The Metal Voice recently spoke to Twisted Sister manager and guitarist Jay Jay French about his new upcoming book Twisted Business coming out September 21, via RosettaBooks
French also gives his opinion of a Twisted Sister reunion and reacts to the verdict of the Clive Palmer's 'We're not going to take it' copyright infringement case
Full interview watch here
Tell us about the upcoming book
"I got bitten by the keynote speaker bug by Steve Farber and I got hired and hired. The speeches were about my life history and the history of Twisted Sister. As you know the band started 49 years ago by me and I have worn many hats, I am semi articulate and I am a good storyteller. I have woven the stories into a presentation and then Steve Farber (co-Author) suggested in doing a book. So we spoke to several publishers and came up with the concept of the book. In the book I basically tell the story of the bands (Twisted Sister) regeneration, rejection, coming back. I develop business concepts and I turned practical observations into learning tools and that is what the book is about. It's the Twisted method of reinvention and I make it easy to digest"
Will there ever be another Twisted Sister Reunion?
"I once said never and I was wrong. Dee and I spoke about this a lot , when we reformed in 2003 we thought we were reforming for two years not 14 years. Two years into it, the offers kept getting bigger and we said we will do it for a few more years, then the offers kept getting bigger and so on. By 2007 I said let's just stop, so we stopped and the demands got even bigger, the money got bigger. And just when you thought it could not get any bigger, A.J. dies in 2015 which I think took the wind out of the sails for me. So we called it a day in 2016. Could we headline a European festival tomorrow? Of course we could. Do I want to? Personally I don't think so, I don't know if I will return or if the band returns. I am now enjoying doing motivational speaking. You change in life and while it's hard to fathom why one wouldn't want to stand in front of 100,000 people. For me I have played over 9000 performances, is it out of my system, where I am not into it anymore , yeah. So that is why I am not rushing back. The answer to your question is , there is no answer, we could. I will never say never. I said never before and I was wrong. It could , it is just not in my head right now."
When asked about his reaction to politician Clive Palmer's copyright infringement on 'We're Not gonna take it'
"Clive Palmer could have used the song if he had negotiated with Universal (label) and saved himself a shit load of money. From what I understood, he was negotiating with them and they gave him a price and then he said I am not doing it then went off and did it and he probably thought he was not going to be sued, is what I think. So his arrogance and floundering the law is what got him in trouble. Not his political positions which we don't support but it doesn't even matter. Most people don't understand how much artists don't control the use of their material. Problem is when someone uses a song in a public arena the public thinks the band supports the politician. The artist realizes the fan does not understand the nuances of the deal. The audience just knows that the association is guilt. So since the artist has no control, the artist does the next best thing which is to publicly embarrass the person hoping the person will stop using the song.
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