Twisted Sister blazed a trail across the music world in the early eighties as the loudest bunch of uncompromising motherfuckers in the history of rock and roll. From their humble beginnings on the New York club circuit, to their rise to the very pinnacle of rock and roll success, their legacy has been undeniable as they still continue to influence a new generation of bands. Recently I hooked up with Dee Snider to ask why Twisted Sister have returned to terrorise parents across the world once again....

So Dee, it’s happened finally. The inevitable reunion. What has taken you guys so long to finally agree to do it.

Well first off I don’t look at it as a reunion, more a case of putting some finality on something that was left open ended. I don’t think it’s any great secret that there were issues between the band members that obviously needed to be resolved, but in saying that I don’t think that the musical climate over the past number of years would have been conducive to Twisted Sister anyway.

The problems between Mark Mendoza , JJ French and yourself have been well documented over the years. Is it safe to assume that these issues have been resolved

Well, you know, one day I went over to JJ’s house and to cut a long story short we ended up talking for eight hours. It was the type of honest conversation that we didn’t or couldn’t have back in the eighties. It was good to get it out in the open, to speak about it and clear up issues which had festered over many years. The issues, in hindsight, were possibly not as bad as were made out to be ... you know, the ‘Well you get all the magazine cover shots', or you know, 'Twisted Sister is Dee Snider’s backing band' and all that sort of thing. Now we can look back at it and to be honest I can understand where it came from, really, but I think like everybody else back then I was only interested in making Twisted Sister the biggest act in the world and never stopped to think. You know, my wife told me recently that I wasn’t a very nice person in the eighties, and you know, I agree. I mean take the opening lyrics of ‘I am I’m Me’ - “Who are you to look down at what I believe”….man I was pissed!!

Well it seems like they had a pretty valid point to an extent. I mean it was generally you on the front pages or at the centre of attention. One incident in particular comes to mind, that being your representation of the music industry against Tipper Gore’s PMRC (Parents Music Resource Centre) and their heavy lobbying to have stickers placed on records advising of ‘unsuitable lyrics’. It seemed at the time that you were leading the charge for the music business against them, however when it came to the hearings you seemingly were forced to go it alone against a very powerful lobby.

HAHA!!! Yeah, I remember that. I was young, but to be honest I thought those guys were out of order at the time. I was prepared to go there [the hearing] and debate with them, give them my side of the story and put forward my case that what they were doing was not in the best interests of the musicians or the kids.

But essentially you were on your own. What happened to the support that you were promised by various bands, Ozzy in particular was another artist that the entire bible belt of America treated with disdain. How come you ended up doing battle almost single handedly?

Well I can’t comment for other bands of that time, I don’t know what agendas they were working to, but in the end I did go through with it, and even though I thought I fought my case well I ended up getting more aggro because I was prepared to stand my ground. It did become a media circus though, there were press and cameras everywhere. Every single thing I did was scrutinised to the last degree, but hey… I’m still here, hahaha!!

So the reunion gig did take place at the New York Steel benefit show in 2002. How was it to get up on stage with the original guys again?

Strange, but great. We were always a great live band and the fans were amazing, but for us it was all about the cause. We were there to lend our support to the event. To be honest I really didn’t think about it too much on stage, but afterwards, thinking about it I thought we did great for a bunch of old farts! Everyone else thought so too and that was great.

Which brings us nicely around to the reunion and what’s in store for Twisted Sister for the future. Will this be a full time reunion or is it a one off shot and when it’s done, it’s over for good?

Well, I don’t think we are in a position right now to make a decision on any of these things. What we are doing is playing Twisted Sister songs, essentially because we want to and because our older fans want to hear them again. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that rock and roll has become too formulated, the element of danger is no longer prevalent. We have always had that dangerous edge to our music and stage show. People miss that. I know I do whenever I go to see a rock show. Rock and roll is meant to be loud and in your face as well as having an element of aggression. I honestly don’t think we are doing this with the intention of selling a million copies of a new album. I think we know we are doing it because we want to get out there and play. To see the fans and have a lot of fun doing it. Some people may call that a nostalgia trip, and I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that, but I think we are all in a financial position that we don’t need to do this to make a living . We have all done well in our respective careers since the band stopped performing in 1987 so there was never any pressure on us other than the conditions for us playing again being different to those of the late eighties and nineties. I personally have made movies and had the SMF band going on the side as well as having a nationally syndicated radio show called ‘House of Hair’. I even do some TV presenting from time to time.

That was something I wanted to ask you about. You presented the Top 40 hair bands of all time on VH1. You seem to carving a nice niche for yourself as a presenter and critic all of a sudden. Why do you think that has come about?

Well in the States I think I’m kind of synonymous with the eighties. Not so much as Dee Snider, singer with Twisted Sister, but as Dee Snider eighties personality. I think they like to have me on shows because I never know when to shut up, I always have something to say good or bad, but I’m enjoying it and it helps pay the bills.

Mark Mendoza once famously said that he wanted to kill you and JJ had a number of issues with you. Are these the conditions that you specifically mentioned before?

People say things in the heat of the moment and I’m sure there were times that Mark really did want to kill me. But you know what, that’s behind us now. Do you know what’s really great is we have put all those things behind us and we are here today in 2003 looking forward to playing a bunch of shows and festivals in the USA and Europe during the summer. In fact we have just got back from some shows in Korea where we played US bases for the troops, and you know what, it was great.

That’s a bit ironic isn’t it? Once rated as the nations number one enemy you are now playing army bases on behalf of Uncle Sam?

Ha ha, yeah, I suppose so, but we were more than happy to oblige and the shows were great. We had a good time and the servicemen had a great time, and that’s what it’s all about.

I wondered, earlier during this interview you said that you didn’t think you would sell a million records, assuming you recorded a new one. Do you know exactly how many records you sold with Twisted?

I’d have a guess and say about ten million worldwide. We had a lot of success in England in the early years. We did Top of the Pops a few times and sold out places like the Hammersmith Odeon. 'I am I’m Me’ was a really big hit for us and even now when you go to a ballgame in the States you can hear ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ being pumped out over the pa system, which is cool. I know that even now some fifteen years after the band stopped performing that I still collect a healthy publishing cheque in excess of six figures every year.

So what does the remainder of this year hold for you?

Well, as I said we have some shows lined up in the states and some European festivals after that, Sweden Rock in particular looks as if it could be damn good. And then after that we’ll see.

So no return to England then, even though it was there you got your first real break?

We’ll play anywhere and I mean that. It’s not our fault, but to play someplace you have to be invited or get an offer from a promoter and so far nobody in England has had the balls. I’ll tell you what, we’ll come over and play the Hammersmith Odeon and we’ll just take the door money, just to prove a point. I know we would do real well over there but it’s just a case of putting it together and making it happen. We’re ready, just tell ‘em to get in touch and we’ll be over straight way. I’m serious, if they want us we’ll do it. Give them the contact details, hell yeah!!