AKA
02-09-2002, 01:47 AM
From E! Online
The Voice of MSNBC: Twisted Sister?!?
by Mark Armstrong
Feb 8, 2002, 3:30 PM PT
Hey, Alan Keyes...I wanna rock!
If you start noticing conservative pundits wearing studded leather jackets and political talking heads raising their fists with the universal devil-horn sign for heavy metal, now you'll know why: MSNBC has enlisted former Twisted Sister frontman and razor-toothed drag queen Dee Snider to become the cable news network's official voiceover guy.
The raspy voiced singer (whose onstage shtick was once described as "Bette Midler on acid") has been working for MSNBC since November, lending his vocals to promos for the likes of Brian Williams, Alan Keyes and Ashleigh Banfield.
Granted, the guy who once snarled the '80s hair-metal anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" isn't quite as stately as CNN voice man James Earl Jones, but execs at MSNBC say Snider's voice just fit the part.
"The cool part about Dee is he brings a kind of in-your-face, no b.s. kind of read," says Val Nicholas, v.p. of advertising, promotion and marketing for the network. "He tells you the facts, and you believe them."
For cable networks competing against more than 100 other channels, having a distinct voice is crucial. Comedy Central, for instance, found its voice man in Penn Jillette, of magic-comedy team Penn & Teller.
Nicholas says Snider's identity wasn't revealed until after he heard the promos. "We were looking and looking, and one day my creative director came in with a spot for Brian Williams, and I said, 'Wow, that's amazing! Who's the voice?'" Nicholas says. "He said, 'That's Dee Snider of Twisted Sister'...so I said, 'To heck with it. This is the voice.'"
Nicholas dismisses any criticism that Snider's Twisted Sister image might tarnish MSNBC's news credibility.
"The truth of the matter is that Dee Snider was one of the clean rock 'n' rollers. He didn't drink, he didn't do drugs, he just rocked," Nicholas says.
"We went to lunch a couple weeks ago, and [Snider] told me that in writing pop songs, some of the best ones were the anthems. What we're trying to create are news anthems," he adds. "We let Dee have a little latitude; We give him some copy and tell him, 'Go ahead and Dee it up for us.'"
Although Snider's identity didn't go public until this week, Nicholas says MSNBC is not ashamed to have the rocker telling it like it is for their network. "If I could figure out a way to use 'We're Not Gonna Take It,' I would," he says.
The Voice of MSNBC: Twisted Sister?!?
by Mark Armstrong
Feb 8, 2002, 3:30 PM PT
Hey, Alan Keyes...I wanna rock!
If you start noticing conservative pundits wearing studded leather jackets and political talking heads raising their fists with the universal devil-horn sign for heavy metal, now you'll know why: MSNBC has enlisted former Twisted Sister frontman and razor-toothed drag queen Dee Snider to become the cable news network's official voiceover guy.
The raspy voiced singer (whose onstage shtick was once described as "Bette Midler on acid") has been working for MSNBC since November, lending his vocals to promos for the likes of Brian Williams, Alan Keyes and Ashleigh Banfield.
Granted, the guy who once snarled the '80s hair-metal anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" isn't quite as stately as CNN voice man James Earl Jones, but execs at MSNBC say Snider's voice just fit the part.
"The cool part about Dee is he brings a kind of in-your-face, no b.s. kind of read," says Val Nicholas, v.p. of advertising, promotion and marketing for the network. "He tells you the facts, and you believe them."
For cable networks competing against more than 100 other channels, having a distinct voice is crucial. Comedy Central, for instance, found its voice man in Penn Jillette, of magic-comedy team Penn & Teller.
Nicholas says Snider's identity wasn't revealed until after he heard the promos. "We were looking and looking, and one day my creative director came in with a spot for Brian Williams, and I said, 'Wow, that's amazing! Who's the voice?'" Nicholas says. "He said, 'That's Dee Snider of Twisted Sister'...so I said, 'To heck with it. This is the voice.'"
Nicholas dismisses any criticism that Snider's Twisted Sister image might tarnish MSNBC's news credibility.
"The truth of the matter is that Dee Snider was one of the clean rock 'n' rollers. He didn't drink, he didn't do drugs, he just rocked," Nicholas says.
"We went to lunch a couple weeks ago, and [Snider] told me that in writing pop songs, some of the best ones were the anthems. What we're trying to create are news anthems," he adds. "We let Dee have a little latitude; We give him some copy and tell him, 'Go ahead and Dee it up for us.'"
Although Snider's identity didn't go public until this week, Nicholas says MSNBC is not ashamed to have the rocker telling it like it is for their network. "If I could figure out a way to use 'We're Not Gonna Take It,' I would," he says.