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Ace in La Mesa!

Ex-Kiss rocker spotted getting his antique on in the Village.

"I have a funny story for you," California Rangers drummer Jim Dougherty emails.

"I was in La Mesa a couple of Mondays ago, just doing some errands. I walked past an antique shop (he confirms it was Park Estate on La Mesa Boulevard) and I looked inside one of them and saw a rather tall rock-and-roll-looking man with his girlfriend. I said to myself -- I know who that guy is. So I go in the shop, just me, the couple, and a salesgirl. I walk up to the salesgirl and I ask, is that Ace Frehley? From Kiss? She smiles, and said yes."

Former Kiss lead guitarist and founding member Paul Daniel 'Ace' Frehley is rumored to have been living in San Diego for the past couple of years with a girlfriend named Rachel Gordon. Whether true or not, in February, rock gadfly Eddie Trunk blogged a Radar Online story that detailed how the rocker's spread on the East Coast is currently in foreclosure. Frehley is 61. He quit Kiss in 2002.

"The sales girl said they come in here from time to time," writes Dougherty. "She said they have a place in town. So I left him alone to shop, but I couldn't resist. When they left, I approached him. I said hello Ace, I think your solo album was the best one. His girlfriend smiled and said thank you. But Ace just had a puzzled look on his face."

Later, Dougherty confirmed the Frehley sighting with former Blue Meanie Records owner/ Psychotic Waltz drummer Norm Leggio, who now works at Guitar Center near Grossmont Shopping Center.

"I told him I just saw Ace Frehley 'antiquing' downtown. He laughed and said yeah, he came in here and bought a guitar not long ago. None of the guitar salesmen recognized him, but two of the drum department guys did. I told Norm about Ace's puzzled look. Norm said that Ace was pretty deaf but that he's a cool guy.''

In 1976, Dougherty says he had a friend with a mission: to get a picture of Kiss band members without their makeup.

"Back then nobody would print one and of course, there was no Internet. Nobody knew what they really looked like. My friend snapped a picture of them in a hotel lobby. A couple of KISS bodyguards confronted him and made him give up the film. Kiss finally made a record called Unmasked (pictured without makeup for the first time ever), but it was so bad that they put the makeup back on."

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/30/53906/

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"I have a funny story for you," California Rangers drummer Jim Dougherty emails.

"I was in La Mesa a couple of Mondays ago, just doing some errands. I walked past an antique shop (he confirms it was Park Estate on La Mesa Boulevard) and I looked inside one of them and saw a rather tall rock-and-roll-looking man with his girlfriend. I said to myself -- I know who that guy is. So I go in the shop, just me, the couple, and a salesgirl. I walk up to the salesgirl and I ask, is that Ace Frehley? From Kiss? She smiles, and said yes."

Former Kiss lead guitarist and founding member Paul Daniel 'Ace' Frehley is rumored to have been living in San Diego for the past couple of years with a girlfriend named Rachel Gordon. Whether true or not, in February, rock gadfly Eddie Trunk blogged a Radar Online story that detailed how the rocker's spread on the East Coast is currently in foreclosure. Frehley is 61. He quit Kiss in 2002.

"The sales girl said they come in here from time to time," writes Dougherty. "She said they have a place in town. So I left him alone to shop, but I couldn't resist. When they left, I approached him. I said hello Ace, I think your solo album was the best one. His girlfriend smiled and said thank you. But Ace just had a puzzled look on his face."

Later, Dougherty confirmed the Frehley sighting with former Blue Meanie Records owner/ Psychotic Waltz drummer Norm Leggio, who now works at Guitar Center near Grossmont Shopping Center.

"I told him I just saw Ace Frehley 'antiquing' downtown. He laughed and said yeah, he came in here and bought a guitar not long ago. None of the guitar salesmen recognized him, but two of the drum department guys did. I told Norm about Ace's puzzled look. Norm said that Ace was pretty deaf but that he's a cool guy.''

In 1976, Dougherty says he had a friend with a mission: to get a picture of Kiss band members without their makeup.

"Back then nobody would print one and of course, there was no Internet. Nobody knew what they really looked like. My friend snapped a picture of them in a hotel lobby. A couple of KISS bodyguards confronted him and made him give up the film. Kiss finally made a record called Unmasked (pictured without makeup for the first time ever), but it was so bad that they put the makeup back on."

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/30/53906/

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/30/53907/

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