Twisted Sister’s Trick to Keep Fans Engaged with New Songs

Jay Jay French recently shared how Twisted Sister managed to keep fans from heading to the restroom during their new songs. This issue is common for legacy acts, whose fans typically prefer the hits over new material.

On a recent episode of Let There Be Talk, French delved into the strategies employed by their lead singer, Dee Snider, to handle this challenge.

“The truth is, when you come up with a new song, most people just get up and go to the bathroom,” French acknowledged. “We recorded a new song many years ago called ’30’ … we started playing it live.

“And Dee started saying, ‘OK, folks, tonight we’re going to be doing a new song. I’ll give you plenty of warning. … It’s the song that you’re gonna go out and get a drink or take a piss. We’re three songs away from the piss song … two songs away … .’

“And he would embarrass the people so much that they wouldn’t leave because now they don’t want to look like schmucks by getting up and leaving!”

French also commented on artists like Bob Dylan, who don’t adhere to the “play the classics” expectation. French opined, “Dylan is indecipherably bad … you don’t even understand it. But if you’re a deep Dylan guy, and [you think] Dylan’s so esoteric, you go, ‘He’s an interpretive artist – he does it the way he wants to.’

“The average person doesn’t give a shit. They want to hear ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ like ‘Blowin’ in the Wind.’ They want to hear ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ [as the original] ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’ They like to hear a song that sounds kind of like the record because that’s [what] they remember. … Dylan doesn’t do that game.”

You can listen to the full interview below.

Source: Let There Be Talk