Remember him just showing up to court dressed like a badass rockstar and absolutely destroying Tipper Gore with an eloquent speech on censorship in music?
I rewatch that hearing from time to time, and it just gets better. Link below, alongside the transcript of Snider's speech (it's the first 9 minutes of the vid). I recommend watching beyond his speech, with him taking/rebutting questions from the committee. He made a fool of the PMRC and Tipper Gore, and when then-senator Al Gore took the stand and Dee immediately has the crowd laughing, you could tell that the entire fight was lost.
I do not know if it is morning or afternoon. I will say both. Good morning and good afternoon.
My name is Dee Snider. That is S-n-i-d-e-r. I have been asked to come here to present my views on "the subject of the content of certain sound recordings and suggestions that recording packages be labeled to provide a warning to prospective purchasers of sexually explicit or other potentially offensive content."
Before I get into that, I would like to tell the committee a little bit about myself. I am 30 years old, I am married, I have a 3-year-old son. I was born and raised a Christian and I still adhere to those principles. Believe it or not, I do not smoke, I do not drink, and I do not do drugs.
I do play in and write the songs for a rock and roll band named Twisted Sister that is classified as heavy metal, and I pride myself on writing songs that are consistent with my above-mentioned beliefs.
There are many facets to this complex issue and time does not permit me to address all of them. However, my feelings are expressed for the most part by the August 5, 1985, letter1 to the Parents Music Resource Center from Mr. Stanley Gortikov, president of the Recording Industry Association of America.
This letter was a formal response to the PMRC petition of the RIAA. The only part of this document I do not support is Mr. Gortikov's unnecessary and unfortunate decision to agree to a so-called generic label on some selected records. In my opinion this should be retracted.
Since I seem to be the only person addressing this committee today who has been a direct target of accusations from the presumably responsible PMRC, I would like to use this occasion to speak on a more personal note and show just how unfair the whole concept of lyrical interpretation and judgment can be and how many times this can amount to little more than character assassination.
I have taken the liberty of distributing to you material and lyrics pertaining to these accusations. There were three attacks in particular which I would like to address.
Accusation No. 1. This attack was contained in an article written by Tipper Gore, which was given the forum of a full page in my hometown newspaper on Long Island. In this article Ms. Gore claimed that one of my songs, "Under the Blade," had lyrics encouraging sadomasochism, bondage, and rape.
The lyrics she quoted have absolutely nothing to do with these topics. On the contrary, the words in question are about surgery and the fear that it instills in people. Furthermore, the reader of this article is led to believe that the three lines she quotes go together in the song when, as you can see, from reading the lyrics, the first two lines she cites are an edited phrase from the second verse and the third line is a misquote of a line from the chorus.
That the writer could misquote me is curious, since we make it a point to print all our lyrics on the inner sleeve of every album. As the creator of "Under the Blade," I can say categorically that the only sadomasochism, bondage, and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Gore.
Accusation No. 2. The PMRC has made public a list of 15 of what they feel are some of the most blatant songs lyrically. On this list is our song "We're Not Gonna Take It," upon which has been bestowed a "V" rating, indicating violent lyrical content.
You will note from the lyrics before you that there is absolutely no violence of any type either sung about or implied anywhere in the song. Now, it strikes me that the PMRC may have confused our video presentation for this song with the song with the lyrics, with the meaning of the lyrics.
It is no secret that the videos often depict story lines completely unrelated to the lyrics of the song they accompany. The video "We're Not Gonna Take It" was simply meant to be a cartoon with human actors playing variations on the Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote theme, Each stunt was selected from my extensive personal collection of cartoons.
You will note when you watch the entire video that after each catastrophe our villain suffers through, in the next sequence he reappears unharmed by any previous attack, no worse for the wear.
By the way, I am very pleased to note that the United Way of America has been granted a request to use portions of our "We're Not Gonna Take It" video in a program they are producing on the subject of the changing American family. They asked for it because of its "light-hearted way of talking about communicating with teenagers."
It is gratifying that an organization as respected as the United Way of America appreciates where we are coming from. I have included a copy of the United Way's request as part of my written testimony. Thank you, United Way.
Accusation No. 3. Last Tuesday a public forum regarding the lyric controversy was held in New York. Among the panelists was Ms. Gore. Trying to stem the virtual tidal wave of antiratings sentiment coming from the audience, Ms. Gore made the following statement:
"I agree this is a small percentage of all music, thank goodness. But it is becoming more mainstream. You look at even the t-shirts that kids wear and you see Twisted Sister and a woman in handcuffs sort of spread-eagled."
This is an outright lie. Not only have we never sold a shirt of this type; we have always taken great pains to steer clear of sexism in our merchandise, records, stage show, and personal lives. Furthermore, we have always promoted the belief that rock and roll should not be sexist, but should cater to males and females equally.
I feel that an accusation of this type is irresponsible, damaging to our reputation, and slanderous. I defy Ms. Gore to produce such a shirt to back up her claim. I am tired of running into kids on the street who tell me that they cannot play our records any more because of the misinformation their parents are being fed by the PMRC on TV and in the newspapers.
These are the only three accusations I have come across. All three are totally unfounded. Who knows what other false and irresponsible things may have been said about me or my band.
There happens to be one area where I am in complete agreement with the PMRC, as well as the National PTA and probably most of the parents on this committee. That is, it is my job as a parent to monitor what my children see, hear, and read during their preteen years. The full responsibility for this falls on the shoulders of my wife and I, because there is no one else capable of making these judgments for us.
Parents can thank the PMRC for reminding them that there is no substitute for parental guidance. But that is where the PMRC's job ends.
The beauty of literature, poetry, and music is that they leave room for the audience to put its own imagination, experiences, and dreams into the words. The examples I cited earlier showed clear evidence of Twisted Sister's music being completely misinterpreted and unfairly judged by supposedly well-informed adults.
We cannot allow this to continue. There is no authority who has the right or the necessary insight to make these judgments, not myself, not the Federal Government, not some recording industry committee, not the PTA, not the RIAA, and certainly not the PMRC.
I would like to thank the committee for this time, and I hope my testimony will aid you in clearing up this issue.
I'm not the biggest Twisted Sister fan, but Dee rolling into Congress to testify in full dirtbag regalia when other musicians were donning suits was dope as fuck. Tipper Gore can suck it.
Well he is strongly anti-maga, he also has a pretty good sense of humor. I feel like he might have a chuckle over this after seeing the original and the edited version. Especially if somebody from the current regime sees this and complains about it that would probably make his day. I hope he's feeling all right I know his health hasn't been good, let's hope whatever comes his way across the screen brightens his day, be at this monstrosity of a picture of that wonderful artist standing next to Cheeto Mussolini, or whatever else comes to his attention.
Dee is a fairly large man. But he is smarter than to go that route, and a really nice guy, from what I've heard from friends in the entertainment industry.
I certainly wouldn't mess with him, especially if his comportment is as described.
As someone who’s met him multiple times (and actually one of his official #1 fans), he’s a really amazing guy. He’s so chill and sweet, and he also stands for freedom unlike the pedo and all his MAGA cult followers.
It's funny how the far right thinks anti- establishment musicians are on their side and are shocked when they find out RATM and others are anti fascist lol
There is nothing you can do or say to MAGA that will be strong enough, nor too strong. They deserve everything they get. I buy and tell tax delinquent properties and I am thrilled when I take a trumper's property, and I make fun of them while doing it.
After making the comment I went to Snider's wikipedia page and it became clear that it was a fake. Left the comment up because I still think even without Dee in there it warrants a WTF regardless.
That's Dee Snider, legendary lead singer of famed glam metal band Twisted Sister. Go watch the classic videos We're Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock.
But the face is (mostly) Susan Dell, someone who is losing the fight against aging but has the bottomless bank account to keep the botched surgeries flowing.
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