Famous rock photographer Mark Weiss’ first album cover was Twisted Sister’s multi-platinum Stay Hungry featuring Dee Snider crouched with a giant bone in his clutches. Weiss was chosen to do the cover of the band’s next album, Come Out And Play, which featured a pop-up manhole cover with a mummified Dee emerging from beneath the pavement (check out archival video footage of the shoot).
The 1,000-pound manhole cover was custom-made by Weiss’ father, and has remained in Weiss’ storage garage for 27 years before being loaded onto a semi for a cross-country trek to Los Angeles. The reason? The TS-emblazoned piece of heavy metal is going to become part of the Golden Gods: History of Heavy Metal exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles that runs now through February of next year.
The manhole cover will be part of the exhibit that also features famous heavy metal wardrobe pieces, stage props, an interactive “scream booth” designed to show fans metal vocal technique, famous instruments, memorabilia and much, much more.