In a new interview with “The Jeremy White Podcast”, TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider was asked why he allowed the band’s song “I Wanna Rock” to be re-recorded with different lyrics for a feature in “The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie”, released in 2004. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I get the call. ‘The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie’ wants to use ‘I Wanna Rock’. I’m, like, ‘Amazing, amazing.’ [They said], ‘One caveat.’ I said, ‘What?’ The management says, ‘They wanna change the words to ‘Goofy Goober Rock’.’ And I was livid. ‘Are you fucking kidding me? That’s my fucking art.’ … ‘What? How much? Do they want me to sing it?’ It was so much freakin’ money. I had two kids in college. I was, like, ‘I’ll sing ‘Goofy Goober Rock’ for that number. I’m a whore, but I’m an expensive whore.’ So, we did the song. They didn’t ask me to sing it.”
Asked if he rewrote the lyrics to the song, Dee said: “No, they did. Are you kidding? They told me that’s what they wanted to do. But for 300K, I’ll do anything.”
Snider went on to confirm that he would have re-recorded the song himself for that amount of money. “Oh, yeah. Hell yeah,” he said. “With pride. Yes. Something about my kids needing to go to college. I’ve gotta put food on the table.”
The original “I Wanna Rock” music video featured Mark Metcalf, who starred in the clip for “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, yelling at a kid in an extended scene before the song starts, with the kid responding “I wanna rock” to Metcalf‘s question, “What do you wanna do with your life?”
In February 2020, “I Wanna Rock” was featured in Facebook‘s Super Bowl ad. The ad, which promoted the Facebook Groups feature, also included appearances by Sylvester Stallone and Chris Rock.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” has been used in commercials for hotel chain Extended Stay America, Claritin, Walmart, Stanley Steamer and Yaz birth control.
TWISTED SISTER called it quits in 2016 after completing a farewell 40th-anniversary tour. The band’s last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of TWISTED‘s longtime drummer A.J. Pero.
