Dee Snider

Daniel "Dee" Snider (born March 15, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality, and actor. Snider came to prominence in the early 1980s as lead singer and songwriter of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He was ranked 83 in the Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.[1]

Dee Snider
Snider performing at Wacken Open Air 2016
Background information
Birth nameDaniel Snider
Born (1955-03-15) March 15, 1955
Astoria, Queens, New York City, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • actor
  • radio personality
  • television personality
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1974–present
Associated acts
Websitedeesnider.com

Early life

Born in Astoria, Queens, New York, Snider grew up in nearby Baldwin, Long Island, and graduated from Baldwin Senior High School in 1973.[2] His father, Bob, is a retired New York State Trooper and Nassau County court clerk, and his mother, Marguerite, is a retired art teacher.[3] His father is Jewish, whereas his mother is from a Catholic family of Swiss descent.[4] Snider and his siblings were raised as Episcopalians after his mother joined the church.[4] As a child, he sang in a church choir, several school choruses and the Baldwin High School Concert Choir. Snider was also selected for the All-State Chorus for singing.[5]

Career

1970s–1980s

In early 1976, Snider joined Twisted Sister and became the sole songwriter of the band thereafter. The group released their first studio album, Under the Blade, in September 1982 and developed a following in the UK. Less than a year later, Twisted Sister released their second album, You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll. Their third album, Stay Hungry, hit shelves on May 10, 1984. This became the band's most successful record with the hits "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock". To emphasize the "twisted sister" image, Snider adopted a trademark persona of metal-inspired drag with long blonde curly hair, an excessive amount of eye shadow and rouge, a beauty mark and bright red lipstick.

During the mid-1980s, before the premiere of Headbangers Ball, the first MTV program to consist entirely of heavy metal videos was Heavy Metal Mania. The first episode aired in June 1985 and was hosted by Snider. It featured metal news, interviews with metal artists, and in-studio co-hosts. That same year in November, Twisted Sister released Come Out and Play which sold over 500,000 copies in the US, but was marred by a poor concert tour.

In 1985, a Senate hearing was instigated by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), who wanted to introduce a parental warning system that would label all albums containing offensive material. The system was to include letters identifying the type of objectionable content to be found in each album (e.g. O for occult themes, S for sex, D for drugs, V for violence, etc.). Snider, John Denver, and Frank Zappa all testified against censorship and the proposed warning system.[6] Such a system was never implemented, but the result of the hearing brought about what is now the generic "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" label.

The PMRC was initially formed by the wives of Washington, D.C. power brokers Senator Al Gore (D-TN), and Secretary of State James Baker. Tipper Gore in particular became the face of the PMRC and a public foil for Snider in the hearings.[7]

1987's Love Is for Suckers was the fifth Twisted Sister album. The record was originally planned to be a Snider solo effort, but Atlantic Records encouraged a release under the Twisted Sister name. Touring lasted only into October that year and on the 12th of that month, Snider announced his departure from the band. It was during this time that Snider formed Desperado, a band featuring ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme, and bassist Marc Russel.[8] The group's only album, Ace, has never been officially released, but was heavily bootlegged on CD under the title Bloodied But Unbowed.

1990s
Snider performing in Manchester, England, in his iconic stage makeover

In the 1990s, Snider formed Widowmaker with Joe Franco, a good friend to Twisted Sister and drummer on the album Love Is for Suckers, as well as Al Pitrelli and Marc Russel. The quartet recorded two albums with limited underground success, titled Blood and Bullets and Stand By for Pain. In the late 1990s, Snider toured with a "self-tribute" band called Dee Snider's SMFs (Sick Mother Fuckers), sometimes featuring ex-Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero. The usual line up included Snider, Derek Tailer, Charlie Mills, Keith Alexander, and Spike.

In 1993, he composed the theme song for The Terrible Thunderlizards.

In 1997, Snider began hosting The House of Hair, a syndicated 1980s hard rock/heavy metal radio show that airs on over 200 radio stations across North America. It is syndicated by the United Stations Radio Networks. The show's format runs two or three hours depending on which version of the show a radio station carries and features Snider's closing catchphrase, "If it ain't metal, it's crap!"

In 1998, Snider had penned a song entitled "The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)" which Celine Dion recorded for her album These Are Special Times. According to Snider, Dion at the time was not aware of who wrote the song. Later that year, he also wrote and starred in the horror film Strangeland. Snider has also penned the script to a sequel which has the working title of Strangeland: Disciple. In January 2008, however, Snider was less than optimistic that it would ever see the light of day, saying in an interview with Bullz-Eye.com that he had reached a point where he should "put a sign on my website that says, 'Y'got ten million dollars? Give me a call. I've got the script ready to go, Robert Englund's attached, I'm attached. If somebody's serious and wants to make it, call me. But don't call me 'til you're ready to hand the check over.'" In May 2009, Snider revealed on his radio show "The House of Hair" that Strangeland: Rising Sons will go ahead and is set to begin shooting in the fall of 2009 and was originally slated for a 2010 release. Snider indicated in a fall of 2016 interview that there was still no movement on the development of Strangeland: Disciple.

Radio 104 Dee Snider Euro Sticker

2000s–present

From June 1999 to August 2003, Snider hosted a morning radio show on a Hartford, Connecticut Clear Channel station, Radio 104 (104.1 FM WMRQ), called Dee Snider Radio. His show returned to the air at night in August 2004 on 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until June 2005. He fondly referred to his listeners as his "Peeps", and "DEE" euro stickers, printed by the station, could be seen on the bumpers of his fans' cars throughout Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Other members of the morning show included Nick Lentino, Beth Lockwood, "Psycho Dan" Williams, Sean Robbins, and "Darkside Dave" Wallace. He frequently featured high-profile guests, including Ozzy Osbourne, pro wrestler Mick Foley, and Kiss singer/bassist Gene Simmons.

In 2001, Snider was the voice of Gol Acheron, the main villain for the PlayStation 2 video game Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. The following year, he rejoined with the reunited Twisted Sister. Snider also played himself in the 2002 TV-movie Warning: Parental Advisory. In 2003, he appeared with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger at campaign events during his drive to recall incumbent California Governor Gray Davis. Snider sang the Twisted Sister hit, "We're Not Gonna Take It", which was adopted by the Schwarzenegger campaign.

Snider also voiced Angry Jack in the episode "Shell Shocked" for the Nickelodeon cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. He admitted to being a huge fan of the show during an hour-long 10th anniversary documentary of the show in 2009, and to be asked to voice a character on the show was a real honor. He changed the lyrics of his famous "I Wanna Rock" to "Goofy Goober Rock" for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

Snider narrates and hosts many shows and specials on VH1, film trailers, behind the scenes segments, and DVD special features. He was featured as the "voice" in the bumpers for MSNBC's 2001/2002 "Fiercely Independent" branding campaign. Every year since 2004, Snider has narrated a live show known as Van Helsing's Curse which tours the US around Halloween giving a mix of famous music with dark overtones and an occasional part of a storytelling to accompany the music. The concert has also been released on CD. Snider hosted VH1's 2008 "Aftermath" concert in remembrance of the victims and survivors of the 2003 Station nightclub fire.

Snider returned to radio in June 2006 with Fangoria Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 102 from 9–12 Eastern.

During winter of 2008, Snider was featured as a contestant on CMT's Gone Country. The show invited musical celebrities to compete against each other in order to win the chance to release a country song. In 2008 Snider also appeared on the first episode of Kitchen Nightmares (Season 2), chosen by Gordon Ramsay as part of the marketing for the re-launch of the Handlebar restaurant. On the show, Snider donated a motorcycle on which Handlebar clientele were able to bid via the restaurant's website.

Snider hosts Dead Art on Gallery HD, a show about the beauty and art of cemeteries. He also hosts House of Hair, a radio show that plays heavy metal music. Snider has made appearances on the IFC Channel's original series Z Rock as himself playing the character of a "rock guru".

On July 27, 2010,[9] Snider and his family began appearing in the reality television show Growing Up Twisted, airing on the Arts and Entertainment Network.

On October 8, 2010, started an 11-week run in the cast of Rock of Ages as Dennis, the owner of The Bourbon Room, with his official start date being October 11.[10]

In 2011, Snider performed with Ohio-based metalcore band Attack Attack! on stage at the Bamboozle Festival playing their song "Turbo Swag". On the May 15, 2011 episode of The Apprentice, Snider appeared to assist John Rich with his final challenge. He starred in a commercial featuring a mock audition where he came on as himself, and after drinking a soda turns into the lead singer from Twisted Sister (himself). Snider agreed to come because he is personal friends with Rich and wanted to support the charity effort for St. Jude Medical Center.

Snider guest starred in the video for "Immaculate Misconception" by the metalcore band Motionless in White.[11] Snider's son, Cody Blue Snider, directed the video.[12]

Snider performing in 2017

Snider and his family appeared on Celebrity Wife Swap January 10, 2012. His wife Suzette traded places with Flavor Flav's long-time fiancée Liz.[13]

On the Valentine's Day 2012 taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Snider partnered with Donald Trump in a skit based upon the format of the TV game show, Password. On February 19, 2012, Snider began appearing as one of 18 contestants vying to become Trump's next Celebrity Apprentice and was fired after the eighth task during the seventh episode.

In 2012, Snider appears as main character of a commercial airing for the company Unibet. The video[14] has been broadcast on commercial Norwegian television from March 5, 2012 thorough the whole summer. In the spot Snider sings, in his typical look as leader of Twisted Sister, a rock song called "Bet", written by Snider himself and composed by the Norwegian heavy metal artist Ronni Le Tekrø.

Snider asked Republican vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan's camp not to play his hit song in their campaign.[15]

On September 6, 2012, Snider performed "We're Not Gonna Take It" on America's Got Talent. Also in 2012, Snider played Larry, the owner of a dive bar in the mockumentary Future Folk[16] about an alien bluegrass band.

On January 24, 2013, at the City National Grove of Anaheim, Snider was honored as roastee at the Revolver Magazine/Guitar World Rock and Roll Roast of Dee Snider.[17]

On November 4, 2014, he debuted his original Christmas musical, Dee Snider's Rock and Roll Christmas Tale, at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago.[18] During the 2015 Christmas season, he took the musical to Toronto.[19]

Snider provided the narration for Attack of Life: The Bang Tango Movie, which is a documentary film directed by Drew Fortier about the 1980s hard rock band Bang Tango.[20][21]

Personal life

Snider has been married to his wife Suzette, a costume designer, since 1981.[22] They have four children, Jesse Blaze Snider (born September 19, 1982), Shane Royal Snider (born February 29, 1988), Cody Blue Snider (born December 7, 1989), and Cheyenne Jean Snider (born October 31, 1996) who was in the band They All Float. He also has four grandchildren. His eldest son Jesse hosted MTV2 Rock, a music video countdown program in 2003, and was the runner-up in MTV's 2008 show Rock the Cradle. Dee appeared on the show as Jesse's mentor. Jesse is also the lead singer of the punk metal band Baptized By Fire. Cody directed a music video for the band, Motionless in White (for the song "Immaculate Misconception") to where Dee guest-starred in its filming.[12]

In the 1985 Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) Senate hearings, Snider stated: "I was born and raised a Christian and I still adhere to those principles."[23]

In 2003, Snider's brother-in-law, Vincent Gargiulo, was murdered.[24] The killer was apprehended in 2009.

Snider lived part-time in East Setauket, New York.[25] He appeared on MTV Cribs in 2005 to show his Long Island home, along with two of his four children, Shane and Cheyenne.

In 2008, he stated in a TMZ interview that he would be voting for Barack Obama because John McCain (whom he liked and supported for many years) would not acknowledge George W. Bush's mistakes that he made while in office.[26]

On July 11, 2013, after abortion rights activists sang "We're Not Gonna Take It" to protest abortion restrictions in Texas,[27] Snider tweeted that he is "pro-choice",[28] and that he did not believe that being Christian and "pro-choice" were mutually exclusive.[29]

In the wake of teachers' strikes in West Virginia and Oklahoma, Snider dedicated "We're Not Gonna Take It" to teachers during his "Rocktopia" performance at the Broadway Theatre in New York on April 9, 2018.[30] The song had become an anthem for protesting teachers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma and elsewhere, and Snider had tweeted his "support [of the] underpaid teacher's cause" after seeing a video of music teachers in Oklahoma performing the song.[30]

Projects

Bands
  • Twisted Sister
  • Desperado
  • Widowmaker
  • Bent Brother (Twisted Sister occasionally made small tours around the world, in full makeup, and before them it performed as Bent Brother, practicing its set and appearing without makeup, usually at reduced ticket prices)

Solo albums

Guest appearances

Filmography

Other appearances in media

References
  1. "Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time". Hearya.com. December 4, 2006. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  2. "Newsday.com - Sounding Off in Suburbia". June 6, 2004. Archived from the original on June 6, 2004.
  3. "Long Island Journal : Once a Twisted Sister Now a Homebody". The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  4. From Dee Snider's Shut Up and Give Me the Mic, 2012, Dee Snider, pages 17–18
  5. "Newsday.com - Dee Snider". August 18, 2004. Archived from the original on August 18, 2004.
  6. "33 Years Ago: Dee Snider Single-Handedly Humiliated Congress For The Whole World To See".
  7. Grow, Kory (September 18, 2015). "Dee Snider on PMRC Hearing: 'I Was a Public Enemy'".
  8. "About Desperado". www.deesnider.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  9. "Twisted Sister's Dee Snider gets A&E reality TV show". Newsday. May 11, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  10. "Dee Snider (performer) –". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  11. "Twisted Sister Go BIblical for new video". Female First. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  12. Burkart, Gregory. "Exclusive Premiere: Motionless In White's 'Immaculate Misconception' [NSFW]". Fearnet. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  13. "TV Shows". Abc.go.com. March 28, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  14. Reklame / commercial: Unibet, Ronny Johnsen (Manchester United) og Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) on YouTube
  15. "DEE SNIDER TO PAUL RYAN: STOP PLAYING MY SONG". Associated Press. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  16. "The History of Future Folk". imdb.com. IMDB. 2012.
  17. "The Guitar World & Revolver Rock & Roll Roast Comedy Show!". Rock and Roll Roast. June 20, 2014. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  19. Slotek, Jim. "Twisted Sister's Dee Snider set to wow audiences with 'Rock 'n' Roll Christmas T". Torontosun.com. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  20. Lucchese, J Cooch. "Dee Narrates Bang Tango Documentary". www.deesnider.com. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  21. "Twisted Sister's Dee Snider To Narrate Bang Tango Movie – Sleaze Roxx". sleazeroxx.com. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  22. "Dee Snider - Biography". IMDb.com. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  23. 'Dee Snider PMRC Senate Hearing Speech' (Full) on YouTube
  24. Maddux, Mitchel (April 25, 2013). "Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider stands by wife Suzette at trial of LI killer gym rat". nypost.com.
  25. "Dee Snider's House in East Setauket, NY". 40.90095400;-73.09146000: Virtual Globetrotting. August 25, 2007. Retrieved January 20, 2017.CS1 maint: location (link)
  26. Dee Snider Talks About Obama on YouTube
  27. "Texas Senate prepares final vote on abortion bill". July 13, 2013. Archived from the original on July 13, 2013.
  28. "Dee Snider on Twitter: "Don't know why some people are so shocked I'm Pro-choice. The first line of We're Not Gonna Take It is "We've got the right to choose!""". Twitter. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  29. "Dee Snider on Twitter: "@FoxieNews Absolutely! Being a Christian and being pro choice are not mutually exclusive."". Twitter. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  30. Chandler, Chris (April 11, 2018). "Twisted Sister frontman dedicates 'We're Not Gonna Take It' to teachers". WLKY. Hearst Television. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  31. "Dee Snider - Dee Does Broadway". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  32. "We Are the Ones by Dee Snider on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. October 28, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  33. https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/08/19/yes-really-the-last-sharknado-may-be-the-best-sharknado/
  34. "MP3 File". Archive.org. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  35. Jones, Nate (February 2, 2014). "Celebrating Every '80s Reference in That RadioShack Super Bowl Commercial". People. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
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