As previously reported, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider and KISS frontman Paul Stanley have been taking swipes at each in the press after Stanley was questioned about an interview Snider did with Eddie Trunk.
During the Eddie’s podcast interview, Dee criticized KISS for allowing guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer to wear Ace Frehley and Peter Criss’ makeup. Stanley fired back on Jericho’s podcast by stating that Snider “is a wannabe, has always been a wannabe and desperately wants attention and to be taken seriously, and that will never happen because he’s obviously clueless that he and his whole band are a bunch of buffoons.”
Now Snider has posted the following retort to Stanley on his Facebook page:
A letter to Paul Stanley of Kiss in response to comments about Twisted Sister and myself he made on a recent Chris Jericho podcast.
Dear Paul, September 9th, 2015
First off, thanks for giving me the attention I—as you noted– so desperately wanted.
Now, I’ve always had nothing but respect for your band, and you as a performer, but it really comes as no surprise that the feeling isn’t mutual. For some reason you are oddly threatened by me. This said, your recent comments about my band and I on Chris Jericho’s podcast was a typical diversionary tactic used in an attempt to change the subject, rather than answer the actual accusation or question. It’s the oldest interviewing trick in the book.
As far as my “whole band being a bunch of buffoons” goes, that’s a pretty ironic statement coming from you. The argument could easily be made that Kiss is the “king of the buffoons”, so in an odd way you’ve paid Twisted Sister quite a compliment. It takes one to know one.
Lastly, on the subject of me being a “wannabe”? Do you really think so? Well then…any time, any stage. But let’s do this old school –no costumes, no pyro, no bullshit – let’s just get up there and rock. I will bury you, son.
Sincerely, the attention getting, wannabe, lead buffoon of Twisted Sister,
Dee Snider
PS: Did I mention that I’m clean, sober, razor sharp and fully capable of defending myself from any kind of lame attack? Just ask Al Gore. 🙂
18 Responses
Neither band does much for me musically. Kiss are mediocre musicians at best, and Paul Stanley is a fruitcake. Bruce and Vinnie are the only real talent Kiss ever had in the band. Dee is a better vocalist. The Steel Panther bashing is laughable. They put on a great show and are excellent musicians. So what if the lyrics are tongue in cheek? Kiss and Twisted Sister both had a makeup gimmick live, and Panther does an 80’s parody gimmick. At least they are relevant.
To each their own Jeff,
But sophomoric lyrics that lack intelligence and satire, does not make Steel Panter relevant. They are a modern day Spinal Tap and NOT a real band.
D 🙂
That’s disrespectful to Spinal Tap 😉 At least they were funny.
Well, certainly funnier than Steel Panther, T.
Cheers,
D 🙂
Look, Kiss fan since almost day friggin’ one (I bought Alive II when it first came out) and still carry the flag – I think I’m one of the few that welcomes the Eric/Tommy lineup, simply because I’ve seen Peter and Ace suck ass live too many times. I’ve met Paul a couple times, and he’s been nothing but gracious, humble, friendly and engaged. I just saw them on the Def Leppard tour, and they rocked (and my 14-year old daughter posted on Instagram the next day: “Greatest night of my life!” with a picture of the “Rock and Roll All Nite” finale), and I’ve long said that (career-wise) Paul is one of the five best frontmen in hard rock history.
So it isn’t the random “Kiss-hate” that shows up here so often when I say that Dee Snider, right now, circa 2015 would wipe Paul off the stage. He’s lean, he’s fit, he’s in (vocal) shape, and “no costumes, no pyro, no bullshit”, Dee would dominate. I’d pay good money to see that. (Though, no offense, the rest of Kiss not so much; they are a far better live band than people want to give them credit for).
I’ve probably said this a thousand times on this site….Paul Stanley has the right to decide what KISS looks like, who its members are, and what makeup they should wear. His reasoning – that he’s said a million times – is that the four original faces are the iconic faces of KISS. Any new face – Ostrich Boy, Squirrel Man, etc. – would only dilute that iconic image of the band.
If you agree with him – great. If you don’t, then enjoy the music of the original lineup and don’t listen to the rest, and certainly don’t go see them in concert.
As for Dee Snyder and his band, the most notable thing about them is that they’ve stretched two hits into a middling career for 30+ years. For making so much out of so little – kudos!
LMFAO! Just thought of a name for this rock ‘n’ roll soap opera, Twisted Kiss! 😉
Kissin’ Sister….lol
I’m not on Twitter, so I can’t participate in the debate with Ed, but I get that he’s friends with Ace and Peter, and he has to support them, but his incredulousness about “replacement members” versus “impersonators” I think is a little over the top. I very clearly get the difference, but we’re not talking about “Beatlemania” here. Tommy and Eric DO create new music. There are two albums with them on there, and the last THREE that billed “Peter Criss” had at most one song, and in the last case, only vocals on one song and NO drums. So it’s not as cut and dry as Eddie wants to believe. I also don’t buy at all the comment from Ace that “new fans don’t know the difference”; first, I thought Ace also said “there are no new fans” without him and Peter, but apparently there are, and now there’s confusion? And my 14-year-old daughter absolutely knows it isn’t the original members, and frankly, doesn’t care. When she saw Paul fly right over her head, it was everything (positive) that Paul and Gene ever said Kiss was about. That kid was in AWE for 75 minutes that night, and didn’t give shit one who wrote what solo.