Not <i>That</i> Twisted
The raucous heavy metal band Twisted Sister is asking the Atlanta Braves to stop using their song I Wanna Rock to introduce pitcher John Rocker when the reliever enters games, reports CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger.
"We've got Hispanics in this band, Italians in this band, people who are Polish and Russian," said guitarist Jay Jay French, the heavy metal band's co-founder. "We're all immigrants, all foreigners - quote, unquote - and this is our way of saying his comments were not acceptable."
New York-based Twisted Sister is best known for its 1984 hit single We're Not Gonna Take It. The song's video featured lead singer Dee Snider and other band members wearing garish makeup and wild hairstyles.
Rocker's comments, disparaging Hispanics, gays, single mothers and Asians, were aimed at New York City in particular. The Braves were swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series last fall, and Rocker and New York Mets fans have exchanged insults in the past.
French, 42, said he still legally represents the band and that all its members were in agreement over the action.
He said he told his record label, Atlantic Records, the band didn't want the song used in conjunction with Rocker and said he faxed a letter to the Braves' director of public relations Jim Schultz and left several messages for him.
French would not speculate on what he would do if the Braves continued to use the song, written by Snider.
Schultz did not return phone calls seeking comment.
"These comments were way too damaging to be considered flip comments," French said. "One must take responsibility for the ramifications when you say something like that, and this is just our way of voicing our displeasure - the one thing we could do. This is just another voice in crowd that lets him know that what he did was not acceptable."
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