Wanna reached number 34 in the US charts.

Musically, Vincent appeared again with the EP Euphoria (1996) and the album Speedball Jamm (2002), but could not record any further successes.

Legal disputes with Kiss

Vincent sued Kiss several times after he was kicked out, the first time in 1986, claiming six million dollars for allegedly unpaid royalties. That lawsuit was ruled in Kiss's favor because, in the opinion of the court, Vincent was an employee of Kiss and was paid as such.

The second trial against Kiss came in 1992 when Vincent again asked his former employers for $ 6 million. Again it was about royalties, in this case the lawsuit was dismissed because the claim was clearly too high. In addition, the court again recognized an employment relationship between Kiss and Vincent.

On October 2, 2006, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Vincent's petition over the dispute with his former bandmates over song and music fees at all.

In August 2009, Vincent Kiss and A&E Television Networks (AETN) sued , this time for unauthorized use of ankh make-up for the DVD box Kissology Vol. II and in the program Gene Simmons Family Jewels . Vincent also stated that Simmons defamed him on the TV series Private Sessions , but could not name the defamations.

On June 29, 2010 it was announced that Vincent had lost another trial against Kiss. The lawsuit related to a 1997 ruling against Vincent that ordered him to pay Kiss attorneys' fees of $ 66,400 and litigation costs of $ 15,400 incurred in his lawsuits. Vincent evidently failed to meet these requirements.

Comeback canceled

In January 2018, Vincent appeared at the Kiss Expo 2018 in Atlanta and gave an interview. The response to this performance prompted Vincent to appear again in public after a long time. So he showed up in April 2018 together with Gene Simmons. He also had a guest appearance with the band Four By Fate. After the cancellation of concerts originally planned in Memphis for December 2018, two solo concerts in Nashville were announced for February 8 & 9, 2019 . But even these were canceled by Vincent.

Private life

In the 1980s, Vincent was married to AnnMarie Peters, with whom he had twin daughters Elizabeth and Jessica, who were born in 1982. On January 2, 1998, Vincent's ex-wife disappeared from Shelton, Connecticut. Her car was discovered in Hartford about a week later; In September 2000, the main suspect, who has since been identified, provided information that led to the finding of the murdered woman's body. Three years later, the perpetrator was convicted of the rape and murder of Ann-Marie Cusano.

In 1995 Vincent met Diane Kero in Chicago, whom he married the following year. At least in the United States, it made headlines again in 2011 when Diane Cusano showed up covered in blood at the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on May 22 of that year and said that her husband had hit her in the face and over the hair broken glass strewn floor of the common house dragged. When she tried to escape, he brought her to the ground several times. The previous dispute was about a conversation Vincent had with another woman. The guitarist was arrested and spent the night in prison. The proceedings against him were discontinued against conditions.

Diane Cusano died in January 2014 at the age of 47 as a result of chronic alcohol abuse. Vincent spent the following years withdrawn from the public.

Discography

with Kiss:

• 1982: Creatures of the Night
• 1983: Lick It Up

with Vinnie Vincent Invasion:

• 1986: Vinnie Vincent Invasion (Chrysalis)
• 1988: All Systems Go , Chrysalis

Projects:

• 1996: Euphoria (EP), Metaluna Records LLC
• 2002: Archive Volumes I: Speedball Jamm , The GTR Company

Others:

• 1976: Kid Cashmir & Winnie LeCoux - Happy Birthday USA , Phantom Records Inc.
• 1976: Hitchhikers - Hitchhikers , ABC Records
• 1977: Treasure - Treasure , Columbia / Epic
• 1978: Laura Nyro - Nested , Columbia
• 1978: Dan Hartman - Instant Replay , Blue Sky
• 1979: Tommy Rock - Dancing The Night Away Line Records / Bomp
• 1979: Felix Cavaliere - Castles In The Sand Epic
• 1981: Heat - Still Waiting , MCA Records
• 1983: Was (Not Was) - Born To Laugh At Tornadoes , Geffen
• 1988: The Bangles - Everything , CBS

Tribute album:

• 2008: Kiss My Ankh: A Tribute To Vinnie Vincent

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Video for Instant Replay on YouTube ( Memento from November 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Vinnie Vincent Biography . KissFAQ. Archived from the original on July 9, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 9, 2010. 
3. ↑ Chart listing for John Waite, Billboard Hot 100 . Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
4. ↑ John Waite: Live & Rare Tracks (Archival Edition) USA: One Way (EMI-Capitol) - 72435-34558-2-8
5. ↑ Peter Criss: Let Me Rock You . Mercury Records, 1982, 314 558 072-2
6. ↑ KISS on "Caution, Music", ZDF, 1982 . YouTube. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
7. ^ Paul A. Royd: KISS . In: Metal Hammer , No. 10/1984, p. 6 f.
8. ↑ Curt Gooch, Jeff Suh: Kiss Alive Forever - A Complete Touring History . 1st edition. Billboard Books, 2002, ISBN 0-8230-8322-5
9. ^ Dale Sherman: Black Diamond - The Unauthorized Biography of KISS . CG Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-896522-35-1
10. ↑ Kiss - The Story . In: Rock Power , June 1992, p. 21
11. ↑ Billboard Chart History for "Vinnie Vincent Invasion"
12. ↑ Billboard Chart History for "All Systems Go"
13. ↑ Vinnie Vincent - METAL TECH VOLUME V: Style, Speed ​​& Phrasing. REH Video REH808 (USA, 1988) / DCI Music Video R-1427 (Japan, 1988)
14. ^ Black Diamond - The Unauthorized Biography of KISS. Dale Sherman, 1997 CG Publishing Ltd., ISBN 1-896522-35-1
15. ↑ Application as PDF (English) ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
16. ^ Ex-Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent Turned Down By Supreme Court . Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on September 21, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 8, 2010. 
17. ↑ Ex-Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent is suing Kiss and A&E (English) . Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 14, 2010. 
18. ↑ Vinnie Vincent Lose's Bankruptcy Appeal . kissfaq.com. Retrieved on July 2, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
19. ↑ Ex-KISS guitarist VINNIE VINCENT: 'I Was In Hell For 20 Years' .
20. ↑ VINNIE VINCENT Joins GENE SIMMONS At Nashville 'Vault Experience' Event (Video) . Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
21. ↑ VINNIE VINCENT Performs KISS Classics With FOUR BY FATE (video) . Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
22. ↑ All Systems NO! Vinnie Vincent Postpones Memphis Shows . Decibel Geek. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
23. ↑ VINNIE VINCENT Cancels Comeback Concerts . Retrieved January 29, 2019.
24. ↑ Julian Gill: The Kiss Album Focus - Hell Or High Water (1983-1996) . kissfaq.com, 2010, ISBN 978-0-9822537-0-0