TWISTED SISTER's JAY JAY FRENCH Discusses His Upcoming 'Twisted Business' Book And 'The French Connection' Podcast
September 23, 2020TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French spoke to Joe Rock of Long Island's rock station 102.3 WBAB about his upcoming book called "Twisted Business", which is due in 2021. He said (see video below): "The book is gonna be fun. It's a business book, because I ran the business of the band, and the band was a business-oriented band, which kind of runs counter to most rockers.
"It's called the music business, and people forget there's a second word: business," he continued. "People say, 'sex, drugs, rock and roll.' I say there's a word missing in that description: money. So, they figure if you're still around after sex, drugs and rock and roll, maybe there's some money left over."
French went on to call his book a "bizmoir." "What's a bizmoir? It's a business book and a memoir," he explained. "Most books about business guys are bizmoirs. Because Steve Jobs can't be Steve Jobs unless you know his story. You have to know the reason why people became the people they became.
"I had to be honest in the book and explain that I became who I became because of my experiences. And the reason why we ran a business, and the reason why we were so straight, which shocks people to no end, is because I had a drug problem, and I was a drug dealer. And it was all those near-disasters that scared me straight and then turned me into this brutally straight business guy because of these other issues."
French also talked about his soon-to-be-launched very own podcast, "The French Connection".
"I'm on so many podcasts, it's insane," he said. "And finally, a podcast company said, 'You should have your own.' It's called 'The French Connection', I'm excited about it. It's gonna [cover] a very wide range of [topics]. It's not music — I mean, it will be, a part of it — it has to be; it's a big part of my life, bands and music — but it's gonna be a lot of things. I want it to be about all the things I'm interested in and my hobbies, and health issues, 'cause I've certainly had enough health issues, and I certainly know a lot about certain health issues. Unfortunately, having had to experience them, you learn a lot about them. So I think from an educational standpoint, I want to educate people on prostate cancer; I wanna educate people on heart disease — I've had two heart procedures; I wanna educate people on uveitis, my daughter's eye disease. So hopefully I can use it as a platform for a lot of good things."
French has four decades of experience as the manager, guitarist and director of licensing, publishing and touring for TWISTED SISTER. He is also a keynote and motivational speaker, reinvention expert and entrepreneur, as well as the founder of The Pink Burst Project, a nonprofit. More recently, French wrote a bi-weekly column for Inc. magazine's web site for nearly six years.
In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of French, singer Dee Snider, guitarist Eddie Ojeda and bassist Mark Mendoza, along with drummer Mike Portnoy. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of TWISTED's longtime drummer A.J. Pero.
TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.
Comments Disclaimer And Information