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Starling and Kiss Undergo Shake-Ups

We've known about this for a while (we have our sources) but now that The Ottawa Sun has publicly broken the news, I guess we're allowed to spill the beans too: Danny Michel and Starling have gone their separate ways. The Ottawa rockers added Michel to their line-up last year, first on bass then on guitar, in an effort to fill out their sound and presumably to allow singer/guitarist Ian Lefeuvre to loosen up a bit on stage. Now it seems that the addition has not worked out quite as well as hoped. As today's Ottawa Sun reports, Michel and Starling have split company. The Sun quotes Michel as saying: "It's really disappointing that things didn't work out". He cites the usual "musical and creative differences" as the reason for the split. Could the family ties also have proved a little much? (Michel's brother is married to Lefeuvre's sister.) Rumour has it that Michel has also relocated to Toronto since Starling and a former girlfriend were Michel's main reasons for living in Ottawa.

In (obviously) unrelated news, rock cartoon characters Kiss, currently in the midst of their "farewell" (yeah right) tour, have dropped original member Peter Criss from the drum stool and replaced him with former drummer Eric Singer. A terse statement on the official Kiss web site says "Eric Singer, the last drummer in KISS, has rejoined the band to complete the Farewell World Tour, their celebration of the band's 30 year history." The statement has elicited over 1700 online responses from disgruntled Kiss fans, many of whom have shelled out big bucks to see the "last" tour featuring the four original members of Kiss. No official explanation for Criss' departure has been released but it reportedly stems from a falling out with frontmen Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley over financial issues. Ted Nugent, who opened for Kiss throughout North America on the farewell tour, is not surprised the parties have gone their separate ways. "I saw the offers from Japan, Australia, Europe, South America. We're talking another hundred-million dollars for these guys, but quite honestly, Ace and Peter absolutely refused," Nugent told LAUNCH.com with a laugh, "which is mind-boggling to me. It's like, where else are they gonna make 200,000 bucks a week--apiece? The answer is nowhere." A spokesperson for Ace Frehley denied that the lead guitarist was leaving the group. Criss's final Kiss show was October 7, 2000 at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina. Reports that Singer will have his own makeup and costume could not be confirmed but if he does it will be the first new Kiss character since Vinnie Vincent in 1982.

Some info from Launch.com
Starling Online

Kiss Online

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