ACE FREHLEY, ALICE COOPER, JAY JAY FRENCH: How LED ZEPPELIN Changed Our Lives

The December 2007 issue of Classic Rock magazine features the story of "the good times and bad times of LED ZEPPELIN — as seen through the eyes of rock's biggest stars." A couple of excerpts follow:

Ace Frehley (KISS): "That show at the Fillmore East [in New York on January 31, 1969] changed my life. I was 16 when I saw them. A lot of people didn't know who LED ZEPPELIN were, although the 'in' people did. The lead singer in the group that I was playing with at the time, who was a couple of years older than me, told me, 'There's this great new band called LED ZEPPELIN that's gonna play at the Fillmore East and you've gotta see them.' I think I got their first album a week or two before the show and I fell in love with it.

"I was real excited about going to the show. I remember it like it was yesterday. They were using Rickenbacker amps, which you can't find anymore. Back then Page wasn't using a Les Paul, he was using a Telecaster. Between him and Robert Plant they destroyed. They took over the Fillmore East to the point where, after they went off and the headliner was coming on, half the people walked out and didn't come back. I still think about that first time I saw LED ZEPPELIN at the Fillmore from time to time. God, I wish somebody had a video camera back then; it was incredible."

Jay Jay French (TWISTED SISTER): "I was there when they [played] the Fillmore East on January 31, 1969. I was only there to see IRON BUTTERFLY, the headlining band. I had a front-row seat. Believe it or not, the opening band was a gospel group called PORTERS POPULAR PREACHERS. And then out comes LED ZEPPELIN. It was one of the most startling performances I ever saw. Page was playing a Telecaster and they played the entire first album, from start to finish. At one point the band stopped playing and Robert put the microphone aside and sang through just the strength of his lungs and basically filled the Fillmore. It was insane. I ran out and bought ZEPPELIN's album on the way to school the next day.

"I ended up burning those IRON BUTTERFLY records. I had the honor of having dinner with Robert Plant in 1988, and we spoke about that show. He asked whether I remembered burst of laughter during Ron Bushy's drum solo during 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'. I didn't hear it but apparently there was a dressing-room-come-balcony that hung over the stage, and Bonham was doubled over in hysterics at how bad the solo was. ZEPPELIN knew they'd eaten the headline band for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

Alice Cooper: "We did a show with LED ZEPPELIN at the Whisky A Go Go [in West Hollywood, California], which holds maybe 300 people and nobody had heard of either one of us, we were just local bands as far as L.A. went. It was really a fun night. They all had the flu, so everyone was throwing up backstage. But the fact that Jimmy Page was in THE YARDBIRDS was a big deal for us, and I'd just met Robert Plant and these guys. They were great, we really got along, and but we had to flip a coin to see who was going to go on first. Nobody had any say over it because we were both unheard of, so we kind of condescended and said, 'No, we'll open for you guys because Jimmy Page was in THE YARDBIRDS."