Twisted Sister


Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with music videos noted for their sense of slapstick humor. Besides their music, the band is equally remembered for their hairstyles and wearing androgynous clothing and make-up, leading to a categorization in the hair metal scene of the 1980s.
Twisted Sister evolved from a band named Silver Star, and experienced several membership changes before settling on the classic lineup of Jay Jay French, Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda, Dee Snider, Mark "The Animal" Mendoza, and A. J. Pero in 1982. It was this lineup which recorded the band's first four albums. Twisted Sister's first two albums, Under the Blade and You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll, were critically well-received and earned the band underground popularity. The band achieved mainstream success with their third album, Stay Hungry, and its single "We're Not Gonna Take It", which was their only Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next two albums, Come Out and Play and Love Is for Suckers, did not match the success of Stay Hungry, and Twisted Sister disbanded in 1988.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band played a series of one-off shows before reuniting more permanently in 2003. They released two more albums, Still Hungry, a re-recording of their third album, and a Christmas album, A Twisted Christmas. Following Pero's death in 2015, the band embarked on a farewell tour and subsequently separated again after completing the tour in 2016. They announced another reunion in September 2025.
In 2013, Corey Deiterman of The Houston Press placed Twisted Sister eighth on his list of "The 10 Worst Metal Bands of the '80s". Conversely, two years later Twisted Sister was ranked at No. 73 on VH1's list of "100 greatest artists of hard rock" in 2015. One year later, the staff of Loudwire named them the 43rd-best metal band of all time. In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included them in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time", placing them third.

History

Early days (1972–1976)

In late December 1972, Manhattan resident John Segall auditioned for, and was asked to join, the "glitter band" Silver Star from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. Silver Star was formed by drummer Mel Anderson as the "New Jersey version of the New York Dolls", consisting of Billy Diamond, Wayne Brown, Tony Bunn and Steve Guarino. Michael O'Neill took over the lead vocals from Brown, who had left; Segall hated the name "Silver Star", and pushed to have it changed. O'Neill came up with the name "Twisted Sister" at a rehearsal on Valentine's Day in 1973. Along with the name change came stylistic changes that eventually spurred several members to leave the band, amicably, including Bunn and Guarino; Diamond, Star, Segall, and new bass player Kenneth Harrison Neill made-up the next lineup of Twisted Sister.
The band found work immediately, and started playing six nights a week. They secured a residency at the Mad Hatter in East Quogue, New York, for the summer of 1973 and played 78 shows there, and another 27 shows elsewhere, for a total of 105 shows from Memorial Day to Labor Day. By December 1974, Jay Jay had already played nearly 600 nights and about 3,000 performances, as the band played five 40-minute shows per night some ending as late as 8 AM, the following morning. At this point, the band broke-up and a second iteration brought in a new lead singer and guitar player. After Prince failed to show for a rehearsal in early 1975, Jay Jay took over the lead vocals 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 named Eddie Ojeda, who joined as co-lead singer and second guitarist, and got drummer Kevin John Grace after reading an ad that Kevin had put in the Village Voice. Bassist Neill remained and completed the lineup. The band followed a more glam rock direction, influenced by David Bowie, Slade, Mott the Hoople, the Rolling Stones, and the New York Dolls. They played at local clubs, but floundered in relative obscurity.

Club days (1976–1982)

In February 1976, at the suggestion of the band's agent, Kevin Brenner, Jay Jay was told that the band could only go so far without being able to play Led Zeppelin cover songs and urged Jay Jay to hire Danny Snider, who had been in the bands Peacock and Heathen. Danny changed his name to Dee at Jay Jay's suggestion and thus began line up number six of Twisted Sister. This version lasted just six weeks, with drummer Grace departing. The group took a heavier musical direction in April 1976 with the addition of new drummer Tony Petri, who was heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Slade, and Alice Cooper. In 1978 Neill became a born-again Christian after a stint in rehab for alcoholism; his parish, however, objected to his participation in the band, which they deemed to be Satanic. After his departure, the band recruited Dictators bassist Mark Mendoza to replace him.
The band moved in a more heavy metal direction in 1978, when the group began to record its demos. Two of their demos found their way to compilation albums by New York classic rock radio station WBAB, and were later re-recorded for the band's first two albums.
Having audience participation in the "Sweet Jane Gong Show" and the "Death to Disco" stage routines became legendary. The band broke attendance records at large halls in the Tri-State Area and its growing fan base began to take the name "S.M.F.F.O.T.S.", for Sick Motherfucking Friends Of Twisted Sister, later shortened to "S.M.F." for "Sick Mother Fuckers". NME reported that Twisted Sister had sold out the 3,000 capacity New York Palladium for a March 16 show without a recording contract or radio airplay. Fan hysteria and the seemingly "lost art of entertainment" soon became the hallmark of a TS show. After selling out the Palladium, the group began aggressively pursuing a recording contract, with an aim to get out of the club circuit before its impending collapse due to the upcoming change of the drinking age from 18 to 21.
The band went through three more line up changes between 1979 and 1982. Drummer Joey Brighton replaced Tony Petri, former Dictators drummer Richie Teeter replaced Brighton and, finally, on April 1, 1982, AJ Pero replaced Teeter. Future Shark Island and The Scream drummer Walt Woodward III was also in the band for three days in 1982.
The band started its own T-shirt company and record label. The group released two singles that eventually made it over to the UK and caught the attention of Martin Hooker, the president of indie label Secret Records, a small British label that was mainly a punk outlet. Jay Jay remained as manager through 1981 at which time he hired Mark Puma, a local promoter, to manage the band. This lineup is considered the "official Twisted Sister line up" because this version is responsible for almost all the studio albums, singles, videos and DVDs. On the suggestion of two reporters from Sounds and Kerrang! magazines, Twisted Sister left New York to find a label in the UK. There, in April 1982, they were finally signed by Secret Records. The band also took $22,000 to the UK to appear on the show The Tube.

First two albums (1982–1984)

In July 1982, the group released its first EP, Ruff Cutts, on the Secret Records label, still featuring Tony Petri on the drums. This was followed shortly by the group's first studio album, Under the Blade, produced by Pete Way of UFO. 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 Secret Records went out of business before Snider was able to complete the lyrics.
After that appearance on the music TV program The Tube, Atlantic Records approached the band and signed them. Atlantic was one of the labels that had turned Twisted Sister down in the Club Days period. The band's first LP under Atlantic, You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll, produced by Stuart Epps, was released in 1983 and included the UK No. 18 hit "I Am ". From a production standpoint, the album sounded better than its predecessor, and it was every bit as heavy. Upon the success of the album the company decided to promote the band more heavily. A music video was made for the title track of You Can't Stop Rock'n'Roll, which was to become the first of a series of comedic videos that popularized the band.

Mainstream popularity (1984–1985)

International fame came for Twisted Sister when the band's third LP, Stay Hungry, hit the stores on May 10, 1984. During the successful tour, a young Metallica supported the band. Stay Hungry sold more than two million copies by the summer of 1985, and went on to sell more than three million in subsequent years. It remains the band's biggest success.
Videos of hit singles "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" found major popularity on MTV. The comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure had the band in a brief cameo appearance making a fictional video for "Burn In Hell" on the Warner Bros. backlot only to be interrupted by Pee-wee Herman passing through.
The band’s comedic videos featured slapstick violence against parents and teachers, which led to criticism. Twisted Sister was singled out by the Parents Music Resource Center in 1985. Their songs "Under the Blade" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" were specifically mentioned in the associated Senate hearings. Snider, along with John Denver and Frank Zappa, testified before a Senate committee during these hearings on September 19, 1985.