TWISTED SISTER's DEE SNIDER: I Want To Say 'Goodbye' Properly

TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider has spoken out on the band's reunion plans and has denied that money played a part in the group's decision to return to the scene 14 years after they last toured together.

"Well, first of all as far as I'm concerned we have not reformed," Snider told Rock Confidential. "We have reunited. A reformation implies the band getting back together, picking up where you left off and restarting your careers. Reuniting is a short-term thing where you have a specific purpose. In this case for me — and I can't speak for everybody — I hated the way the band went out. It came on ferociously and ended with a thud. If I was to write it down, I would write, 'TWISTED SISTER' with an ampersand (&) with '...' after it. I felt that a band like this should have exclamation points at the end of it. To me this is the opportunity to put that exclamation point at the end of our name and say 'goodbye' properly. How did I know it was the right time? There was a combination of things. Certainly, the interest in Eighties rock. The offers were coming in, although fortunately I don't need the money. I'm not doing it for the money. I have other ways that would probably make more money. I'm really about finishing this thing...a great thing. A very positive part of my life. I'm very proud and happy, just not happy with the way it ended. Then, slowly but surely the relationships started to rebuild over the last four years. The interest started to grow. The opportunities started to come up. The thing that pushed me over the edge was somebody sent me IRON MAIDEN's 'Rock In Rio' DVD. Have you seen the DVD? It's a quarter of a million people. And I thought, 'Fuck! I wanna fuckin' play in front of a quarter million people.' TWISTED SISTER is they type of band and has the popularity that would put us in a position to be offered a chance to do Rock In Rio and stand on the stage and have 250,000 people scream 'ROCK!' when I say, 'I wanna rock!' I saw that and said, 'Fuck, we've gotta do this!'"

Snider also confirmed reports of a possible summer 2003 co-headlining run with POISON, stating that "it's definitely something that's being talked about. It hasn't been announced yet because it's not been confirmed. No matter how serious the talks are, until you've got physical contracts in front of your face and you've signed everything it's all bullshit. It's being talked as a co-headline, co-billed with POISON. It's something that is being seriously discussed."

TWISTED SISTER, who reunited for a one-off performance at last year's "New York Steel" benefit for the New York Police & Fire Widows' & Children's Benefit Fund, have also been working with VH1 to compile a documentary on the band's reunion tour, tentatively set to air next year.

"They have been filming," Snider confirmed. "The idea is to do a 'Twisted Sister: Behind the Reunion'. To be totally honest, I think that they're expecting 'The Osbournes', and we're not. I'm being totally honest with you. I was just talking with them yesterday and they said, 'Well, we're looking for 'The Osbournes'.' I said, 'With 'The Osbournes', you were in their home — first, they're a family. Second of all, you filmed 18 hours a day, seven days a week for six months. You filmed seven days times 18 hours for a half hour show each week. Out of all that time, of course Ozzy's gonna fall in the floor once and the dog's gonna take a shit on a rug. With us we are only filming moments. We're not a family. We don't live in the same house together. It's apples and oranges. You're trying to make an orange an apple. That doesn't mean the orange isn't a good piece of fruit.' We're kind of running into a little bit of a problem. They said that was a really good analogy. I said, 'Take it back to the fucking meeting and point it out! You can't make an orange taste like an apple!' It's a whole different situation and it's a compelling situation. There's a lot going on, but you've got to stop thinking 'The Osbournes II'.' They are still filming. Hopefully they'll get the point and continue filming. I think a 'Behind the Reunion' would have a lot of interesting things. Things that plague a band reuniting in their forties is very different from the things that plague a band in their fuckin' twenties. Sometimes it's kinda funny. AJ has high blood pressure, OK? The guy is fucking a monster! You know he's a monster. There are millions of people out there with high blood pressure and they take their medicine and that's it. I'm on stage and playin' and all of a sudden I notice a glitch in his playing. If it was twenty years ago, I'd be goin', 'Are you high? Are you fuckin' high? If he's fuckin' high I'm gonna kick his ass!' Now I have to think, 'Is his medication OK? Did he take his medication?' I used to get pissed when I though they were wasted and now it's only because he didn't take his blood pressure medication. There is NO PROBLEM, it's just the ridiculous things about reuniting fifteen or sixteen years later."

To read the whole interview, click here.