Oh god, Dee Snider is so scary looking. My husband loved these guys back in the day. He probably still does. Did you see the 80's/metal/hair band documentary on VH1? Dee looked halfway normal.

Oh god, Dee Snider is so scary looking.

Yeah. The fact they were a bunch of ugly guys sing cartoony shock rock is what set them apart from glamourpuss wusses like the LA bands.

Dee, by all accounts, is actually a very likable and pretty smart guy. And he testified before congress against Tipper Gore and the PMRC. Jay Jay French (the lead guitarist with the sunglasses) was actually the founder of the band. He was part of the New York Dolls glam/proto-punk scene in Manhattan and after kicking drugs he took the odd step of forming a band to stay clean. He got Mendoza later after the Dictators split, then they found Dee out on Long Island.

when i get more time, i'll have to post about the time when dee snider threatened to kick my ass. this was during the iron maiden tour in 1985 as well (at the long beach arena, where they recorded the live album - you know, "SCREAM FOR ME, LONG BEACH!!!")...

when i get more time, i'll have to post about the time when dee snider threatened to kick my ass.

I can't wait to hear about this.

Dee, by all accounts, is actually a very likable and pretty smart guy.

I agree. He comes across as very reasonable and intelligent. Not like that stupid Vince Neil.

I want to wait until I'm probably in my mid-forties, have put on a few extra stone in weight, have a receding hairline, a really bad perm-and-dye-job, dress up like it's still the '80s and try to make a few bucks playing Oh Come All Yeah Faithful

Still, they're not the only ones: Billy Idol does Jingle Bell Rock (bonus: rapping on an Ikea advert)

syntax - I love Live After Death, it's one of the live metal albums

Dee did that everywhere. He knew how to get a crowd riled.

I also remember watching some VH1 special where they were talking about Kiss removing their makeup. Dee said 'Gene looked very...ethnic. L'chaim, Gene."

Also, as I said before Mark Mendoza was in The Dictators before Twisted Sister and Jay Jay French was purportedly briefly in Wicked Lester (an early incarnation of Kiss) with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Kiss also featured Ace Frehley who as a teenager was in a street gang called The Duckies* (featured prominently in Richard Price's** The Wanderers) which also included future WASP frontman Blackie Lawless who was briefly in the New York Dolls, who Jay Jay French originally set out to emulate with the Sister.

Stop me before I turn into Matt Pinfield.

*there's also a punk band from Bostson called the Ducky Boys. this shit never ends, does it?

**who's second novel Bloodbrothers provided the title of the Dictators third album. The cover shot was taken in front of the building Price grew up in. "Faster And Louder" on that album feaures a certain fan yelling ''1-2-3-4" midway through. That fan was Bruce Springsteen, who... Ok this is where the trail ends, kids. *collapses*..

Not like that stupid Vince Neil.

Agreed. Vince is a bonehead. And he cannot sing. Motley would've been a better band without him. Odd thing about the Crue: in every other metal band, the guitarist is usually the focal point. In the Crue nobody even notices poor Mick Mars.

Motley did one eponymously titled, album without Neil that had John Corabi on vocals. It was released whilst grunge was big and, although a pretty good album, it bombed. So they got Neil back in in all his drunken glory. Mick Mars is a very sick man and apparently can hardly move, especially on stage. Also, when you've got Tommy Lee with all his resplendent media baggage in your band, anyone would struggle to get attention.

Well, Tommy, while not without his faults, is actually a fairly good drummer. But for my money, the only album where the music matched up to the image was Girls, Girls, Girls. The other records have their high points, like the title track of 'Dr. Feelgood' where they prove they can work a little funkiness in there, but they've always been inconsistent.

(more trivia: apparently Nikki Sixx of the Crue was briefly ina band called London with the aforementioned Blackie Lawless, who was the nephew of baseball legend Ryne Duren. Lawless apparently played minor league ball himself briefly. That must've been something.)

In every other metal band, the guitarist is usually the focal point.

Though there are certainly some exceptions that prove the rule. Metal bands where somebody other than the singer or the guitar player is the focus, though, seem a lot rarer.

The film "Road Trip" has a classic scene using this song.

But for my money, the only album where the music matched up to the image was Girls, Girls, Girls.

Spot on. Prior to that album, they weren't a good band; Dr Feelgood had a smattering of good tracks, but is vastly overrated. The title track also contains this sample. Sixx was indeed in London with Blackie Lawless.

Heh. So does Naughty By Nature's 'Ghetto Bastard.'

(Also 'Girls Girls Girls' is probably the best background music for strippers ever.)

re: the 1985 iron maiden/twisted sister us tour, specifically the long beach, ca show...

jonmc nailed it - dee snider was pretty good at baiting the crowd. not as good as, say, fear's lee ving in the decline of western civilization (youtube), but still pretty good.

during the first 20-30 minutes of their set, the audience reaction to ts was indifferent at best and hostile at worst. i don't know if this was a common "bit" they did during their concerts, but during a "vamp" in the middle what would end up being the last song of their set - something that had the words "stand up" in the refrain, i can't remember exactly what - snider started to yell at the audience "I want everyone to stand up!" no one did, and similar repeated requests went unheeded. then snider demanded that the band stop playing and that the house lights be turned on - "I wanna see each and every one of you assholes!" (classy. edgy.)

after about three minutes of acting like a catskills insult comic, he pointed his derision toward section 1, row 1: "So how does it feel to be in the front fuckin' row, huh?" (at this point it might be worth mentioning that at this particular show, klos-fm auctioned the front row seats, with all of the proceeds going to a childhood cancer foundation)

he pointed toward the balcony that i was sitting in. "How'd you like to be up in the balcony with all those fuckin' losers?" after saying all sorts of things about our mothers and our general intellect, he started back into his bipedal demands - "I want every single fucking one of you to stand up!" There was a guy sitting two rows directly in front of me, wearing a black and white checkerboard print t-shirt, who wouldn't stand up. "AND I'M TALKING TO THE MOTHERFUCKER IN THE CHECKERED SHIRT!!!" he stood up immediately. as did i - i stood up in my chair and flashed him the good old digitus impidicus. his retort is burned into my memory to this day: "PUT THAT FINGER DOWN, YOU LITTLE SHIT!!! I'M GONNA COME UP THERE AND KICK YOUR FUCKING ASS!!! YOU COCKSUCKING MOTHERFUCKER!!!"

i think that was the tipping point - he swore at the audience for another minute or two and stormed off the stage. a half hour later maiden came on, and all was right with the world. and dee snider never did kick my ass.