Vit Wagner from Thestar.com has issued the following interview:

There's a reason why TWISTED SISTER's rendition of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" sounds an awful lot like the glam-metal band's own signature fave, "We're Not Gonna Take It." The opening lines to both songs share the same six-note sequence.

Mind you, singer Dee Snider, who penned the Twisted Sister hit for the band's breakout 1984 album Stay Hungry, swears on a stack of holiday hymnals that he wasn't aware of the similarity until it was pointed out to him nearly a decade later by a guitarist.

"We were swapping stories about songs that had been inspired by other songs," recalls Snider on the line from his home in Long Island, N.Y. "And (Al Pitrelli) said, `Well, what about `We're Not Gonna Take It' and `Oh Come All Ye Faithtful'?'

"I thought, `Holy shit. You mean 19 years of singing in the church choir paid off.' But it was totally unconscious."
'Oh Come All Ye Faithful', 'White Christmas', 'Deck The Halls', 'Silver Bells' and a half-dozen other seasonal classics decorate Twisted Christmas, a head-banging holiday album that is being hailed as one of this year's most unlikely seasonal treats. The aging, mascara-coated warhorses, also including guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, bassist Mark Mendoza and drummer A.J. Pero, even have a tour to support the disc, including a show Tuesday at the Danforth Music Hall.

Twisted Sister has been performing 20 to 25 shows annually since regrouping four years ago, and at one time, the album and tour were being billed as the band's swan song. But the buzz generated by the CD means that Snider says calling it quits isn't in the cards now.

"We have not had this much interest since the '80s. So the guys are looking at me with these big, puppy-dog eyes going, `You're not leaving now are you?'

"It's nice to be with the guys and everything, but this is not my life now," says Snider, 51, who co-hosts a show on Sirius satellite radio. "But it's been going so well that only a fool would look a gift horse like this in the mouth."

Source Thestar.com

Howie Edelson from Icebergradio has reported that

Unless the British government decides to extend its copyright on sound recordings, records by such artists as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and many others will be up for grabs. Thestage.co.uk reported that musicians, songwriters and the British Phonographic Industry are urging lawmakers to extend the copyright term from 50 to 95 years. The British government will begin making its decision soon.

If the law stays as is, the Beatles'first hits, including "Love Me Do," "Please Please Me," "I Saw Her Standing There," "From Me To You," "Do You Want To Know A Secret," "She Loves You," "This Boy," "All My Loving," and "I Want To Hold Your Hand," will phase out of copyright in 2013.

In addition to the stars being cheated out of their royalties, other key performers and administrative personnel on the tracks, such as the session musicians, producers, and song publishers, will no longer receive any financial reward for their property and/or work.

The copyright laws are different in America, where the record label continues to own the rights to the recordings well after the 50-year mark. Under the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, sound recordings are protected for 95 years from the day of recording in the United States. The coverage for post-1976 recordings is the artist's life plus 70 years.

Source Icebergradio

Rhino Records has announced the USA release date of new Ronnie James Dio -era BLACK SABBATH best-of set album on April 3.

The single-disc collection will include a couple of brand new tracks that are currently being recorded in England by the lineup of Ronnie James Dio , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice , as well as liner/sleeve notes by Garry Sharpe-Young of Rockdetector.com . "I've been given a track listing, but I can't divulge that yet," says Garry . "There are a few interesting tracks on there, though."

Source Rhino Records