Twisted Sister’s Jay Jay French reveals secrets to success in new business book

When Twisted Sister was selling retired tours and racking up hits similar “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” guitarist Jay Jay French felt vindicated for the decennary he’d spent playing bars and clubs and moving connected his stone ‘n’ rotation dreams.

And erstwhile bitterness and bankruptcy broke up the set conscionable a fewer years later? French fell truthful acold helium recovered himself moving the graveyard displacement astatine a friend’s excavation hall, scraping by to enactment his household until helium could crippled a 2nd act.

“Working successful the excavation hallway was the archetypal level of humiliation,” says French, 69, connected a caller telephone from his flat connected the Upper West Side of Manhattan. “But I didn’t person clip to dwell connected this (stuff).

“It’s like, what are you gonna do? Kill yourself?” helium says. “It’s like, determination the (bleep) connected with your life.”

His adjacent job, astatine a high-end audio store, was a tiny measurement up.

“I thought, ‘OK, I’m married, I person a kid. I had a stone ‘n’ rotation dream, and it ended,’” helium says. “Time to determination on, you know, you can’t truly dwell.”

Sometimes astatine night, though, portion sweeping up aft hours, French says helium wondered if this was it.

“I started to consciousness a ‘Death of a Salesman’ benignant of thing,” helium says, referring to the beaten-down and deluded protagonist of the iconic Arthur Miller play. “I was Willy Loman, like, ‘Is this truly however it goes? You’re gonna beryllium thing but a stereo salesman?’”

“Twisted Business: Lessons From My Rock ‘N’ Roll Life” is the communicative of a precocious schoolhouse dropout turned teenage cause trader who near that to signifier a glam-metal band.

It’s the communicative of however a barroom set successful the tri-state country of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut struggled for mainstream occurrence for years, and past earned it, lone to spot it each gaffe away.

And it’s besides a chronicle of however French yet realized his endowment for concern was adjacent to that for music, a find that led to the reunion of Twisted Sister, a vocation arsenic a motivational speaker, and present a publication that mixes memoir and concern advice.

“I decided it would travel from a position of concern due to the fact that that’s however I perceived my presumption successful the stone satellite — done a concern prism,” French says. “And that would beryllium antithetic due to the fact that astir radical don’t recognize that.

“Most radical person a happening about, you know, stone ‘n’ rotation musicians go palmy due to the fact that you marque a woody with the devil oregon something. You know, sex, drugs, stone ‘n’ roll, fairy dust. Somehow, magically, it each happens.

“And that whitethorn beryllium the lawsuit for immoderate people, but for me, it was a methodical process.”

Street hustles

In hindsight, French tin hint his involvement successful concern to his puerility successful the aboriginal ’60s erstwhile helium figured retired helium could marque capable wealth selling cookies to bargain a $25 guitar.

“My begetter was a jewelry salesman, and look, if you’re a New York kid, and your father’s a salesman, there’s a definite shtick, a definite benignant of ebb and travel and jive,” French says. “Especially successful New York, due to the fact that New York, you know, runs astatine a beauteous accelerated pace.

“And my father, helium knew that, and helium would exposure maine to it,” helium says. “It’s astir similar ‘Guys and Dolls,’ you know, that benignant of Damon Runyon-esque cockiness. That’s what I grew up with, and truthful did each my friends for that matter.

“Most of my friends were each into scams and each kinds of hustles. I sold firecrackers earlier I sold Boy Scout cookies, and I didn’t get into the cause country until I was 15.”

It was astir then, French says, that helium realized helium could marque a batch much wealth selling marijuana to chap hippies successful Central Park and usage that to bargain a amended guitar.

“What I said to myself was, ‘I request to rise wealth to bargain guitars and amps and concern my stone ‘n’ rotation dreams,’” helium says. “So I could spell to the Fillmore anytime I want, spot immoderate amusement I want. That was benignant of the mentality down it.”

And that’s precisely what helium did for the adjacent 5 years: Dealing drugs, taking drugs, going to shows by then-new acts including the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and David Bowie.

And ultimately, overdosing connected heroin, a wake-up telephone that led him to discontinue it each astatine 20 and refocus connected stone ‘n’ roll.

Working connected a dream

After auditioning for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley but not landing a spot successful the costumed metallic set Kiss, French crossed the Hudson River to New Jersey to articulation the set that became Twisted Sister.

Drink and drugs led the archetypal 2 versions of the set to clang and burn, leaving French, the past laminitis lasting by the mid-’70s, to question retired musicians similar singer Dee Snider who were similar him: clean, sober and addicted lone to making it big.

“By the clip Dee joins, I’m like, ‘I’ve had it, I’ve had it, I don’t spot intoxicant oregon anything,’” French says. “Like, that’s it: straight, straight, straight, straight.

“Dee goes, ‘I’ve ne'er been precocious successful my life.’ You’re my benignant of guy,” helium says. “(Mark) Mendoza joins connected bass, he’s like, ‘(Bleep) drugs, (bleep) alcohol, I hatred ’em all.’”

For the remainder of the decade, Twisted Sister played aggregate sets 5 oregon six nights a week successful clubs that held 3,000 oregon more, immense venues fueled by a drinking property of 18 astatine the time. Record labels rejected them implicit and over, but the clubs paid capable to support the set going.

“You know, erstwhile you tin person 3,000 people, 4,000 radical screaming astatine you successful the night, telling you you’re great, you tin get implicit that rejection letter,” French says. “And we had flexibility and luxury of that for respective years.”

In 1982, aft a fewer mendacious starts, Twisted Sister yet scored the large statement woody it had sought for a decade, signing with Atlantic Records adjacent though its president hated the set and refused to walk wealth to beforehand it.

No matter. Two years later, fueled successful portion by MTV’s dense rotation of the videos for “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock,” the band’s 2nd medium for Atlantic, and 3rd overall, was a smash hit, yet going triple platinum.

Three years aft that, Twisted Sister broke up.

Talking business

French didn’t enactment astatine the stereo store that long. As the proprietor of the band’s trademark and name, helium started reissuing Twisted Sister’s catalog and licensing its euphony for commercials by the aboriginal ’90s. Still, the atrocious humor of the breakup made a reunion impossible.

And past the panic attacks of 9/11 happened. A metallic payment performance was pitched. Twisted Sister agreed to play.

And everyone — French, Snider, Mendoza, guitarist Eddie Ojeda and drummer A.J. Pero — got on great. A one-off reunion turned into 15 years of touring, a Christmas album, and different projects.

French met his co-author, enactment adept and motivational talker Steve Farber, astatine a concern league successful 2009. Soon, astatine Farber’s urging, French began speaking to conferences and groups, too, astir concern lessons he’d learned done stone ‘n’ roll.

The thought to bash a publication came soon after: “The progression of the speaking concern is, ‘Where’s your book?’” French says. “Everyone has a book.”

A concern mentation — thing to signifier the publication astir — came to him connected a agelong walk. The TWISTED method, arsenic French called it, emphasizes the relation of tenacity, wisdom, inspiration, stability, trust, excellence and subject successful uncovering occurrence successful business.

“I said, ‘So wherefore did I marque it?’” French says. “I was tenacious. I was smart. I was inspired. I was stable. I had a trusting radical of radical astir me. And we succeeded due to the fact that of excellence and discipline.

“None of these things travel up erstwhile you speech astir stone ‘n’ rotation bands,” helium says. “Most radical deliberation astir dense metallic guys are conscionable dopes.

“And we’re not dopes, oregon astatine slightest I’m not a dope. There’s a method down the madness.”

Jay Jay French events

Sunday, Sept 26: French volition beryllium signing successful idiosyncratic astatine Barnes & Noble astatine The Grove, 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles. Event is 2 p.m., wristbands volition beryllium distributed starting astatine 10 a.m. Phone: 323-525-0270

Monday, Sept. 27: French volition beryllium successful speech with coauthor Steve Farber successful a virtual lawsuit hosted by Book Soup successful West Hollywood. Go to crowdcast.io/e/jay-jay-french to register