Play it LOUD, Mutha!

Twisted Sister. What else do ya gotta say? Everyone knows Twisted Sister from the goofy MTV vids - "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock." The band's roots actually go back about 10 years before that success.

Twisted Sister began on Feb. 14, 1973, when guitarist Jay Jay French joined a band called Silverstar. In those days, French was using the stage name Johnny Heartbreaker. He had previously played in other local NYC bands and had auditioned for Wicked Lester, the band that would eventually become KISS. On the suggestion of Silverstar's lead singer Michael Valentine, the band changed its name to Twisted Sister. Valentine and the other guitarist, Billy Diamond, soon left, prompting French to assume vocal duties, as well.

In 1976, Dee Snider joined the band as lead singer and principal songwriter. After replacing drummer Kevin John Grace with Tony Petri, the group took a heavier musical direction, but without abandoning their glam image.

Pete Way of UFO produced Twisted Sister's first LP, "Under the Blade." Despite rather low production quality, the album was an underground hit in the UK, providing the band with sufficient name recognition to open for such metal acts as Motörhead. The album had an overall raw metal sound and included "Tear It Loose", a very fast speed metal song featuring a guitar solo by "Fast" Eddie Clarke of Motörhead. Another single, the future hit "We're Not Gonna Take It", was planned for release, but their label, Secret Records, went out of business before Snider was able to complete the lyrics.

Jumping ahead about 10 years, in 1985, the band released their fourth LP, the commercially disappointing "Come Out and Play." This was to be the beginning of the end, leading to the band's separation in 1988.

The band reunited in late 2001 as part of an NYPD / FDNY benefit. Since then, they've performed a handful of shows together, and completely re-recorded the "Stay Hungry" album. Dee Snider announced earlier this year that Twisted Sister will release a final CD, of heavy metal Christmas music. That disk is set for release later this month.

The group is still together and occasionally does small tours. Before each of these mini-tours, they perform as Bent Brother, practicing their set and appearing without makeup, although Snider and French have both voiced the opinion that they do not enjoy playing as Twisted Sister.

I've arranged these more or less from oldest to newest. Play 'em LOUD , SMFs!

Tear It Loose.mp3
Shoot ‘em Down.mp3
It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (live).mp3 (Rolling Stones cover)
You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll.mp3
I Wanna Rock.mp3
Leader of the Pack.mp3 (Shangri-Las cover)

The official Twisted Sister Website.
Dee Snider’s site
Eddie Ojeda’s site
AJ Pero’s site

posted by aikin @ 10:30 AM