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Discography: Album
Discography: EP
Discography: Single
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Videography
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist's Music Videos
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Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist: I love Twisted Sister. They brought a levity to heavy metal that was sorely needed in the 1980s and is still needed today. There is certainly no other heavy metal act like them. Twisted Sister was more or less the first of the "hair bands" or "glam metal bands". Unlike other such bands that succeeded them, Twisted Sister NEVER tried to make themselves look like "pretty boys" and they didn't do much with power ballads. They dressed like ugly women and played full-on rock 'n' roll.
When they first became popular, they were unnecessarily attacked by those who opposed heavy metal lyrics, especially the U.S. Senate, and became the generic term for "sick" heavy metal. In reality, Twisted Sister NEVER had songs about Satanism, or rape, or killing...but they were saddled with ALL of those rumors. And people who didn't listen to Twisted Sister often believed it. But, in the early 1980s, they were big stars, and the bigger the star, the harder the attack. Twisted Sister's songs were generally all about rock 'n' roll or sex.
Twisted Sister's music is outstanding and they're a band apart from most heavy metal groups. Not every song sounds the same. The lively, almost clownish image they first developed at live shows, and then firmly in music videos, gives them a very broad appeal. Young and old, men and women, can all appreciate Twisted Sister videos. What I think is special is that in interviews, ALL of the band members seem like genuinely nice guys and intelligent. Each one of them has a distinct personality. They're the kind of people you'd invite over to family barbecues like it was old home week.
I'm glad the band reunited in the 2000s and is out there rockin' it, coming out with new music, DVDs, and so on. They're doing their part in bringing popular music back from the dead.
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist's Music Videos:
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983)
This was the band's first music video. It was done on a very small budget, because the band had yet to boom in popularity like they did later with the "Stay Hungry" album. Filmed in London, England, this was actually one of the band's best videos. It also set the format that Twisted Sister's videos would be funny little stories. In this video, the band is on the run from the "Taste Squad", defenders of good taste. It ultimately turns out that Twisted Sister converts them all to metal heads!
We're Not Gonna Take It (1984)
The band's second video became one of the most popular music videos in all of history, and is probably most responsible for MTV becoming the phenomenon that it did. Done on a bigger budget than their first, "We're Not Gonna Take It" featured Mark Metcalf as the antagonistic, verbally abusive father who continually gets thrown through windows and walls. Metcalf was hired purely on the fact that he played Doug Neidermeyer in the 1978 smash comedy film "Animal House", and patterned his video character on Neidermeyer exactly. This light-hearted, funny music video with the catchy song appealed to young kids, teenagers, and adults and drove the band to meteoric popularity.
I Wanna Rock (1984)
Probably one of the first sequels in rock videos. This video picked up right where "We're Not Gonna Take It" leaves off. Mark Metcalf returns as the antagonist. This time we find out he's a school teacher and just as big of jerk as he was as a father in the last entry. This song and video was just as big of hit as "We're Not Gonna Take It". The video upped the anty a bit. There was a lot more physical comedy and Road Runner style gags than there was the last time around. At the very end of the video, we see Stephen Furst, who played Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in "Animal House", as the school's principal and he gets his revenge on the awful teacher.
The Price (1985)
This was a well-produced video. My problem with it is that I don't care for the song that much. Never did. A band like Twisted Sister should never do power ballads. I don't know who power ballads are for, but TS certainly isn't that kind of act. I loved it that you can see the band with and without the makeup and costumes, back and forth. Plus, it's breaking away from the "same old thing". If all their videos were like "I Wanna Rock", I think it would get tiresome. Here, the band could be "cool". And they did a great job of that, but I think they should have picked another song for the video. The video did alright on TV, but didn't get anywhere near the publicity or acclaim that their previous two videos had.
Leader of the Pack (1985)
I still like this video, but there are a few problems with it. I love seeing Bobcat Goldthwait as the candy store owner. That was cool and is probably what salvaged the video when people saw it on TV. But, again, the choice of song for this video was not great. I never cared for "The Leader of the Pack" song in the first place, and this was a cover. The fact that it was a cover started taking legitimacy away from the band being true rockers. But if it HAD to be a cover, they could have done a song that suited them better, like "Born to be Wild", or "Purple Haze", or something a bit wilder.
For the first time, the band was not seen playing instruments at all! The band members themselves did not like this fact, and felt they were being shown more as characters than as musicians. A few shots of them playing instruments would have done a lot to help this video.
But on top of all that, the video was TOO silly, and too crazy. For instance, the girl getting in one Wile E. Coyote catastrophe after another, only to safely land on the back seat of Dee Snyder's motorcycle. One positive note about this video: it was done on a really good budget and doesn't look cheap at all.
Everyone in Twisted Sister considers this video to be their first, huge, professional mistake. Bassist Mark Mendoza refers to this as "the beginning of the end for Twisted Sister".
Be Chrool to Your Scuel (1986)
I love this song! Very 1950s style heavy metal. And Dee Snyder sings with Alice Cooper, which is cool! Bobcat Goldthwait appears in this video as a demented school teacher, which is very funny. This video was done on a very big budget, the biggest they had done so far. It turned out to be a video that everyone in the band was proud of, and they should have been. I have only one problem with it: a few of the zombie scenes are too gruesome. Zombies are generally gross, anyway, but I think the part with the school cook slicing the kid's throat with a knife, and the one kid sticking something in a hole in his neck, was a bit too over the top. MTV thought so, too. So much, in fact, that they banned this video. They said "no edit could make this passable". I do not agree. I think the whole idea of Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper rocking it out in a zombie high school is a cool idea. But some of the more grisly stuff could have been taken out. I still love this video, and, as guitarist Eddie Ojeda said in an interview, "It was all light-hearted and fun.". Drummer A.J. Pero is rightfully upset about this video being blacklisted, saying "Michael Jackson did the same thing...and got away with it!". For those who don't know, Michael Jackson's most popular video was 1984's "Thriller", in which he danced with and became a zombie.
Hot Love (1987)
The video was cool...the song was not. This song came from Twisted Sister's last studio album, "Love is For Suckers", from 1987. At this time, they tried becoming the prettier glam metal hair band that they so strongly opposed from the beginning. There was NO Twisted Sister makeup and costumes. The girl looks incredible, the cars are awesome, and there is still a sense of humor about the video. I also like the Twisted Sister lollipop you see the girl holding throughout the video. I think if they would have released those suckers on the market, they would have sold extremely well...and it might have helped publicize the album.
The music was not at all like the Twisted Sister we know. As a matter of fact, for the first time, various studio musicians were used on the album. In reality, the band members were all at odds with each other because creatively and commercially they were not doing well. Before, the guys were always shown together. In this video, Dee is pretty much by himself, and the camera just scans over the other guys. The video did not do well on TV. It was shown a few times, and was not much help to the album's sales, which flopped incredibly. The albums and singles were pulled from stores, and the band didn't even finish the tour due to low sales. It marked the end of Twisted Sister for a lot of years, and was not the happy ending anyone had hoped for. Worst of all, they didn't even have a huge, publicized break-up...they just sort of faded away. Guitarist Jay Jay French, in an online interview, said "I don't consider 'Love is for Suckers' a true Twisted Sister album.
Personnel:
Jay Jay French- Guitar.
Mark "The Animal" Mendoza- Bass.
Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda- Guitar.
A.J. Pero- Drums.
Dee Snider- Lead vocals.
Discography: Album: IN PROGRESS
Under the Blade
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
Stay Hungry
Love is For Suckers
Discography: EP:
Discography: Single:
Filmography (Film & Television):
MUSIC VIDEOS
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983)
We're Not Gonna Take It (1984)
I Wanna Rock (1984)
The Price (1985)
Leader of the Pack (1985)
Be Chrool to Your Scuel (1986)
Hot Love (1987)
"Stay Hungry" (1984)- Live concert promoting the "Stay Hungry" album. Released on video and played on MTV 13 times within the first year of its release. Legendary concert video. At the time they were filming it, the band thought it was going to flop. There were problems with sound and lighting, and barricades set up in the crowd caused some people to get hurt. But the "Stay Hungry" concert was a huge hit.
Photos:
Videography:
Twisted Sister: The Video Years (2007, Rhino)- 131 minutes. MUST HAVE! This is the video release every Twisted Sister fan wanted for years. Every music video, the entire "Stay Hungry" live concert program...even their 1982 TV appearance on British television...is all here. Even better, there are new interviews from all the band members. You will NOT be disappointed.
Twisted Sister: A Twisted Christmas Live (2007, Razor & Tie)- RECOMMENDED! I had my doubts about this at first. Twisted Sister? Doing a Christmas DVD? I found that they did the actual Christmas songs, with the real lyrics, only in a heavy metal flavor. They weren't making fun of the Christmas classics, they were just having fun with it. They truly brought new life to those old standards and made rock 'n' roll Christmas music fun again. This live concert program was released off the success of the "A Twisted Christmas" studio CD. Besides that, they also do their most beloved non-Christmas songs like "We're Not Gonna Take It" and more! They also have extra music videos of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" (live-action and animated versions), "Heavy Metal Christmas (Twelve Days of Christmas)" (in-studio performance), footage of Mendoza's Choir, and an interview featuring Dee Snider and Jay Jay French. This is actually a Christmas album that you can listen to any time of year. And it features the classic line-up of Snider/French/Mendoza/Ojeda/Pero. The live-action video of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" continues the great tradition of Twisted Sister music videos. It is very inspired by the music videos of "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock". This time the loud-mouthed antagonist is a pretty girl who chews out her chubby husband for buying her the "A Twisted Christmas" CD. The band appears, loosens everyone up, and the girl is no longer a pain-in-the-a**. Very cool.
Fun Facts:
In 1988, Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega took cover in the Vatican Embassy to escape the wrath of the U.S. Government. Unfortunately for Manuel, the U.S. military blasted loud Twisted Sister music at him to drive him out. It worked! The U.S. Government proudly admits to having used the band's music. Ironically, three years earlier, the U.S. Senate attacked the band on their controversial lyrics. Tipper Gore, wife of future vice-president Al Gore, wrote a really nasty article on the band for a newspaper at the time and mistakenly accused the band of encouraging crime and violence when they were, in fact, not. Lead singer and songwriter Dee Snider appeared before the Senate and made all his nay-sayers look like real idiots when he explained to everyone the real deal.
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist: I love Twisted Sister. They brought a levity to heavy metal that was sorely needed in the 1980s and is still needed today. There is certainly no other heavy metal act like them. Twisted Sister was more or less the first of the "hair bands" or "glam metal bands". Unlike other such bands that succeeded them, Twisted Sister NEVER tried to make themselves look like "pretty boys" and they didn't do much with power ballads. They dressed like ugly women and played full-on rock 'n' roll.
When they first became popular, they were unnecessarily attacked by those who opposed heavy metal lyrics, especially the U.S. Senate, and became the generic term for "sick" heavy metal. In reality, Twisted Sister NEVER had songs about Satanism, or rape, or killing...but they were saddled with ALL of those rumors. And people who didn't listen to Twisted Sister often believed it. But, in the early 1980s, they were big stars, and the bigger the star, the harder the attack. Twisted Sister's songs were generally all about rock 'n' roll or sex.
Twisted Sister's music is outstanding and they're a band apart from most heavy metal groups. Not every song sounds the same. The lively, almost clownish image they first developed at live shows, and then firmly in music videos, gives them a very broad appeal. Young and old, men and women, can all appreciate Twisted Sister videos. What I think is special is that in interviews, ALL of the band members seem like genuinely nice guys and intelligent. Each one of them has a distinct personality. They're the kind of people you'd invite over to family barbecues like it was old home week.
I'm glad the band reunited in the 2000s and is out there rockin' it, coming out with new music, DVDs, and so on. They're doing their part in bringing popular music back from the dead.
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist's Music Videos:
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983)
This was the band's first music video. It was done on a very small budget, because the band had yet to boom in popularity like they did later with the "Stay Hungry" album. Filmed in London, England, this was actually one of the band's best videos. It also set the format that Twisted Sister's videos would be funny little stories. In this video, the band is on the run from the "Taste Squad", defenders of good taste. It ultimately turns out that Twisted Sister converts them all to metal heads!
We're Not Gonna Take It (1984)
The band's second video became one of the most popular music videos in all of history, and is probably most responsible for MTV becoming the phenomenon that it did. Done on a bigger budget than their first, "We're Not Gonna Take It" featured Mark Metcalf as the antagonistic, verbally abusive father who continually gets thrown through windows and walls. Metcalf was hired purely on the fact that he played Doug Neidermeyer in the 1978 smash comedy film "Animal House", and patterned his video character on Neidermeyer exactly. This light-hearted, funny music video with the catchy song appealed to young kids, teenagers, and adults and drove the band to meteoric popularity.
I Wanna Rock (1984)
Probably one of the first sequels in rock videos. This video picked up right where "We're Not Gonna Take It" leaves off. Mark Metcalf returns as the antagonist. This time we find out he's a school teacher and just as big of jerk as he was as a father in the last entry. This song and video was just as big of hit as "We're Not Gonna Take It". The video upped the anty a bit. There was a lot more physical comedy and Road Runner style gags than there was the last time around. At the very end of the video, we see Stephen Furst, who played Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in "Animal House", as the school's principal and he gets his revenge on the awful teacher.
The Price (1985)
This was a well-produced video. My problem with it is that I don't care for the song that much. Never did. A band like Twisted Sister should never do power ballads. I don't know who power ballads are for, but TS certainly isn't that kind of act. I loved it that you can see the band with and without the makeup and costumes, back and forth. Plus, it's breaking away from the "same old thing". If all their videos were like "I Wanna Rock", I think it would get tiresome. Here, the band could be "cool". And they did a great job of that, but I think they should have picked another song for the video. The video did alright on TV, but didn't get anywhere near the publicity or acclaim that their previous two videos had.
Leader of the Pack (1985)
I still like this video, but there are a few problems with it. I love seeing Bobcat Goldthwait as the candy store owner. That was cool and is probably what salvaged the video when people saw it on TV. But, again, the choice of song for this video was not great. I never cared for "The Leader of the Pack" song in the first place, and this was a cover. The fact that it was a cover started taking legitimacy away from the band being true rockers. But if it HAD to be a cover, they could have done a song that suited them better, like "Born to be Wild", or "Purple Haze", or something a bit wilder.
For the first time, the band was not seen playing instruments at all! The band members themselves did not like this fact, and felt they were being shown more as characters than as musicians. A few shots of them playing instruments would have done a lot to help this video.
But on top of all that, the video was TOO silly, and too crazy. For instance, the girl getting in one Wile E. Coyote catastrophe after another, only to safely land on the back seat of Dee Snyder's motorcycle. One positive note about this video: it was done on a really good budget and doesn't look cheap at all.
Everyone in Twisted Sister considers this video to be their first, huge, professional mistake. Bassist Mark Mendoza refers to this as "the beginning of the end for Twisted Sister".
Be Chrool to Your Scuel (1986)
I love this song! Very 1950s style heavy metal. And Dee Snyder sings with Alice Cooper, which is cool! Bobcat Goldthwait appears in this video as a demented school teacher, which is very funny. This video was done on a very big budget, the biggest they had done so far. It turned out to be a video that everyone in the band was proud of, and they should have been. I have only one problem with it: a few of the zombie scenes are too gruesome. Zombies are generally gross, anyway, but I think the part with the school cook slicing the kid's throat with a knife, and the one kid sticking something in a hole in his neck, was a bit too over the top. MTV thought so, too. So much, in fact, that they banned this video. They said "no edit could make this passable". I do not agree. I think the whole idea of Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper rocking it out in a zombie high school is a cool idea. But some of the more grisly stuff could have been taken out. I still love this video, and, as guitarist Eddie Ojeda said in an interview, "It was all light-hearted and fun.". Drummer A.J. Pero is rightfully upset about this video being blacklisted, saying "Michael Jackson did the same thing...and got away with it!". For those who don't know, Michael Jackson's most popular video was 1984's "Thriller", in which he danced with and became a zombie.
Hot Love (1987)
The video was cool...the song was not. This song came from Twisted Sister's last studio album, "Love is For Suckers", from 1987. At this time, they tried becoming the prettier glam metal hair band that they so strongly opposed from the beginning. There was NO Twisted Sister makeup and costumes. The girl looks incredible, the cars are awesome, and there is still a sense of humor about the video. I also like the Twisted Sister lollipop you see the girl holding throughout the video. I think if they would have released those suckers on the market, they would have sold extremely well...and it might have helped publicize the album.
The music was not at all like the Twisted Sister we know. As a matter of fact, for the first time, various studio musicians were used on the album. In reality, the band members were all at odds with each other because creatively and commercially they were not doing well. Before, the guys were always shown together. In this video, Dee is pretty much by himself, and the camera just scans over the other guys. The video did not do well on TV. It was shown a few times, and was not much help to the album's sales, which flopped incredibly. The albums and singles were pulled from stores, and the band didn't even finish the tour due to low sales. It marked the end of Twisted Sister for a lot of years, and was not the happy ending anyone had hoped for. Worst of all, they didn't even have a huge, publicized break-up...they just sort of faded away. Guitarist Jay Jay French, in an online interview, said "I don't consider 'Love is for Suckers' a true Twisted Sister album.
Personnel:
Jay Jay French- Guitar.
Mark "The Animal" Mendoza- Bass.
Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda- Guitar.
A.J. Pero- Drums.
Dee Snider- Lead vocals.
Discography: Album: IN PROGRESS
Under the Blade
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
Stay Hungry
Love is For Suckers
Discography: EP:
Discography: Single:
Filmography (Film & Television):
MUSIC VIDEOS
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983)
We're Not Gonna Take It (1984)
I Wanna Rock (1984)
The Price (1985)
Leader of the Pack (1985)
Be Chrool to Your Scuel (1986)
Hot Love (1987)
"Stay Hungry" (1984)- Live concert promoting the "Stay Hungry" album. Released on video and played on MTV 13 times within the first year of its release. Legendary concert video. At the time they were filming it, the band thought it was going to flop. There were problems with sound and lighting, and barricades set up in the crowd caused some people to get hurt. But the "Stay Hungry" concert was a huge hit.
Photos:
Videography:
Twisted Sister: The Video Years (2007, Rhino)- 131 minutes. MUST HAVE! This is the video release every Twisted Sister fan wanted for years. Every music video, the entire "Stay Hungry" live concert program...even their 1982 TV appearance on British television...is all here. Even better, there are new interviews from all the band members. You will NOT be disappointed.
Track Listing:
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) (1982 live performance on British TV)
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983 music video)
We're Not Gonna Take It (1984 music video)
I Wanna Rock (1984 music video)
The Price (1985 music video)
Leader of the Pack (1985 music video)
Be Chrool to Your Scuel (1986 music video, with Alice Cooper)
Hot Love (1987 music video)
"Stay Hungry" concert program tracks (1984)
The Kids Are Back
We're Not Gonna Take It
I Wanna Rock
Under the Blade
The Beast
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
The Price
Stay Hungry
Burn in Hell
S.M.F.
Bonus Features:
Interviews With All Band Members
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) (1982 live performance on British TV)
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983 music video)
We're Not Gonna Take It (1984 music video)
I Wanna Rock (1984 music video)
The Price (1985 music video)
Leader of the Pack (1985 music video)
Be Chrool to Your Scuel (1986 music video, with Alice Cooper)
Hot Love (1987 music video)
"Stay Hungry" concert program tracks (1984)
The Kids Are Back
We're Not Gonna Take It
I Wanna Rock
Under the Blade
The Beast
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
The Price
Stay Hungry
Burn in Hell
S.M.F.
Bonus Features:
Interviews With All Band Members
Twisted Sister: A Twisted Christmas Live (2007, Razor & Tie)- RECOMMENDED! I had my doubts about this at first. Twisted Sister? Doing a Christmas DVD? I found that they did the actual Christmas songs, with the real lyrics, only in a heavy metal flavor. They weren't making fun of the Christmas classics, they were just having fun with it. They truly brought new life to those old standards and made rock 'n' roll Christmas music fun again. This live concert program was released off the success of the "A Twisted Christmas" studio CD. Besides that, they also do their most beloved non-Christmas songs like "We're Not Gonna Take It" and more! They also have extra music videos of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" (live-action and animated versions), "Heavy Metal Christmas (Twelve Days of Christmas)" (in-studio performance), footage of Mendoza's Choir, and an interview featuring Dee Snider and Jay Jay French. This is actually a Christmas album that you can listen to any time of year. And it features the classic line-up of Snider/French/Mendoza/Ojeda/Pero. The live-action video of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" continues the great tradition of Twisted Sister music videos. It is very inspired by the music videos of "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock". This time the loud-mouthed antagonist is a pretty girl who chews out her chubby husband for buying her the "A Twisted Christmas" CD. The band appears, loosens everyone up, and the girl is no longer a pain-in-the-a**. Very cool.
Track Listing:
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Shoot 'Em Down
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Fire Still Burns
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
White Christmas
The Price
Oh Come All Ye Faithful
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Burn In Hell
Silver Bells
I Wanna Rock
Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas)
We're Not Gonna Take It
Bonus Features:
Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas) (In-Studio Performance)
Interview With Dee Snider & Jay Jay French
Mendoza's Choir
Oh Come All Ye Faithful (Animated Version)
Oh Come All Ye Faithful (Live-Action Version)
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Shoot 'Em Down
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Fire Still Burns
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
White Christmas
The Price
Oh Come All Ye Faithful
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Burn In Hell
Silver Bells
I Wanna Rock
Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas)
We're Not Gonna Take It
Bonus Features:
Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas) (In-Studio Performance)
Interview With Dee Snider & Jay Jay French
Mendoza's Choir
Oh Come All Ye Faithful (Animated Version)
Oh Come All Ye Faithful (Live-Action Version)
Fun Facts:
In 1988, Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega took cover in the Vatican Embassy to escape the wrath of the U.S. Government. Unfortunately for Manuel, the U.S. military blasted loud Twisted Sister music at him to drive him out. It worked! The U.S. Government proudly admits to having used the band's music. Ironically, three years earlier, the U.S. Senate attacked the band on their controversial lyrics. Tipper Gore, wife of future vice-president Al Gore, wrote a really nasty article on the band for a newspaper at the time and mistakenly accused the band of encouraging crime and violence when they were, in fact, not. Lead singer and songwriter Dee Snider appeared before the Senate and made all his nay-sayers look like real idiots when he explained to everyone the real deal.