Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider says the video for the band’s 1984 smash We’re Not Gonna Take It redefined the music video genre.
Directed by Marty Callner, the clip for the lead single from the band’s Stay Hungry album was issued in the early days of MTV and its heavy rotation on the station played an important role in raising the group’s profile.
We’re Not Gonna Take It delivered Twisted Sister their only US Top 40 hit, while landing Top 10 status in Canada, Sweden and New Zealand.
Snider notes the difference between the song’s appeal and the video’s impact in the music industry.
He tells Behind The Vinyl: “The video is inspired from events in my own life. I thought I was sharing a personal story of my father tearing me a new one, as he often did, screaming the famous line, ‘What are you going to do with your life?’
“When the video came out, it was the first time someone had taken the format and put a story to it, because that didn’t really exist before that… videos tended to be performance videos.
“What I thought was a personal story to me turned out to be a story that every kid in the world was dealing with – Dad giving them crap for their lifestyle or not really knowing where they were going or what they were doing, and people identified with this. They loved the story, they loved the video, and the video was a game-changer.”
Snider adds that the promo inspired future story-led videos from the likes of Michael Jackson and Van Halen.
He says: “I can say without any doubt in my mind that there would not be a Thriller, there would not be a Hot For Teacher… all these people saw the Twisted Sister video and it redefined the genre.”
Twisted Sister have announced plans for a farewell tour in 2016 following the sudden death of drummer AJ Pero from a heart attack on March 20.
Pero died in Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of 55 while on tour with Adrenaline Mob, whose drummer, Mike Portnoy, has stepped in to perform with the band for their 2015 shows and the 2016 trek.
The band will play at Barcelona Rock Fest in Spain on July 24 and at Hinckley Grand Rocktember in Minnesota on September 12.
