 to the metal voice today, back on the show. Raggedy Ann on acid himself, the Snyder. Yes, yes. Better looking, Sarah Jessica Parker. Last night, I slipped on that twisted Christmas, curled up with my ball of my favorite jammies and read the Z-Tune comic. He's not going to take it, graphic novel. And it was a great read. You know, as a fanboy and a comic book, comic book former comic book geek, I was pretty amazing to see myself immortalized in, you know, as a comic figure. It's pretty cool. You know, it's interesting, it's like the origin story, right? It's like Batman, you know, the beginning, right? The D-Snyder, the beginning. Who was he? How did he grow up? Did he get bitten by a bat or got bitten by rock and roll? That's what we're finding out, right? Well, that's that was the interesting thing about Z2 Comics. They approached me with the idea. And when they said, you know, it was like, and right now, C-word, as I call it, censorship, is a hot button topic right now as much as it ever was. And they said, we want, but we want to explore, like, how did you become that guy, that voice? How did you come to be there at that moment in time to speak out? And there's a frame, as you saw there, where I'm in the cradle. I mean, they go back to the damn cradle. Telling my story. Origin, it's an origin. It's an origin story. It is an origin, yeah, exactly. You know what's interesting? Go ahead, I'm sorry. PMRC, 1985. I remember it like it was yesterday. You come on with the greatest head of hair in the history of rock, metal, metal, metal. Still on my head, people. Still on my head. You sit down and with a full, full uniform, like you said, metal uniform, and you start dishing it to them. I mean, what has changed since then? Has anything changed? Changed censorship-wise? Wow, it's changed a big way. I mean, that was a right-wing puritanical, evangelical effort to reel in the demon rock and roll. Very right-wing. Now we're pendulum swung. We're all the way to the left with the super molly coddling. So let's grab everybody in bubble wrap and protect them from bad words and offensive things. And if you don't listen to us, we're gonna cancel your ass. So it's gone from being a really a right-wing thing to a left thing, you know? But it's still censorship. Anyway, slice it. You know, it's interesting because a lot of people misunderstand what freedom of speech means. People are asking me that all the time. I said, what's your biggest concern about censorship and free speech or whatever? And I say that people don't understand what freedom of speech means, what it is. First of all, it is essentially, it should be a God-given right. It shouldn't be a government-given right. Every person should be allowed to speak freely. But there are many, many places in this world where if you speak your mind, you will be put to death. You will be arrested. We know many cases in Russia right now. So it's a gift that our forefathers preserved in the United States, I don't know what the... It's the same thing, it's the same thing. Preserve, say, First Amendment, you write to speak a freedom of speech as an inalienable right. But what people don't understand is it's also, it's a privilege and a responsibility. And the most basic example I can give is if you go online and say that Karen had sex with the football team, when she did not and you know she did not and your sole intent is malicious and hurtful and potentially lethal because there are many kids who are committing suicide over the humiliation they suffered. That's not free speech. Saying a lie, knowing it's a lie and with intent to hurt somebody, that's not free speech. So there is a responsibility with free speech. Should the government be regulating it? No, I'm gonna have a new moat, I'm working with some charitable organization and I'll be making a new movement to educate people, but the people should know. It shouldn't the government should have to tell us, people should just understand that they've got a very, the voice is powerful and the words are powerful and you have a right to speak them. But you need, you should be speaking truths. Free speech is not lies. You know, going back to that day, I mean, John Denver was there, everybody was a little concerned what he would be saying, but he spoke up, he pointedly, and I mean, even compared the process to Nazi Germany, but it seemed like he got away. Does that lead credence to your thought that it was more or less heavy metal that was persecuted the day rather than rock forms? Well, first of all, you know, amazing respect to the late John Denver and Frank Zappa, both for stepping forward, both for speaking out, both for being eloquent and John Denver, in many ways, was more damaging than anybody else because he was, as American, his mom and apple pie, doing his Christmas to holiday special and making movies and they were falling, the senators were falling all over John. I mean, they just, they expected him to stand with them and Frank and I, we were in the back, we were unsure we knew where he should be, we weren't sure if he would stand where he should and he stood tall that day. This said, I was the only one there who was actually on the Filthy 15. I was on the list of the 15 most reviled songs, you know, and by the way, I wanna point out, Bruce Springsteen was also on that list and Cindy Lauper was on that list and yeah, there was Judas Priest and Wasp, but it was a really, by the way, and some people have conflated and confused things. There was no hip-hop, hip-hop wasn't an issue in 1985. That came a few years later. It was not an ethnic, people said, oh, it was an ethnic thing. No, there was black artists, there was white artists, there were females, there were males, there were clearly gay guys on there and there was, you know, it was very even-handed in this like of rock and roll. Okay, I'm gonna play devil, but I'm gonna play devil's advocate here, right? We had the Cindy Lauper's, we had the Madonna's, we had the Twiz's sister, which was kind of like just regular lyrics that you'd find anywhere throughout time in history, right? But then you had like merciful fate, which I love by the way, you know, things like suck the blood from the unholy knife, say after me my soul belongs to Satan. Does that belong in society as freedom of speech? Well, you know, and, you know, I get, first of all, I wanna just inform the audience. Originally, this PRC was looking for a rating system that had different qualifications. So there was V for violence. They said, we're not gonna take it, it was violent. And there was S for Satanic. But no, it was over a cult. Over a cult. I think they had B for beastiality. I don't know, but they wanted to have a real breakdown here of what it was. And sadly, they negotiated with the American recording Institute who agreed to the warning parental advisory sticker before we spoke. Frank and I were informed in the back room that they'd already agreed to a compromised sticker, which really sucked. Imagine going in being told you to fight and being told you lost already. It almost made you feel like, well, why am I even bothering? To our credit, we went in there. But, you know, there are differences. And I've had my moments with music. Cannibal Corpse is a bridge too far for me. I was doing my first metal show. I got that first Cannibal Corpse album. I threw it in the garbage. But did they have the right to- That's what I'm getting at. Those lyrics, yes they do. We have the right to not buy it, not listen to it, not broadcast it. That is where the censorship comes in. We can self-censor. We don't have to listen to the mentors. When they say, I'll make you sniff my anal vapor. I'll use your face for toilet paper. I mean, even the senators couldn't not laugh when they read those out loud that day. So, yeah, I mean, this is where, and look, at that time, I said is not the government's job. Just like I said a moment ago about censorship, I said it is, as a parent, it is my job. Obviously you're concerned about 10, 11, 12 year olds I guess. So my job, and when the First Nations D record came out, and my kids got it and loved it, and my daughter heard Wonder Boy and she heard some of the fun songs and she wanted a copy and she was seven. I went and burnt her own copy without fuck her gently and without cock push ups on it. Because I'm the parent and I will censor the music that she hears. It is not, the government doesn't have to do it. I will be the one. Yeah, and you know, like you said, Senator Exxon at the time was kind of saying, why are we doing here? We're not passing a lot. Somebody goes and whispers it here. And then you look 50 years later, however time it's been, 40 years later, nearly. And you look at the Twitter files. They don't want to talk to you about the so-called journalist, Matt Tyabee. And they're asking the questions and then nobody listens to the answers. They're all talking amongst each other and claiming their time. I'm just trying to get your feeling. Have we advanced that all since 85? Well, we, we have it. So we've learned nothing. We've learned nothing. Not that we've, a real tough call. Again, I'm just amazed at the pendulum swing where you would think, you know, where we would think the, that now that the left is, you know, people have tried to cancel me. I was, I didn't call it canceling back then. After those censorship hearings, I went through a lot of shit. My band was essentially canceled. It was not a wise move for me at that time. You know, so, but I didn't call it that. Now they have a name for it. No, and I'm concerned that with certain, well, social media has just opened the barn door and let the, let the open the crown and let all the everybody out, let all the horses out. I mean, it's real, we're really at a weird point where people think free speech is just saying anything you want. And that is the anarchist, the Elon Musk, I'm a genius idiot, a view of it. Free speech is saying anything you want, whatever you want, without any responsibility, without any having to concern yourself with the ramifications on any level. To me, that is not free speech. It was never the intention, you know, of our forefathers and it was, and again, people in the world who can't even speak, say truth, let alone blatant lies without being persecuted. Well, that's always the case in history, right? Anyone who speaks up against the system usually pays the price. Perspective, I think John Denver in this graphic novel says it's about perspective. It's about allowing different perspectives to not be shut down, right? And I think that's what the problem today is, correct me if I'm wrong, it's we're not allowing all perspectives, so the parent or the consumer can make, or the reader can make the judgment call. And the information is just assailing us and it's not being fact checked on any level. It's left to the listener, the person getting information to fact check, but it's becoming more and more difficult to check those facts. Because basically, if you put any opinion into Google, you'll get plenty of confirmation of that opinion, plenty of outlets and social media sites and news agencies who say, oh yeah, that's true. And even the craziest statements, but some there are people there who will endorse and support them. So it's getting tougher. You have to really work to find out what the truth is. It's a responsibility of each of us to do that before we repeat things or react to things. But I've been guilty of making mistakes and reacting too quickly, reposting something myself. It's a tough time. So we're almost out of time, I just want, I mean, you look great in the graphic novel, I mean. They already work, it's fantastic. Well, they immortalized my abs from, you know, I had, I honestly, I had knee-pack abs up to about the age of 62. And when Twisted retired, I said on the stage, and each night I said, people say, we're retiring, I said, we're retiring. And I said, listen, I want a pancake. I want a muffin. I want a carb. I want a carb, carb. I said, I'm starving myself to look like this. I'm done. So the bad news is I don't have eight-pack abs anymore, and I will not be taking my shirt off on stage, but they are immortalized on the cover. Is Suzette happy with the way she turned out in the novel? You know what, she hasn't read it. She finds these things very aggravating. When she reads my starry book, when she started reading these things, she just gets angry. I was a handful back in those days. So it triggers a lot of difficult memories for her. I mean, I look at myself walking in there in the video and I go, how on earth did you walk and pants that tight with walls that big? It's physically impossible. You shouldn't be able to put one foot in front of the other. They should have been widespread. They should have been a wheelbarrow down between my legs. And I should have been lugging them in because damn, did I have balls, did you know how full of myself I was? I mean, that I was unshaked. I mean, good God, I could look at them. I go, wow, they said, you want to come testify in front of Senate and the world? And I'm like, yeah, let's listen. Come on, let's go. I mean, honestly, I mean, could I do it again? Yes, but damn it, that I was that cock sure at that point in my life. What would you have done differently? She said, I had the pleasure of hanging out with that guy all the time. He was a lot. He was a lot. Would you have done something differently now that you look back at the video and what you said and what they said, you know, hindsight's 20, 20, of course, but is there anything you would have changed? Well, that was, you know, minus the genes. The short answer is no. The longer answer is though, there was a lot of like, what did I do? When I left there, I felt very abandoned by the rock community for the most part, did not understand the importance of what was going on. They were young, they were teenagers and, you know, and like, now we know what records to buy. You know, that wasn't the point. And the industry, as I said before, they folded before we even spoke. They agreed to the sticker, it was a done deal. So, and a lot of the other musicians, they laid out of it. They went quiet. They said, let's wait for the dust to settle. You know, and they deliberately made that move. You know what I mean? Just, you know, let it blow over. And so by putting myself in that position, I damaged my band. I became public enemy number one, even though you, the fans knew, we were not the worst of the bunch. Yeah, yeah. They're not the worst of the bunch by any means, but still that face to mom and dad was like, oh yeah, you can, you can go see Motley Crue, but you can't go see Twisted Sister. You know, and there was a lot of that. And as you've heard, my mail was checked, my phones were tapped, my packages were being checked. You know, it was, it was disheartening. I remember Ronnie Dio trashing me in the press. You remember that too. And he said, who is Dee Snyder to speak for us? And my first line was, I cannot speak for anyone but myself. He didn't even listen to my first line and then reacted and spoke out against me. Years later, he apologized, but no one remembers the retraction. So, but I do it again, yes. Did I do the right thing? Yes. And as the years have gone by, it's made me this legendary carousel. If people call me iconic, part of it is- Superhero, superhero in a comic book way. Part of it's that. I mean, I was, you know, I was recently, I guess the spin magazine put out there, top 100 rock stars of all time. And I was top, I'm in the top 15. I'm not sure I'm 15, be three, 15 to 11. Not sure what number yet. But two years ago, I wasn't on the list at all. So as time has gone on, that part of, what is a rock star? You know, that thing has elevated me. It was more than just a couple of songs. It was standing up for your beliefs. And, you know, I don't know, man. I just, I like to think I did the right thing. I like to think I did the right thing. But you left Washington, did you get home to find the IRS or left a note on your door? Thank God, no. But I mean, you know, but I'm one of the most boring people in the world that I've set off stage. So they would tap my phones, they would get nothing. You know, married, got a kid, you know, no drinking, no drugs. I mean, I'm the guy that after I got to stage, never went out, never been to the rainbow. I never went through that. I mean, I'd go back home. I mean, like to me it was, it wasn't a job. To me it was like, do what you do. And then, you know, you got a wife, you got a kid and you have a life. That wasn't a lifestyler. That hurt me too. People like lifestyles. You know, they want you out in a Pantera killing people. You know, that's someone you can really cheer on. You know, but D Snyder does the right thing. But again, as time went on, it's lent itself to who I am and people respect that. You know, I'm kind of rambling here and I'm sorry. But that moment in time, that was the first time people saw me and said, wait a minute, this guy's kind of smart. He's got more going on than just, we're not gonna take it. And there isn't a thing that I've done whether it's been Broadway, movies, screenplay writing, radio. Where the people who hired me haven't said, I saw you talk that day. I knew that it was more to you. So it was really sort of a huge change. Hurt my career, but long-term, it enhanced my career. Because people started to see me view me differently. I remember when you were on The Apprentice, I enjoyed that. I did enjoy that. And you showed yourself willing. Very tough show. I always saw people, I was on two and a half, three seasons in various capacities. But I always told them on the show, Mark, what's his name? I've got his, the producer. So you're not, this is way tougher than people realize and you're not just letting people know. Like you'd see 20 minutes of the boardroom, we were in there for a couple of hours. Wow. Sweating it out too. And you're in our ties and jackets and the girls in gowns. And they would turn off the air conditioning, not to bust our balls, but because it's so loud. So in between takes they would run the AC, but then they turn it off and all the lights, but we were doing two shows a week. So it was six days a week and you're doing 16 hour days. So I said, you're not capturing that. People watch, you know, an hour long show. They don't realize that that show took three days and they were 16 hour days each. And then you finish the boardroom and you're fired and then wake up the next day and right back into the next show. So I said, it's real. And they make, it's all this sort of a game, but they somehow get it to be a pressure cooker. Yeah. But I remember when I got fired and I was, the next night I was on Jimmy Fallon, he says, so how do you feel? And I said, well, I got fake fired from a fake job, so I'm always fake bumped out. You know, so that's the realization. And after you step away, you go, wait a minute. That wasn't real. That wasn't real. But it's hurtful. I'm sure it's still hurtful when it happens, right? Well, at the moment, but then you go, wait a minute. Because my newspaper, I didn't sell enough copies of my newspaper on the street corner. I mean, what is that? I'm not a newspaper salesman. You know, I mean, oh my God, I got to sell newspapers. Call your friends, Lee, come buy my newspaper. It's ridiculous. Z2 Comics, he's not gonna take it out now. Another great read for the holidays. Check out, shut up and give me the mic. These Snyder's book, fantastic autobiography. And you're missing one, Fratz, my first novel, which came out. Oh, yes. And I'm actually been approached by a major studio who's interested in making a movie out of it, which is amazing. So you got Fratz, you got, he's not gonna take it. Shut up and give me the mic. You got the new DeSnyder Funko Pop is available. There you go. I'm looking for that special gift for the DeSnyder fan in your life. Well, I need to stuff those stockings. Also, last year you were inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame, which was really cool that, you know, I don't know if it's the last show of Twisted Sister, but I guess it could be the last show, right? I guess. Yeah, you know, I mean, we went off. You know, well, I won't be surprised if we're reuniting this election year to champion some important causes. I can see that we're all on the same page, pretty much all of us are on the same page. And, you know, and I could see us helping fight the good fight to, I mean, because this is a big picture election. And, you know, with things like women's right to choose, that's a big picture thing, you know what I mean? That's it, that's gonna hurt the other side. I said the other side because I'm not on that side. But Mr. Trump, because people you say, people, that's, you can't take, you can't roll back the clock. We're not going back in time. We're going forward. The fact that my granddaughter does not have the right to choose just blows my mind, you know, and that's something. And so these are important, important issues. So it'll be more about, less about the politicians and more about the parties they represent and what they represent, you know, gun control. I'm like, and by the way, I'm the weird, I'm gunned up, man. I'm, okay. But I am for intelligent gun control. I'm gunned up. That's all right. That's all right. So I'm, I'm, I'm the moderate. You know, I'm a, I'm that person. I drive a Tesla and an H2 Harbor. I'm an environmentalist and I ride motorcycles. I've got, you know, these, these contrasts and they say they're not, it looks like I said, you know, when, when Al Gore said to me, oh, is sick motherfuckers, is that a Christian organization? And I said Christianity and profanity of nothing to do with each other. It's, you know, there is nothing to do. There's no thou shall not curse the 11th commandment that apparently was dropped or lost. No, those motherfuckers are cursing too. So, you know, so everybody's cursing. Like I just did, sorry. I'm losing it now. Sorry, sorry. But, you know, people say, but what's a moderate? What is a moderate? I say, you know, I say, I tell people the middle, the vast middle need to speak up because right now the left, extreme left, extreme right are both, they're driving, they're steering the ship, they're the loudest voices in the room, they're making the most noise and the vast middle is sitting too silently. And I'll say, well, what's a moderate these days? I say, what's a moderate? If you're willing to discuss something and consider a compromise, you're a moderate. Because the people on the extreme left and extreme right, they will not give one inch. They won't talk about it. They will not compromise on any circumstance. So, there's a lot of us in the middle who may be more right leaning, right leaning or left leaning, that's fine. But you need to speak up if you're willing to have a discussion on a subject and you're willing to consider compromising on something because those are the voices that need to be steering the ship, not the unrelenting, unyielding extremes on both sides. All right, we're full political now. You know what? You remind me of a Canadian. Moderates. Ah man, I was down here, I was just gonna, by the way, I'm sending a message out to the Canadians. And this is going to the extreme right people who are very angry and very upset. And there are many who are leaving the country for freedom. You know, they've gotta have freedom. I live in Belize half the year now. I love Belize, I've been down here 10 years. It's an amazing country. And I was in a little coffee shop and there was a woman and her 11-year-old daughter, clearly not Mayans or Belisians or Mexicans. They were white and they looked pretty shell shocked. And I said, how you doing? And I said, you visit your vacation? And they said, no, we moved here from Canada. And I said, oh, really? Why did you choose Belize for freedom? And I said, well, first of all, we've got no box stores here. There's no Starbucks or Target or Costco. So that's one of the shell shocked things if you're moving down here. Secondly, when COVID was, they had the military on the streets, curfew, arresting people. And if you were caught not wearing a mask, it was a $2,500 US dollar fine. By the way, the pay is $25 a day. So people who were being arrested making $25 a day where it went to prison and had to pay $2,500. The point being, it's not freedom like you think. Yeah, it's not traditional freedom. I agree with you. Central America. It's central and South America, you know? So it's a different vibe. Anyway, guys, always pleasure to talk with you guys. Metal, we didn't talk much metal today, but I guess this whole thing is metal. It's pretty metal. You know what? Speaking out is metal. That's what it's all about. No matter what your point of view is, it's just as long as you're passionate about what you believe in. I think that's the most important thing. Exactly, exactly. All right. Take care. Have a great holiday. You too. You too. You know, whatever you're celebrating. I remember those stocking stuffers, people. You know, I gotta say, I'll leave you with this. I really enjoyed your graphic novel just as a nice plug. The origin story is there. The whole PMRC is there. And then you even end off in a very nice tone. And that's all I'm gonna say for the people out there. It's worth the money. The last thing I want to end on is, did you see my thing about Kiss Farewell? No. My ex on Kiss Farewell. I'm a Day One Kiss fan. Day One. I was living on Long Island in Nassau County. They were in Queens. Heard about this band that was wearing makeup. They were coming out with their first album and I was like all about it called Kiss. Man, I snapped that thing up and I had the first seven albums. But the idea of the Farewell tour, you know, I don't know what to believe. And people say, well, what do you think is for real? I said, this is what I know. When I see the bodies in the Kiss coffins, then I'll say, they're done. They're done. When they're laying there in the coffins, I'll say, it might be over, it might be over. What do you think about these avatars though? Oh my God. Well, that's, you know, people who knows what they'll pay money to see. They're paying money to see a Michael Jackson avatar and a pedophile. And in the show one, it's still a hologram and they're doing all the tips. So, you know, and it's been up and running for years. So who knows, you know, maybe, maybe. All right. Have a great one, man. Pleasure talking to you. He's not gonna take it. Thank you, D. I don't.