Vinnie Vincent

Vinnie Vincent
Birth name	Vincent John Cusano
Also known as	The Ankh Warrior
Genres	Glam metal, heavy metal, hard rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1970–2000

Vinnie Vincent (born Vincent John Cusano, August 6, 1952) is an American guitarist from Bridgeport, Connecticut and songwriter known as a former member in the band Kiss.

Early life

In 1980, Vincent moved to LA where he became a staff songwriter for the television series Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi where many of the series songs were written on Vincent's acoustic guitar, while sitting at the "Cunningham's" kitchen table on the "Happy Days" set, during offtime from the show's rehearsal schedule. Vincent has said the times of working at the Paramount lot were genuinely "happy days". According to the site "Kiss Related Recordings" Vincent has also played with the bands Hunter, Warrior, Hitchhikers, and Heat going as far back as 1970.

Kiss

Vincent's personality meshed well with Stanley and Simmons. However, Vincent's refusal to sign the employment contract strained the relationship. Due partly to disputes over what his role in the band and his pay would be (some reports indicated that Vincent had asked for, and was flatly denied, a percentage of the band's gross profits), and despite the exhortations of both Simmons and Stanley, all through his tenure with the band Vincent refused to sign any contract making his employment official. The cumulative result of these factors would ultimately lead to Vincent leaving the band after the European leg of the Lick It Up tour.

With the band unable to secure a replacement guitarist on such short notice, Vincent was enticed to return for the American leg of the tour with the promise of payment of Vincent's royalties which were owing and overdue. A major rift developed between Vincent and the rest of the band over his guitar solos; what were once 5-8 minute solos timed to finish on a cue so that Stanley could introduce the next song suddenly expanded, in some instances leaving the rest of the band impatiently waiting on stage for Vincent to finish. At an LA Forum show in January 1984 Vincent continued playing despite Stanley's cueing him to finish the solo; the two nearly came to blows in the dressing room afterward, with Stanley accusing Vincent of showing him up and Vincent accusing the other three members of ruining his solo and trying to hold him back as a performer. They were separated by Carr and Simmons. At a March show in Quebec, as the band prepared to close out their set, Vincent broke into an impromptu solo, leaving the other band members standing onstage with nothing to do.

After the Lick It Up tour ended in March 1984, Vincent was terminated from the band, and replaced by Mark St. John (birth name Mark Norton). Despite parting on bad terms, Vincent was later utilized by Kiss as a songwriter on the 1992 album Revenge, contributing to the songs "Unholy", "Heart Of Chrome" and "I Just Wanna". Before long Vincent again fell out of favor with Simmons and Stanley, as they claimed that Vincent again began "making all kinds of crazy demands and pulling the same kind of crazy stuff all over again". In 2009, Cusano sued Kiss and A&E Television for using his image without his permission in an episode of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels."

Later career

A tribute album entitled Kiss My Ankh: A Tribute To Vinnie Vincent was released by SplitScreen Entertainment on August 27, 2008. The album consists of new recordings of songs from Vincent's careers with Kiss and the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Featured artists include Steve Brown of Trixter, Troy Patrick Farrell of White Lion, T.J. Racer of Nitro, Mike Weeks of Robert Fleischman's band, Sheldon Tarsha of Adler's Appetite, Chris Caffery of Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Ryan Roxie from the Alice Cooper band and rock & roll comic C.C. Banana, who performs a parody of the Kiss song "Unholy" (rewritten as a roast of Danger Danger vocalist Ted Poley).

Discography

Kiss

• Creatures of the Night (1982)
• Lick It Up (1983)

Compilation

• The Box Set (2001)
• The Very Best of Kiss (2002)
• The Best of Kiss, Volume 2: The Millennium Collection (2004)

• The Best of KISS: Green Series (2008)
• Playlist Plus (2008)
• Playlist Your Way (2008)
• Jigoku-Retsuden (2008) songwriting credits only
• 15 Classics (2008) digital download only
• 15 Discoveries (2008) digital download only
• 45 The Complete Collection (2008) digital download only

Vinnie Vincent Invasion

• Vinnie Vincent Invasion (1986)
• All Systems Go (1988)
• Pyro Messiah (circa 1989-90, unreleased)

• Euphoria (EP) (1996)
• Archive Volumes I: Speedball Jamm

Peter Criss

• Let Me Rock You (1982)

Tribute albums

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

Quotes

"My chemistry with the band helped put them back on top and gave them a musical credibility that they'd never had before, yet I couldn't get the recognition I needed. I felt like I was imprisoned in a small cubicle, like it was someone else's house..." (Vinnie about leaving Kiss in Kerrang! Magazine. Black Diamond (writer: Dale Sherman), 1997)