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In the nearly 50 years since founding heavy metal institution
TWISTED SISTER,
John "Jay Jay" French has sold over 20 million records, collected 37 gold and platinum albums, headlined many of the world's largest music festivals in 38 countries, and now is now adding podcasting to his resume with
"The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond The Music".
"What makes my podcast stand out is the close personal relationships that I have with most of my guests,"
French says. "This allows them a kind of safety zone where they will tell me stories and experiences that you just won't hear anywhere else."
On
"The Jay Jay French Connection",
French brings an enormous wealth of knowledge that stretches beyond music business. His natural curiosity results in wide-ranging conversations with a variety of well-known musicians, authors, actors, wrestler/musicians, managers, celebrity chefs, TV and movie directors and writers.
New episodes of
"The Jay Jay French Connection" are available every Tuesday on
Spotify,
Apple Music and
PodcastOne. Upcoming guests include guitarist
Steve Vai, DJ
Eddie Trunk, actor
Michael Imperioli, guitarist
Eddie Ojeda, legendary manager
Doc McGhee, music industry veteran
Dorothy Carvello, radio/podcast personality
Jordan Harbinger, guitarist
Joe Bonamassa, producer
Eddie Kramer and talent manager
Shep Gordon.
Highlights of previous episodes have included:
* Drummer
Mike Portnoy discussing replacing
AJ Pero in
TWISTED SISTER and his never-ending list of projects.
* Vocalist
Rob Halford revealing information on his new autobiography and what scared him the most about coming out.
* Singer/radio personality
Dee Snider on everything
TWISTED SISTER.
* Guitarist
Nuno Bettencourt telling the story of the story of how
EXTREME got their name and how his playing has evolved.
* Guitarist
Joel Hoekstra about future plans for
WHITESNAKE, the effect of the pandemic and his own solo projects.
* Guitarist
Elliot Easton talking about the death of
Ric Ocasek, the history of
THE CARS and his new band
THE EMPTY HEARTS.
*
BEATLES book author
Andy Babiuk on the challenge of bringing new stories and never-seen photos of
THE BEATLES' recording and performing gear to the millions of
BEATLES fanatics worldwide.
* Filmmaker
Frank Marshall discussing his incredible producer/director history in Hollywood and his new hot
BEE GEES documentary,
"How Do You Mend A Broken Heart".
* Celebrity chef, music fanatic, guitar player, current managing partner and executive chef at NYC's number one Steakhouse Porterhouse
Michael Lomonaco recalling how a last-minute decision to get his eyeglasses fixed saved him from perishing at his restaurant, Windows On The World, on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center on 9/11, and his thoughts on the devastating effect of COVID-19 on the New York restaurant industry.
* Professional wrestler and vocalist
Chris Jericho hyping on his movie which tells the true story of a local metal band, retired for four decades, who returns to perform at a German metal festival.
* Television writer
Brian Koppelman discussing his latest hit show, the
Showtime series
"Billions", how he discovered
Tracy Chapman in college and transitioned from record executive to screen writer/producer/director.
* Singer/songwriter
Don McLean dishing on the little-known secrets of his massive hit song
"American Pie".
* Singer
Johnny Lee talking about getting a new record deal at the age of 74, 40 years after his biggest hit,
"Lookin' For Love In All The Wrong Places", and how modern country radio feels about its legends.
* Music industry exec
Gary Spivack revealing information on his
"Long Live Rock" documentary, a love letter to the contemporary live rock scene, and his belief that it is thriving.
* Hit songwriter
Nate Cyphert (
Florida Georgia Line's
"H.O.L.Y.", among many others) on what it takes to write
Grammy-winning, multi-platinum hit songs in today's pop market.
* Author
Jenny Boyd on her new book
"Jennifer Juniper", being the muse for
Donovan's hit song
"Jennifer Juniper", living with
THE BEATLES in Rishikesh, India, living in London in the "Swinging Sixties," being married to
Mick Fleetwood of
FLEETWOOD MAC and having sister
Pattie married to both
George Harrison and
Eric Clapton.
* Best-selling British "chick lit" author
Jane Green telling the story of how her professional life and career evolved. All aspiring writers need to hear this one!
French's two biggest hits with
TWISTED SISTER, the rock anthems
"We're Not Gonna Take It" and
"I Wanna Rock", have become two of the most licensed songs in the history of heavy metal, appearing in hundreds of TV, radio and internet commercials, movies and TV shows.
French currently oversees all music licensing and all business regarding
TWISTED SISTER.
In addition to his career as a musician, manager, producer and executive producer,
French is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, as well contributing writer for business magazine Inc.com, pens a
BEATLES column for
Goldmine called "Now, We're Sixty Four" and writes a an audio column for
Copper, an online music and high end audio magazine published through
PS Audio.