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
43 Responses
Dee is wrong! Not that Gene would get in deed face Gene would get his butt kick but it’s true metal in the United States dose sell CDs or tours in large number anymore. Metal know matter is never going away but it’s never going to be as big as it was in the 80s those days are long gone unless you move out of the US
Dee is wrong because even music with a true vehicle to promote and sell to the fans (like all of the Pop crap) they still do not sell albums…singles were around as 45’s and I still have many from 35 years ago, but now singles are a true measuring stick of popularity, not album sales. The bands we are all referencing on this thread are based on albums…they wrote albums, not singles and airplay was of no concern 20 years ago because there was plenty of rock stations, as well MTV was dominated by rock and roll vids not all Pop or like now, they don’t play music videos so many bands don’t even put time or money into making vids…those vehicles are gone. Other than TMS, which will not be back until 2015, what metal or hard rock shows are out there interviewing bands and talking new music?? NONE…it’s as if VH1 feels why waste money on TMS when those same fans and bands will still be topic of discussion in a few months…it’s like nothing new will be happening around those bands that needs to be covered, so we can wait 6 months in between shows. I feel that the metal/hard rock fans are under appreciated and under estimated in what they could mean in terms of the almighty dollar…The problem is that in twenty years, other than people my age (45 now), no one will care about Twisted Sister or Kiss, because the fans are not being replaced…at least not to the point they used to and when 50,000 people are at a “concert” full of Dj’s, that shows where the mainstream music taste is…the music industry is dead as we knew it, and rock is less than 10 years away from being real close…
Wow, this reminds me of an old Ibanez guitar ad from back in the 80’s. It was set in a museum in the future, and had a family looking at an exhibit that had Alex Skolnick of Testament playing his guitar, as a life-like statue. The exhibit description card said “metal musician”.
2Live Crew,NWA,ICE T nope rap was never and has never been screunitzed.
I still chuckle to this day when a radio station sets up a promo booth at a concert venue and that station does not even play those bands!! My last few concerts here in Phoenix were good examples: Red Dragon Cartel,Overkill,even Black Label Society.