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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A dose of POISON


POISON...lotta people hate 'em...lotta people like 'em...I'm in the latter , the first time I saw 'em (I think) was on rage, (might of been MTV with Dicky Wilkins), when the talk dirty video aired whichever it was, they showed the album , so I knew what I was looking for when I went to get it...weirdly enough a mate of mine saw the cover and indicated that he would bang anyone of them chicks, he nearly fainted when I told him they were blokes...ROFLAMO.

ANYWAY, to the history of one of the best hair bands EVER.






Poison was formed in 1983, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and consisted of lead vocalist Bret Michaels, guitarist Matt Smith, bassist Bobby Dall and drummer Rikki Rockett



Bret Michaels began his performing career with a basement band called Laser and, then, in 1979, joined forces with long time childhood friend Rikki Rockett to form a band called the Spectres. In 1983, Michaels and Rockett teamed up with Matt Smith and Bobby Dall to form the band Paris and the group started playing the club circuit, performing mostly rock cover songs in local bars. The group formed a strong local following but in order to further their career the band made the all important decision to move to Los Angeles, They bought an old ambulance and headed west, arriving on 6 March 1984 and also changed the name of the group from Paris to Poison. Arriving in LA, the group struggled to survive away from home with no family and no money, but the band was determined to make it. Around this time, Riki Valentine became the band's main roadie and close friend.





Poison promoted themselves up and making the rounds performing in the famous local clubs. During this period, Poison's manager negotiated a deal under which the West Hollywood club, The Troubador, would pay for shows.... At this time, Smith, who was about to become a father and was concerned about the band's future, left the band to return home to Pennsylvania. The band auditioned for a replacement guitarist, eventually narrowing down the field to three candidates: Slash, who would later join Guns N' Roses, Steve Silva from The Joe Perry Project, and New York-born guitarist C.C. DeVille, although Michaels and Dall did not initially get along with Deville, the band eventually agreed that DeVille's "fire" made him the best choice...Michaels, Rockett, Dall, and DeVille signed to independent label Enigma Records in 1986 for approximately $30,000. Their debut album: Look What the Cat Dragged In, was released 2 August 1986. It originally included only one single, "Cry Tough"; however, Look What the Cat Dragged In became a surprise success and subsequently spawned three charting hits: "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Want Action", and "I Won't Forget You"  The record became the biggest-selling-album in Enigma's history. With heavy rotation on MTV, their debut earned the band tours with fellow glam rockers Ratt, Cinderella, and Quiet Riot, as well as a coveted slot in the Texxas Jam in Dallas. The album ultimately has sold 4 million copies worldwide.


Poison's second album, Open Up and Say...Ahh!, was released 21 May 1988. It peaked at No. 2 on the American charts and would ultimately go on to sell 8 million copies worldwide. The album included the band's biggest hit, the No. 1 single "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", along with other hits like: "Nothin' but a Good Time", "Fallen Angel", and the Loggins and Messina cover "Your Mama Don't Dance". The album's first cover was apparently controversial, as it depicted a female demonic figure with an obscenely long tongue. A censored version of the cover followed (f**k me, bloody squares), focusing on the figure's eyes. By the time the band toured with David Lee Roth in 1988 on the Skyscraper Tour, it was apparent that Poison had become a major live act and the band moved from support status to headlining their own tour in September 1988. As of 1989, the band had become the seventh-best-selling hard rock band in the US of the 1980s, behind Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith and Van Halen. In 1989, the band released their first video album titled "Sight for Sore Ears" which featured all their music videos from the first two albums....Conflict pursued the band persistently. Bryn Bridenthal, head of publicity at Geffen Records, slapped a $1.1 million lawsuit on the band for drenching her with drinks and a bucket of ice at a music industry party. Then, Sanctuary Music, Poison's former management company, filed a $45.5 million breach of contract suit against the band. Poison retaliated with charges of mismanagement of funds. Michaels's frequent brawling garnered him further lawsuits in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Tallahassee.



Poison continued their adherence to the "work hard, play hard" motto, following up with their third album, Flesh & Blood, which was released 21 June 1990. It also was highly successful, peaking at No. 2 and selling more than 7 million copies worldwide. The album's success prompted the impetus for a further world tour. Shedding their big-haired image as they moved into the 1990s, Poison took a more mature approach to their third album. In Screamer magazine Michaels explained how Flesh and Blood signaled a change in the band: "I think that the same way that we shocked people in the beginning with the look, this one might shock them with the music a little bit. This one's the one that's going to show that there's a little bit of another side to the band."
Poison received a letter from Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney thanking the band for contributing 20,000 CDs of the album Flesh & Blood to lift the morale of U.S. Troops during Desert Storm, and their continued support of the Armed Forces......The album also features an alternative cover, as the original featured what appeared to be running ink or possibly blood from a tattoo. (Subsequent versions of this cover removed the "extra" ink.) The record went multi-platinum, spawning three gold singles: "Unskinny Bop", "Ride the Wind", and the ballad "Something To Believe In" which was dedicated to the band's security guard and close friend James Kimo Maano who died. Life Goes On was the fourth single and the last single released was the title cut, "Flesh & Blood (Sacrifice)". The video of "Flesh & Blood (Sacrifice)" was banned from MTV due to its explicit nature, but did surface later in early 1991 in their second video compilation, Flesh, Blood, & Videotape.




One of the band's few appearances in the UK was on 18 August 1990 at Donington's Monsters of Rock festival in the summer of 1990. Whitesnake and Aerosmith headlined with Poison, Quireboys and Thunder supporting them. This event was broadcast on BBC Radio 1...Ive got the gig on a Hard 'n 'Heavy dvd...the boys set was pretty good, maybe even better than Aerosmith's

After two consecutive years on the road, band members were at each other's throats with personal differences, drug addictions, etc. Poison recorded several performances during its 1990/1991 Flesh & Blood world tour, which were released in November 1991 as the band's fourth album, Swallow This Live. The double album features live tracks from Poison's first three studio albums and four new studio tracks including the single "So Tell Me Why", which were the last recorded before C.C. DeVille's departure from the band later that year. The band also released their first video concert on VHS from the same tour titled Swallow This Live: Flesh & Blood World Tour.



Despite Poison's success, DeVille's cocaine addiction had begun to cause strife in the band. Conflict between Michaels and DeVille culminated in a fistfight backstage at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, provoked by DeVille's inept live performance. The band was scheduled to play Unskinny Bop but was brought to a halt when they were playing during the commercial break. High and drunk during the performance, DeVille missed the cue when they came back live and forgot what to play and started playing "Talk Dirty to Me". During the song his guitar lead disconnected mid-performance. DeVille was fired and replaced by Pennsylvanian guitarist Richie Kotzen......Poison's fifth album, Native Tongue, was released 8 February 1993. It was strongly influenced by Kotzen's fresh songwriting contributions and guitar performance. It marked a change for the band as they abandoned their anthemic party tunes to focus on more serious subjects, and was far more blues-rock oriented than glam metal. Containing the singles "Stand" which featured the Los Angeles First A.M.E. Church Choir on backing vocals, "Until You Suffer Some (Fire And Ice)" and "Body Talk", the album received generally positive reviews and did go Gold, but following the arrival of grunge sales were sluggish compared with the first three albums, selling only 2 million copies worldwide. The band toured in support of the album, but tensions mounted between Kotzen and the rest of the band. Kotzen's future in the band was doomed when it was discovered that he had become romantically involved with Rockett's then-fiancée Deanna Eve. Kotzen was promptly fired, and replaced by Blues Saraceno in November 1993, who completed the world tour with the band including the famous "HOLLYWOOD ROCK" concerts in Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, Brazil, where they played to over 165,000 people. A concert from the Native Tongue world tour was released on VHS/DVD titled "Seven Days Live".



Poison began recording its sixth album, Crack a Smile, in early 1994. Recording was brought to an abrupt halt in May 1994, when Michaels was involved in a car accident where he lost control of his Ferrari. Michaels suffered a broken nose, ribs, jaw, and fingers and lost four teeth. After his recovery in 1995, the band continued recording the album. The album became shelved shortly after this, with no release date anywhere in sight. Instead, the label opted for a Greatest Hits compilation, which featured two new tracks with Saraceno on guitar, "Sexual Thing" and "Lay Your Body Down". The first Greatest Hits album was released on 26 November 1996 and sold extremely well going on to reach double platinum status......After several years apart, Michaels and DeVille were able to patch up their differences, welcoming C.C. DeVille back into Poison in 1996 replacing Blues Saraceno.




The Greatest Hits reunion tour finally took place in the summer of 1999. With the original lineup intact, Poison hit the road. The band's supporting tour was a success, with its show at Pine Knob Amphitheater in metro Detroit drawing a sell-out crowd of 18,000. Tour dates averaged crowds of 12,000. A summer appearance on VH1's Behind the Music appeared to solidify the reunited lineup's new-found popularity. Hardcore fans uncovered copies of Crack a Smile from the numerous bootlegs that were beginning to surface, but it was not long before a shortfall in supply became evident. Fans clamored for an official release fearing that not only was the album becoming a collectors piece but was also quite possibly "their best album to date." On 14 March 2000, Crack a Smile...and More! was finally released becoming Poison's seventh album after the Greatest Hits: 1986-1996 album took its place as the sixth, fans were calling it "The Lost Album". Crack a Smile...and More! was a bright and raunchy series of party anthems such as the single "Shut Up, Make Love" and power ballad "Be the One", containing few traces of the seriousness of Native Tongue. Capitol included bonus tracks on the album to compete with the bootleg industry including one outtake from the Open Up And Say...Ahh! session as well as two outtakes from the Crack a Smile session. "One More For The Bone" and "Set You Free", were originally planned for use as B-sides to the singles. In addition to the outtakes, live recordings from the 1990 installment of the MTV Unplugged series were included.


After The poison reunion C.C.soon released his solo album, Samantha 7, and Michaels released the solo/Poison album "Show Me Your Hits" which featured re-recorded Poison classics. The album featured Michaels performing Poison hits in a new way and also featured other artists with Michaels on selected tracks. Poison also released Power to the People, their first album with DeVille in nine years. The record contained five new studio songs: "Power to the People" which features a music video, "Can't Bring Me Down," "The Last Song", "Strange," and "I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine," the latter with DeVille on lead vocals for the first time. The remainder of the album featured live performances from the greatest hits reunion tour in 1999. With two Poison albums released in 2000 the band once again hit the road and made it back to back successful tours.

In 2001 Poison released the web single Rockstar as a preview of the upcoming new album and once again went on tour, touring with Warrant on the Glam Slam Metal Jam tour......Poison's sixth full studio album, Hollyweird, was released on 21 May 2002. It was Poison's first full album of new material with C.C. DeVille back in the band. The album was heavily criticised by both critics and fans, feeling it had poor production quality and an unimpressive new sound. One popular site said "It's muddy, under-produced, badly mixed and features crappy drum and guitar sounds". Other reviewers were more impressed, such as Allmusic, who declared it "one of their best records, if not their best." Bobby Dall on The Who cover single “Squeeze Box” stated,...Actually, that was Rikki’s idea. When we came into rehearsals...to break the ice for the new record...before we started fightin’ and arguin’ about songs, we went through a list of covers and remakes. ...It was the song that stuck and I think it fits perfectly for our band. It has a great melody and a great vocal, but it's also kinda sparse and undefined...it was kinda like an open pallet for us....."Shooting Star" was also released as a single for the album and was referred to as part 2 to the Fallen Angel single from Open Up And...Say Ahh.




Following the Hollyweird world tour Poison released their second compilation album, Best of Ballads & Blues, in 2003. It contains a new acoustic version with new lyrics of "Something to Believe In" and a new acoustic version of "Stand". Bret Michaels also released his 2nd solo album Songs Of Life which featured singles "Bittersweet" and "Raine" which featured a music video and was dedicated to his daughter. On 7 January that year, after almost 20 years with Poison, Rikki Rockett released his first solo album Glitter 4 Your Soul which was distributed online. The album was a tribute to 1970s glam rock.
During the summer of 2004, Poison was invited to serve as the opening band on Kiss's “Rock the Nation” tour.
Poison were largely inactive in 2005 which is when Bret Michael's released his third solo album, the country-rock-influenced Freedom Of Sound, which included the single "All I Ever Needed" featuring Jessica Andrews, which also featured a music video and appeared on Billboard's "Hot Country Songs" chart, with its best position being number 45. It also included the singles "Right Now, Right Here" and "Open Road" which Bret performed live on Nashville Star, a country reality television program which featured Michaels as one of the judges......In March, 2006 DeVille appeared on VH1's reality television show The Surreal Life, the same day he got out of rehab. Around this time, former Bang Tango drummer Bobby "Tango" Gibb became Rikki Rockett's personal assistant and security guard. The two would later form Rockett Drum Works, along with former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler.


After a year off, Poison returned to the music scene. They celebrated their 20th anniversary with a "20 Years Of Rock" world tour in the summer of 2006, with fellow rockers Cinderella and Endeverafter opening. The tour swiftly became one of the most successful tours of 2006 in the U.S., averaging about 10,000 people per night. To complement it, the band had released an anniversary compilation album The Best Of Poison: 20 Years Of Rock, in April that year. The album also features a new single, a cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band", produced by Don Was and also features a music video. The compilation debuted at No. 17 with a first week sales total of 39,721, which marked Poison's return to the top 20 charts for the first time since 1993.




On 1 August 2006, Capitol Records released remastered versions of the first three Poison albums: Look What the Cat Dragged In, Open Up and Say...Ahh! and Flesh and Blood, in honor of Poison's 20th anniversary. All three include bonus tracks. Look What the Cat Dragged In features the extra track "You Don't Mess Around With Jim", Open Up and Say...Ahh! (which uses the previously banned album cover instead of the censored one) has the extra track "Livin' For The Minute" and an interview with the band, and Flesh and Blood features two extra tracks: an alternate version of "Something to Believe In" and an instrumental cover of the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen".
During the show in Atlanta on August 25 that year, Bret Michaels and Bobby Dall had to be separated by members of the road crew and the rest of the band after the two came to blows right before the encore, with Michaels throwing his mic at Dall, and Dall retaliating by slamming his bass into Michaels, injuring his knee. Michaels apologised later and stated, "You may have just seen the last concert by Poison in its current formation". The altercation happened before the band's set ended with "Talk Dirty To Me". After some tense moments and Michaels's apology to the crowd including his explanation that "like brothers, sometimes you have to air things out", the band did finish the set. Dall left the stage immediately. There have been many physical conflicts within the band over the years, but this is the first onstage since the fistfight between Michaels and DeVille at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1991, but that took place after the performance, not during. The band took time out while Michaels continued with his solo tour.




On 3 January 2007, Poison announced on their official MySpace page that they would like their fans to help pick favourite classic rock songs for the new studio album that they are to record. The fans replied with suggestions like Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird", Sweet's "The Ballroom Blitz", and AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long", along with what might be an obvious choice - Alice Cooper's "Poison". On 28 January, Rikki Rockett explained.."The Album will be ready for a summer Poison tour. That is the plan, anyway. p.s. The songs we are doing are NOT what you expect"
On 14 February 2007, it was announced by VH1 that Bret Michaels is going to have his own reality show called Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, where women will have to compete for his love and prove they can keep up with his rock star life. Rock of Love premiered on 15 July 2007.
During 2007, Poison went on a summer tour with Ratt. They released their covers album, now named Poison'd!, on 5 June 2007 through Capitol Records. The album entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 32 and charted at No. 12 on the Top Rock Albums, selling 21,000 copies in its first week.[23] The first single "What I Like About You" featured a music video from the band. White Lion was removed from the tour due to legal issues, and Vains of Jenna took their place. The August 2nd sold-out show in at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre St. Louis, Missouri was taped for a live concert DVD and for a HDNet Concert special called: POISON: LIVE, RAW & UNCUT that aired on 26 October 2007 as part of Heavy Metal Halloween. The band also appeared that night on the channel's Sound Off with Matt Pinfield.
The band played at the Rock2Wgtn rock festival in Wellington, New Zealand, on the weekend of 22–23 March 2008. The festival also included fellow legendary rockers Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Whitesnake, and Finnish hard rock act Lordi.



On 28 March that year Rikki Rockett was arrested on suspicion of rape in Los Angeles after getting off a flight from New Zealand. According to police reports, a woman in Neshoba County, MS, filed a report stating that on 23 September 2007, Rockett sexually assaulted her in his room at the Silver Star Hotel & Casino located on a Choctaw Indian reservation. Rocket was exonerated of all charges on 22 May as it was discovered that he was not in Mississippi during the time of the alleged rape, and that a man by the name of John Minskoff used Rockett's name when he met the woman before raping her.

The album was titled Rock My World and was released in June 2008. The album charted at No. 40 on The Billboard 200, No. 4 on the Top Independent Albums, No. 4 on the Top Hard Rock Albums and No. 16 on the Top Rock Albums chart....Poison live in concert DVD titled "Live, Raw & Uncut" was released on Tuesday, 15 July 2008, was filmed in St. Louis, Missouri during the Poison'd tour in 2007. This DVD/CD set will be initially exclusive to Best Buy stores and will include behind-the-scenes footage as a bonus feature as well as a live audio CD with selections from the concert. It sold around 2,400 copies in its first week of release to debut at position No. 8 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart....Also in 2008 a live CD version of the Poison DVD "Seven Days Live" was released.


In 2010, Bret Michaels started his solo tour "Roses & Thorns" to promote the upcoming release of his autobiography.
On 12 April 2010, Bret Michaels was rushed to the hospital after suffering intense stomach pains, and an emergency appendectomy was performed  On 22 April 2010, Michaels was again rushed to the hospital, this time with an "excruciating" headache. Doctors discovered that he had suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage. He was in critical condition, and while some reports suggested that his condition had stabilized others later stated that this was premature. On 28 April, Michael's representatives reported that he was conscious and speaking, albeit slowly, for the first time since he was hospitalized.
In a news conference on 5 May 2010, Dr. Joseph Zabramski said Michaels has been released from the hospital and that "He's just one of those lucky people" and that "he'll make a complete recovery".
Since being released from the hospital Michaels has stated that he is contemplating marriage with the mother of his two children with whom he has recently reconciled. In an interview with People magazine, he stated:
As painful as this experience has been, I was given a second chance, right? I don't want to sit around every night worrying this is going to happen again. What I want to do is make a positive bucket list and say, 'I'm just gonna go for it.' There's just so much more I want to do and experience.....[Getting married], for sure, is something I have never done. Kristi's such a great person. We'll see if that happens. But yes, that may be one of the big things on the list. My first goal is to get back (to) 100 percent. I want to continue to rock the world, and I want to continue to love my family and be a good father.



so...there you go ...a dose of poison for ya...


Members 
Bret Michaels – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, percussion (1983–present); lead guitar, backing vocals (1983)
Rikki Rockett – drums, percussion (1983–present)
Bobby Dall – bass guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1983–present)
C.C. DeVille – lead guitar, vocals (1985–1991, 1996–present)
Touring
Will Doughty – keyboards, backing vocals (2007–present)

Former 
Matt Smith – lead guitar, backing vocals (1983–1985)
Richie Kotzen – lead guitar, keyboards, piano, mandolin, Dobro, backing vocals (1991–1993)
Blues Saraceno – lead guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1993–1996)
Touring
Mark Konrad – keyboards (1990–1991)
Stu Simone – keyboards, keytar, synthesizer, programming, backing vocals (1999–2000)
Tracii Guns – lead guitar, backing vocals (2000)
John Purdell – keyboards, backing vocals (2002)
Bobby "Tango" Gibb – drums, percussion (2009, 2012)
Fred Coury – drums, percussion (2009)
Phil Collen – bass guitar, backing vocals (2009)
Hugh McDonald – bass guitar, backing vocals (2009)
Eric Brittingham – bass guitar, backing vocals (2009)
Notable auditionees
Slash – lead guitar (1985)
Steve Silva – lead guitar (1985)



Studio albums
Look What the Cat Dragged In (1986)
Open Up and Say... Ahh! (1988)
Flesh & Blood (1990)
Native Tongue (1993)
Crack a Smile... and More! (2000)
Power to the People (2000)
Hollyweird (2002)
Poison'd! (2007)

Live albums
Swallow This Live (1991)
Live, Raw & Uncut (2008)

Compilations
Poison's Greatest Hits: 1986–1996 (1996)
Best of Ballads & Blues (2003)
The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock (2006)
Double Dose: Ultimate Hits (2010)
Box sets
Poison – Box Set (Collector's Edition) (2009)

Awards 

1988 Open Up And Say... Ahh!-Album of the Year
1990 Flesh & Blood-Album of the Year
1990 "Something to Believe In" - Song of the Year
1990 "Something to Believe In" - Best Video
1990 C.C. DeVille Best Guitarist
1990 Bret Michaels Best Vocalist
1990 Bret Michaels Best Male Performer
1990 Bret Michaels Sexiest Male
1999 Poison Comeback of the Year

Tours 

Look What the Cat Dragged In Tour '86-'87 (w/ Ratt, Cinderella, Loudness)
Open Up And Say Ahh! Tour '88-'89 (w/ David Lee Roth), then with Lita Ford & Britny Fox
Flesh & Blood World Tour '90-'91 (w/ Warrant, Don Dokken, Alice In Chains, Bullet Boys, Slaughter)
Native Tongue World Tour '93-'94 (w/ Damn Yankess, Firehouse)
Greatest Hits World Tour 1999 (reunion)(w/ Ratt, Great White, LA Guns)
Power To The People Tour 2000 (w/ Cinderella, Dokken, Slaughter)
Glam, Slam, Metal Jam Tour 2001 (w/ Warrant, Quiet Riot, Enuff Z Nuff)
Hollywierd World Tour 2002 (w/ Cinderella, Winger, Faster Pussycat)
Harder, Louder, Faster Tour 2003 (w/ Vince Neil, Skid Row)
Rock the Nation Tour 2004 (w/ Kiss, ZO2)
20 Years Of Rock World Tour 2006 (w/ Cinderella, Endeverafter)
POISON'D Summer Tour 2007 (w/ Ratt, Vains Of Jenna)
Live, Raw & Uncut Summer Tour 2008 (w/ Dokken, Sebastian Bach)
2009 Summer Tour (w/ Def Leppard / Cheap Trick)
Glam-A-Gedon 25 Tour 2011 (w/ Mötley Crüe, New York Dolls)
Rock Of Ages (w/ Def Leppard, Lita Ford)















Monday, May 27, 2013

THEY ARE S.M.F'S - a Twisted tribute





G'day...howzitgoin,  I'm probably like a lot of Aussie's my vintage , the first time we saw Twisted Sister was when a kid morphed into Dee and chucked the loudmouth from Animal House out a window, cant remember if it was RAGE or Donnie Sutherland's Saturday morning show SOUNDS  ...shortly after that it was off to Power Station at Bankstown Square ( I know this cause I got a l.p with the price tag on it)  to grab some Sister on tape and or vinyl, I got both.


A very short while there after me and about 3,000 of my closest mates filled the Hordern Pavillion to get rocking with the SMF'S themselves...Must thank old mate Robby for letting me sit on his shoulders for part of the gig...sure does help a short arse like me having tall mates.

The band Silver Star, soon to be renamed to "Twisted Sister", was formed after John Segall (later renamed to "Jay Jay French") was added following auditions in the "band house" located in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey in late December 1972. John Segall auditioned and was asked to join the "glitter band" Silver Star. Silver Star was the creation of the drummer Mel Anderson (Mell Star) as the "New Jersey version of the NY Dolls", consisting of Billy Diamond (lead guitar), Wayne Brown (lead vocal and guitar), Tony Bunn (bass), Steve Guarino (keyboards). At the same time as Silver Star/Twisted Sister was created, Mell Star's brother, Al Anderson, was the guitar player for Bob Marley and the Wailers. Segall hated the name "Silver Star" and pushed to have it changed. At a rehearsal on Valentine's Day in February 1973, Silver Star changed its name to Twisted Sister. 


Wayne and Mel were so excited about the new name that, as soon as rehearsal ended, they went directly from Mel Andersen's house in Montclair, NJ to the band's Manager's office in West Orange, NJ, and barged in to make the announcement. Along with the name change came some stylistic changes that eventually resulted in an amicable parting of ways for some members. Wayne Brown left the band a few months later; Tony Bunn and Steve Guarino followed soon thereafter. Micheal Valentine took over the lead singer role, guitarist Billy Diamond, drummer Mell Star, bass player Kenneth Harrison Neill, and Johnny Heartbreaker (soon to change his name to Jay Jay French).


 By December 1974, when this first version of the band broke up, Jay Jay had already played nearly 600 nights and about 3,000 performances as the band played five 40-minute shows per night, each with costume changes, some ending as late as 8 a.m. the following morning. The second version of the band changed lead singers (Rick Prince) and guitar player (Keith Angel) and continued for a couple of months into 1975 before singer Rick Prince failed to show up for a rehearsal. In the third lineup change, 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 of Eddie Ojeda, who joined as co-lead singer and second guitarist, and got drummer Kevin John Grace after reading an ad that Kevin put in the Village Voice. Bass guitarist Kenny Neill (Kenneth Harrison Neill) remained and completed the lineup.


 However, in the autumn of 1975 Dee Snider left to join Peacock and Heathen but didn't like it and came back and they returned to play more on Halloween. The band followed a glam rock direction, influenced by David Bowie, Slade, Mott the Hoople, the Rolling Stones, and the New York Dolls. It played at local clubs but floundered in relative anonymity. 



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 (Dee Snider).   
   

Danny changed his name to Dee at the suggestion of Jay Jay and thus began TS line up number six. This version lasted 6 weeks before version seven began on April 1, 1976 with new drummer Tony Petri, the group took a heavier musical direction, influenced by Led Zeppelin, Slade, and Alice Cooper.....At this point, the bands popularity began to soar as the band, especially Dee and Jay Jay started to talk (rap) to the audience about current topics of the day between songs. These raps started to take on a life of their own and pretty soon the band could get away with playing one song per set and talk the rest of the time....


.The band decided to play a heavy metal sound in 1978 where they began to record their demos....Sister 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. 



After selling out the Palladium theater in NYC without a record deal, they 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 then had a record deal with Secret Records....The band went though 3 more line up changes between 1979 and 1982. Drummer Joey Brighton replaced Tony Petri, former Dictator drummer Richie Teeter replaced Brighton and finally AJ Pero replaced Teeter. 

On April 1, 1982, AJ Pero joined the band. Future Shark Island and The Scream drummer Walt Woodward III was also in the band for a brief period in 1982.
The band started its own T Shirt company and record label. They released two singles which eventually made it over to the UK and caught the attention of Martin Hooker, the president of indie label Secret Records. Jay Jay remained as manager through 1981 at which time he hired Mark Puma, a local promoter, to manage the band. This lineup (Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza and A.J. Pero) is considered the "official Twisted Sister line up" because this version is responsible for almost all the studio albums, singles, videos and DVDs. Upon 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, it was finally signed by Secret Records, a small British label that was mainly a punk outlet. The band also took $22,000 to UK to appear on the show The Tube.





Pre-MTV period (1982–1984) 
In June 1982, the group released its first EP, Ruff Cuts, on the Secret Records label, still featuring Tony Petri on the drums. This was followed shortly by their 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. "We're Not Gonna Take It" later became one of its top singles.


Around this time, Twisted Sister updated its feminized image with a more familiar look that we all know, so as to distinguished them from other glam metal bands of the era. The group was now regarded more as a weird-looking heavy metal band because its look and music, and were growing closer to heavy metal's leather and chains image.....After an 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..... 


Their first LP under Atlantic, You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll, produced by Stuart Epps, was released in 1983 and included the UK No. 19 hit "I Am (I'm Me)". 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.



MTV videos (1984–1985) 
International fame came for Twisted Sister when the band's third LP, Stay Hungry, hit the stores on May 10, 1984. The album was a little more commercial-sounding than the first two, owing to Tom Werman's production, but it still included heavy songs such as the title track and "Burn in Hell". During a 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" (a No. 21 hit in the US) and "I Wanna Rock" (US No. 68) ran almost constantly on MTV. Their pervasive slapstick comedy proved a change of pace for the genre and gave the band a distinctive appeal. The acclaimed surreal comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure took this further with the band having an appearance making a fictional video for "Burn In Hell" on the Warner Bros. backlot only to be interrupted by Pee-wee Herman passing through. 


Despite being comedic in nature, the videos featured violence against parents and teachers, which placed the band under heavy criticism by conservative organizations. They were singled out by the PMRC in 1985. Twisted Sister songs "Under the Blade" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" were specifically mentioned in the associated Senate hearings. Snider was one of the few musicians to testify before a Senate committee in these hearings on September 19, 1985.



Decline and fall (1985–1987) 

On November 9, 1985, the band released its fourth studio album, Come Out and Play, produced by Dieter Dierks. It was not nearly as successful as its predecessor, although it did earn the band a gold album for sales of 500,000 copies. Some speculate that the failure was partly due to MTV banning the video for "Be Chrool to Your Scuel" on the grounds that it was graphically offensive. The song featured such guests as Alice Cooper (who also stars in the video), Brian Setzer, Clarence Clemons and Billy Joel. The tour supporting the album was a near fiasco, with low attendance and many cancelled dates. Not even Atlantic's re-release of a remixed Under the Blade helped the band recover its popularity. Come Out and Play was one of the first CDs to go out of print. 



After the tour, Pero left to rejoin Cities. He was replaced by ex-Good Rats drummer Joey "Seven" Franco. The nickname "Seven" comes from his being the band's seventh drummer.
In 1986, Snider embarked on a solo project, reportedly approaching future Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, but this did not work out.
Janick recalls it as follows: "He rang me up and we talked but I remember saying, 'There is no way in this world that I am putting on make up or anything like that, I'm just not into that shit.' But we had a chat and he seemed like a nice enough guy. But I never heard back from him."


Snider then recorded an album with Franco programming the drum machine and featuring several session musicians such as Reb Beach on guitar and Kip Winger (just before they formed Winger) and Steve Whiteman of Kix. Atlantic Records refused to release it unless it was labeled as a Twisted Sister album. So, on August 13, 1987 Love Is for Suckers made its debut. Although the band had not played in the recording sessions, it was mentioned on the album cover as if they had, and they did play some of the songs in subsequent shows. Beau Hill's production gave the album a very polished pop metal sound. The band's members had also removed the makeup that they had been wearing since their early days. Commercially, the album was a complete failure and many of their metal fans were disappointed with the pop sound.


On October 12, 1987, almost two months after the release of Love Is For Suckers, Snider left the band, the record label cancelled its contract, and Twisted Sister disbanded. The public announcement of the band's breakup came in January 1988.






Separation period (1987–1997) 
After the band's break-up, former members were involved in different projects, Snider formed Desperado, Widowmaker, and SMFs. Joey Franco also played drums in Widowmaker. He also wrote and starred in the movie Strangeland.....Ojeda went on to join Scarecrow and then formed Prisoners of War. Both projects were unsuccessful. He also worked as a session guitarist and guitar instructor.



French stopped performing except for some guest appearances. He formed French Management and produced the alternative metal band Sevendust's first self-titled album....Mendoza briefly joined Blackfoot. Then he worked as a producer and manager. He also occasionally pursued solo projects.....Pero was involved in several projects and subsequently toured with Snider's SMFs.



Franco worked as a session drummer and played with Snider's Widowmaker......In 1992, Atlantic Records, released a "best of" album Big Hits and Nasty Cuts that also featured some live performances from the Under The Blade period. This album was compiled by French. A live album from the Stay Hungry era named Live At Hammersmith was released in 1994 by CMC International.


In 1998, the band members hooked up in the studio and recorded a song for the soundtrack of Snider's movie Strangeland.....In 1999, Spitfire Records re-issued the group's back catalog, supplemented with previously unreleased tracks. This was followed by Club Daze Volume 1: The Studio Sessions, an album containing demo recordings from the pre-Under the Blade era, which has three songs that were written by French, this was the first time someone other than Snider was writing songs, and Club Daze Volume 2: Live In The Bars, a live counterpart.






In 2001, Koch Records released a tribute album under the name Twisted Forever: A Tribute To The Legendary Twisted Sister. The album featured a wide range of artists and bands who had been influenced by Twisted Sister, including Lit, Motörhead, Chuck D, Anthrax, Overkill, Cradle of Filth, Joan Jett, Sebastian Bach, and HammerFall. Oddly for a tribute album, Twisted Sister was also present with a cover of AC/DC's "Sin city".



In November 2001, the reunited Twisted Sister joined fellow New York metal artists Anthrax, Overkill, Sebastian Bach, and Ace Frehley to headline a benefit concert for NYPD and FDNY Widows and Orphans Fund in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. New York Steel raised over $100,000 for the charity, and the reaction to the first Twisted Sister set in 14 years was overwhelming. The demand for more live dates was immediate, and the band took the first steps toward returning to the concert stage.



In 2002...Twisted Sister, this time including Mark Mendoza, reunited again for the Sweden Rock Festival in June 2003. They also appeared in August of that same year at the Wacken Open Air festival. Footage from that show was filmed for a DVD release, which featured former Violent Apathy and Spite member, Tom Fuller....In March 2004, they entered the studio to completely re-record their Stay Hungry album for Demolition Records. They reported that they were not happy with the original album's production, so this time they produced it themselves. The re-recording was released under the name Still Hungry and contained seven bonus tracks...  




In late 2005, Snider appeared on Numbers from the Beast: An All-Star Tribute to Iron Maiden, performing vocals for the Iron Maiden classic "Wasted Years". Snider was joined by his contemporaries and peers George Lynch, formerly of Dokken, and Bob Kulick. Also in 2005, the band released the 2003 Wacken show on CD and DVD simply titled Live at Wacken. It also went on tour with Alice Cooper, acting as the support band but delivering a set similar to a headliner's.



In 2006, Snider and French worked with Lordi to produce and play on a few tracks on their new album The Arockalypse. Snider was featured on the first track, "SCG3 Special Report", as the voice of Lordi warning of the upcoming Arockalypse. French guest starred on the song "Chainsaw Buffet". In June 2006, the band announced that they had signed with the American record label Razor and Tie to release a final CD, of heavy metal Christmas music called A Twisted Christmas. The CD was released on October 17, 2006, and was a commercial success  producing a very Twisted video in Oh come all ye faithful



Twisted Sister was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006. On December 13, 2006, Twisted Sister made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The group performed their rock version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" which is arranged in the style of "We're Not Gonna Take It". On December 22, 2006, Twisted Sister appeared on CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, performing its rock version of "O Come All Ye Faithful". On an episode of Snider's syndicated radio program "The House of Hair", he stated that due to the success of the Christmas album, and also due to the response to the tour promoting the album, that Twisted Sister might not retire, and the band's future was being discussed.





Jay Jay French 
 lead & rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1972–1987, 1988, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003–present)
Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda 
lead & rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1975–1987, 1988, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003–present)
Dee Snider 
lead vocals (1976–1987, 1988, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003–present)
Mark "The Animal" Mendoza 
bass guitar, backing vocals (1978–1987, 1988, 2001, 2002, 2003–present; substitute 1978)
A. J. Pero
 drums, percussion (1982–1986, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003–present)




Studio albums 
Under the Blade
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
Stay Hungry
Come Out and Play
Love Is for Suckers
Still Hungry
A Twisted Christmas

Extended plays 
Ruff Cutts (1982)
Compilations [edit]
Big Hits and Nasty Cuts (Compilation, 1992)
We're Not Gonna Take It! (Compilation, 1999)
The Essentials (Compilation, 2002)
We're Not Gonna Take It & Other Hits (Compilation, 2003)[24]
The Best of Twisted Sister (Compilation, 2005)
Live albums [edit]
Live at Hammersmith (Live, 1994)
Club Daze Volume 1: The Studio Sessions (Live, 1999)
Club Daze Volume II: Live in the Bars (Live, 2002)
Live At Wacken: The Reunion (Live, 2006)
A Twisted Christmas - Live (Live, 2007)
Live at the Astoria (Live, 2008)
Live at the Marquee (Live, 2011)
Tribute albums [edit]
Destroyer (Recorded 1997, Issued 2001)
Twisted Forever (2001)


Singles 
"I Am (I'm Me)"
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
"The Kids Are Back"
"You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll"
"We're Not Gonna Take It"
"I Wanna Rock"
"The Price"
"Leader of the Pack"
Come Out and Play
"Hot Love"
Love Is for Suckers
30

Videos 
Stay Hungry Tour (1984)
Come Out and Play (1985)
DVDs [edit]
Live at Wacken - The Reunion (2004)
The Video Years (2007)
A Twisted Christmas Live: A December To Remember (2007)
Live At Bang Your Head!!! (2008, recorded in 2005)
Live At The Astoria (2008, recorded in 2004)
Double Live: Northstage '82 & Ny Steel '01

Music videos
"I Am (I'm Me)"
"You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll"
"We're Not Gonna Take It"
"I Wanna Rock"
"The Price"
"Leader of the Pack"
"Be Chrool to Your Scuel"
"Hot Love"
"Oh Come All Ye Faithful"
"Silver Bells"
"I'll Be Home For Christmas"
"30"



So there you go..You Sick Muthaf**kers....have a rocking day