KROKUS vocalist Marc Storace says that he is “ready” to put his band’s long-running feud with TWISTED SISTER‘s Dee Snider behind him.
In his autobiography, “Shut Up And Give Me The Mic”, Snider had nothing nice to say about KROKUS. For an entire chapter, he raged about the band, calling them “Krapus” and stating, “You have no idea how close you came landing on the bottom of a lake.”
The reason for his outburst: KROKUS commissioned Snider‘s wife Suzette in 1982 to sew stage outfits for the band’s U.S. tour, but the former KROKUS tour manager refused to pay her for her services.
“These guys ripped off my wife and threatened her,” said Snider, who pointed out that his wife’s mother emigrated from Switzerland.
“I was proud of this rock band from the home country of my mother,” said Suzette. But the pride has turned into rage.
In a brand new interview with the Tulsa Music Stream, Storace was asked if he and his KROKUS bandmates have “buried the hatchet” with Snider. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We never had a ‘hatchet.’ He’s the one who created the hatchet, because all it was was we just didn’t like the stage clothes that his wife did for us, and we didn’t wanna buy ’em. That’s all. I mean, human rights. [Laughs] I’m not paying for something I didn’t buy. And then we got into an argument, and I think our tour manager threw ’em into a bin and burned them. [Laughs] That’s rock and roll. And you live and move forward, and you forget.
“But what happened a few years ago [was] I was supposed to do [the] Wacken [Open Air festival in Germany] with Dee Snider, on the same bill, and this was me solo together with ‘Rock Meets Classic’,” Marc continued. “You have a whole orchestra and a rock band and these guest singers. And I was on the list. And Dee was invited as a headliner, and he said, ‘I’ll only do it if you kick Storace out of the show.’ So these guys were put on the spot, because I’ve done it before. This would have been the third time that I worked with that organization. And they said, ‘Oh, we’re so sorry, Marc. But it’s up to you. He said he won’t do it. It’s up to you.’ And I said, ‘Look, I’m stepping down. Because [this gig] is good for you, guys. And another time.’ But I was ready, before I heard all about this, ’cause I knew we were gonna be on the same bill, I was ready to go up to Dee and say, ‘Hey, man, c’mon, let’s shake it and drink a beer. C’mon. Cool down.'”
Storace previously discussed the Snider beef during a 2013 interview with “The Metal Voice”. At the time, he called Dee‘s comments “so childish. We gave [his wife] a chance,” he said. “I mean, how do you do?! Before you buy a truckload of wine, you wanna taste a bottle. So we just wanted to have samples… to see some clothes. And our tour manager, he sent off the sizes and… I can’t even remember the details; it’s ridiculous. In the end, she came with the stuff, we tried it on, and it looked horrible. I’m sorry. I mean, I’m sorry. And they got so offended, and it was such a great insult to them. And they wanted their money. And [our tour manager] said, ‘Hey, we’re not buying. Keep the clothes. Sorry. No deal.'”
KROKUS bassist/producer Chris Von Rohr also weighed in on the incident, recalling nearly a decade ago: “The clothes did not match at all our expectations. Too much harlequin style. So we made a bonfire of it.”
Many years have passed and KROKUS are older and wiser. “If we have not treated his wife with due respect, we are sorry,” Von Rohr said.
In 2013, Von Rohr proposed to Dee and his wife to bury the hatchet and drink a beer or two together at a festival where both bands were supposed to perform in reconciliation of an event that happened nearly four decades ago.
Swiss newspaper Blick reached Snider by phone and submitted KROKUS‘s peace offer. “If they are serious, I think it’s a nice gesture,” Snider was quoted as saying at the time. “But I have to ask my wife first if she is ready to forgive KROKUS.”
Four year ago, Snider stated about his request to remove Storace from the billing of the “Rock Meets Classic” at the 2015 Wacken Open Air: “‘Rock Meets Classic’ is an amazing thing. I don’t know who is on the bill, but the day before I’m ready to head there, I find out that the singer of Krapus is on the bill. No, no, no, no, no. I call my people and tell them, ‘Kick him off the bill or I’m not playing, I don’t care. They don’t have to kick him off. I won’t play. I’ll go home because I have no problem with not playing.’ The most dangerous person in the room is the person with nothing to lose. I don’t have to do a show. I do a show because I want to. Needless to say, the singer of Krapus was kicked off the bill and nobody cared.”
Tulsa Music Stream – Marc Storace of KROKUS Episode 27
Tulsa Music Stream interviews Marc Storace, the legendary front man from the band Krokus! He will be talking to us live from Switzerland Sat, May 1 at 1 p.m. CDT. Submit your questions for Marc via our chat room.
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Posted by Tulsa Music Stream on Saturday, May 1, 2021