John Segall, AKA Jay Jay French, joined Silver Star in late 1972 as their rhythm guitaris, which featured Mel Anderson (drummer), Billy Diamond (lead guitar), Wayne Brown (guitar and lead vocals), Tony Bunn (bass), and Steve Guarino (keyboards). Brown would depart and be replaced by Michael O'Neill. Hating the name of the band, Segall pushed to have it changed. It would be O'Neill who would come up with Twisted Sister.
Along with the name change, the band would also change stylistically. However, this wouldn't sit well with everyone, prompting Bunn and Guarino to leave. Kenneth Harrison Neill would join as new bassist. This lineup was able to find immediate work in New York, securing a tenancy at Mad Hatter in 1973.
Things were going well, as far as gigs, with the boys playing thousands of shows by December 1974. However, things were not well internally, and the band suddenly broke up. A second iteration was promptly formed, with Rick Prince on vocals, and Keith Angel on guitars. However, after not showing up for a rehearsal in early 1975, Prince was fired, and French took over vocals. Once again, things didn't work out, and the band once again disbanded.
In October 1975, another iteration of Twisted Sister emerged with French on rhythm guitars and co-vocals with new vocalist and second guitarist, Eddie Ojeda. Kevin John Grace took up drums, with bassist Neill remaining from the previous lineup. This time, the guys followed the emerging glam rock format, and while they played several gigs, got lost in obscurity.
At the suggestion of their manager, Kevin Brenner, Danny (Dee) Snyder was brought in on vocals in 1976, with the intensions of singing Led Zeppelin cover songs. After six weeks, Grace departed and was replaced by Tony Petri. The band would also take on a heavier (metal) sound. In 1978, Neill would become a born again Christian and leave the band. He'd be replaced by Mark Mendoza.
The band began recording demos at this time, which would make their way to compilation albums released at the time, and eventually be re-recorded for their first two albums. However, between 1979 to 1982, more lineup changes occurred. Joey Brighton replacing Petri, who was then replaced by Richie Teeter, only to be replaced by AJ Pero. Walt Woodward III would also join the band but depart after just three days.
Recognizing the importance of branding, Twisted Sister started their own t-shirt company and followed this up by launching their own record label. It was on said label that they recorded and released a few singles. These songs would make their way to Martin Hooker, president of the UK based Secret Records, who signed the band.
Along with relocating to the UK to work with Secret, the guys took $22,000.00 with them, and used it to appear on the show, The Tube. Secret released their first EP, Ruff Cutts, still featuring Tony Petri on drums at the time. However, the official lineup would soon be Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza and A.J. Pero, managed by Mark Puma, who would release their debut, Under The Blade (1982).
Despite limited pressings, the album became a massive success in the UK. Coupled with their appearance on The Tube, the boys were approached by Atlantic Records, who signed them. Ironically, Atlantic would be one of the labels the band initially tried to sign with during their club days but were declined.
Atlantic released You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll in 1983, which featured the UK chart hit, I Am (I'm Me), which peaked at number eighteen. It would become the bands first gold record in the USA.
Though production values were much higher, stylistically, the album captured that same hard and heavy metal sound of its predecessor. The title track would also become the band's first music video and capture the comedic style that future videos would follow, popularizing the Twisted Sister on MTV.
Things kick off with, The Kids Are Back, and right off the bat, it's definitely got a solid heavy metal sound. In retrospect, perhaps the original cut of their debut wouldn't have been so bad, in comparison to the poppy remixed 1985 re-release.
With that said, I do prefer the more pop rock-oriented sound of 1984's breakthrough, Stay Hungry. Probably because it's the era that not only produced the most hits, but where I originally got on board the train.
Standout tracks for me are I Am (I'm Me), and You Can't Kill Rock 'N' Roll (the song). However, the rest still delivered a solid metal experience.
Twisted Sister would go on to release 1984's Stay Hungry, which would become their greatest album to date, going multi-platinum in the USA and Canada, while also reaching single platinum status in Australia, Sweden, and New Zealand. I've already played through that one, so I'll be skipping it, and instead heading into 1985's Come Out And Play. Unfortunately, for the band, this release wouldn't be as massive as its predecessor, and future releases would see a steady decline in sales.
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