“We're Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister

"We're Not Gonna Take It" hit the streets in May 1984 as a single from Twisted Sister's Stay Hungry, and it's a playground chant souped up to arena size. Dee Snider wrote it alone and bellows the lead, and the whole band piles onto the gang vocals: Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda on guitars, Mark Mendoza on bass, A.J. Pero pounding the drums.

Tom Werman produced it and shaped the arrangement with the band, and Geoff Workman recorded and mixed it, keeping the chorus big and blunt enough for a stadium to shout straight back. It climbed to number 21 on the Hot 100, the band's only top 40 single, and it stands as their best-selling single in the US, certified gold in 2009.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.