TWISTED SISTER Frontman Dee Snider On Performing Showtunes: "You’ve Got To Really Believe You’re That Cool Guy"

July 3, 2012, 12 years ago

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Vocalist DEE SNIDER (TWISTED SISTER) is featured in a new interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com discussing his new solo album, Dee Does Broadway, which was released on May 8th via Razor & Tie. An excerpt is available below:

UG: You recorded 'Big Spender' with Cyndi Lauper—how did that happen?

Snider: "I’d known Cyndi literally since the club days on Long Island. Not that we had a lot of contact but we’d run into each other. I said, 'Man, her voice and that cutesy would be amazing on 'Big Spender.'' And bam, Cyndi was like, 'I”ll do it. I’m in.'"

UG: What was it like singing with Patti Lupone on 'Tonight/Somewhere'?

Snider: I was like, 'OK, who’s the biggest Broadway star you can think of? Patti Lupone. OK, let’s just take a shot here.' She was like, 'Yeah, I’ll do it.' She was in the studio and I’m like, 'Does she know who she’s in the studio with? Does she have any idea of who I am? Has anybody told her?' But she’s a Long Island girl and she’s a rocker and she just loved it and it kept going from there.

UG: Do you have to change emotionally from the person who sang 'We’re Not Gonna Take It' when you were doing these showtunes?

Sinder. "It depends on the track. Take a track like 'Mack the Knife' and the video, that song basically defines the record. It starts with that fakeout beginning (jazzy arrangement with acoustic piano and bass) and for that it was the sorta thing, 'Well I can do this.' Trying to get into that head, 'Hey, I’m the cool guy' because I am the cool guy but it’s a different cool guy. But I had to really attack it and I couldn’t do it as a throwaway. I had to say, 'Alright, you’ve got to really believe you’re that cool guy' and set up the rock part.

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The album features Dee's powerful voice and theatrical persona as he exudes his rock 'n' roll take on several Broadway classics. Amazon is streaming samples of all songs at this location.

Dee Does Broadway contains the following 12 songs:

'Cabaret

'The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd'

'Big Spender' (with Cyndi Lauper)

'Mack The Knife'

'Whatever Lola Wants' (with Bebe Neuwirth)

'Music Of The Night' (with guest violinist Mark Wood)

'The Joint Is Jumpin'' (with Jesse Blaze Snider)

'Luck Be A Lady' (with Clay Aiken)

'I Get A Kick Out Of You'

'There Is Nothin' Like A Dame' (with the stars of Priscilla Queen of the Desert: Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams)

'Razzle Dazzle'

'Tonight/Somewhere' (with Patti LuPone)

The Dee Does Broadway album conicides with the release of Snider's first ever autobiography, Shut Up And Give Me The Mic, also issued on May 8th via Gallery Books.

An interview with BraveWords.com's Mitch Lafon about Snider's activities can be read here.

Filled with entertaining anecdotes and candid confessions, Shut Up And Give Me The Mic takes you through the good times and bad with a heavy metal star who worked as hard as he played, and who did it all for his wife, four kids, and millions of fans. As lead singer and songwriter of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider became the poster boy for heavy metal, hair bands, and the wild side of rock. Now, in his twisted new memoir, he reveals the real stories behind the crazy makeup, the big hair, and badass hits like 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and 'I Wanna Rock'.


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