TWISTED SISTER FRONTMAN DEE SNIDER REFUTES GENE SIMMONS’ CLAIM THAT “ROCK IS DEAD”
Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider has responded to KISS bassist Gene Simmons claim that rock is dead.
Snider writes via his Facebook:
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
I think they both are right.Dee’s right about the record companies then, Gene’s right about the record companies and Illegal downloading since about 2000.But Dee making excuses for people to steal is just pandering, afraid to pi$$ the little thieves off, much like Lars did and Gene seems to have.
Dee Snider is 100% correct about the record company’s being greedy when it came to charging for CD’s. The way the prices are usually now is the way it should have been back then. I am all about CD’s and still buy and support the artists, but people got sick and tired of paying $15 or more for one CD (especially if the record quality wise was lacking). The artist made a fraction of it compared to the label, but as a fan we bought it and saved money to do it. Now the game has changed (promotion, support, etc so it wasn’t al bad from a record company) and it’s very sad indeed.
Well said, Dee! He is exactly correct! I have for years been arguing for prices at least closer to $10 for new releases, and for older releases, say maybe Flick of the Switch by AC/DC or Lick it Up by KISS maybe $5. When you walk into a store and they have close to $20 for Black in Black?! No way in Hell I am paying that kind of money for a 30+ year old album! I don’t care how good it is, or how classic it is. I can see, because it’s just a “classic” album charge like $7 or $7.99 for it, but NO HIGHER! Did the record companies do anything remote to this? Nope. They kept charging exorbitant prices. Stupid. This in turn killed the record stores. Which sucks for people like me that still like to buy music. I’d buy alot more music than I do now if I had easier access to it. i do buy on amazon and ebay alot, but it’s kind of out of sight out of mind for me. I bought Overkill’s new cd at Best Buy the other night. I was in there for something else, and I was like “ooh let me go check out the cds”. pitiful selection, btw. Sad. Did they have Scorpion Child, no. Did they have Halestorm, no. Not even California Breed. I paid about $12 for the Overkill cd, which was alright. I of course would prefer to pay a little less. But $12 after tax isn’t too bad. Where is the modern day music equivalent to United Artists. Most people know UA as the studio that put out the 007 and Rocky pictures. But in the early 1900s it was put together by Charlie Chaplin and many other actors to take control of their product and art. Take it away from the greedy studio bosses. Sound familiar? These record companies could care less about the bands and the music. Forming your own record label isn’t enough. You have to have the distribution, production and marketing that the big companies have (but aren’t using). That would be expensive, no doubt. It would require many bands and artists collaborating and putting together their money. Are you reading this Gene? Stop bitching and give back to the music that allowed you to live well (and deservedly so). Give up the stupid football team, and focus on building the next generation of rock and metal by creating a avenue for it to breathe. Simmons Records ain’t gonna cut it. Get with Dee and Nikki maybe. Call it United Rock? It has a good ring to it.
The advent of the CD was also a great opportunity for the companies to sell all the albums to the fan – a second time, to have on CD all the beloved music that they/we already had on vinyl.
Amen to what Dee said here! Gene is a half wit and needs to shut his big mouth under that big nose of his!
mmannn i was laughing my fool head off what Allen said. I remember my kids seeing some show where some Kiss look alikes came off stage one pops a beer or coke, another takes his top ponytail wig off with his gut hanging over his demon belt,,, well I think of Gene each time and Allen refreshed my thoughts how this fatass schmuck opens his yap like we care.