[Still Twisted] -- Once again, my inner (glam) metalhead comes to the fore. This week, it's for Stay Hungry, Twisted Sister's third studio album which was released 40 years ago today. Even if you know nothing else of Twisted Sister, you probably know "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock," the first two singles off this album, both of which became the band's signature tunes. These two tracks remain staples of 1980s hair metal. "We're Not Gonna Take It" peaked at #21 and #7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and US Mainstream Rock charts respectively, while "I Wanna Rock" languished near the bottom of both charts (#68 on US Billboard Hot 100 and #35 on US Mainstream Rock). Those songs, and their music videos, helped propel Stay Hungry to Platinum sales, and a spot at #15 on the US Billboard 200, making it Twisted Sister's most commercially successful album.
At the time, "We're Not Gonna Take It" was considered controversial and it was targeted by the PMRC in their crusade against violent and sexual lyrical content. The PMRC's efforts in the 1980s led to Twisted Sister's vocalist,, to appear at a PMRC senate hearing. And, yes, that was the same hearing at which Frank Zappa appeared. Both Zappa and Snider spoke out against censoring rock lyrics, and made the PMRC look like absolute fools.
The notorious reputation of "We're Not Gonna Take It" has diminished over time, leading Dee Snider to claim that it "...has become almost a folk song, but the message has gotten lost" (via rock107.com). And when right wingers really didn't get the message, Dee had to spell it out for them.
Still, at this point in 1984, Twisted Sister had finally achieved fame and acclaim, and their album was blasting from radios and cassette players for most of the year.
Flashback: Stay Hungry (May 10, 1984)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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