Twisted Sister’s frontman Dee Snider recently took to his official X account to share his thoughts on the failure of the Frank Zappa documentary to acknowledge his contribution to the fight for rock.
The singer wrote his comments on the film, referring to his speech on the PMRC case:
“I watched an amazing doc on Frank Zappa produced by Ahmet Zappa with the full cooperation of the fam. When it got to the PMRC Senate hearings in ’85, it repeatedly said Frank was the only one who stood up!? I found myself sitting in my living room with my hand raised. ‘Excuse me…'”
When a user commented on his post, saying that Zappa would not have agreed with or approved of this characterization, Snider wrote in his response:
“The documentary is still amazing & I get wanting to glorify their dad/husband & position him as heroic. Frank Zappa was a hero! The doc just went a little overboard, portraying him as the only one to step up, the only one to defend rock, the only one to speak out. It wasn’t cool.”
Another comment explained that they’ve read ‘The Real Frank Zappa Book,’ crediting Snider and John Denver for being present during the PMRC Senate hearings in 1985. The rocker replied by saying:
“Frank was amazing to hang with on the day, & having subsequently spoken with some of his children, I was informed he thought highly of me (What an accolade!). I’m not offended by the omission. Frank’s kids are incredibly proud of their dad & just wanted to shine a light on him.”
At that time, The PMRC committee wanted to ban songs with explicit lyrics and censor bands because of their negative effect on children. The frontman refuted every allegation made against the influence of rock and metal music and fought against censorship. He recalled that day in a June chat with the Rocker Morning Show:
“It was a really sharpened blade. I went in there and set them up for a fall. The stories are pretty famous, you all know that. While Frank Zappa put on a suit, I came in there, and I cut off denim and snakeskin boots, wearing mascara. They would not expect me to open my mouth and make sense. They thought it would be Vince Neil, but I’m not Vince Neil. I’m Dee Snider.”
You can see the tweets below.
I watched an amazing doc on Frank Zappa produced by @AhmetZappa with full cooperation of the fam. When it got to the PMRC Senate hearings in ‘85 it repeatedly said Frank was the ONLY one who stood up!? I found myself sitting in my living room with my hand raised. “Excuse me…”
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) October 1, 2023
The documentary is still amazing & I get wanting to glorify their dad/husband & position him as heroic. Frank Zappa was a hero! The doc just went a little overboard portraying him as the ONLY one to step up, the ONLY one to defend rock, the ONLY one to speak out. It wasnt cool. https://t.co/xBM6PVB6HS
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) October 1, 2023
Frank was amazing to hang with on the day, & having subsequently spoken with some of his children, I was informed he thought highly of me (What an accolade!). I'm not offended by the omission. Frank's kids are incredibly proud of their dad & just wanted to shine a light on him https://t.co/1NTKlPJalK
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) October 1, 2023
