Have you ever had a childhood dream come true?
Fight? Flight? Freeze? “NO! WE AIN’T GONNA TAKE IT!”
At 12 years of age, my friends brother Russ, was into Heavy Metal. A Quiet Riot poster hung on his wall and out of the stereo in his room would blast Quiet Riot, “Bang Your Head” from their Album, Metal Health. I absolutely loved that song. There was another band he listened too called, Motley Crue. Their album was called, “Shout out the Devil”. The album cover looked dark, the band members looked crazy, and singing about the devil was not something I was taught was a good thing. Russ would play their album cover song, “Shout at the Devil”, and knew that I did not like it. Just to taunt me in all good teenager fun, Russ would come out of his room singing along with the band and when they got to the lyrics “Shout at the Devil”, he would hunt me down, and make strange faces while singing, “Shout at The Devil” loudly in my face. I would fawn, until he would finally walk away laughing. Eventually, I got used to the song and the band, and he left me alone. Then one day, a really cool tune was coming out of his room. The lyrics were, “We’re Not Gonna Take It!” Now, that was something I could identify with! Twisted Sister was the name of the band. Somehow, I was able to overlook this weird guy on the front cover of the album, wearing make up and holding a giant bone. The song was so cool, therefore I could overcome the odd band name, and the weirdness of the front cover – I guess? I was always asking Russ to play that song – and he did! – over and over again. Finally he said to me, “Why don’t you just go buy the album yourself?” It was the early summer of 1985 and I was just 12 years old. My first album, of any sort of music, would become Twisted Sister, “Stay Hungry”. Somehow, I convinced my Mom it was ok. The next step was getting my first stereo so I could blast, “We’re Not Gonna Take it.” and sing along from the top of my lungs.
This week my post count is reduced. I have been sitting in a space that has allowed me to be more aware of Living in the Moment. Sometimes, silence speaks volumes. Other times, BEING LOUD DELIVERS THE MESSAGE!
Back in October 2024, my youngest son and I had an opportunity to meet Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. I posted about that here: Fun Fridays! – I Wanna Rock!
When I met Dee, besides the fun we had with him introducing ourselves, I was able to tell him that my first ever Heavy Metal Album was his creation. The featured photo of the this post is of that album, along with Dee’s signature. However, I had a real nice conversation with him. I asked him: “Dee, you could live anywhere in the world. why would you choose this area to live?” He went on to tell me that the area we live in is perfect for the type of work that he plans on doing in the future, making movies. That evening, Dee would meet my older son at his part time job at the venue down the street from my house called, THE WOODS OF TERROR.
The Woods of Terror (WOT), is rated the number 3 haunt in the nation. They have been having Fun Spirits for over 36 years. This past Summer, Dee and Eddie of the WOT partnered up and renamed one of the attractions STRANGELAND. The attraction features Captain Howdy, a fictitious character from the Twisted Sister, Stay Hungry album. Dee is often found at the Woods, before the opening show for meet and greet pictures.
Last week, my son, who works security for WOT, got some insider information that Dee would be performing. They were keeping it on the down-low and not many people knew about it.
In the music world, it is well known that Dee Snider retired from touring with his band, due to Metal Health reasons. The short story is, Dee’s body is riddled with arthritis and he is in constant pain. The direct contributor? His years of touring and the intensity that he put into his work with his body. His kids sat him down and asked him to stop for the sake of his family. In all humility, Dee Snider stepped down from his band’s 50th anniversary tour into retirement. As the band reconsidered continuing to tour, they brought on Sebastian Bach of Skid Row to fill Dee’s spot. (You can never fill Dee’s spot by the way) Twisted Sister is now on tour with Sebastian Bach as lead singer. Once again, Dee’s humility is impressive. He is in total support of the bands decision and thinks Sebastian Bach is perfect fit to the bands new structure.
Fast forward to last FUN FRIDAY!, where I found myself standing in the front row, right in front of Dee Snider – singing along with him to my favorite childhood song, “We’re Not Gonna Take It!”
‘WE’RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT, ANYMORE!”
HAVE A FUN FRIDAY EVERYONE! – AND A BLAST OF A WEEKEND!