Twisted Sister biography
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands. The band is generally categorized as glam metal for their earlier work; however, the band does not consider themselves to be so.
Twisted Sister are also ranked No.73 in VH1's 100 greatest artists of all time.
Although the band was formed by guitarist Jay Jay French in December 1972, all of their songs were written by Dee Snider from 1976 onward. Snider remarked to David Letterman that the proposed name for the band was "This" but was rejected for fear of fans saying "This sucks". He describes Twisted Sister as "Slade meets Sex Pistols". Twisted Sister's most well-known hits include "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both popularized in the USA by regular airplay on MTV in the 1980s. Many of the band's songs explore themes of parent vs. child conflicts and criticisms of the educational system.
The soon to be named 'Twisted Sister' was formed after Jay Jay French was added following auditions in the 'band house' located in Ho-Ho-Kus New Jersey in late December 1972. Manhattan resident John Segall (Jay Jay French) auditioned and was asked to join the 'glitter band' Silver Star. Silver Star was the creation of the drummer Mel Anderson (Mell Star) as the "New Jersey version of the NY Dolls". At the same time as Silver Star/Twisted Sister was created, Mell Star's brother, Al Anderson, was the guitar player for Bob Marley and the Wailers. Jay Jay hated the name Silver Star and pushed to have it changed. On Valentine's Day in February 1973 Silver Star changed its name to Twisted Sister. The line up was; lead singer Micheal Valentine, Guitarist Billy Diamond, drummer Mell Star, bass player Kenneth Harrison Neill, and Johnny Heartbreaker (soon to change his name to Jay Jay French).
The band found work immediately and started playing 6 nights a week (mostly in the same club for the entire week). They secured a residency at the Mad Hatter in East Quogue, NY for the summer of 1973 and played 105 nights from Memorial Day to Labor day. By December 1974, when this first version of the band broke up, Jay Jay had already played nearly 600 nights and about 3,000 performances as the band played 5 x 40 minutes shows per night, each with costume changes, some ending as late as 8 am the following morning. The second version of the band changed lead singers (Rick Prince) and guitar player (Keith Angel) and continued for a couple of months into 1975 before singer Rick Prince failed to show up for a rehearsal. In the third lineup change, Jay Jay the took over the lead vocal chores and management duties. The band split up after Labor Day weekend 1975. In October 1975 the fourth version of the band started to play the club circuit. Jay Jay hired a former high school friend of Eddie Ojeda, who joined as co-lead singer and second guitarist, and got drummer Kevin John Grace after reading an ad that Kevin put in the Village Voice. Bass guitarist Kenny Neill (Kenneth Harrison Neill) remained and completed the lineup. The band followed a glam rock direction, influenced by David Bowie, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Rolling Stones, and New York Dolls. It played at local clubs but floundered in relative anonymity.
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