UPDATE 30/04/21: Clive Palmer To Pay $1.5 Million In Damages After Losing Twisted Sister Lawsuit
UPDATE: Oh God, Clive Palmer Wants A “Sing-Off” With Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider Now
ORIGINAL STORY: United Australia Party leader Clive Palmer has called for former Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider’s 2019 Australian tour to be cancelled, amid an ongoing disagreement between Palmer and the American band over the use of the Twisted Sister song ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ in political campaign ads.
Snider is scheduled to perform four solo shows across Sydney and Melbourne between January and February, however Mr Palmer has called on the government to reject the musician’s visa.
Snider and his fellow Twisted Sister member Jay Jay French called out Mr Palmer for using their song without permission earlier this month, before Snider claimed that Mr Palmer knew about the licensing fee required for the song but decided to re-record his own version of it anyway.
In a statement released on Tuesday, United Australia Party accused Twisted Sister of “swindling its hit song from a famous Christmas carol” — Snider has previously cited glam rock band Slade and the Christmas carol ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ as influences on ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’.
“The song ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as an alleged musical work was not written by Dee Snider,” said Mr Palmer.
“The music was originally arranged as a cappella piece from the hymn ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ first composed in the mid 1700s.
“Others may have documented the instrumentation, but the melody was already present.
“As Twisted Sister never remunerated the original arranger, we do not understand how they have ever had any claim to its copyright.
“It seems Universal Music Group may have been misled at the time of paying the group’s front man Dee Snider money for something he never owned.
“Maybe Universal should consider commencement of proceedings against Dee Snider or seek a refund of any money they have paid to him.”
Mr Palmer claimed the lyrics used in the United Australia Party advertisements — including “Australia ain’t gonna cop it” — were composed by him, and United Australia Party thereby holds the performance rights.
Mr Palmer also said he is “concerned about defamation and threats made by Dee Snider”, and has called for the Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, to “reject his visa, given the current crackdown”.
In a tweet posted on Tuesday morning, Mr Snider said, “Woke up this morning to find out that ass Clive Palmer and Palmer United Party are ignoring cease & desist order (not really surprised – the man is an entitled prat).
“Not to worry. Lawyers have been officially engaged (remember Eminem NZ case?) & that loathsome toad will pay!”
Woke up this morning to find out that ass @CliveFPalmer and @PalmerUtdParty are ignoring cease & desist order (not really surprised – the man is an entitled prat). Not to worry. Lawyers have been officially engaged (remember @Eminem NZ case?) & that loathsome toad will pay!
— Dee Snider??? (@deesnider) January 7, 2019
You can watch the United Australia Party ads at the centre of the controversy below, before this saga no doubt continues.
UPDATE: In response to Music Feeds’ story, Dee Snider said, “Hey Clive Palmer, my inspiration came from God; yours came from a heavy metal rockstar. I’m not as forgiving.”
Hey @clivefpalmer, my inspiration came from God; yours came from a heavy metal rockstar. I'm not as forgiving. Clive Palmer Calls For Twisted Sister Singer Dee Snider’s Australian Tour To Be Cancelled https://t.co/VIT3WRYXAd
— Dee Snider??? (@deesnider) January 8, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR37IQsucGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFtLrB6Z5HI
