History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from New York City.[1] Their work fuses the shock tactics of Alice Cooper, the rebellious mood of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the style of the New York Dolls, and the extravagant makeup of KISS. The group has a glam-like image and implements musically elements of classic heavy metal bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden as did some of the earlier glam metal bands.

Although the band was formed by guitarist Jay Jay French in 1973, all of their songs were written by lead singer Dee Snider. He describes Twisted Sister as "Slade meets Sex Pistols". The group's hits include "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both popularized 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.

Twisted Sister began on February 14, 1973, when guitarist Jay Jay French joined a band called Silverstar. In those days, French was using the stage name Johnny Heartbreaker. He had previously played in some local bands and had auditioned for Wicked Lester, the band that would eventually become KISS. On the suggestion of Silverstar's lead singer Michael Valentine [5], the band changed its name to Twisted Sister. Valentine and the other guitarist, Billy Diamond, soon left, prompting French to assume vocal duties as well.[6]

In 1975, Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda, a former high school friend of French, joined as co-lead singer and second guitarist. He had previously recorded with a New York City band called SPV. Kevin John Grace replaced Mel "Starr" Anderson on drums. Bass guitarist Kenny Neill (Kenneth Harrisson-Neill) completed the lineup. The band followed a glam rock direction, influenced by David Bowie, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Humble Pie, and New York Dolls. They played at local clubs without much success until 1976.

In 1976, Dee Snider[7] joined the band as lead singer and principal songwriter. After replacing drummer Grace with Tony Petri, the group took a heavier musical direction, influenced by Motörhead, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper, but without abandoning their glam image.

Although glam was out of fashion in those days, Snider's phenomenal abilities as frontman propelled the band to considerable local success. They broke attendance records at large halls in the Tri-State Region and their 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."

In this period, the group suffered some member traffic. On October 31, 1978, Neill left to be a born again Christian, according to an interview with Snider. The band's roadie and friend, Mark "The Animal" Mendoza, formerly bassist for The Dictators, replaced him. In December 1980, Petri also left for Plasmatics[9] and was replaced briefly by Ritchie Teeter. Teeter, also formerly of The Dictators, was replaced in that band by Mel Anderson. In April 1981, Teeter was replaced by "Fast" Joey Brighton, who was in turn replaced by A.J. Pero from Cities, another unsigned band with local fame.[10]

This lineup—Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza and A.J. Pero—is considered the band's classic lineup, with which they would record four studio albums and perform numerous live shows around the world.