I had a road trip today with my two sons. Me and my nine year old visited one of my favourite music stores to buy a CD for part of the drive. It has an extensive used section and we were both flipping through seeing if something would catch our eye. I told my boy he could pick something out. He found a Black Eyed Peas’ disc, Avril Lavigne and a greatest hits Twisted Sister CD.
The first two pop selections he found in the stacks he would know from school and the radio. But his familiarity with Twisted Sister comes from my own version of the school of rock . I have spent hours with my sons going through my CD collection, listening to the old tracks and sharing stories with them. Dee Snider’s face from my Stay Hungry disc is unforgettable and thanks to Sponge Bob he was more than familiar with I Wanna Rock. If you are unfamilar in one of the final scenes of the Sponge Bob movie he wails this song. I also played We’re Not Going To Take It for him on more than one occasion.
Well, I held the three selections in my hand, swallowed hard, and said he could have whichever one he wanted. After a very brief pause, which played out a little longer in my mind, he selected Twisted Sister. He said he liked the music he heard by them more. I was so proud. I walked to the checkout with a lump in my throat, paid for the purchase and we were on our way.
On our drive, in addition to the anthems We’re Not Going to Take It and I Wanna Rock we listened to songs I haven’t heard in years such as Stay Hungry, Leader of the Pack, Under the Blade, You Can’t Stop Rock and Roll and I’ll Never Grow Up, Now. I enjoyed every song of the hard grinding straight up in your face metal to the fullest.
I don’t know if my son’s selection was my influence or Sponge Bob’s, but I’ll take the credit (no disrespect to the Sponge). In honour of Twisted Sister I am including this Blast from the Past. I don’t think this song is one of their more well known ones, but I was always fond of it. It is not on our new CD and I googled Twisted Sister’s recent setlists and they don’t play it. It is a song titled Hot Love from 1987’s Love is for Suckers album. As always, long live rock and roll!
Twisted Sister, Hot Love from 1987's Love is for Suckers.