Intro (Edit)

Twisted Sister is an American glam metal band from New York City. The band had their peak of success when they released the album, Stay Hungry. It included their biggest hits, We’re Not Gonna Take It and, I Wanna Rock.

The band was formed by Jay Jay French in December of 1972. The original name for the band was Silverstar, but in February of 1973 they changed their name to Twisted Sister.

The band’s original line-up was Eddie Ojeda and Jay Jay French singing and playing guitar, Kevin John Grace on drums, and Kenny Neill on bass guitar. At first the band was influenced by glam bands such as Bowie, Slade and The New York Dolls.

The band played at local clubs without any success until 1976.

In 1976, Dee Snider joined the band as the lead singer and main songwriter. Then the band replaced their drummer with Tony Petri and they took a heavier musical direction. While keeping the glam image, they now started to be influnced by Motörhead, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper.

By the time the band started playing gigs, glam was already out of style, Snider’s abilities as a frontman brought the band much local success.

Despite selling out local concert halls, no record label wanted to sign the band.  So in 1979, the band released the single, I’ll Never Grow Up Now / Under The Blade, on their own label. Then in 1980, the band released the single, Bad Boys (Of Rock & Roll) / Lady’s Boy.

During this time, the band’s line-up changed. Bassist, Neill left the band and was replaced with, Mark Mendoza. Then after many drummer changes, the band finally settled on A.J. Pero. This was now the classic Twisted Sister line-up.

In June of 1982 the band released their first EP. It was called Ruff Cutts. The EP was released by on the Secret Records label.

Four months later, the band released their debut album. The album was called, Under The Blade. The album went Gold in the U.S., and peaked at number 70 in the U.K. Then in 1985, Atlantic Records remastered and re-released it in the U.S. and it peaked at number 125 on the Billboard 200 chart.

After their label, Secret Records, went bankrupt, the band signed with Atlantic Records. Their first album with Atlantic Records was, You Can’t Stop Rock N’ Roll. The album was released on June 27th, 1983. The album spent 4 weeks on the Billboard 200 Chart in the U.S. The album peaked at number 130.

The band’s next release was 1984’s, Stay Hungry. By the summer of 1985, the album sold more than 2 million copies. Then in the following years, the album had sold over 3 million more. The album was propelled by the singles, We’re Not Gonna Take It, and I Wanna Rock. The album spent 38 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and peaked at number 15. To this day, this album is considered the band’s best.

The videos for the singles, We’re Not Gonna Take It, and I Wanna Rock, were receiving heavy airplay on MTV. The videos were intended to be comedic, but they involved violence against parents and teachers. This caused the band to receive heavy criticism by conservative organizations.

Twisted Sister was also singled out by PMRC in 1985. The songs that they didn’t like were, Under The Blade and, Wer’e Not Gonna Take It. We’re Not Gonna Take It, was targeted for violence and, Under The Blade, was targeted for bondage and rape. When Dee Snider testified before Congress, he stated that Under The Blade was written about an impending surgery.

In 1985, the band released their next album called, Come Out And Play. It wasn’t as successful as, Stay Hungry, but it still managed to go Gold, for selling 500,000 copies. The album spent 17 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 53.

On this album the band tried mixing their heavy metal roots and their more pop-oriented direction. That did not go over well with the commercial audience because the band’s popularity started declining. Their tour had to cancel many dates due to a low attendance rate.

After the tour, drummer, A.J. Pero left the band. He was replaced with Joey Franco.

In 1987, Dee Snider tried working on a solo project. He recorded a demo with several session musicians such as, Reb Beach, Kip Winger, and Steve Whiteman. When Snider presented it to the record labels, they refused to release it unless it was a Twisted Sister album.

On August 13th, 1987, the band released, Love Is For Suckers. Although the band did not play in the recording sessions, they released it as if they had. The production of the album gave it a pop metal sound, disappointing the heavy metal fans of the band. The album spent 11 weeks on the Billboard 200 Chart and it peaked at number 74.

Two month’s after the release, Dee Snider left the band. When the label heard about it, they cancelled their contract, and with that, Twisted Sister disbanded.

During the band’s hiatus, Dee Snider formed three bands. Desperado, Widowmaker, and SMF’s. He also wrote and directed the movie, Strangeland.

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History (Edit)

Eddie Ojeda joined the band, Scarecrow, and after that he formed a band called, Prisoners of War. After both projects were unsuccessful, he turned to session guitar playing and being a guitar teacher.

Jay Jay French formed French Management. He has managed artists such as, Sevendust, Andrew Fortier, David Forman, and Johnny Gale to name a few.

Mark Mendoza joined the band Blackfoot, but only for a short period. He has also worked as a producer and a manager.

A.J. Pero was involved in many bands and projects. He toured with Dee Snider’s SMF’s.

Joey Franco was a session drummer after the Twisted Sister break up. He also played with Dee Snider’s Widowmaker.

In 1992, Atlantic Records and the band released a best-of compilation album. The album was called, Big Hits and Nasty Cuts. The album also contained some live songs from the early days of the band.

In 1994, the band released a live album. The album, Live At Hammersmith, was recorded ten years earlier in 1984 on their, Stay Hungry tour.

In 1999, Spirfire Records, re-issued all of the band’s albums. All of the re-issues contained bonus tracks that were previously unreleased.

After the release of their entire catalog, Spitfire Records, released, Club Daze Volume 1: The Studio Sessions. The album contained demos of songs from their pre-Under The Blade era.

Club Daze Volume 2: Live In The Bars, was the the live version of the Club Daze set of albums.

In 2002, another best-of compilation album was released by the band. It was called, Essentials. The fans generally consider this a better compilation than one previously released.

In 2004, the band entered the recording studio to re-record, Stay Hungry. They had stated that they didn’t like the production on the album, so they re-recorded the album. The album was released as, Still Hungry. Along with the original 9 tracks on the, Stay Hungry album, the band included 7 more bonus tracks.

In 2005, the band released a 2003 show from Wacken on a CD and DVD. The album was called, Live And Wacken.

On October 15, 2006, Twisted Sister was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

On October 17, 2006, the band released, A Twisted Christmas. The album consists of the band performing classic Christmas songs, but redone in heavy metal versions.

Stay Hungry 25th Anniversary Edition was released on June 30, 2009. The original album, Stay Hungry, was remastered for this release. The album also contains 15 unreleased recordings from the band. The unreleased recordings range from demo versions of songs to non-album tracks. The album also features the band’s first new, original song in 11 years. The song is called 30.

On July 16th, 2009, Dee Snider said that 2009 was the last year that the band would perform with make-up and costumes.

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