Remember Dee Snider? He was famous for approximately fifteen minutes, more than thirty years ago… first as the lead singer of Twisted Sister, then, more importantly, for smacking Al Gore around on the floor of the Senate. Together with Frank Zappa and – it’s still hard to believe – John Denver – Snider stood up to Tipper Gore’s prudish “Parents Music Resource Council” inspired Senate hearing and argued in favor of freedom of speech. Since then… well, time has not been kind to the vast majority of the metal and hair bands of the 1980’s. The early 90’s came along, grunge and Nirvana came along, and what had seemed so dominant just a few years before vanished in a puff of occult and overly made-up smoke.
So imagine my surprise when I listened to Snider’s relatively recent remake of his most famous song, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” He’s in his sixties now… and he sounds better now than Way Back Then. Sure, he looks like hell, but he did back then, too.