Jay Jay French (born John French Segall, July 20, 1952) is an American guitarist, manager, record producer and founding member of the heavy metal band
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...
.
He is a columnist, author and motivational speaker who oversees licensing and intellectual property rights for the Twisted Sister brand.
Early life and education
French was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
as the younger of two sons to father Lou Segall, a jewelry salesman, and mother Evaline French Segall, a political consultant for the
Democratic Party in New York who worked for the
John F. Kennedy presidential campaign. His mother also ran the successful election campaign of
Constance Baker Motley, the first African American woman elected to the New York State Senate. He and his brother Jeff Segall grew up in Manhattan.
The seeds for French's musical life were planted in 1963 when he attended his first concert, the folk group
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs from ...
at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
.
He was an anti-Vietnam war and civil rights activist. In the summer of 1967, he attended the Shaker Village summer program, and was a bunkmate of Ben Chaney, brother of
James Chaney, one of the three murdered civil rights workers who died on a voting registration drive in Mississippi in 1964. The events were portrayed in Alan Parker's 1988 film ''
Mississippi Burning''.
Two months before graduation, French dropped out of
George Washington High School, as a protest to the student murders at
Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...
on May 4, 1970.
Career
1970s
French auditioned in 1972 for an early version of
Wicked Lester, featuring
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...
and
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...
.
In December of that year, he joined the New Jersey–based glitter band Silverstar, which changed its name in 1973 to
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...
. The band also included Michael Valentine (vocals), Billy Diamond (guitar), Kenneth Harrison Neill (bass) and Mell Star (drums).
In 1975, French hired Rick Prince on vocals and Keith Angel on guitars. Soon after, French took over the vocals.
In late 1975,
Eddie Ojeda replaced Keith Angel on guitars, and Daniel
Dee Snider joined the band in February 1976, to relieve French from his vocalist duties. Other significant member changes in the history of Twisted Sister include the addition of Tony Petri (drums, April 1976),
Mark Mendoza (bass, December 1978), Richie Teeter (drums, December 1980), Joey Brighton (drums, April 1981), Anthony
AJ Pero (drums, April 1982) and Joey “Seven” Franco (drums, 1987).
Early editions of Twisted Sister performed six nights a week, with five 40-minute sets each night, including costume changes. Gradually, the band's glam image and music changed into a heavier direction, with influences by artists such as
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
,
Slade
Slade are a rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The '' British Hit Singl ...
and
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
.
French, in addition to being one of the band's guitar players, took over as manager from 1975 to 1979, and from 1988 to today.
1980s
Twisted Sister's first album release was the EP ''
Ruff Cutts'' in 1982 by Secret Records.
Twisted Sister released five studio albums between 1982 and 1987, including ''Under The Blade'' (1982), ''You Can't Stop Rock’n’Roll'' (1983), ''Stay Hungry'' (1984), ''Come Out And Play'' (1985) and ''Love Is For Suckers'' (1987).
Fashion critic
Richard Blackwell named Twisted Sister to Mr. Blackwell's Worst-dressed List of 1984, ranking them No. 11 and calling them "a car crash in a whorehouse."
Following the departure of singer Dee Snider and guitarist Eddie Ojeda, French along with bass player Mark Mendoza made a move in 1987 to cease performing live.
French French Management Enterprises and the production company Rebellion Music Inc.
From 1988, he took over the management of Twisted Sister again, dealing with the music catalog. He also signed R&B singer George Taylor, blues legend Johnny Gale, David Forman, Thom Jack,
Ean Evans' ''Cupid's Arrow'' and Tina Sugandh for her debut record.
In 1988, French became a
Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
voting member.
1990s
As owner of the Twisted Sister trademark and manager of its affairs, French began producing new Twisted Sister album releases, including the compilation album ''Big Hits and Nasty Cuts: The Best of Twisted Sister''.
In partnership with Dennis Berardi, president of
Kramer Guitars, French signed the Atlanta-based hard rock band Redd Threat. Over the next seven years, Redd Threat changed its name and personnel multiple times, and by 1995, the band was called Snake Nation. French later renamed the band Crawlspace.
French signed the band to Rebellion Music, and within a year, French signed a production deal with TVT Records. Due to trademark issues, Crawlspace changed its name to
Sevendust
Sevendust is an American Rock music, rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vinnie Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly (musician), John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon an ...
. French and Mark Mendoza produced the self-titled debut album, and executive produced the following three Sevendust-albums. Sevendust became one of the biggest new breed of metal bands, called
nu metal
Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...
, and sold over 1 million albums.
2000s
Sevendust and French parted ways in 2000.
French then partnered with friend and former
Sony Records
Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation.
Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the la ...
executive Sean Sullivan, and founded a new management company called Rebellion Entertainment. The company signed artists representing a variety of musical styles, including New Jersey alternative metal band The Step Kings, south Asian pop artist Tina Sugandh, singer-songwriter Julian Velard, the Grammy-nominated Latin percussion group The Groove Collective and the alternative band and RCA recording artists The Sound of Urchin.
On June 10, French received the New Hampshire
Excellence in Education award for "Efforts to Curb Substance abuse Among Young People".
In November 2001, Twisted Sister reunited following the
9/11 attacks on the
World Trade Center for a November 2001 fundraiser, organized by
Eddie Trunk
Edward Scott Trunk (born August 8, 1964) is an American music historian, radio personality, talk show host, and author, best known as the host of several hard rock- and heavy metal-themed radio and television shows.
Biography
Trunk was born o ...
, to benefit the Widows and Orphans Fund for the New York City police and fire departments.
The performance led to the band has performing for audiences worldwide, including United Kingdom, North America, European countries and South America. The band has also performed in South Korea at US army bases, through a
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
-sponsored tour.
The band's activities included the creation and production of six new DVDs, two new albums, and a re-mastering of the entire catalog of previous releases, including re-recording in 2004 tracks from their 1984 ''Stay Hungry'' album under the new title ''Still Hungry'', which includes the rock anthems "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna Take It."
French signed with
Razor & Tie for the 2006 release of the band's "A Twisted Xmas - Live In Las Vegas" on DVD, CD, and Digital Video/Audio. The songs "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" have been featured in commercials, movies, and political and sporting events, including in a
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
ad.
With the advent of iTunes and other online music services, Twisted Sister reestablished the band's ownership of its music.
In 2007, French and Twisted Sister were first year inductees of the Long island Music Hall of Fame.
French stated in 2018 current incarnations of
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...
and
Foreigner were cover bands because most of their classic lineups were no longer involved. He compared them unfavorably to Twisted Sister, stating, "Every (Twisted Sister) show is perfect. Every show is the last show of our life. Every show is done with the sincerity and the heartfelt desire to make sure you walk out thinking that's the best thing you're ever gonna see."
In 2019, French announced his retirement following Twisted Sister's last live performance, which included an appearance by
KISS
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
, in
Monterrey, Mexico
Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
. French gifted his guitars to members of the band's road crew, saying, 'Guys, thank you. It's been great. See you later.' I never looked back."
During his career with Twisted Sister, French estimates that he performed live with the band in more than 9,000 concert performances worldwide.
The Pinkburst Project
In 1996, French's daughter Samantha was diagnosed at age 6 with
uveitis
Uveitis () is inflammation of the uvea, the pigmented layer of the eye between the inner retina and the outer fibrous layer composed of the sclera and cornea. The uvea consists of the middle layer of pigmented vascular structures of the eye and ...
,
a condition of the eye. In 2010, to raise money and awareness, French created The Pinkburst Project. The project collected 14 pink custom-made guitars crafted by brands that included Fender, Gibson, Gretsch and Martin.
At a benefit concert, “The Pinkburst Project: An Evening with Twisted Sister," the guitars were auctioned off. The auction and concert raised more than $110,000 for the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation for research, education and support for those affected by Uveitis and other inflammatory eye diseases.
Writing and speaking
French writes a business column for ''
Inc.com'' titled "The French Connection."
He is also a motivational speaker at corporate and business conferences, including at an Inc. 500 conference.
He is a contributing editor to ''
Goldmine'' magazine for a Beatles column titled "Now We're Sixty Four!"
He also writes a general music column titled "Twisted Systems" for the online music magazine ''Copper''.
Book
A business memoir, ''Twisted Business: We're Not Gonna Take it Anymore'', co-written with French by Extreme Leadership founder, leadership speaker and author Steve Farber, is set for release in 2021 by RosettaBooks.
Personal life
French's first wife, Jodie Glickman, sang in the chorus on Twisted Sister's ''Live at Wacken: The Reunion'' album and is sister to the band's bass player,
Mark Mendoza. French lives on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...
of Manhattan with his third wife Sharon Gitelle, whom he married in Las Vegas in 2016 after a 13-year courtship.
An avid runner, French has taken part in and completed two
New York Marathons, in 1981 and 1986.
References
External links
*
Jay Jay French official website*
Pink Burst Project site
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Jay Jay
American heavy metal guitarists
American male non-fiction writers
Twisted Sister members
Living people
1952 births
Jewish heavy metal musicians
George Washington Educational Campus alumni
Guitarists from New York City
American male guitarists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians
Jewish American non-fiction writers
21st-century American male writers
Writers from New York City
21st-century American Jews