Twisted Sister
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Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal music group specializing in the theatrical shock metal genre popularized in music videos on the television channel MTV in the 1980s. The group fused the shock tactics of Alice Cooper, the rebellious mood of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the chains and leather image of Judas Priest, and the extravagant makeup of KISS. The group's hit songs include "I Wanna Rock", which was remade in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie as the Goofy Goober Rock and "We're Not Gonna Take It".
The band was founded in 1973 in New York City. The lineup changed often, with founder J.J. French staying on guitars. In 1975, Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda joined as a second guitarist, in 1976 vocalist Dee Snider gave a major boost, and Mark "The Animal" Mendoza got a grip on the bass in 1978.
In 1979 they had a single "I'll Never Grow Up Now / Under the Blade", followed in 1980 by "Bad Boys (Of Rock & Roll) / Lady's Boy". Both were released on a label called "Twisted Sister Records".
In 1980, with only a few months left in their deal with that company, they wanted to release another single quickly. They had two songs under consideration. One was "Bad Boys (Of Rock & Roll)". The other was a song that Dee Snider had just started writing called "We're Not Gonna Take It". "We're Not Gonna Take It" was not completed yet. Dee Snider had the chorus lyrics and instrumental tracks, but could not think of the verse lyrics. The song was forgotten for a while.
During the following years the band gained popularity in the US. They released on March 28, 1982 the EP "Ruff Cuts" and their debut album Under The Blade on September 18, 1982. Both were released on a British label, "Secret Records". Under The Blade became a cult classic spawning the title track, which was being compared with Iron Maiden's superhit "The Number Of The Beast", released in the same year. The album also contained "Tear It Loose", a very fast speed metal song, which is still called one of the fastest songs ever made. It particularly shows drummer A. J. Pero's stunning drum skills. However, it was not until 1982, during a tour in the U.K., that they were noticed by Atlantic Records and offered a contract. On June 27, 1983 Twisted Sister released their second album, You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll, and on May 10, 1984 their most successful album ever, Stay Hungry.
Stay Hungry sold over four million copies by the summer of 1985. Its first single "We're Not Gonna Take It" (a song that took Dee Snider three years to write) made #21 on the singles chart. After the success of the album, the band toured with Iron Maiden. This was a very successful tour; however, it was also the start of a feud between the two legendary bands, which would last till Iron Maiden's 2000 album "Brave New World".
They were singled out by the PMRC in 1985. Twisted Sister songs "Under the Blade" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" were specifically mentioned in the Senate hearing. Lead singer Dee Snider was one of the few musicians to testify before Congress in the September 19, 1985 hearings.
They released their fourth album, Come Out And Play on November 9, 1985. For it, they again covered "Leader Of The Pack", a song they had already covered in 1982, for the Ruff Cuts EP.
Joe Franco replaced A.J. Pero on drums in 1987. Reportedly, Dee Snider had also approached future Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, but it did not work out. They released their fifth album Love Is For Suckers on August 13, 1987. It would be their last album. Almost two months later, on October 12, 1987 Dee left the band. The others in the band chose not to attempt replacing him.
Twisted Sister reunited in 1999, releasing afterwards a number of live recordings which saw them go back to the Metal roots sound.
In 2004 the band re-released various tracks from their Stay Hungry album, under the title Still Hungry.
External link
- Official site (http://www.twistedsister.com/)de:Twisted Sister