I’ve seen Dee Snyder on VH1 a lot, and he seems to be under the mistaken impression that he was a rock god or something back in the 80’s. I remember them as a gimmick band that were ok but nothing special. You didn’t call people and go “you gotta hear this!” like you did with Ride the Lightning. They were basically a 2 hit wonder, and got a lot of mileage off those 2 videos, but I don’t remember them being anyone’s favorite band.
Why does Dee Snyder think he’s a rock god? Did they make THAT much money off “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re not gonna take it”?
Would they have achieved more success if they had dropped the transvestite gimmick? I remember Dee saying they spent a lot of years touring in small clubs but I don’t think they were that talented.
What was up with that one guitarist that only wore a couple stripes on his cheek? I kept picturing it like this “Dude, everyone else is wearing the makeup. You gotta at least do some eyeliner and lipstick.” “No, this whole thing is fuckin stupid. I’m not doing it.” “Fuck, no one else will play with us. Dude can you pleeease at least do something? Our whole image revolves around this, and we can’t have one guy with no makeup” “Ok how about if I just do it warpaint-like?” “I guess so.”
Twisted Sister came in near the beginning of MTV and were a very video friendly band. The songs were hooky and the videos had a sense of humor that played a role in making metal more accessible to the mainstream. Stay Hungry was actually a pretty decent album and has sold something like 5 million copies, which isn’t bad.
They were really big for a short period of time. My impression of Dee Snyder in recent years is not exactly what yours is, thouigh. I don’t get the impression that he thinks he’s some kind of icon. I’ve seen him be brutally honest in interviews about how he knows his band is now a retro-act, that he wants to put on a good and professional show for the old-timers, but is not under any illusion that the band is going to have some kind of resurgence with a younger audience. I remember that he specifically chastised some other 80’s hair metal bands who (he thought) couldn’t accept that their salad days were over and were still deluding themselves that they were going to be back on top again (or never realized they weren’t still there).
I remember his comments as being honest, practical and realistic, basicallysaying that bands like his needed to show up on time, be professional, play the songs the audience came to hear and treat them with respect. From what I’ve heard, he actually is generous to fans as well.
I think the sense of humor is key. They weren’t taking themselves seriously. They were being intentionally campy and over the top. You have to think of Dee the way you think of pro wrestlers. It’s a hammy stage character.
Yeah but even our minister thought that TS’s rendition of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” was great fun- Snider actually does have a decent voice, and that song is perfect for him.
Hasn’t Snider said that recording “Leader of the Pack” was because of record company pressure and was a mistake that hurt the band? He has also felt that few other groups stood with him speaking out against the PMRC.
Watching the PMRC hearing with Denver, Snider, and Zappa was one of the few times I ever watched congressional hearings on C-SPAN. It made me realize what trouble we are in when Dee Snider is more intelligent that politicians in both parties.
I honestly don’t know one way or the other, but a record company pressuring an artist doesn’t surprise me in the least, if it’s true. As to whether it’s a mistake that hurt the band, I can’t argue one way or the other. I was 12 when that song was recorded, and the impact it had on the band’s reputation wasn’t something I was particularly interested in.
I think that most politicians are not elected for their brains, but for their charisma. They usually have their puppet masters behind the stage to let them know what to do or say. Of course, the same can be said of most entertainers…not known for their brains, most of them. They just have to look good and play their parts.
Occasionally, though, there IS a bright politician or entertainer, and I think that Snider is one of the brighter ones.
I think this has to do with one’s age. I was 8 years old when Stay Hungry hit the music scene, and, like all my friends, was instantly hooked. To us little kids just discovering rock music, there was nothing gimmicky about TS. They looked super-cool, they had insanely good songs and videos, and they were heavily featured in the music media at the time. Early Metallica was a bit too aggressive and progressive to our virgin ears, and they looked like any regular burnout dudes hanging around the mall in their jeans, band T-shirts and acne. Seeing their picture in a magazine did not make me want to buy their albums. In comparison, Dee Snider was easily the greatest Rock God evah, for those couple important years.
I’m not a big fan of Twisted Sister, but let me point out a few things, in their defense:
Twisted Sister was around for a LONG time, a LOT longer than MTV fans ever knew. And they realy paid their dues. When I was a kid in New York in the early/mid-Seventies, Twisted Sister was playing every dive in the Tri-State area. I used to hear ads for their gigs on the radio constantly. They really WANTED to break through and become hugely successful, and they worked their butts off to do it. But they could never get any radio airplay even in their hometown. I never saw them live in those days, but I’m told they would curse and insult the local New York City rock deejays mercilessly onstage.
They were sort of like April Wine in that they were “the next big thing” in hard rock for what seemed like forever. Say this for them: they made a living without having any big hits, and that’s HARD to do.
When they finally got a few videos on MTV and experienced a bit of commercial success, I think their attitude was “It’s about freaking TIME!” They’d watched other bands from their circle become successful for years, and it galled them.
I taught a summer school speech class a few years ago and there was an 11 year old boy who was utterly obsessed with Twisted Sister. And when I say “a few years ago,” I don’t mean 1992 or something-- I literally mean summer of 2009. First day of class, I have the kids do introductory speeches and his went something like this:
Cut to confused looks from his classmates and me hysterically laughing. I mean, c’mon! They were popular before even I was born! I helped the kid out, though: I let him do every speech about TS. First speech was to perform a famous speech, so I told him about the testimony before Congress. Kid thought that was probably the coolest thing in the entire world.
