



Shut Up and Give Me the Mic
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4.5 • 6 Ratings
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
DEE’S NOT GONNA TAKE IT
As lead singer and songwriter of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider became the poster boy for heavy metal, hair bands, and the wild side of rock. Now, in his twisted new memoir, he reveals the real stories behind the crazy makeup, the big hair, and badass hits like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.”
A classically trained countertenor who sang with his high school choir, Dee remembers the day he decided he was “not gonna take it” and stopped caring what people thought about him. Following in the footsteps of his idols Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath, Dee jumped from band to band before meeting Jay Jay French and Twisted Sister. But it wasn’t until he met his costume-designing soul-mate Suzette that they developed his unique style. Dee’s hard work finally paid off with an impressive resume that includes: a monster hit record; smash MTV videos; a long-running radio show, “The House of Hair”; appearances in film (Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Howard Stern’s Private Parts, StrangeLand) and television (Growing Up Twisted, Celebrity Apprentice); and a starring role in Broadway’s Rock of Ages. He even authored a teenage survival guide that was required reading in Russia!
In his journey from every parent’s worst teenage nightmare to Renaissance man, Dee avoided the usual pitfalls associated with rock stars. But that didn’t stop Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center from targeting him—a fight that led him to testify before Congress with Frank Zappa. He may have been slapped with a Parental Advisory warning label, but, through it all, Dee stayed positive and focused on being the best he could be.
Filled with entertaining anecdotes and candid confessions, Shut Up and Give Me the Mic takes you through the good times and bad with a heavy metal star who worked as hard as he played, and who did it all for his wife, four kids, and millions of “SMF” (Sick Mother F******) fans
This story is mine.
I’m the guy that gave it all to beat the odds, left everything he had on the stage each night, didn’t screw around on his woman, took care of his kids, and was sober enough to remember it all and write about it . . . myself.
The one thing that has surprised and confused me, though, is my unlikely transformation into a “beloved public figure.” How did the unpopular kid, who grew up to be the angry young man, who became the ’80s poster boy for the evils of rock ’n’ roll, arrested for profanity and assault, and boycotted by parents and religious groups, become the likeable mensch he is today?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Twisted Sister front man Snider tells the story of his band's rise to international superstardom, their fast crash to bankrupt obscurity, and beyond in this honest and entertaining memoir. He begins with his childhood decision to "be a Beatle," recounting a slew of high school bands that would lead to his joining the already established Twisted Sister in 1976. Though Snider and company regularly attracted crowds of over 1,000 fans on a nightly basis in Long Island clubs, a record deal materialized only after exposure in England. The release of their enormously popular 1984 album, Stay Hungry, featuring the classic hit "We're Not Gonna Take It," marked their apex, and while Twisted Sister was a huge success, life at home where Snider's wife and kids awaited continued apace, and Snider candidly details his struggle with megalomania. But just a year later, the band released Come Out and Play, and everything began to fall apart. Snider describes with great devotion and gratitude his wife's role in crafting the band's image, and he provides insight into his songwriting process, Twisted Sister's iconic music videos, and the many flaws of the music industry. Also included is the complete transcript of Snider's 1985 speech before a Senate hearing regarding profanity in music (spearheaded by Tipper Gore, wife of Al), wherein the heavy-metal rocker reveals his Christian upbringing and lifelong abstinence from drink and drugs.