 Dee Snider 2005 |
No Life 'til
Metal The |
CD Collection | Vinyl Collection | Bootleg Collection | DVD Collection
"I don't think Twisted Sister is "Glam" because that implies glamour, and we're not glamorous. We should be called "Hid" because we're hideous." -Dee Snider
You have to keep in mind this is 1980. Glitter rock was over, "Hair metal" didn't exist yet–Twisted Sister were the sole purveyors of that glitter/metal amalgam...a new wave of British heavy metal was brewing, and what do you know...a young American band was waving the new wave of heavy metal flag, too.
-Dee Snider, Shut Up and Give Me The Mic, p134-135..
Long before Twisted Sister was an MTV darling in the mid 1980's I was already sitting behind clubs listening to their music. I am originally from the East Coast USA (Trenton, NJ to be exact), not far from where Twisted Sister are from. Twisted Sister were local heroes in he 70's and into the 80's. While I was a fan, I was only in high school and not old enough to get into the clubs they were frequenting. One time my friends and I sat behind a club so that we could at least hear the music, even though we couldn't see the show. While most fans were cutting their teeth on "Stay Hungry", my first Twisted Sister record was the self-released "I'll Never Grow Up" single . (Yes, I know I am dating myself.) I was a big fan throughout high school (1980-85) and owned all their albums and many import 12" singles. I was even lucky enough to catch the band in Philadelphia with Dio in '83 and again in Philly with Dio in '84. This here is my collection and my tribute to one of my all time favorite bands.
Twisted Sister were a product of New York City's 1970's rock scene and were faithful students of the New York Dolls glam school, with Kiss' theatrics and the shock rock of Alice Cooper. Twisted Sister formed in the 1970's and were a popular NY bar band for almost a decade, recording only demos and various singles. In November 1979 the band recorded the single "I'll Never Grow Up " at Electric Lady studios with famed Hendrix/Kiss engineer Eddie Kramer. It was many years before the band finally landed a deal with independent Secret Records in 1981. They flew to England as the NWOBHM movement was in full swing around this time as well. Together with producer Pete Way (UFO), the band recorded their first full length record for Secret Records. The band kept growing despite any sort of label attention or promotion. Finally a promoter from Atlantic Records in England signed the band, apparently unaware that Atlantic had already rejected Twisted Sister on numerous occasions in America. Twisted Sister only grew in popularity from this point on, gaining even more success touring the U.S. with Dio. MTV really helped break the band out with their massively successful "Stay Hungry" album, that was sparked by the humorous videos for "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna Take It". Unfortunately the band could never live up to the hype of that record and began a spiral downward with their very next release. After the demise of Twisted Sister, the band's ring leader/vocalist Dee Snider went on to do several solo projects including Widowmaker with Al Piterli (Savatage/Asia/Megadeth), Desperado with Bernie Torme (Gillan) and a solo record (Dee Snider) with AJ Pero. Overcoming major differences between band members, Twisted Sister finally managed to reform in '01 to perform some reunion shows and record for various releases. In 2004 the band began touring and released a new DVD and a CD titled "Still Hungry". I was again fortunate enough to catch the band in Tuscon, AZ on Sept. 10, 2005.
Twisted Sister CD Collection | Twisted Sister Vinyl Collection | Twisted Sister Bootleg Collection
Related Collections:
Eddie Ojeda | Desperado | Widowmaker | Dee Snider