In 1983, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider shouted “You Can’t Stop Rock And Roll.” More than 30 years later, the man still holds that opinion, even after KISS’ Gene Simmons declared in a recent Esquire interview that rock and roll is dead and buried. In a post to social media last night, Snider — who since his ’80s fame with Twisted Sister has become a screenwriter, radio personality, and official torchbearer for rock music — offered up a detailed counterpoint. In short: “Rock and roll ain’t dead.”
Check it out below. Oh, and here’s a quick personal disclaimer: I’m quite fond of Snider, a fellow Long Islander. Once when I was very little, and shortly after the release of Stay Hungry, my father and I ran into him at a Dunkin’ Donuts on Deer Park Avenue and he was very gracious. A few years later, around age 12 or so, I called into his late-night radio show, and told him how I bought Twisted Sister cassettes at the local Pathmark. He asked how old I was at the time, paused and yelled back at me “I created you!”
So yeah.
Here’s Snider’s counterpoint, in which he says that it wasn’t file-sharers who killed rock and roll, it was the fat-cat music industry.
POINT / COUNTER POINT: “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL AIN’T DEAD” by Dee Snider
Recently, my esteemed colleague, Gene Simmons of Kiss declared that “Rock ‘n’ Roll is finally dead”. Really?
While I have nothing but respect for Gene, he couldn’t be further off the mark. Yes, the rock ‘n’ roll “business model” that helped Kiss (and my band for that matter) achieve fame and fortune is most certainly long dead and buried, but rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well and thriving on social media, in the streets, and in clubs and concert halls all over the world. And the bands playing it are more genuine and heartfelt than ever because they are in it for one reason: the love of rock ‘n’ roll.
Spend some time seeing and listening to these incredible young bands and their rabid fans and you will know that rock ‘n’ roll couldn’t be more alive. Yes, it’s not the same as it was for the first 50 years of rock’s existence, but the fire definitely still burns.
And it wasn’t some 15 year old kid in Saint Paul, Minnesota (to paraphrase Mr. Simmons) who killed the rock ‘n’ roll goose that laid the platinum egg…it was greedy, big city, record company moguls who made their own velvet noose to hang themselves with. It was they who took advantage of the consumer (and the artist for that matter) and drove them to use an alternative source of music presented to them.
For example, take the bill of goods the record industry sold the mainstream public when introducing the CD format. “We have to charge more for it, because it’s a new technology and there’s a cost to setting up the infrastructure to produce them.” The consumer believed them–it made sense–so they paid a $18.98 list price for a product they had been paying $7.99 list for previously. After all “you can’t break a CD with a hammer!” (Remember that?)
But when the infrastructure was in place and paid for in full, and the cost of producing a CD dropped to less than a dollar, did the record companies roll back the list price in kind? Not on your life. They weren’t about to do the right thing and cut their increased revenue stream. Those fat cats were enjoying their ill-gotten gains way too much.
So when the general public finally realized they were being had, and the opportunity arose for them to stick it to the man, what did they do? The same thing their Woodstock Nation, baby boomer parents had done when they had their chance…they stuck it and they stuck it good. Does anyone remember Abbey Hoffman’s “Steal this Book”, the massive selling, early 70’s hippy guide “focused on ways to fight the government, and against corporations in any way possible.” Multiply that by a googolplex.
Is it hard to make it rock ‘n’ roll? You bet. Always was, always will be. Will rockers make as much money as they did “back in the day”? Probably not. But that won’t stop them, and they’ll be motivated by a much more genuine love of the art, and great rock will continue to be produced, played and embraced by rock fans.
So in conclusion: Record company executives killed the old rock ‘n’ roll business model… and Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Dead!
Dee Snider/ September 10th, 2014