No Regrets (35 page)

“Around twenty? You sure about that?”

“That’s right.”

She sighed deeply and continued writing, unfazed by the reports of my alcohol and cocaine use, which by comparison must have seemed reasonable. After the consult I went back to my room and rested for a while, until one of the doctors stopped by for a visit.

“Mr. Frehley,” he said with a wry smile. “How much Xanax are you taking… really?”

I shrugged.

“Like I told your nurse. Around twenty pills a day. Really.”

The smile went away as he gave me a hard look.

“That dosage would kill most people.”

“What can I tell you, doc? I’m here.”

He nodded. “So you are. Okay… I guess we’ll have to take the Ativan Challenge.”

The Ativan Challenge was something devised to test a patient’s drug tolerance. It basically involved feeding a prescribed dosage of Ativan in
consecutive intervals until the patient showed signs of impairment. This would allow the staff to determine the true level of drug dependence.

After dinner they started me on two Ativan every forty-five minutes. Three hours into the challenge, I was stone cold sober, talking smoothly, walking a straight line with ease. Four hours passed, then five. Around midnight the doctor came in and examined me. I still seemed relatively sober and at that point the doc became frustrated and quickly walked out of the room and shouted to the nurse.

“Start him on a hundred and twenty milligrams of Valium tomorrow and we’ll see how he does.”

The following day he stopped by to look in on me.

“I’ve never seen anyone with that kind of tolerance to tranquilizers,” he said. “It’s remarkable.”

“Well, doc, being a rock star is a very stressful occupation.”

The dosage the doctor prescribed kept me floating around the joint for a while and made the whole process more tolerable. After a few days someone mentioned that my cottage was the same one Gregg Allman had once occupied. I guess it was reserved for VIPs, but that really didn’t make it any more appealing. What did make it more appealing was that it was occupied mostly by women. In fact, the only other guy on the premises was about seventy years old. He had been dropped off by his family a week before I got there. The poor old guy was detoxing off alcohol and appeared to be very shaky. I felt bad for him since he looked like he had been drinking most of his life and may have been experiencing the DTs.

Among my fellow residents in the cottage were two girls in their mid-twenties and a couple of housewives: one in her thirties, the other in her early forties. The only other woman in the cottage besides the nurses was an older woman in her late sixties. An interesting and diverse group of characters, but we were all in the same boat. I obviously gravitated toward the two gals in their twenties, and they both were quite eager to get to know me. There really wasn’t a chance for any real fooling around, but I enjoyed flirting with the younger gals and we all
became quite friendly over the next few weeks. After dinner and an AA meeting we usually watched TV together or played cards. Sometimes we exchanged some of our drug and alcohol stories and laughed about what we were experiencing.

Once they began lowering my dose, I started feeling the sting of withdrawal, but it was manageable. And it worked. I left Silver Hill without the physical craving for alcohol and drugs. My body was clean for the first time in several years, but my mind remained addicted to my old ways and lifestyle. I really wasn’t sure if I could follow through with a life of complete abstinence, but I was willing to give it a shot.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I really don’t want to sound like I’m preaching or making a stand against drugs and alcohol. The fact of the matter is, I don’t believe that there’s anything wrong with either of them. Unfortunately, in excess, they’re just not very healthy for you. But many people function quite nicely while using drugs or alcohol on a recreational basis. The trick is moderation. If you can handle it, go ahead. Knock yourself out! Believe me, if I could have just one or two beers I’d still be drinking today. I’ve accepted the fact that I can’t, and I’m finally okay with my decision.

That’s really the whole thing in a nutshell. I believe it’s a personal choice, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The only reason I’m talking about any of this stuff is because I’m a celebrity, and have influenced millions of people over the years. I just want to set the record straight and tell it like it is:

This is what happened to me.

If hearing my story has a positive influence on someone—if they’re at a crossroads in their lives and decide not to go down the same path I did, and make some of the same mistakes—then that’s good enough for me.

When I got home from Silver Hill, I felt a renewed
sense of commitment to my music and career. The guys in KISS had been saying some pretty awful shit about me in the wake of my legal and personal problems. Talk about hitting a guy when he’s down. I usually just ignored it or used it as a motivating factor.

A fresh start was in order, and part of the process involved legally separating from my wife. Jeanette had decided to move on, and was involved in a relationship with a local guy. I decided to move out of Westchester and set my sights on the Big Apple. I chose a new high-rise on the Upper West Side. Living on the forty-third floor had its advantages. Not only did I have a spectacular view of Manhattan, but most of the hustle and bustle of the city was far below me. When the windows were closed, sometimes I even forgot where I was.

I was pretty familiar with the neighborhood, since Anton Fig and
Lydia (Peter Criss’s first wife) lived only a couple of blocks away. My favorite Japanese restaurant was just around the corner and most of the restaurants in the area delivered. I liked the fact that, unlike in Westchester, you didn’t have to drive everywhere. You could walk to most of the stores, and other places were just a cab ride away. Studio 54 was closed by now and Manhattan wasn’t quite the pleasure dome it had been in the seventies. That was a good thing, since I hoped to spend most of my days writing and recording. Sometimes I’d go for rides in Central Park on my ten-speed bike or work out at the gym in my building. I really wanted to discover the healthy side of New York, and finally see how the other half lived.

Part of the plan was to reassemble Frehley’s Comet. The original lineup included Anton Fig on drums, John Regan on bass, Arthur Stead on keyboards, and Richie Scarlet on guitar, as well. That lineup recorded several demos and played some gigs in the tristate area in 1985.

My good friend Ed Trunk had an A&R position with Megaforce Records and approached me about a record deal. He introduced me to Jon “Jonny Z” Zazula, the label’s founder, and I decided to sign on the dotted line.

I recruited my favorite producer, Eddie Kramer, and we went into the studio and began cutting basic tracks. By this time I’d made some changes to the original lineup, dropping Arthur Stead and replacing Richie Scarlet with Tod Howarth, who had previously worked with Ted Nugent and Cheap Trick. Tod was from California, so he actually moved into my apartment temporarily while we worked on the record. I was intensely active with the first Frehley’s Comet record, coproducing with Eddie and writing or cowriting eight of the album’s ten songs. Before it was even finished I knew that I’d done some of the best work of my career, and I was looking forward to seeing how it was going to be received by the public.

After the album was finished, I spent several long days doing interviews in support of the record. On one particular day, Ed Trunk picked me up in a limo. He had scheduled several radio interviews in the New
York/New Jersey area. In addition to his A&R duties at Megaforce, Ed was also a disc jockey at WDHA in New Jersey, and that was our last scheduled stop. During the course of the day I had taken a few tranquilizers to relax and had also forgotten to eat. To Ed’s dismay, I ended up passing out in the back of the limo. We were already running late, and he got very nervous when he couldn’t completely revive me. As we pulled into the station’s parking lot, I could see the panic on Ed’s face.

The limo was immediately surrounded by fans seeking autographs. What made matters worse was the fact that Ed’s boss was also there, waiting impatiently. I gestured for Ed to come closer, and I whispered two words:

“Fish sandwich…”

Ed replied, “What?”

“Two fish sandwiches!
NOW!
”

Upon my request, Ed instructed the limo driver to make a beeline to the nearest McDonald’s. Luckily there was one just down the road; when we arrived Ed sent the driver in with instructions and a twenty-dollar bill. I couldn’t help but laugh to see Ed making such a fuss. As usual, though, he had my best interests at heart. On the drive back to the station, he started feeding me one sandwich after another. By the time we got there, I was completely revived. Remarkably, I ended up doing a great interview. And to this day, Ed has never downplayed the rejuvenating qualities of a McDonald’s fish sandwich.

Frehley’s Comet
sold over 500,000 copies and peaked at number 43 on the Billboard album chart. Critical response was strong, as well. The most successful single off the record was “Into the Night,” written by Russ Ballard, who also wrote “New York Groove.” But the song that has endured over the years and is loved by most fans is definitely “Rock Soldiers.” Cowritten by Chip Taylor (an accomplished musician and writer whose biggest hits were “Angel of the Morning” and the Troggs’ “Wild Thing”), “Rock Soldiers” was inspired by my ill-fated trip in the DeLorean but also evokes images of the crash that nearly killed me and Anton. It is, more than anything else, a song about rock star excess, and
was written very honestly about my own life experiences, which, as it turned out, were far from over.

It was back in the summer of ’83

There’s a reason I remember it well

I was slippin’ and slidin’, drinkin’ and drivin’

And bringin’ me closer to hell

And the devil sat in the passenger’s side

Of DeLorean’s automobile

He said: Hey Frehley, Frehley let’s not be silly

There’s a life out there to steal

Rock Soldiers come

Rock Soldiers go

And some hear the drum

And some never know

Rock Soldiers! How do we know?

ACE is back and he told you so

With a trooper in the mirror

And Satan on my right

We went wrong way down a one way road

Hittin’ everything in sight

I cried I am invincible

Said I was high above the law

But my only high was just a lie

And now I’m glad I saw

Calling Rock Soldiers

You! Rock Soldiers

Calling Rock Soldiers

Hard Rock Soldiers

Hup! Two three four

Rock! Two three four

Hup! Two three four

Rock! Two three four

Friends say they’ll stay with you

Right through the danger zone

But the closer you get to that fiery hole

You’ll have to make it alone

When I think of how my life was spared

From that near-fatal wreck

If the devil wants to play his card game now

He’s gonna play without an ACE in his deck!!

The video for “Rock Soldiers” was shot in Canada. We used about fifty fans as extras, all playing guitar along with us in the chorus. It was produced by Geddy Lee’s brother, Allan Weinrib, and I had a lot of fun on and off the set.

When we hit the road after the release of
Frehley’s Comet,
I couldn’t have been more excited. I toured the United States and Canada, and one of the shows that stands out in my memory was the night we played at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. I always enjoyed playing in old theaters, since the acoustics made everything sound that much better. And with a hometown crowd, the energy was just amazing. Several celebrities showed up for the show and after-party, including Paul Stanley and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun. I remember being greeted warmly by Paul at the party.

“Great show!” he said. And I believe he meant it. He was really happy for me. Ahmet seemed equally impressed with my performance.
I was glad I finally got a chance to talk with such a legend in the recording industry.

While I was performing down in Florida, I had a chance meeting with a fashion model. We were playing a local theater in Miami and everyone was revved up for the show. We had arrived in town early, and I ended up hanging out by the pool, soaking up the Florida sunshine. I noticed a few models doing a photo shoot by the tennis court, but I didn’t pay much attention to it until I saw this really striking blonde. I had to get back to my room and get dressed for sound check, but before I left the pool I decided to invite all the girls in the photo shoot to the concert. They accepted the invitation and I quickly went back to my room and then headed over to sound check. We put on a great show that night, and after three encores the crowd still wanted more. I couldn’t help but notice the cute blonde I’d invited to the show, since during the concert her eyes were mostly focused on me. After I got back to the hotel, I couldn’t remember if the girls I’d invited were actually staying at the hotel. I did what I usually did in those days. I cleaned up and headed down to the hotel lounge to see if anything was going on. There I found Kim, the gorgeous blonde. We talked for a while and then I invited her back to my room, along with her girlfriend and Tod Howarth. After a few drinks, I left Tod alone with his newfound friend, and we headed over to Kim’s room, where I ended up spending the night.