Happy Birthday Dee Snider
After the 1987 dissolution of Long Island pop-metal hitmakers Twisted Sister, frontman Dee Snider embarked on a series of solo and group projects that kept him busy through the '90s. Snider first formed a new band called Desperado with guitarist Bernie Torme, bassist Marc Russell, and drummer Clive Burr. The group recorded an album, Bloodied But Unbowed, which was never officially released (although some copies did eventually pop up internationally). Snider next formed the heavier Widowmaker, retaining Russell on bass and recruiting guitarist Al Pitrelli and drummer Joey Franco (a member of Twisted Sister for that group's last album). Widowmaker debuted with 1992's Blood & Bullets and managed to record one more album, 1994's Stand by for Pain, before disbanding. Snider next turned his attention to film, specifically the horror genre; he wrote, produced, and acted in Strangeland, which was released in 1998. Snider also performed off and on with an outfit called the SMFs, which was devoted mostly to Twisted Sister repertoire. In 2000, Snider released his first solo album (with Bernie Torme on guitar). Titled Never Let the Bastards Wear You Down, the record was composed mostly of songs from the '80s that Snider had never previously recorded for official release. The singer continued to act and do voice work into the 2000s before returning in 2012 with Dee Does Broadway and in 2016 with We Are the Ones, the latter of which featured a newly recorded acoustic rendition of the Twisted Sister classic "We're Not Gonna Take It."
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