When Jay Jay French and I get together to talk, get comfortable. We can talk for quite a while. So often our conversation revolves around music, but not always. I recently caught up with Jay Jay via Zoom. Jay Jay of course is the founder and guitarist for Twisted Sister. We had a lot to discuss with the band recently announcing a 50th anniversary tour.
Knowing each other for a while we began joking around from the start. Jay Jay took a shot at me being a Bruce Springsteen fan. That lead to a mention of the new movie about Bruce, which took us through discussion of the Dylan movie. Jay Jay shared his connection to events in the movie and later in our conversation his latest concert experience with Bob.
I was able to spin that topic into the first show that Twisted Sister performed with Dee Snider in 1976. That is the 50th anniversary this tour is celebrating. Be warned as you watch our conversation, Jay Jay has incredible factual recall with many topics. None as good as Twisted Sister itself. He gave us some insight into the years before Dee joined the band in rather good detail. Jay Jay also took time to explain a lot of changes in the band from those early days.
There was also some conversation revolving around the rivalry between Twisted Sister and Zebra. Don’t take that statement the wrong way, the guys are all friends and were back in the day. But there was a spirit of healthy competition between the two bands. Part of the discussion turned to topics that you can also learn more about by checking out “The French Connection” podcast Jay Jay does, his book “Twisted Business” and the movie “We Are Twisted F’ing Sister.” Some of that the struggles Twisted Sister went through to be successful.
Jay Jay spoke about Lemmy and Motorhead’s endorsement of Twisted Sister and how much it helped. He went on to draw comparisons between their hometown fans on Long Island and their fans in the UK.
I have heard a lot of TS fans discuss what the band may or may not wear on stage. Of course I had to enquire. Based upon their history, it is a valid question. Jay Jay mentioned that Dee’s wife, Suzette Snider, was responsible for the image of the band and creating their on-stage attire. He made a point to sing her praises expressing that she never got enough credit.
We took a turn here and covered what guitars might pop up on stage. Jay Jay mused about 50th anniversary is Gold, so maybe some Epiphone gold tops. I asked about the Explorer he played back in the early days. He said the guitar is in a case at The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. His final word on it was, “It’s not out of the question.”
Another question I’ve been hearing from fans, will there be any new music? The last time the band released a new song was the song “30” from the 25th anniversary edition of their album “Stay Hungry.” Jay Jay description about the reception of new music from classic bands these days was quite honest. During the discussion here, Jay Jay mentioned that “With Joe Franco on drums we’re gonna play songs from the album he played drums on. Because he was a bona fide member of the band.” That of course was the album “Love Is For Suckers.” As Jay Jay was talking about Dee’s skills as a front man and the trust he puts in him, he mentioned that Dee presented them with a song “And we’re considering recording it.” I would strongly suggest you acknowledge the word considering in that quote.
Jay Jay mentioned a lot of the festivals Twisted has announced already for the tour. Jay Jay once again spoke about Dee’s skills on stage and how he can get the audience into the show in response to a question of mine about Dee still being Dee. A lot of that was regarding big shows. That’s when I asked about smaller shows and Twisted Sister’s alter ego, Bent Brother. Jay Jay’s response was “There very well could be a warmup show somewhere under Bent Brother.” Jay Jay suggested checking TwistedSister.com because a “Bent Brother announcement may be made.”
For a conversation with a good friend like Jay Jay, it appropriately enough wrapped up when he was joined by his wife Sharon and their granddaughter.
©2025 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
