Why Twisted Sister let ‘SpongeBob’ parody ‘I Wanna Rock’
It’s instantly recognisable: from the moment Dee Snider shouts the title phrase to Twisted Sister’s 1984 hard rock anthem ‘I Wanna Rock’, there’s nothing else to do but bang your head in agreement. Whatever you happen to be doing, whether it’s going for a job, driving in your car, or even doing some much-overdue house cleaning, ‘I Wanna Rock’ instantly gives you an adrenaline rush.
Twisted Sister had already established themselves as one of the 1980s most formidable rock acts. Whereas most bands in the glam metal scene were trying to look like girls, Twisted Sister took an approach more closely influenced by The New York Dolls: makeup was meant to be attention-grabbing, so the more gonzo, ridiculous, and ugly the members looked, the better. Only no one was laughing: the band acquired a cult fanbase thanks to their uncompromising live shows, often throwing out casual concertgoers who didn’t get into the music.
By the time Twisted Sister recorded their third studio album, Stay Hungry, they were ready to make the leap into the MTV mainstream. ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ nearly crept into the top 20 of the American pop charts (stalling out at number 21), but the goofy music video for the song was inescapable. While sitting down with AxsTV for an episode of The Top Ten Revealed, Snider reminisced about the video and its follow-up, ‘I Wanna Rock’.
“‘I Wanna Rock’, directed by Marty Callner, who directed the first Twisted video, ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’, was actually part two,” Snider remembered. “It was, like, here’s dad, the dick at home. What happens when he goes to work? Well, he’s a nasty school teacher.”
Years later, ‘I Wanna Rock’ would be interpolated into the final scene of The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie, where the titular sponge defeated Plankton’s brainwashing devices with the power of rock. Specifically, he embraced his previously embarrassing status as a Goofy Goober by turning it into a high-impact version of ‘I Wanna Rock’ titled ‘Goofy Goober Rock’.
“Years later, I got a phone call [from] my manager that SpongeBob Squarepants was interested in using ‘I Wanna Rock’ as the big finale in The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie,” Snider remembered. “I immediately lit up — licensing is fantastic; I have two kids in college.”
“And he goes, ‘There’s one catch. They wanna change the words to ‘Goofy Goober Rock’.’ Well, I lose my mind. I’m, like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is my music. This is my art. How much?’” Snider jokes. “‘Do they want me to sing it?’ They paid me a lot of money. It’s called ‘Goofy Goober Rock’. God bless SpongeBob Squarepants.”
Check out ‘Goofy Goober Rock’ down below.
