Eric Singer didn’t know drummer Aynsley Dunbar had auditioned when he first got KISS gig
Eric Singer didn’t know drummer Aynsley Dunbar had auditioned when he first got KISS gig
KISS drummer Eric Singer was recently interviewed by Ultimate Classic Rock on the occasion of the 25th year anniversary of his first live show as a member of the iconic band on April 23, 1992.
The following are excerpts from the interview with Singer by Ultimate Classic Rock:
“They’d tried to work with Eric on two separate occasions, but he wasn’t well enough. Doing a record isn’t like the rigors of touring, but it’s a demand on your time. You can be working 10, 12, 14 hours every day. Eric wasn’t up to it. Originally I was only going to play on half the record, and they were going to do the other half with another studio musician. But once we started, Gene [Simmons], Paul and Bob Ezrin went, ‘We think there’s a good chemistry.’”
Producer Ezrin called Cooper’s manager, Shep Gordon, and asked to cut a deal. As a result, Revenge was recorded in two stages between legs of Cooper’s world tour. “I was recording up to the day before I went to Europe,” Singer recalled. “After the tour, they got back in touch and asked me about being in the band, because Eric had unfortunately passed on. I had very mixed emotions – I thought, ‘Here’s a good opportunity for me, but under the worst conditions.’” Asked whether the possibility of being offered the job had occurred to him, he said: “Did I have a feeling it was going to go that way? Yeah.”…
He knows he wasn’t the only drummer considered for the role – but he was surprised when Bruce Kulick later told him that one of his heroes, Aynsley Dunbar, had been auditioned and then ruled out. “Aynsley was very disappointed, but Bruce said, ‘Aynsley, f— it! You’re phenomenal. It has nothing to do with you as a drummer. This has to do with Kiss having a certain sound and style. Gene and Paul have to have a drummer that they feel interprets their style.’ I was shocked when I heard that.”
You can read the rest of the interview with Singer at Ultimate Classic Rock.
Wikipedia estates the following in part about Dunbar (with slight edits): “Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, Michael Schenker, UFO, Flo & Eddie and Journey. Dunbar was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Journey in 2017.”