Liner Notes · No. 031
"We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister: the B-side
Quick hall pass: the song you screamed at your bedroom door got sung by Catherine Zeta-Jones, cost an Australian politician a fortune, and ended up as a piano ballad. Here's the B-side.
📰 FAST FACTS
- In September 2025, NPR marked 40 years since the PMRC hearings with a feature on Tipper Gore, Twisted Sister and the fight over warning labels. (NPR)
- Dee Snider's 2016 piano version also backed a charity video for Criss Angel's HELP, directed by Angel in the desert outside Las Vegas. (Rolling Stone)
- The Australian ruling also permanently barred Palmer from any further reproductions of the song. (Bird & Bird)
On this record
TRACK 1 · The cameo
Rock of Ages and the A$1.5 million copycat
Rock of Ages mashed it into "We Built This City," and an Australian politician used it in campaign ads after balking at the licence. Bad plan.
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The standoff: In the 2012 movie Rock of Ages, Russell Brand's Lonny and Catherine Zeta-Jones's Patricia Whitmore, the mayor's wife on a crusade against the Bourbon Room, lead rival crowds in a face-off. The song they fight with is a mashup of Starship's "We Built This City" and "We're Not Gonna Take It." One reviewer called it one of the best sequences in the film. Two of the most-mocked and most-loved songs of the 80s, forced to share a stage. Your cousin's wedding DJ dreams of this.
The copycat: In 2019, Australian politician Clive Palmer's United Australia Party reworked the song as "Aussies Not Gonna Cop It" for its campaign ads. He had balked at a licence quote and used it anyway, arguing the melody came from a hymn. Which, to be fair, is sort of true. It just isn't a legal defense.
The bill: Hold that thought. How much the court made him pay is the quiz.
In 2021, an Australian court ordered Clive Palmer to pay how much for copying "We're Not Gonna Take It" in campaign ads?
No Googling. We'll know.
That's Side A. Flip the tape.
Side B is where it gets weird:
- The live ones: Fallon in 2011, a Vegas night for A.J. Pero, the 2016 farewell, and Sebastian Bach on vocals in 2026.
- The covers: the band's own Christmas carol, the Rock of Ages mashup, and Dee Snider's piano ballad.
- Where they are now: the 50th-anniversary tour that changed singers, and Dee Snider's health.
Free, every Tuesday. One song, the story you never heard, and a 10-minute hall pass from the doomscroll. Already subscribed? Enter your email to unlock.
▶ SIDE B
TRACK 2 · The live one
Fallon, Vegas, the farewell and a new singer
Late-night Fallon in 2011, a 2015 Vegas show dedicated to A.J. Pero, the 2016 farewell, and in 2026 a new singer: Sebastian Bach.
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2011, late night: On April 26, 2011, Twisted Sister played it on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which aired at 12:35 a.m. Eastern, alongside "I Am (I'm Me)." Past midnight on network TV, which is exactly when your parents would have wanted it.
2015, Las Vegas: On May 30, 2015, two months after drummer A.J. Pero died, the band played The Joint at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas and dedicated the show to him. His friend Mike Portnoy sat in on drums. The night became the first Metal Meltdown concert film in 2016.
2016, the goodbye: On August 12, 2016, the band played its last-ever UK concert, at Bloodstock Open Air, with this song in the set. On November 12, 2016, in Monterrey, Mexico, they played it together for the last time on the farewell run. Forty years of eyeliner, retired with honors.
2026, the new guy: On August 28, 2026, at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, Twisted Sister played its first show with Sebastian Bach, formerly of Skid Row, singing. "We're Not Gonna Take It" closed the 17-song set with a tease of "O Come, All Ye Faithful." Even with a new singer, the carol still gets a cameo.
TRACK 3 · Cover watch
The covers (one of them is a carol)
Twisted Sister turned it into a Christmas carol, Rock of Ages made it a mashup, and Dee made it a piano ballad. Play them, then vote.
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- 2006 · Twisted Sister, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful." On their holiday album A Twisted Christmas, the band sang the carol's traditional words over the music of "We're Not Gonna Take It." The carol came home for the holidays, in leather.
- 2012 · Russell Brand & Catherine Zeta-Jones. The "We Built This City" mashup made the Rock of Ages soundtrack, about two minutes and eighteen seconds of it. An early track list credited Brand alone. The final release gave Zeta-Jones her share of the rebellion.
- 2016 · Dee Snider, piano ballad. Snider stripped it down to piano and cut it in one take for his solo album We Are the Ones (October 28, 2016). The Recording Academy made it the anthem for its push on how musicians get paid. The angriest song of 1984, now suitable for a candlelit dinner.
▶ WATCH THE CONTENDERS
Battle of the versions: which "We're Not Gonna Take It" wins?
Cast your vote. Results in the next issue. Choose carefully: we're judging you.
TRACK 4 · Where are they now
Where Twisted Sister is now
Dee Snider stepped down for health reasons in 2026 and the reunion dates were cancelled. The band plays on with Sebastian Bach. Mark Metcalf turned 80.
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The reunion: In September 2025, Twisted Sister announced a 50th-anniversary reunion world tour for 2026.
Dee: On February 5-6, 2026, the band cancelled every announced date after Dee Snider stepped down for health reasons. Snider, 70, has degenerative arthritis and has had multiple surgeries, and heart concerns were also cited. He said his kids sat him down and asked him to stop. In August 2026 he said he had broken his right shoulder and expected shoulder replacement surgery after rehab. We wish him an easy recovery.
The band: In March 2026 the band announced select later-2026 shows with Sebastian Bach on vocals, alongside guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, with Joey Cassata on drums for the fall. A September 4 Alaska State Fair date was reported as booked. Somewhere a moose is not gonna take it either.
The dad: Mark Metcalf, Neidermeyer himself, turned 80 in 2026. A January 2025 podcast episode looked back on his career, from Animal House to playing the Maestro on Seinfeld. Still the most intimidating father in MTV history.
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