Shut Up and Give Me the Mic by Dee Snider
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Shut Up and Give Me the Mic" is the autobiography of one of the most outspoken personalities in rock and heavy metal and the frontman of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider. Unlike a lot of his other rocker peers, Dee didn't get into alcohol and drug abuse nor was he unfaithful to his wife during his time in the spotlight. With a laser focus on musical success, he and the rest of the band clawed, scraped, and dragged themselves to the height of popularity, only to have it all come crumbling down a few short years later.
Snider spends the majority of the book detailing Twisted Sister's rise to the top, mostly in the 1980-1985 years. Along the way, he details his relationship with his wife Suzette, who went above and beyond what most women would go through to see their husband succeed. Later, when Dee and Twisted Sister fell from grace *hard*, Snider realized that as long as his family was happy and healthy, that was all that really mattered.
While Dee is the first one to sing his own praises (he's an admitted megalomaniac), he also takes the vast majority of the blame for his fall from grace.
Despite being 400+ pages, this book reads surprisingly quickly. Dee's always had a way with words (just seek out the video where he speaks at the Senate PMRC hearings), and it shows here.
If you're a child of the '80s like me, this is a nice trip back Nostalgia Lane. It also has some insight into the music business which could be of some use for any up-and-coming musicians. Overall, this was a fun and educational read, and I recommend it for anyone who remembers that era or has an interest in music history.
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