TWISTED SISTER's JAY JAY FRENCH - "Where's The 25-Year-Old Rock Stars?"
August 11, 2016, 8 years ago
On August 4th, Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French was interviewed by KaaosTV in Finland; a portion of the video chat, which can be seen below, has been transcribed as follows:
Asked, what do you think of the current state of rock? Jay Jay answered, "Here's the reality as I see it. When I was 17 years old, when Jay Jay French was 17, The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Zep, Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors… none of them were older than 26 when I was 17. Now we, as 17-year-olds, never went to see bands that were 60; we saw bands that were all 25: The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Zep, Floyd, Cream, Hendrix… They were all 25, 26 years old. If I told my mother I was gonna go see a band with 60-year-old guys, she'd look at me like I was crazy or I was going to some jazz band or some classical group. So now we play festivals where all the bands are 60 years old: us, Whitesnake, KISS, Sabbath, AC/DC… they're all 60. Maybe 50, with Metallica."
"So I ask everybody out there: where's the 25-year-old rock stars? Where are they? You can't name them. Someone goes, 'Muse.' They're not 25 years old; they're way older than that. Avenged Sevenfold: they're not 25 years old; they're way older than that. Slipknot: they're not 25 years old; they're way older than that. So the next generation doesn't seem to be there, and I don't know the reason why."
Twisted Sister’s new DVD release, Twisted Sister: Metal Meltdown Live At The Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas - A Concert To Honor A.J. Pero, debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Music Video Sales chart.
The first Metal Meltdown concert series event kicked off at The Joint at the world famous Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas on May 30th, 2015. Legendary, multi-Platinum selling rockers Twisted Sister performed an explosive 90-minute concert of their biggest hits spanning their 40-year career. The show was dedicated to the honour of Twisted Sister's iconic drummer, A.J. Pero, whose tragic, sudden death just two months prior to the filming of this event shocked the music world. The band announced that not only were all the remaining concerts being performed in 2015 dedicated to the memory of A.J. Pero, but that 2016 would mark the 40th and final year of the band’s legendary live performances. They recruited renowned drummer and friend of A.J. Pero, Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs, Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold) to take the reins, and his very first Twisted Sister appearance was captured by the Metal Meltdown camera crew.
Directed by Brian Lockwood (Bon Jovi, Metallica, Motley Crue), Metal Meltdown - Featuring Twisted Sister Live At The Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas features that complete concert, as well as Rockshow, a bonus documentary that takes fans through the band's 40-year ride from local club outcasts to world domination with exclusive interviews, archive footage from the ‘80s, photo gallery. It was mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound. Out now, the retail package includes both BluRay and DVD formats as well as an audio CD.
As Twisted Sister guitarist JayJay French explains, “The decision to continue performing all the summer shows in 2015, not to mention the concert that this performance celebrates, was in jeopardy over the days immediately following A.J.'s sudden death. We needed time to re-group and re-focus. Everyone was great. All the promoters of the huge European summer festivals that we were set to headline and Barry, the producer of this concert said, ‘We understand. You all (meaning the band) have to do what makes you comfortable. Whatever the band decides has to be honoured and respected.’
“In the end, I believe we did what A.J. would have wanted us to do and Mike Portnoy was a very big part of that decision in both an emotional and artistic way. This performance captured herein just two months after A.J.'s death really was about our way to help memorialize the great A.J. Pero. The front four (Dee, Eddie, Mark and I) have had no one but A.J. behind us since 1982. This concert has A.J.'s influence permeating through our bloodstream in ways that I will never forget and when we cut to A.J.'s drum solo on the rear projection screen, We were all emotionally overwhelmed. Not since our reunion for NY Steel in 2001 (to honour and raise money for the families of the NYC police and fire department who died on 9/11) have I been moved to tears."
Award-winning producer Barry Summers of Rock Fuel Media commented, "Twisted Sister was the first live club band I ever saw in 1979 at Emmett’s Inn in New Jersey, and they literally blew my mind. We actually revisited Emmett’s and filmed a scene for the Rockshow documentary. It has been a real dream come true to produce this amazing concert film for such an iconic and influential band. The tribute to A.J. Pero makes this film that much more special. We’re excited to give the fans the highest quality concert film and live recordings ever released in the year of Twisted Sister’s final farewell.”
Metal Meltdown Featuring Twisted Sister Live At The Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas tracklisting:
“What You Don't Know”
“The Kids Are Back”
“Stay Hungry”
“The Beast”
“Shoot ‘Em Down”
“You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll”
“I Believe In Rock ‘N’ Roll”
“Under The Blade”
“I Am (I’m Me)”
“We’re Not Gonna Take It”
“The Fire Still Burns”
“The Price”
“Burn In Hell”
A.J. Pero Tribute
“I Wanna Rock”
“Come Out And Play”
“S.M.F.”
“The Price”:
"We're Not Gonna Take It":
Trailer: