Dee Snider: I Asked The Twisted Sister Frontman To Name His Five Desert Island Discs

Previously unpublished. This was meant to accompany an article about Dee Snider's new band Widowmaker in a 1992 issue of American Music Press.

Twisted Sister's Stay Hungry LP

Photo: Mark Weiss

By Devorah Ostrov

Short on time at the end of a telephone interview about Widowmaker, Dee Snider's press agent told him he could only answer one more question before moving on (presumably to chat with a journalist with more clout than myself).

Knowing what a huge rock 'n' roll fan he is, I asked Dee to name his five Desert Island Discs — thereby ensuring that I totally screwed up whatever time had been allotted to everyone else! 

Unfortunately (or perhaps ironically), American Music Press didn't have the space to include this list with the article. But luckily, I still have the transcript! Now, I can finally reveal Dee Snider's Desert Island Disc choices circa 1992...

1. Montrose 
Montrose (Warner Bros. 1973)
"It's just classic, timeless, heavy rock 'n' roll. Great singing, great playing. It still holds up!"

2. Alice Cooper 
Killer (Warner Bros. 1971)
"I like a lot of stuff afterwards, but 'You Drive Me Nervous' and 'Under My Wheels' — that to me is Alice at his best!"

3. Queen
Queen II (EMI/Elektra 1974)
"I was one of the first Queen fans. That album is one of the greatest albums of all time! It really has such DEPTH! You could spend years with it and not get all the nuances."

4. The Sex Pistols 
Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols (Virgin 1977)
"The anger and aggression are just devastating! It's a DRIVEN record, with as much metal credibility as Montrose 1. And its simplicity is brilliant!"

"You're really putting a gun to my head here. If I could, I would say a compilation of the Bad Co. catalog. But if I can't say that, I'll say..."

5. Led Zeppelin 
Led Zeppelin II (Atlantic 1969)
"Legendary vintage playing and singing. Every instrument SPEAKS on that record. The song quality: 'Heartbreaker,' 'Whole Lotta Love,' 'Living Loving Maid' … It's got such musical depth!"

As Dee had by now forgotten about all the other interviews he was supposed to do, I pressed on.

Q: I notice that you've stuck completely to the '70s with your list. (Led Zeppelin II was released in 1969, but it's close enough.)

Dee: That's pretty sickening, isn't it? That's because... Although there are many bands that I enjoy from the '80s... Just to show you bands I'm listening to now — Chilli Peppers, Faith No More, Guns N' Roses, of course, Skid Row, Kings X, Pantera, Metallica, Black Crowes, Nirvana... I like the Seattle scene a lot. I think there's a lot of great bands! Maybe I'm just incapable at this point of getting into a band the way I got into it before I was a performer. I listen to them now, not as a fan so much as it's more analytical. And they don't sparkle as much, in the way the bands of my youth did. You kinda looked up at them; I saw them on pedestals and there was a certain glamour. Now, any record that comes out, I see as my peers. So, I'm looking at my peers and going, "Wow! They have a great record!" The Nirvana thing is really cool! But when you're looking at equals, it doesn't have the romance that the bands of your youth did. I realize that we seem that way to our fans, but once you break through that door, the romance goes out the window, and you have a much more realistic view of it.

For some reason, I must have professed my undying devotion to Slade. I'm guessing I said something idiotic because I didn't bother to transcribe it. However, Dee replied in a most unexpected way — which kept him on the phone for another 10 minutes.

Slade - Slayed? (Polydor 1972)

Dee: Slade!!! You're a Slade fan!? I LOVE Slade!!! I met Noddy Holder, and I was bowing. "I'm not worthy." I never mentioned them because people are like, "Who?" You were a BIG Slade fan?

It would seem I said yes. Again, I didn't transcribe whatever it was I said, but Dee's voice lowered from its usual roar to something resembling a conspiratorial whisper.

Dee: All right... I've never told anybody this, only because they wouldn't really appreciate it. I wonder sometimes where I get ideas for songs. Remember their song "I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen"? 

Dee then sang the chorus to Slade's 1972 stomper, followed by Twisted Sister's signature slogan: "'It's not gonna 'appen, and no, it won't 'appen/I won't let it 'appen agen.' Well... 'We're not gonna take it, no, we ain't gonna take it/We're not gonna take it anymore.'"

He also kindly proffered a line-by-line comparison of the two tunes:

"It's not gonna 'appen, and no, it won't 'appen..."

"We're not gonna take it, no, we ain't gonna take it..."

"I won't let it 'appen..."

"We're not gonna take it..."

"Agen..."

"Anymore..."

"It's really subtle 'cause it's not the same melody," he added. "But the way it's laid out, it's the same pattern. And the rhythm of it is identical to Slade's song. I realized that years later. I'm a HUGE Slade fan! I saw Slade, and the next day I bought three of their albums. I was just decimated! They just blew me away! I have to go. It's been great talking to you. Two kindred spirits! And the last thing I wanna say is BABY! BABY! BABY!"

* * *

For my full interview with Dee Snider, including a frank discussion about his post-Twisted Sister career and the dilemma of voting democrat in 1992, please go here:
devorahostrov.blogspot.com/2018/07/dee-snider