Actor Luke Perry, who died this week after suffering a massive stroke, is of course best known for his role on Beverly Hills 90210. But, five years before he joined the 90210 cast, Perry was an extra in Twisted Sister’s video “Be Chrool to Your Scuel” in 1985.
Sadly, the video was banned by MTV, saying they objected to the zombie content as “too gross” for the channel…even though they aired Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video ad nauseum. Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider believes the ban was due to his outspokenness against the lobbying group the Parents Music Resource Center.
Snider wrote in Shut Up and Give Me the Mic, “They told us that the zombie content was ‘too gross’ for MTV and absolutely no amount of editing would fix it,” he wrote. “What? It was no worse than Michael Jackson’s 14-minute, MTV Award-winning zombie opus for ‘Thriller,’ but ours was un-airable? Like the fans, MTV discovered they could throw concerned parents a bone with Twisted Sister that would have little effect on their viewership. Scumbags.”
In the clip, an unknown Perry — who morphs into a zombie along with the other “student” extras — interacted with ‘80s star power: Alice Cooper, who sings and acts with Snider, and Bobcat Goldthwait, who plays the teacher who Perry bumps into as the bell rings and students exit the classroom.