In the ’80s, Al and Tipper Gore accused them of endangering the morals of America’s youth and undermining parental authority. Two decades later, the reunited Twisted Sister is playing New Jersey’s two most family-friendly venues — the Meadowlands State Fair and Six Flags Great Adventure — and the “F” word is off-limits, by mutual agreement.
Lead singer Dee Snider says the band — known for hits such as “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” — had balked at playing the G-rated parks. “The minute we heard those offers, we said, `No,'” Snider said. “They said, `What do you mean, no?’ We said, `We want to play for our fans! We don’t want to play to people in an amusement park!’
“And they said, `Dee, your fans are in their 30s; where do you think they are on the Fourth of July weekend? They’re out with their families at the amusement parks or the Jersey shore.’ And that was like a real rude awakening.”
Despite their well-publicized stand against censorship during a 1985 Senate hearing in which the Gores were pushing for content warning labels on records (the industry adopted a voluntary system shortly after the hearing), Twisted Sister will tone it down this week in New Jersey.
“You assume you have to play to your audience and deal with the restrictions,” said guitarist Jay Jay French.
Twisted Sister will play tonight (July 3) at the fair next to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and Saturday at Great Adventure in Jackson. The only other U.S. dates scheduled are July 18-19 in Wisconsin, although a fall headlining tour is possible.
“There are older fans who want to see it one more time, and there’s younger fans who want to see it once, what it was like,” Snider said. “We won’t disappoint. There’s bad news and good news. The bad news is we look like aging transvestites. The good news is we’ve always looked like aging transvestites.”
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