This week's guests are guitar heavyweights Joe Satriani & Steve Vai! Tune into this special 2-in-1 episode - Joe & Steve find time during their ongoing tour to connect with Jay Jay on the podcast. They discuss their new work & share stories of their dense musical backgrounds, all the way back to day 1 getting their first guitars as kids. In addition to their tour, Steve & Joe just released their first collaborative single The Sea of Emotion, which is available to stream...

This week's guest on The Jay Jay French Connection, is Wayne Bjerke, joined by Twisted's social media manager, Tor Caracappa! Wayne has been a true old school TS fan all the way back to their club days. He is currently a graphic artist & tattoo artist, who has been friends with Tor for 20+ years. Learn why Jay Jay believes that bands are only as good as their fanbase, & hear Jay Jay & Wayne discuss the power & impact that Twisted had in their early club days. Wayne asks...

Legendary Hollywood writer, producer & director, Paul Williams, is this week's guest on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music! You won't want to miss Paul's stories from his remarkable journey into filmmaking, & talk about his recently published book titled 'Harvard, Hitmen and Holy Men. The book gets into how he is a real-life Forrest Gump - & how his experiences form a unique and often wild constellation of encounters with star power, political power, and spiritual...

This week's guest is 3-in-1 - Guitarist and producer Donny Goldberg, & his 2 sons, join Jay Jay in conversation! Together the 3 of them make up the instagram sensation Raized Wrong. Landon is 13 & his brother Lyric is 12 - together with their father they create online covers of hits from the 80's 90's & more.  Hear the story about how Jay Jay found their music online, & why he immediately fell in love with what they were doing. The family discusses their creative process,...

This week's special guest is true guitar virtuoso & grammy award winner, Tommy Emmanuel! The real-time exuberance Tommy Emmanuel brings to every note of every song he plays is palpable and infectious. His fans are in love with his unbound talent as a guitarist of multitudes, his ability to play three parts at once, always with pure heart and real soul.   This conversation is not to miss for guitarists, musicians & music fans alike - as Jay Jay & Tommy get into everything from...

Crimson & Clover, Crystal Blue Persuasion, Mony Mony, I Think We're Alone Now, Hanky Panky & Sweet Cherry Wine - these are just a few of the hits written by legendary artist Tommy James, who is this week's guest on the podcast!! Tommy is a renowned musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, widely known as frontman of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells - who is now entering his 51st year in the music industry, actively touring, hosting his radio program GETTIN'...

This week's guest is the founder of one of the seminal punk bands, The Dictators! CBGB’s was built on the back of the first of the great legendary NY Punk band The Dictators. Join Jay Jay in welcoming punk legend Andy Shernoff on the podcast! Andy is a musician, songwriter & producer, who is a founding member of The Dictators. Jay Jay & Andy discuss the parallels between the New York bar scene that Twisted was a part of, & the New York punk scene that The Dictators were a part of....

Shel Talmy is the legendary producer of The Who’s first earthshaking debut album “My Generation,” the first 5 (and most famous) Kinks albums, the Easybeats biggest hit 'Friday in my Mind,' as well as Manfred Mann's debut single 'Do Wha Diddy Diddy,'  mong many many more. It has been a great 2023 here on The Jay Jay French Connection - beginning the year with Twisted's induction into The Heavy Metal Hall of Fame, followed by a diverse & heavy hitting lineup of special guests on the...

This week, Jay Jay welcomes guest Ethan Penner onto the podcast! Ethan is an old friend of Jay Jay's & is widely recognized as a pioneer in the worlds of real estate & finance, with over 30 years of experience in both fields. Jay Jay & Ethan tell the story of how they met, Ethan's growing up as a true metal fan, & how music has deeply influenced his life both personally & professionally.  Be sure to check out Ethan's inspiring new book Greatness is a Choice, linked below...

This week, Jay Jay welcomes legendary singer & music icon Pat Boone onto the podcast! Pat is a singer, actor, TV host, producer, author, radio personality, record company head, TV station owner - just to name a few of his accolades. He encountered fame early on in life as a teen idol who shot to stardom via an early national talent show. Now, after 70 years in show business, he's returning to his roots in Nashville & releasing a 25-track country album - tune in to hear all about it,...

This week, Jay Jay goes beyond the music & welcomes cancer doctor & researcher Dr. William Li. William W. Li, MD, is an internationally renowned Harvard-trained medical doctor, researcher, and president and a founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation. His groundbreaking work has impacted more than seventy diseases including cancer, diabetes, blindness, heart disease, and obesity. Discussing cancer is always a topic that's close to home for Jay Jay, being a cancer survivor himself. Don't...

60th ANNIVERSARY JFK ASSASSINATION SPECIAL ON THE JAY JAY FRENCH CONNECTION PODCAST. JFK’s REAL KILLER IS FINALLY REVEALED Don't miss part 2 of the discussion surrounding the 60th anniversary of the assasination of JFK, with guest Monica Mercedes! This week, Jay Jay's special guests will reveal shocking stories and information on the JFK assassination. Monica is the daughter of the infamous American spy Marita Lorenz, who was deeply tied to Castro, JFK & Watergate. Hear all about her...

60th ANNIVERSARY JFK ASSASSINATION SPECIAL ON THE JAY JAY FRENCH CONNECTION PODCAST. JFK’s REAL KILLER IS FINALLY REVEALED This week, Jay Jay's special guests will reveal shocking stories and information on the JFK assassination. These 2 guests will have you in disbelief and counter everything you thought you knew about the JFK assassination! You don’t want to miss Robert Morningstar starting Tuesday and Monica Mercedes Perez Jimenez starting on thanksgiving day. Robert Morningstar is a...

This week, Jay Jay welcomes back his dear friend & collaborator of over 47 years, Dee Snider!  Dee Snider, the iconic American singer, songwriter, radio personality, writer, and actor, has recently announced the release of his first novel, Frats. Frats is an honest, daring story that examines the pressures of toxic masculinity in high school hallways. Dee Snider is no stranger to exploring controversial topics through his music and writing. As the frontman for Twisted Sister, he wrote...

Join Jay Jay this week for the final week of Record Label Presidents Month! Very special guest Laura Kunkel joins Jay Jay to discuss the nuances surrounding getting into the record business, & Laura's inspiring story behind starting her new record label. Hear all about the importance of having individuals who truly care about music & art behind labels - & why Laura's motivation has been to be an advocate for artists, & to build a label that can support a healthy &...

This week, David Rath joins Jay Jay for week 3 of Record Label Presidents Month on the show! David Rath comes from Roadrunner Records where he spent twenty-one years in the A&R and Creative Departments, having been A&R on albums by Slipknot, Korn, Gojira, Coheed and Cambira, Slash, The Amity Affliction, Trivium, Stone Sour, Dream Theater and Megadeth and where he oversaw music videos from Nickelback, Theory Of A Deadman, Killswitch Engage, Jerry Cantrell and Slipknot. Rath helped...

Tune in for the second week of Record Label President's Month! This week, Jay Jay welcomes special guest Cliff Chenfeld. Cliff is a renowned music executive, who is both the co-founder and co-CEO of Razor & Tie Records, as well as Kidz Bop. Hear all about the history of how Razor & Tie began as a reissue / compilation centered label, & progressed into becoming one of the leading rock labels in the country. Jay Jay & Cliff dig into the ins & outs of the major label...

This week, guest Jason Flom joins Jay Jay to kick off a month of renowned record label presidents joining in conversation. Jason is a dear friend of Jay Jay's who has a deep rooted history alongside Twister Sister, which they talk all about. Their stories go back 40+ years to the early days of Twisted in New York, when Jason was a kid in high school following Twisted in Long Island. Jason has become a well known record label executive, podcaster & philanthropist - he is the founder of...

This week's guest is Jay Jay's wife Sharon, who joins the podcast for an open-ended conversation about life, love & Twisted Sister. Don't miss this conversation, only on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music!

This week's guest is Jay Jay's wife Sharon, who joins the podcast for an open-ended conversation about life, love & Twisted Sister. Don't miss this conversation, only on The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music! Edited & Produced by Matthew Mallinger

This week, Jay Jay welcomes back legendary guitar virtuoso Joel Hoekstra! This episode is a must listen for all guitar heads. Joel shares his remarkable journey from being a classically trained guitarist, & a young kid with chops in the suburbs of Chicago, to working in LA during the height of its 'shred guitar player scene,' to being one of the best & most well versed guitarists in rock n roll. Joel has played an invaluable role in the likes of Whitesnake, Cher, Night Ranger,...

This week on The Jay Jay French Connection, Jay Jay welcomes author Jarret Keene on the show ahead of his brand new book release. Jarret is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he teaches both American literature AND the graphic novel. Hear all about how he has been a Twisted fan for years, & why he believes that many of his students have been inspired by Twisted Sister - particularly the album Stay Hungry. His debut novel HAMMER...

This week, tune in to hear part 2 of Jay Jay's conversation with legendary guitarist & session musician Steve Lukather! If you're in the LA area, don't forget to catch Steve perform on Saturday, September 9th with Toto at 'A Concert for the Ed Asner Family Center,' alongside Ringo Starr, Joe Bonamassa, Colin Hay & others at The Orpheum Theater in California.   Ed Asner Benefit Show    Steve is an extremely versatile musician, guitarist, vocalist, composer, producer / arranger &...