alice cooper dead babies tour

Billion Dollar Babies (1973 - 1974)

Billion Dollar Babies Tour 1973

Plans for, or the overriding theme for, the Billion Dollar Babies tour really took shape during the latter part of 1972 when Michael Bennett (West Side Story, The Follies) was hired to choreography a production called "Alice At The Palace". Hot off the heels of an album heavily influenced by Broadway (School's Out), the plan was to do Broadway type production at one venue, New York City's Palace Theate. But when plans fell through due to union contracts, or excessive ticket demand — it really depends on what you are reading - what would have been a first in rock and roll for this type of production died an early death. But not entirely. Undeterred, the band soldiered on and it was decided to do a full scale traveling tour, taking its inspiration from Broadway and lathering the production in theatrical excess.

Joe Gannon designed the large opulent set which featured an Egyptian statue overlooking the set, strategically placed behind Neal Smith's drum set. There was a raised area on the stage, with steps on either side leading up to the second level, then on into a hollow metal framed entrance littered with statues and manikins - like a gateway to heaven, or would that be hell? The chrome looking set was glitzy and excessive, screaming money. But then Alice would grace the stage dressed in a white leotard which looked like it had never been washed - it was torn and stained — stomping around the stage with thigh high leopard skin boots. The Billion Dollar Babies tour was the mother of all tours. The stage was excessive, the violence perpetrated by Alice was excessive, and the show was sexually excessive. It was all about excess, and there hasn't been a tour like it since.

Baby dolls were put to death at the sword wielding hands of Alice. Alice simulated oral sex with manikins, even captured his own spittle which had travelled down between the breasts of a silver manikin body. Cleaned the dancing teeth in particularly erotic fashion after being drilled by a mad dentist (The Amazing Randy). And finally, beheaded on a guillotine only to return to the stage so he and the band could beat the crap out of a Nixon impersonator. What more could you want, seriously?

What is often forgotten and overlooked about the Alice Cooper group is just how popular they were. Billion Dollar Babies saw the group at the height of their success, the tour was on the back of a No. 1 album and a top ten single. The band didn't take this lightly, instead of taking a break from constant touring for the past 5 years they hit the road - hard. In a little over three months the band had played about 60 dates across the US, traveling from city to city in a private jet. The Billion Dollar Babies tour was the highest grossing tour to hit the stage up to this point.

Thankfully, the Billion Dollar Babies tour was professionally documented. It is unfortunate to say that no previous tour had been graced with such a privilege for commercial release. The tour was filmed in two locations, and the result is Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper. Filmed in 16mm, it was blown up to 32mm which gave the film it's dark appearance. The filmed wasn't as successful as was expected, there wasn't really a market for concert films at this point, and the final film was hampered by 'comedy' skits featuring the band that were insertion between the live material. Unfotunately the skits were funnier on paper than they were on film. Still, Good To See You Again is a good documentation of a remarkable, ground breaking tour.

• Standard Setlist
• Songs Performed

Hello Hooray / Billion Dollar Babies / Elected / I'm Eighteen / Raped and Freezin' / No More Mr. Nice Guy / My Stars / Sick Things / Dead Babies / I Love the Dead / School's Out / Under My Wheels

Approximate set time: 75 minutes

Love It To Death (1971): I'm Eighteen

Killer (1971): Dead Babies / Under My Wheels

School's Out (1972): School's Out / My Stars

Billion Dollar Babies (1973): Hello Hooray / Billion Dollar Babies / Elected / No More Mr. Nice Guy / I Love The Dead / Raped and Freezin / Unfinished Sweet / Sick Things

Cover: A Hard Day's Night (The Beatles)

1973 February

• 27: USA - Capitol Theatre, Portchester, New York Dress rehearsal only, no audience other than the press.
• 01: Canada - Memorial Auditorium, Kitchener, Ontario Flyer
• 02: Canada - London Arena, London, Ontario
• 03: Canada - Civic Centre, Ottawa, Ontario Ticket | Poster
• 04: Canada - MacMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
• 05: USA - War Memorial, Rochester, New York Audio recording is in circulation
• 08: USA - The Spectrum, Philadephia, Pennsylvania Ticket | Ticket 2
• 09: USA - The Spectrum, Philadephia, Pennsylvania
• 10: USA - Civic Center, Roanoke, Virginia with Earth, Wind and Fire Ticket | Ticket
• 11: USA - William & Mary College Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia Ticket
• 15: USA - Civic Auditorium, Knoxville, Tennessee [CANCELLED]
• 16: USA - Cumberland City Memorial Auditorium, Fayetteville, North Carolina
• 17: USA - Clemson University, Clemons, South Carolina
• 18: USA - Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina Ticket
• 20: USA - Coliseum, Jackson, Mississippi
• 21: USA - Little Rock or Auburn, Alabama [CANCELLED]
• 22: USA - Savannah, Georgia [CANCELLED]
• 23: USA - Omni, Atlanta, Georgia Ticket
• 24: USA - Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, South Carolina
• 26: USA - Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Audio recording is in circulation Poster | Ticket
• 27: USA - Sports Arena, Hershey, Pennsylvania
• 28: USA - Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland Audio recording is in circulation
• 30: USA - Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana
• 31: USA - Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
• 01: USA - Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio
• 02: USA - Convention Center, Louisville, Kentucky Ticket
• 04: USA - Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan
• 05: USA - Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan
• 06: USA - Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Audio recording in circulation
• 08: USA - Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
• 09: USA - Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois
• 10: USA - Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois
• 12: USA - Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln, Nebraska Ticket
• 13: USA - St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri with Flo & Eddie
• 14: USA - Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee Ticket
• 15: USA - Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas Ticket
• 20: USA - Pirates World, Dania, Florida with Flo & Eddie Ticket
• 21: USA - Pirates World, Dania, Florida
• 22: USA - Veterans Memorial, Jacksonville, Florida
• 25: USA - Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, Alabama
• 26: USA - Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana Audio recording is in circulation
• 27: USA - Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana
• 28: USA - Memorial Auditorium, Dallas, Texas Offically released audio recording available Ticket
• 29: USA - Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas Audio recording is in circulation Ticket
• 01: USA - Fairgrounds Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• 02: USA - Tulsa Assembly Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• 03: USA - Will Rodgers Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas
• 04: USA - University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• 05: USA - Tucson Community Center Arena, Tucson, Arizona Ticket
• 10: USA - Los Angeles Forum, Los Angeles, California Audio recording is in circulation
• 11: USA - Los Angeles Forum, Los Angeles, California Ticket | Flyer
• 12: USA - Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California Audio recording is in circulation Flyer
• 13: USA - Sports Arena, San Diego, California Ticket
• 15: USA - Civic Center, Amarillo, Texas
• 16: USA - Henry Levitt Arena, Wichita, Kansas with Blue Oyster Cult
• 17: USA - Denver Coliseum, Denver, Colorado
• 18: USA - Denver Coliseum, Denver, Colorado
• 19: USA - Salt Lake Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah
• 20: USA - Las Vegas, Nevada Pass
• 24: USA - Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon Poster
• 25: USA - Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington
• 26: Canada - Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia Ticket
• 30: USA - Metro Sports Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota Audio recording is in circulation
• 31: USA - Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• 01: USA - Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio [CANCELLED]
• 02: USA - Boston Gardens, Boston, Massachusettes [CANCELLED]
• 03: USA - Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Advert | Ticket
• 05: USA - Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York Audio recording is in circulation Ticket
• 07: USA - Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island Audio recording is in circulation Ticket

Tour Materials

Billion Dollar Babies backstage pass - 1973 (Pass)

Memorial Auditorium, Kitchener, ON, Canada - March 3, 1973 (Ticket)

Civic Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada - March 3, 1973 (Ticket)

Civic Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada - March 3, 1973 (Poster)

Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadephia, PA - March 8, 1973 (Ticket)

Civic Center, Roanoke, VA - March 10, 1973 (Ticket)

William & Mary College Hall, Williamsburg, VA - March 11, 1973 (Ticket)

Coliseum, Charlotte, NC - March 18, 1973 (Ticket)

Omni, Atlanta, GA - March 23, 1973 (Ticket)

Boston Gardens, Boston, MA - March 26, 1973 (Ticket)

Convention Center, Louisville, KY - April 2, 1973 (Ticket)

Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln, NE - April 12, 1973 (Ticket)

Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN - April 14, 1973 (Ticket)

Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS - April 15, 1973 (Ticket)

Pirates World, Miami, FL - April 20, 1973 (Ticket)

Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, AL - April 25, 1973 (Poster)

Memorial Auditorium, Dallas, TX - April 28, 1973 (Ticket)

Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, TX - April 29, 1973 (Ticket)

Tucson Community Center Arena, Tucson, AZ - May 5, 1973 (Ticket)

Los Angeles Forum and Swing Auditorium - May 11-12, 1973 (Flyer)

Los Angeles Forum, Los Angeles, CA - May 11, 1973 (Ticket)

Sports Arena, San Diego, CA - May 13, 1973 (Ticket)

Las Vegas, NV - May 20, 1973 (Pass)

Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR - May 24, 1973 (Poster)

Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, BC, Canada - May 26, 1973 (Ticket) Courtesy of Vince Ricci

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY - June 3, 1973 (Advert)

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY - June 3, 1973 (Ticket)

Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY - June 5, 1973 (Ticket)

Civic Center, Providence, RI - June 7, 1973 (Ticket)

Billion Dollar Babies Holiday Tour 1973

It's not as if the band hadn't toured enough this year, or the years previous to this, but with the release of their second album of 1973 a short tour was announced for the end of the year. The Billion Dollar Babies Holiday Tour was basically the tour for Muscle of Love, but with the same structure and design as the previous Billion Dollar Babies tour.

This time around the band performed in sailor suits, as depicted on the inner sleeve of the Muscle of Love album. At the shows conclusion Nixon was replaced with Santa Claus (played by writer Bob Greene who joined the guys on tour and would document his experiences in his Billion Dollar Baby book, released in 1974), who the band proceeded to beat the hell out of.

The Holiday Tour did not go as smoothly as expected. There were internal struggles within the band which were amplified by Glen's poor health and his failing ability to play - he would be supported by ghost players for this and the Billion Dollar Babies tour. There was a gas shortage during the tour as well, so the stage failed to show up for some of the shows. And worst of all, during a performance in Toledo, Ohio the band left the stage a few minutes after the show began when 'fans' started throwing bottle rockets on the stage.

Touring at this point was probably not a good idea, considering the amount of work the band had, and were doing. This tour was never filmed, but there are a few bootleg audio recordings that exist.

Hello Hooray / Billion Dollar Babies / Elected / I'm Eighteen / Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo) / Muscle of Love / Hard Hearted Alice / My Stars / Sick Things / Dead Babies / I Love the Dead / School's Out / Working Up A Sweat

Killer (1971): Dead Babies

Billion Dollar Babies (1973): Hello Hurray / Billion Dollar Babies / Elected / Sick Things / Unfinished Sweet / I Love The Dead

Muscle Of Love (1973): Big Apple Dreamin / Muscle Of Love / Hard Hearted Alice / Working Up A Sweat

1973 December

• 08: USA - Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee with Stories
• 09: USA - Greensboro Coliseum, Greenboro, North Carolina with ZZ Top
• 11: USA - Dane County Memorial Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin with ZZ Top Ticket
• 12: USA - Crisler Arena, University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan with ZZ Top Ticket
• 13: USA - Toledo Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio with ZZ Top Alice Cooper group only played a short set due to firecrackers being thrown on stage
• 14: Canada - Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario with ZZ Top Audio recording is in circulation Ticket | Ticket
• 15: USA - Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, New York with ZZ Top Ticket
• 16: USA - The Scope, Norfolk, New York with ZZ Top
• 19: USA - Capital Center, Landover, Maryland with ZZ Top Ticket
• 22: USA - Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida [CANCELLED] Cancelled due to cold weather
• 26: USA - New Haven Coliseum, New Haven, Connecticut with ZZ Top Audio recording is in circulation
• 27: Canada - Montréal Forum, Montréal, Québec with ZZ Top
• 29: USA - Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, New York with ZZ Top Audio recording is in circulation
• 31: USA - Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York with ZZ Top Poster

Dane County Memorial Coliseum, Madison, WI - December 11, 1973 (Ticket)

Crisler Arena, University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI - December 12, 1973 (Ticket)

Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON, Canada - December 14, 1973 (Ticket)

Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, NY - December 15, 1973 (Ticket)

Capital Center, Largo, MD - December 19, 1973 (Ticket)

Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, NY - December 31, 1973 (Poster)

South American Billion Dollar Babies Tour 1974

This would end up being the final time the band would ever perform live again in the same compacity. It would be surprising if any band could survive such a self-inflicted pace of constant touring, recording, excessive drinking and health problems.

This short tour of South America was almost like Beatlemania had hit, it was the first time a rock band had played the area. The band arrived and they were mauled by the massive crowds waiting for them, having to be escorted by armed police - armed with machine guns. The shows varied in size - from huge indoor arenas to smaller couple thousand seat venues. One concert actually set the record for the largest indoor attendance - 150,000!

Not much is known about the tour, but the show would have been the same as the previous Billion Dollar Babies Holiday Tour, with the removal of Santa Claus. Audio does exist from one show on the tour, possibly more.

Hello Hooray / Billion Dollar Babies / Elected / I'm Eighteen / No More Mr Nice Guy / Muscle of Love / Hard Hearted Alice / My Stars / Sick Things / Dead Babies / I Love the Dead / School's Out / Working Up A Sweat

Billion Dollar Babies (1973): Hello Hurray / Billion Dollar Babies / Elected / No More Mr Nice Guy / Sick Things / Unfinished Sweet / I Love The Dead

Muscle Of Love (1973): Muscle Of Love / Hard Hearted Alice / Working Up A Sweat

• 30: Brazil - Anhembi, Sao Paulo with Som Nosso de Cada Dia (translated as: Our Daily Sound). 150,000 in attendence (Circus Magazine, July 1974)
• 02: Brazil - Teatro, Sao Paulo
• 05: Brazil - Canecao, Rio de Janeiro
• 07: Brazil - Maracanacinho, Rio de Janeiro
• 08: Brazil - Maracanacinho, Rio de Janeiro

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:

Alice Cooper

• June 3, 1973 Setlist

Alice Cooper Setlist at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

• Edit setlist songs
• Edit venue & date
• Edit set times
• Add to festival
• Report setlist

Tour: Billion Dollar Babies Tour statistics Add setlist

• Hello, Hooray ( Judy Collins  cover) Play Video
• Billion Dollar Babies Play Video
• Elected Play Video
• I'm Eighteen Play Video
• Raped and Freezin' Play Video
• No More Mr. Nice Guy Play Video
• My Stars Play Video
• Unfinished Sweet Play Video
• Song played from tape Night on Bald Mountain ( Modest Mussorgsky  song) Play Video
• Sick Things Play Video
• Dead Babies Play Video
• I Love the Dead Play Video
• School's Out Play Video
• Under My Wheels Play Video
• Song played from tape God Bless America Play Video

Edits and Comments

13 activities (last edit by ExecutiveChimp , 13 Mar 2023, 00:40 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Billion Dollar Babies
• I Love the Dead
• No More Mr. Nice Guy
• Raped and Freezin'
• Sick Things
• Unfinished Sweet
• Dead Babies
• Under My Wheels
• School's Out
• I'm Eighteen
• Hello, Hooray by Judy Collins

Complete Album stats

More from this Artist

• More Setlists
• Artist Statistics
• Add setlist

Related News

Fall Out Boy Wraps So Much for (2our) Dust in Minneapolis

KISS Bids Farewell to Touring, Hello to Digital Avatars

Setlist History: John Lennon Joins Elton John for his Final Show

Madison Square Garden: Venue Spotlight

Madison square garden.

• Alice Cooper This Setlist Add time Add time
• Flo & Eddie Add time Add time

Alice Cooper Gig Timeline

• May 30 1973 Metropolitan Sports Center Bloomington, MN, USA Add time Add time
• May 31 1973 Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee, WI, USA Add time Add time
• Jun 03 1973 Madison Square Garden This Setlist New York, NY, USA Add time Add time
• Jun 05 1973 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Uniondale, NY, USA Add time Add time
• Jun 07 1973 Providence Civic Center Providence, RI, USA Add time Add time

12 people were there

• davidabrams
• musichead77

Share or embed this setlist

Use this setlist for your event review and get all updates automatically!

<div style="text-align: center;" class="setlistImage"><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/alice-cooper/1973/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-bc5a1fa.html" title="Alice Cooper Setlist Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA 1973, Billion Dollar Babies" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=bc5a1fa" alt="Alice Cooper Setlist Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA 1973, Billion Dollar Babies" style="border: 0;" /></a> <div><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=bc5a1fa&amp;step=song">Edit this setlist</a> | <a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/alice-cooper-63d63aa3.html">More Alice Cooper setlists</a></div></div>

Last.fm Event Review

[url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/alice-cooper/1973/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-bc5a1fa.html][img]https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=bc5a1fa[/img][/url] [url=https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=bc5a1fa&amp;step=song]Edit this setlist[/url] | [url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/alice-cooper-63d63aa3.html]More Alice Cooper setlists[/url]

Tour Update

Marquee memories: the dandy warhols.

• The Dandy Warhols
• Apr 17, 2024
• Apr 16, 2024
• Apr 15, 2024
• Apr 14, 2024
• Apr 13, 2024
• Apr 12, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Feature requests
• Songtexte.com

The scandalous story of Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies

The Alice Cooper Band's outrageous behaviour prompted a statement in Parliament while their songs thrilled a generation

Forget Marilyn Manson , forget the Sex Pistols ; when it came to shocking the self-appointed guardians of international morality to the core, Alice Cooper pretty much wrote the handbook. 

Flaunting a sketchy past swathed in urban legend and cunningly fabricated falsehoods concerning witches, ouija boards, dismembered chickens, blurred genders and necrophilia, Alice Cooper succeeded in outraging the forces of decency to an unprecedented degree over the course of his casual early-70s transition from cult notoriety to mainstream ubiquity.

Cooper’s infamy was such that in May 1973 Leo Abse, the incumbent Labour MP for Pontypool, spluttered in the House of Commons: “I regard his [Cooper’s] act as an incitement to infanticide for his sub-teenage audience. He is deliberately trying to involve these kids in sado-masochism. He is peddling the culture of the concentration camp. Pop is one thing, anthems of necrophilia are another.” 

The nation’s leading censorial nanny figure, Mary Whitehouse, head of the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association, offered eager support to Abse’s campaign to ban Alice Cooper from returning to the UK. But as public reaction veered in the general direction of hysteria, sales of Billion Dollar Babies (Cooper’s most provocative recording to date) soared stratospherically; then, as now, controversy sells, and in 1973 nobody was selling more than Alice Cooper. 

Of course, back in those days Alice Cooper were a band; five individuals who had translated a shared fascination for the mop-tops and the macabre into a million-dollar industry that had not only brought them universal vilification as depraved, corruptive pariahs, but also celebrity beyond their wildest dreams. 

The quintet’s story begins innocently enough in Phoenix, Arizona, when track athlete Vincent Furnier is volunteered to organise the Cortez High School’s autumn 1964 Letterman Talent Show. 

Unfortunately no one seems to boast any discernible talent, so Vince encourages some friends to take the stage as The Earwigs where they mime along to Beatles records while wearing Beatles wigs. Guitarist Glen Buxton can actually play his instrument. And while drummer John Speer fumbles his way around the rudiments of percussion, bassist Dennis Dunaway hones his craft with the benefit of some valuable lessons from Glen. 

Classic Rock Newsletter

Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!

The Earwigs metamorphose into The Spiders; they play local Battle Of The Bands shows; and they replace their departing rhythm guitarist John Tatum with ex-Cortez High football star Michael Bruce of The Trolls. 

Following a move to LA in spring ’67, the fledgling Coopers, now known as The Nazz (but not for long, thanks to Todd Rundgren ’s band of the same name), replace John Speer with fellow Phoenix émigré Neal Smith and set about endearing themselves to the Sunset Strip in-crowd by hosting regular séances. 

Soon enough – now that they’re mixing in a social circle that includes The Doors ’ Jim Morrison and Love ’s Arthur Lee – Miss Christine (of The GTOs: Girls Together Outrageously, the world’s first all-female rock band) arranges for the band to audition for Frank Zappa ’s Straight label. The somewhat over-eager Coopers famously turn up for their 6.30pm appointment at 6.30am, but find their naïve tenacity amply rewarded when Zappa offers them a record deal. 

Two days after changing their name to Alice Cooper they are taken on as the house support band at the 20,000-capacity Cheetah Ballroom, where they gradually build a following in spite of the fact that their vocalist – having ditched the name Vince in favour of the infinitely more noteworthy Alice – had taken to wearing full make-up and a pink clown costume.

Gradually, the winning Alice Cooper formula takes shape, and after recording a brace of feet-finding collections on Zappa’s Straight imprint (1969’s Pretties For You and ’70’s Easy Action ) the band sign to Warner Brothers and, with Canadian whiz-kid producer Bob Ezrin at the controls, hit the peak of their form with three set-piece collections released in rapid succession: June ’71’s Love It To Death (the album that shocked America), December ’71’s Killer (the album that conquered America) and July ’72’s School’s Out (the album that conquered the world). 

School’s Out , bolstered by the enormity of its anthemic title track, quickly attained the accolade of being the biggest-selling album in Warners’ history and, thanks to a frenzied tabloid press virtually foaming at the mouth with a level of hyperbolic vitriol unseen since the advent of the Rolling Stones , Alice Cooper became the most newsworthy and controversial band on the planet. But now came the difficult bit. 

In the face of blanket condemnation from the great, the good, the humourless, the pious and the post-pubescent, the band needed to consolidate their position. Specifically, they needed to make the greatest album of their career: an over-inflated Grand Guignol masterpiece; an ostentatiously offensive, flashy, crass and unbelievably expensive combination of Herschell Gordon Lewis and Busby Berkeley positively guaranteed to expand the generation gap to Grand Canyon proportions. 

In short, they needed to make Billion Dollar Babies . Following School’s Out was always going to be a daunting task, but with band morale at an all-time high no one involved harboured a shred of doubt that they could not only do it, but also do it in style 

“I knew we had a great team,” Alice remembers today, “and when you’re that age you think you’re indestructible. I don’t think we really conceived of how big School’s Out was. We were really flying by the seat of our pants back then. You’d do two albums a year in those days, and two world tours to go with them. But, again, we considered ourselves indestructible, so we didn’t feel pressure at all.” “

We had other people doing the doubting for us,” Dennis Dunaway smiles. “It was us against the world, basically. Even after we were successful and surrounded by people telling us how great we were, there were always plenty more ready to share their opinion that we weren’t.” 

Reflecting the dogged buoyancy and inner confidence that kept their spirits high in the face of blanket media condemnation – and also in the grand show business tradition of ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it’ – the band elected to celebrate their newly elevated status in the album’s title itself. 

"The Billion Dollar Babies concept was simply making fun of ourselves,” Alice Cooper says in retrospect. “Here was a band nobody would touch three years ago, and now we’re the biggest band in the world. We’d look at each other and go: ‘We’re like billion dollar babies’."

“We were getting voted best band in the world over Led Zeppelin , The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. We’d look at that and laugh. I almost called up McCartney and said: ‘Listen, we didn’t vote on this’. Led Zeppelin we would give a run for, but when it came to The Beatles and the Stones we were embarrassed to be ahead of them in anything. 

“ Billion Dollar Babies was our most decadent album. It was reflecting the decadence of a time when we were living from limousine to penthouse to the finest of everything including… well, the finest of everything. We couldn’t believe people were actually paying us to do this. We would have done it for free, because we were just a garage band who happened to be at the right place at the right time.” 

Despite gigging themselves to a virtual standstill, appearing in every print publication in existence and working on a movie project titled Good To See You Again Alice Cooper (finally released in 2005 through Rhino Home Video), the band were still on a creative high and writing songs of exceptional quality. 

“We’d been writing pretty much constantly since Easy Action ,” Michael Bruce recalls. “So by this point we had really started to come into our own. We were on an upward spiral.” 

And with this confidence came a desire to push the envelope even further into the arena of the bizarre. 

“Dennis Dunaway had a lot to do with the insanity of the band,” Alice admits. “I let Dennis be as surreal as he wanted to be. He and I were both artists in school and were both really into Salvador Dali. Also, Dennis did a lot more… let’s just say experimental stuff, than I did.”

We were getting voted best band in the world over Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles Alice

“I was always the crusader for the avant-garde,” Dunaway agrees. “Anything that we would come up with that sounded like anyone else, I was always there to change it. So the songs would always be under attack from me if they didn’t sound unusual enough.” 

Making sure that the Coopers’ collective vision was realised in the recording studio (no matter how unusual it became) was a man generally regarded to be the band’s sixth member, producer Bob Ezrin, who had helped to hone the Alice Cooper sound since Love It To Death . 

“It was like two trees growing next to each other.” Alice explains. “Bob Ezrin was ready to produce a band, and we were ready to get a producer. He was a young guy with a theatrical background, and we were a rock’n’roll band that wanted to be theatrical. Bob Ezrin was our George Martin.” 

“I don’t want to underestimate how important Bob was,” Neal Smith cautions, “but I don’t want to overestimate it either. In getting our sound on record Bob was hugely important, but Billion Dollar Babies was a team effort. His biggest achievement, I think, was helping create Alice’s character. Because between Easy Action and Love It To Death a character evolves vocally that pretty much solidifies into the real Alice Cooper, and Bob had a lot to do with that.” 

“Bob definitely came along at the right time,” Dunaway says. “Mike Bruce’s songwriting had improved leaps and bounds, Neal and I had improved across the board, and Alice’s voice had matured – gotten much stronger and less nasal than the early days – but when Bob came along we were still trying to fit a million ideas into each song. It took him to come in and say: ‘No, this isn’t a song, this is a whole album’ to finally focus our direction.”

The Billion Dollar Babies album was recorded in three stages. Initially a mobile studio from New York’s Record Plant was parked up outside The Cooper Mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the basic backing tracks were laid down. After a couple of months of furtive recording in between their myriad other commitments, the band flew to London’s Morgan Studios to record overdubs and vocals, then returned to the Record Plant for mixing. 

Unsurprisingly, given the band’s penchant for partying and their choice of friends, the Morgan Studio sessions in London soon played host to drunken, after-hours jams featuring some of the greatest – and indeed the most indulgent – stars of the day. 

“We had access to a lot of the stars here,” Alice remembers “In fact T.Rex , Donovan, Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon are all on that album somewhere, but none of us know where because the session was so drunk.” 

“Keith Moon would come down with Marc Bolan,” Neal Smith recalls. “In fact Alice, me, Keith and Marc were sitting at a table one time when Marc kept on pushing at Keith to be in a band with him, which was so funny because I couldn’t imagine a worse combination of two musicians.” 

“Harry Nilsson had a really negative effect on the session,” Dunaway says. “We could have got a lot of great things out of that group of individuals jam-wise, or even for use on the album, if Harry Nilsson hadn’t been there, falling drunk on to the mixing board and wrecking it up. The guy could hardly walk, but he’d sit down at he piano and out would come this beautiful voice and beautiful melody. Jeez, I never figured how he could do that.” 

Also present at the Morgan sessions were a pair of session guitarist colleagues of Bob Ezrin: Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter who, unknown to many contemporary fans, were often called in to cover for an increasingly ailing and erratic Glen Buxton. 

“Hunter and Wagner were definitely on the album,” Alice says. “And we wanted everybody to know it. We weren’t going to pretend like Glen was playing everything, and be phoney about it, so we gave them a credit. Later on I used them exclusively for Welcome To My Nightmare .” 

“We knew Dick from Michigan,” Michael Bruce says. “There were always musicians that were better than us in every studio we went. Having him and Steve on the album wasn’t seen as some dark portent of things to come, they were just incredible players. If a library doesn’t have the book you want, you just go to another library. We’d already used Dick on School’s Out and Under My Wheels .” 

While in London the band were photographed by David Bailey for the inner sleeve of Billion Dollar Babies. It presented yet another golden opportunity to gleefully taunt their legion of apoplectic detractors, and the band rose manfully to the challenge.

Dressed in diaphanous white silk and surrounded by literally stacks of cash, the musicians casually caress albino bunny rabbits, as their singer presents to the camera a live human baby which is naked except for a splattering of trademark Alice Cooper eye make-up.

“Any chance we got to exaggerate anything, we did it,” Alice says when considering the revolutionary cover design of Billion Dollar Babies. “We made a giant, billionaire’s wallet, and inside it there was a billion-dollar bill: very American; everything big and expensive. And we used the best photographer, the guy we were sure was the guy in Blow Up, because we thought there was going to be models laying naked around the place… and there were a few.

“We brought in a million dollars of real money from Brinks. What you didn’t see in that picture were the two guys with machine-guns who were guarding the money. Everything we did was overblown and the British audience loved it. They loved this big American band that the MPs just hated. The fact we were flaunting it was even better, because we suffered so much at the hands of the press.” 

“That cover shoot is actually a recreation of one we did for Love It To Death ,” Dunaway points out. “We brought a photographer into the farm we had in Pontiac, set up a brass bed in the living room and posed with some white rabbits that my wife Cindy had. Of course, we didn’t have the million dollars then. In fact the reason those shots never got used was because we couldn’t even afford to pay the photographer’s bill.” 

Directly prior to the release of Billion Dollar Babies , a promotional flexi-disc single was given away with the February 17 issue of the New Musical Express . The B-side was short excerpts from the album, while the A-side boasted the exclusive track Slick Black Limousine . 

“That was one of the few songs we had laying around,” Neal Smith explains. “It was supposed to be an Elvis Presley, rock’n’roll kind of thing, but in the end it got more Alice Cooper-ish, with rolling drums and dark psychedelics.” 

Finally released in March 1973, Billion Dollar Babies , despite being critically crucified for its apparently unprecedented lack of taste, entered the UK chart at No.1. Within days, and with the band already out on the road promoting it to the hilt with their soon-to-be record-breaking Billion Dollar Babies Show, the album had replicated that chart-topping achievement in the USA.

By now the press were in meltdown. Just four days into the tour Melody Maker announced that Alice had been killed due to a fatal malfunction during his I Love The Dead guillotine finale. Almost as soon as this story was eventually adjudged to be false, yet another urban myth had arrived to take its place around water coolers the world over: apparently the baby in the B$B cover shot had been rendered blind by incautiously applied eye make-up. (But before you all rush to tell your friends, obviously it hadn’t.) 

The Billion Dollar Babies Show may have been the largest-grossing rock tour in the history of mankind, but it was also one of the most gruelling. Flying from city to city for months on end is one thing, but being beheaded twice a night is something else again. 

“Again, you’re indestructible,” Alice explains. “When you’re selling out six nights a week and every night there’s 15,000 people out there you feel no pain. But underneath I was eroding. You couldn’t tell by the stage show, you couldn’t tell by my personality, but every night the alcohol became a little bit more like medicine and a little less like fun. 

“By the time I was doing … Nightmare I was ready to die, go into hospital or have a nervous breakdown. There came a point where every time I saw my costume I would almost start crying and almost throw up.” 

“The Billion Dollar Babies tour was horrendous the way that it ended up,” Mike Bruce grimaces. “It was supposed to be sixty dates in ninety days, but I think it ended up at almost eighty.” 

“You’re pushing yourself on exhaustion,” Dunaway adds. ”You’d be lucky to get to bed by four in the morning, then you’d have to get up to catch an early flight or drive to the next city. But Alice and I were long-distance runners – that’s how we met – so we had this keep-going-at-all-costs mentality that pulled us through some situations where a lot of other bands would have given up.” 

“It was gruelling,” Smith concludes, “but it wasn’t unbearable… This band lived for the road."

And, of course, road-life did have its moments: “The groupie scene was beyond anything you can imagine,” Alice leers. “Go backstage now – if you want to see a bunch of fat guys move amps. But back in the seventies if you went on tour with Rod Stewart and The Faces you’d see anything. It was the golden age of decadence.” 

Of course, over the years Alice Cooper has ceased to be perceived as a band at all, and is now popularly considered to be an on-stage persona adopted by the artist formerly known as Vince Furnier – a kind of evil Dame Edna, if you will; a Mister Hyde-styled alter ego so immensely dominant that it’s all too easy to forget that Vince’s golf-loving Doctor Jekyll even exists. Until he chums up to Ronnie Corbett on TV, that is. 

Yet although the former Furnier retains exclusive custody of the lucrative Cooper brand – and legitimately so, as it was he alone who initially coined the moniker – the actual development of the finer points of the Alice Cooper character was very much a team effort. 

“Alice came up with the name,” Dunaway says, “and I thought it was a genius idea. It shocked me when he first suggested it, but when I ran it by my parents and saw their mouths drop open I knew it was the name for us. 

“The name did belong to the band, but we didn’t want people to know that we’d helped Alice develop the character. However, the make-up was my idea, the snake Neal’s idea, and the executions were band ideas. 

“The Alice character was born of necessity; in the early days of Pretties For You Alice was shy. He had a temporary case of stage fright, where he’d stand with his back to the audience for the whole set, and we weren’t sure what to do about it. Then at one rehearsal, when the band was still starving in California, I suggested that he develop a different character for each song, because he didn’t have a problem when he was on stage being Keith Relf or Mick Jagger , it was only when we started doing original material he was at a loss as to who he was and what he wanted to project. 

“So during Nobody Likes Me he was a lonesome guy singing through a window; for Levity Ball a kind of Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard character that developed into a strong part of the Alice Cooper persona. We had a song called Fields Of Regret that had this sort of dirge-like sermon in the middle that I think was influenced by Alice’s father being a minister, but Alice became this darker, more sinister character for that particular song. And people loved it, so I said: ‘We should write more songs that have that character in them’. It didn’t happen overnight, but by the time we got to ‘Love It To Death’ that concept of the Alice character had really taken root.” 

Alice, meanwhile, has rationalised his need to attain Cooper-ism thus: “Alice came out because there were all these Peter Pans and no Captain Hook.” 

He also admits to having based Alice’s singular sense of style on Anita Pallenberg’s sadistically seductive Black Queen character from Roger Vadim’s classic cult fantasy Barbarella : “I saw the Black Queen and went: ‘That’s Alice right there’. Black gloves with switchblades at the end, black make-up, with the eyepatch over her eye… that is so good. Then I’d see something else in a comic book. And as I stitched all these characters together, pretty soon there he was.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Alice Cooper were never really perceived as a drug band. “We were way too American for that,” Alice insists. “Too mid-West and too wholesome. We drank, watched football, baseball and horror movies, called our moms, had Thanksgiving dinner and were the most all-American, homespun guys you had ever seen in your life. All on the track team, cross-country team, lettermen, we were just as wholesome as you could get. Church on Sunday…” 

Okay, enough already. But is Alice’s memory entirely reliable? 

“Put it this way,” Neal Smith says: “Alice is the one who went through rehab. I tried everything that was ever around in those days. Michael, Dennis, Glen and I all did. You didn’t have to buy it, anywhere we went it was always there. But I never liked anything as much as drinking beer, and we probably consumed more alcohol than any other band on the planet.” 

Alice had started drinking in Los Angeles and had drunk constantly ever since. He and Glen Buxton would routinely split a case of beer a day, and Alice would never take to the stage with less than a six-pack inside of him. But, as luck would have it, he was an uncommonly ‘functional’ drinker. 

“I could get up, drink beer all day, but when it came to interviews I would never slur a word and when it came time to do TV I knew every line.” 

“Alice was a real professional drunk,” Mike Bruce agrees. “He was always where he was needed to be, and never complained. So it was a bit of a shock to me when he spoke of his alcoholism. I mean, he was always really thin and ghastly looking, so it didn’t really sink in.” 

But while Alice had his drinking under some degree of control, the same could not be said for his drinking partner. “Everybody was worried about Glen,” Alice has said, “because Glen was just not progressing. Everybody seemed to be getting better at what they were doing and Glen just wanted to have his drink, his cigarette and just kind of float.”

Shortly before the Billion Dollar Babies tour, Glen Buxton’s alcoholic overindulgence caused his pancreas to ‘explode’. And following life-saving emergency surgery the guitarist returned to the Cooper Mansion in Connecticut to recuperate. With regular substitute Dick Wagner unavailable guitarist Mick Mashbir and keyboard player Bob Dolan were brought in to paste over gaping cracks in the band’s live sound. 

As has already been established, the battery-recharging sabbaticals enjoyed by today’s major stars were simply not an option in the 1970s, and consequently the seriously debilitated Alice Cooper soon found themselves back on the recording treadmill. On this occasion, however, not only was Buxton’s contribution seriously below par, but Bob Ezrin – who had already committed to producing Lou Reed ’s Berlin – was also out of the equation. 

As a result, Muscle Of Love , the eagerly awaited follow-up to Billion Dollar Babies – was a commercial, as well as creative, catastrophe. That’s relatively speaking, of course – it still succeeded in shifting 800,000 copies. But the band should have been prepared for the worst – they had been warned. 

“Bob Ezrin heard the songs and went: ‘Guys, this isn’t up to par’,” Alice admits. “But we were swimming in popularity at that point, we could do no wrong. So it was a perfect example of a band being over-confident. The songs were okay, but put them all together and it didn’t work.”

“We simply wanted to do an album of great songs,” Neal Smith shrugs. “We’d also heard that there was a new James Bond movie coming up, so we wrote The Man With The Golden Gun specifically for that (the band’s contribution was ultimately passed over in favour of Lulu). The major difference with Muscle Of Love was that as it wasn’t a concept album, we didn’t have a show based around it. The previous four had all come complete with an accompanying stage show. I guess we just couldn’t figure out another way to kill Alice.”

“Glen’s problems took priority,” Dunaway adds, “so we weren’t able to work on songs as we had before. We had different musicians coming in, and the whole album sounded much more safe because Bob Ezrin wasn’t there. He’d always been very tolerant of my interest in pushing the avant garde, but that’s not really Jack Richardson’s style.” 

“As a producer, Jack Richardson was about as close as you could get to a Bob Ezrin,” Mike Bruce offers. “He also came from Nimbus 9 Productions in Canada, and had even engineered a couple of our previous albums alongside Bob Ezrin. So it wasn’t as much a matter of what went wrong with ‘Muscle Of Love’ as what didn’t go right. 

“We’d insisted on packaging it in a cardboard carton; that was another problem. When we toured it there was a truckers’ strike, so we couldn’t use our normal stage set; we would often just turn up and play.” 

With their lead guitarist plummeting into oblivion and their sales figures apparently embarking on a similar course, the Alice Cooper group decided to take a year-long hiatus that has so far lasted for three decades. At least that’s how three of them see it. 

“The guys were tired of spending all the money on the show,” Alice says. “I understand that, but it’s what got us there. And they wanted to wear Levi’s. So I said: ‘If that happens I can’t be part of it. I can’t be the lead singer in Creedence Clearwater here’. 

“In the end everybody wanted to do their own album. So I went: ‘If that’s going to happen, I’ve got to let you know right now that I’m going to take every penny that I have and invest it in the next album [which was Welcome To My Nightmare ]. If you thought Billion Dollar Babies was the biggest thing you have ever seen, I want this to be bigger’. 

"So, worried about having to watch all of their money go down the drain, they said: ‘You’re on your own’. So I said: ‘Okay. No hard feelings’. At least we knew where everybody stood. Nobody argued, nobody yelled, everybody just went, okay. 

“So they all did their albums, and I took Bob Ezrin, our manager Shep Gordon and said: ‘Let’s roll the dice. We’re either going to be totally broke after this or we’re going to be really, really big’. And that’s when I started writing … Nightmare with Dick Wagner.”

“Well it’s not true,” Dunaway insists. “Mike, Neal and I did the ‘Battle Axe’ show [billing themselves as The Billion Dollar Babies] after that, and I think spent more on that than we had on the previous Alice Cooper tour. So no, that wasn’t the reason at all. I also hate that spin about how we refused to wear stage costumes. I mean, who would believe that? Just walking down the street we looked more outrageous than most bands. 

“I didn’t like the idea of bringing in schooled dancers. I thought it would make the show too slick and take away the raw edge that was our power. Neither did I like the idea of big, fluffy monsters; I wanted something more gritty – the chopped-up mannequin approach.” 

“Well, Alice says that stuff,” Mike Bruce says, “and it’s like he believes it so much that it’s become his reality. But no, it wasn’t that the band didn’t want a stage show, we just wanted to tone it down a little, make it into a funkier, West Side Story kind of thing as opposed to a big, lavish, Billion Dollar Broadway Babes type of thing. We had also been touring to the point where we needed to back off on the throttle and let momentum carry us. The road had taken its toll: physically speaking, our cheques were cashed and the bank was notified.” 

“We had come back from Europe,” Neal Smith says. “And because Michael had some material that he wanted to record himself, we all decided to take a year off to do our various solo projects. Michael did In My Own Way , I did Platinum God and Alice did Welcome To My Nightmare . Alice found success on his own with … Nightmare and, what with the continuing Glen situation, we never got back together again.” 

And have the former Billion Dollar Babies been left harbouring regrets? Well, as you might expect, some more than others. 

“I certainly would’ve loved to have continued with the band,” Smith admits. “I wish that after we’d done our solo projects we’d have honoured what we’d stated and gotten back together to record the ninth Alice Cooper album. And who knows, maybe we will one day.” 

“If I had to do it over again,” Bruce reflects, “I’d probably try to keep it going longer than it did.” 

“I just wish we’d recorded more,” Dunaway says, laughing. “We never had a tape recorder, and as a result we lost a lot of really good songs simply by forgetting how they went.” 

“I wish I’d seen a bit more of those days sober,” Alice confesses, “so I could remember more. Every once in a while I’ll get a flashback – like, because that’s all I can remember: I was driving, Steven Tyler had a gun and we were on some mission. We ended up at my house, but all I remember is a Rolls-Royce, Tyler, a gun and a lot of alcohol. Did we shoot someone and bury them? I have no idea.”

Ironically, while Glen Buxton's premature death from pneumonia in October ’97 effectively rendered a fully-fledged Alice Cooper reunion impossible, it may well have made it easier for the four surviving members to finally regroup. After all, the band was as much Glen Buxton’s as it was anybody’s, and while he was not in any condition to tour, for his bandmates to have reunited without him would have been simply unthinkable. 

But now that their former sparring partner has finally been laid to rest arguably there’s really no obstacle to the quartet sharing the same stage once more. In fact they’ve already done so: at Alice’s Cooper’stown restaurant in Phoenix during the course of the second annual Glen Buxton Memorial Weekend in October ’99. 

So could this on-going détente between Bruce, Cooper, Dunaway and Smith ultimately develop into something a little more substantial? 

“I would work with those guys in a second,” Alice asserts, before cautiously stipulating, “if it was the right project. I don’t know how we could ever do it authentically without Glen. Mike… [Alice briefly sucks thoughtfully on a tooth] Well, Neal and Dennis are easy. I’ll just say that. They both still play great, but I don’t know if they could do an entire tour. I mean, I’m in really good shape, but we’re not twenty-eight any more.” 

“I can’t say whether it’ll ever happen or not,” Neal Smith says, “but if it does it will be something that all four of us will decide upon democratically. It won’t simply be Alice saying: ‘Hey, guys, let’s get together’. And if that time ever does come there would be nobody happier than me.” 

“I said to Shep Gordon on the night that I played on School’s Out with Alice at Wembley in 2002,” Mike Bruce recalls, “that it would be nice if we got together to redo the Billion Dollar Babies Show for Europe – do the songs on the same stage set, with Mick Mashbir and Bob Dolan. We never toured Europe with that show. 

“I’d love to see something happen with the four of us, but it’s up to Alice to suss it out and put it into his game plan, because he’s the figurehead. The impact of anything that we did would be most felt by him. If it were a success the critics would say he should have done it sooner, and if it were a failure it would be: ‘So, you don’t have it any more, huh?’. So I guess Alice is between a rock and a hard place.” 

“Well,” Dennis Dunaway concludes with a sigh, “Neal and I have been making that offer to Alice for thirty years now. I mean, he was supposed to sing on the Battle Axe album, but we couldn’t get a return phone call. It’s certainly not Michael, Neal or I, or even Glen, that have kept this band from ever getting back together. That part I know.”

This feature was originally published in Classic Rock 67, in April 2004. In 2017 the Alice Cooper Band reunited for a show in Nashville, and later that year toured The UK.

Classic Rock’s Reviews Editor for the last 20 years, Ian stapled his first fanzine in 1977. Since misspending his youth by way of ‘research’ his work has also appeared in such publications as Metal Hammer, Prog, NME, Uncut, Kerrang!, VOX, The Face, The Guardian, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Electronic Sound, Record Collector and across the internet. Permanently buried under mountains of recorded media, ears ringing from a lifetime of gigs, he enjoys nothing more than recreationally throttling a guitar and following a baptism of punk fire has played in bands for 45 years, releasing recordings via Esoteric Antenna and Cleopatra Records. 

"I used to hate the sight of Ozzy. I couldn’t stand him, and I used to beat him up whenever I saw him": Tony Iommi in conversation with James Hetfield

"I've ripped up my fingers to shreds, they bled, they blistered": Watch Nina DiGregorio's jaw-dropping version of Van Halen's Eruption, played on 7-string fretted violin

"It was very mixed – we could get some lovely nuns as well as rockers": The story of Sky, the least rock’n’roll band of all time

Most Popular

Jan. 24, 2024

Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies “Trillion Dollar” Deluxe Edition

3-LP And 2-CD Versions With Remastered Sound, Outtakes, Live Tracks, And More Arriving March 8

Single Version Of “Elected” Available Today Digitally

PRE-ORDER HERE

“Hello Hooray,” a new version of  Billion Dollar Babies , is on the way as Alice Cooper’s delightfully subversive sixth album returns in all its snakeskin glory for an extended 50th-anniversary celebration. After hitting #1 on the album charts in America and the U.K. in 1973, the record remains a highwater mark for the original lineup, featuring hits like “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Elected.”

BILLION DOLLAR BABIES: “Trillion Dollar” DELUXE EDITION  will be available from Rhino on March 8 on 3-LP and 2-CD. Both feature a newly remastered version of the original album, along with bonus material, including studio outtakes, single mixes, and an electrifying 1973 concert recording. In the vinyl edition, the gatefold cover faithfully replicates the original’s textured snakeskin wallet design and comes complete with a $1 billion dollar bill tucked inside.

The single version of “Elected” from the upcoming set is available today digitally. Listen  HERE .

An instant smash when it was released in March 1973,  Billion Dollar Babies delivered a theatrical mix of hard rock and glam laced with macabre lyrics that explored wealth, decadence, and fame’s darker side. Newly remastered, the platinum-certified album sounds better than ever. The set also features outtakes (“Coal Black Model T”), single mixes (“Mary Ann”), and “Slick Black Limousine,” which originally came out on flexi-disc within an issue of the British rock paper  New Musical Express .

The “ Trillion Dollar ”  Deluxe Edition  also features a live show recorded in Texas in April of 1973, during the “Billion Dollar Babies” tour. The powerful performance includes live versions of many of the album’s tracks, highlights including “Elected” and “Hello Hooray,” along with several of the band’s earlier hits, including “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out.”

The LP and CD versions both come with an oral history of the album and the bonus tracks by the surviving band members – Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, and Neal Smith – and Bob Ezrin, who produced the album. (Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton died in 1997)

In the notes, Cooper recalls writing “I Love The Dead” and “Sick Things.” He says, “We were writing those songs looking at each other, and every time we’d write a line I’d say, ‘Oh, this is gonna kill them. Oh, they’re gonna hate us on this one.’ But at the same time, it was almost like an Edgar Allan Poe short story when you listen to ‘I Love The Dead.’ I tried to write that the way Vincent Price would sing it.”

BILLION DOLLAR BABIES: 50TH “TRILLION DOLLAR” DELUXE EDITION

LP Track Listing

LP One Side One 1. “Hello Hooray” 2. “Raped And Freezin’” 3. “Elected” 4. “Billion Dollar Babies” 5. “Unfinished Sweet”

Side Two 1. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” 2. “Generation Landslide” 3. “Sick Things” 4. “Mary Ann” 5. “I Love The Dead”

LP Two Side One 1. “Hello Hooray” – Live, 1973 2. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Live, 1973 3. “Elected” – Live, 1973 4. “I’m Eighteen” – Live, 1973 5. “Raped And Freezin’” – Live, 1973 6. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” – Live, 1973

Side Two 1. “My Stars” – Live, 1973 2. “Unfinished Sweet” – Live, 1973 3. “Sick Things” – Live, 1973 4. “Dead Babies” – Live, 1973 5. “I Love The Dead” – Live, 1973

LP Three Side One 1. “School’s Out” – Live, 1973 2. “Under My Wheels” – Live, 1973 3. “Coal Black Model T” – Outtake 4. “Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide)” – Outtake

Side Two 1. “Hello Hooray” – Single Version 2. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Single Version 3. “Elected” – Single Version 4. “Mary Ann” – Single Version 5. “Slick Black Limousine”

CD Track Listing CD One 1. “Hello Hooray” 2. “Raped And Freezin’” 3. “Elected” 4. “Billion Dollar Babies” 5. “Unfinished Sweet” 6. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” 7. “Generation Landslide” 8. “Sick Things” 9. “Mary Ann” 10. “I Love The Dead”

CD Two 1. “Hello Hooray” – Live, 1973 2. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Live, 1973 3. “Elected” – Live, 1973 4. “I’m Eighteen” – Live, 1973 5. “Raped And Freezin’” – Live, 1973 6. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” – Live, 1973 7. “My Stars” – Live, 1973 8. “Unfinished Sweet” – Live, 1973 9. “Sick Things” – Live, 1973 10. “Dead Babies” – Live, 1973 11. “I Love The Dead” – Live, 1973 12. “School’s Out” – Live, 1973 13. “Under My Wheels” – Live, 1973 14. “Coal Black Model T” – Outtake 15. “Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide)” – Outtake 16. “Hello Hooray” – Single Version 17. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Single Version 18. “Elected” – Single Version 19. “Mary Ann” – Single Version 20. “Slick Black Limousine”

Share this Post

Features · Vintage Gigs

Vintage Gigs, 1972: Alice Cooper terrorizes Tulip City with ‘Dead Babies,’ gallows and ‘perversion’

• by Brian J. Bowe
• December 19, 2014

Local Spins writer Brian J. Bowe recounts the stir sparked by the legendary shock-rocker’s spectacle at the Holland Civic Center in the early ’70s, a concert recalled by fans as a night of acid, body parts, a hanging and more that sent ripples through the staid community.

Alice Cooper, Circa 1972: This photo and others below were taken at a South Carolina concert on the same “Killer Tour” that stopped in Holland a month later. (Photo/Hunter Desportes)

SCROLL DOWN FOR COMMENTS, VIDEO

Support our coverage of West Michigan's music scene

Once in a while, a concert gives off such strange electric energy that its reverberations can be felt across the ages.

Alice Cooper’s June 21, 1972 show at the Holland Civic Center is definitely one of those. I was a mere baby when it happened. But as a youth in Holland, I heard whispered tales of how that night shook the town’s churchy sensibilities to its core, leaving legions of terrified squares in its wake.

Master of Rock Horror: Alice Cooper. (Photo/Hunter Desportes)

First, some background.

In that third week of June 1972 — just days after the Watergate break-in — Alice Cooper was still the name of the band as well as the singer. The original group, comprised of Cooper (né Vincent Furnier), guitarists Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith, was in the middle of an impossibly brilliant run of records. The previous year’s “Love it to Death” and “Killer” albums were still fresh. The breakthrough LP “School’s Out” hit record stores that month.

“Impossibly brilliant” is how any right-thinking person considers those albums in 2014. But it was a different story in 1972. This was early enough in the band’s career that the jury was out on Alice Cooper’s brand of Vaudevillian horror-movie schtick, and the group’s outré gender-bending theatrics often obscured the music.

Rock lore tells us that Frank Zappa discovered the Alice Cooper group and was impressed by their power to disgust, confuse, and clear an audience in record time. An online collection of articles from around the time they played in Holland shows that power was still intact, with headlines like “Alice Cooper Rapes Bowl Audience” or “Alice, the all-American boy, feeds them perversion, violence” or “Alice Cooper Exploits Depravity.”

INVADING THE CONSERVATIVE HOLLAND WITH ‘DEATH-CULT VIBES’

Yet the group’s music was also earning a decent amount of critical acclaim. As someone named King Leer put it in Circus magazine that year : “Alice has always been more famous for his gaudy theatricality than, quite unjustly, for his music; but face it, any rock and roll act that offers a full scale hanging, complete with dense clouds of manufactured demon-fumes, more death-cult vibes than the Manson Family, and a super-heavy simulation of an artillery bombardment is not susceptible to mere musical analysis.”

Holland circa 1972 was probably not the most receptive place for those kinds of heavy vibes. In those days, it was even more of a conservative, church-going place than it is now. But given Alice Cooper’s growing reputation, the show was certain to draw from a certain twisted segment of the rock cognoscenti who grokked his act.

The Holland Civic Center (Photo/Courtesy of Holland Museum)

“The acid was just coming on as I entered the building,” said longtime West Michigander Michael Matchinsky, remembering the show. “I had panhandled all day to get enough money for a ticket and a hit of acid.”

The ticket Matchinsky bought from a scalper turned out to be counterfeit, but he was able to make it into the venue regardless.

“The concert was great,” Matchinsky said. “Alice Cooper is quite the showman.”

Local musician Ned Rouse agreed. “I had never seen anything like it. I was very impressed,” he said.

The highlights of the show remain stable in the retelling. Alice pranced about with his boa constrictor Yvonne. He was hanged from a gallows in the climax to “Killer.”

He dementedly ripped apart a baby doll during “Dead Babies” .

Killer Showman: Alice Cooper. (Photo/Hunter Desportes)

“He chopped up the doll during ‘Dead Babies’ and kicked her head out into the audience like a football,” Rouse said. “Then he threw her leg right into my lap and everyone sitting around me, jumped me for it.”

Rouse emerged from the scrum victorious and captured the leg — which he has in a display case to this day .

But it was a final bit of theatricality that makes this a particularly special show in Alice Cooper history. As Matchinsky described: “The finale was the song with a cannon, which he climbed onto and erotically stroked until it spewed some goo.”

That anecdote is universally recounted by those in attendance in more or less the same terms.

But the cannon was part of a new stage show Alice Cooper was trying out. As The Grand Rapids Press wrote in a preview of the show, the band “had worked out action to go with the music and will give the program its first public tryout before traveling to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, where the show will be performed before 40,000 persons.” That show, originally scheduled for June 23, was postponed because of flooding. It eventually happened on July 11, with Humble Pie and Uriah Heep opening.

The cannon was originally designed to launch a dummy Alice into the air. But the prop had failed spectacularly in its debut in Flint the night before . Ever the showman, apparently Alice decided to repurpose his new artillery to, uh, make love rather than war. But even that gag proved visually disappointing and was quickly dropped from the act. The cannon was later reputedly sold to the Rolling Stones, who also used it for their own indecent purposes.

RUMBLINGS THIS WOULD BE ‘THE LAST CONCERT EVER HELD’ AT CIVIC CENTER

Who’da thunk that mock baby slaughter and mass bukkake was too much for the Tulip City to take? The show had such an impact that the ripples affected later generations. Holland resident Kimberly Payne-Naik was only 5 years old at the time of the show and wasn’t there herself. But her parents, who had separated, decided to go to the show in a last-ditch effort at reconciliation.

“It led to my mother being convinced after the divorce that on the weekend visits he’d be hanging around with the Hell’s Angels and taking me and my sister to meet Satan himself, I guess,” Payne-Naik said. “I’ve heard from her my entire life about how traumatized she was from the experience, and completely disgusted that my dad even considered she might enjoy such a thing.”

Cover Boy: Alice Cooper as Santa on the cover of Creem magazine in 1972.

As a result, Payne-Naik said she was forbidden from going to concerts as a teenager. Just asking would result in “an instant meltdown from my mother at the very idea that I’d even ask or want to go to such a thing.”

The consensus seemed to be that Holland wasn’t ready for such Satanic shenanigans, even as a rock ‘n’ roll stage stunt.

“I had a blast, but as I was leaving I heard someone say something to the effect of, ‘Bet that will be the last concert ever held here,’” said audience member Jim Duty.

Even though the venue had seen other rock shows — including the explosive MC5 — a major part of the urban legend that have grown up around Cooper’s Civic Center show is that the facility was left so trashed that rock shows were subsequently verboten.

There may be a kernel of truth to that. The archives of the Holland Sentinel don’t address any of this directly — there doesn’t appear to have been any coverage of the show in the daily. However, just about a week later the paper ran a short article that mentioned that the City Council approved a new policy requiring anyone renting the Civic Center to take out a $2,000 security bond against damages.

Within a couple of years, the masses would get it.

Alice became the singer, not the band. He became more famous. He hosted “The Muppet Show,” got sober and played a lot of golf . His shows got bigger , but they never got weirder .

And it’s hard to imagine many of them causing this much of a stir.

Copyright 2014, Spins on Music LLC

For the latest music news join our email list

Tags: classic rock rock

19 Comments

I attended that very same concert with Ned Rouse and it was an incredible experience! I may have caught Little Betty’s Leg as it bounced off my knee into Neds lap had I not been taking 8mm movies of the event! I caught a few more concerts there after the Cooper concert!

Robert — that’s amazing! Does any of that footage exist still? Who else did you see at the Civic Center?

I was there. I ended up sitting by the city council members. When a passing joint came down our row, I couldn’t quite offer it up to them so I passed it back.

It was a great show, like nothing I had ever seen before.

I think I even attended a Ravi Shankar concert there. And of course there was the MC5 gig! An interesting time for Holland.

Almost forgot, went on my first date to the Tommy James and the Shondells concert at the Holland Civic Center!

Robert, that 8mm sounds amazing. Any way possible to see it somehow? Or maybe trade a digital copy of it? Have an extensive colelction of Alice Cooper material on video if you’re interested… 🙂

I saw this concert…took a city bus downtown to the Greyhound station…took the Greyhound to Holland…got there quite early..and went into a bar to kill time,and the bar served me beer…even though I just turned 16!.Don’t remember much of the show…too long ago…

I do have 2 color Holland concert photos of Alice holding Little Bettie’s head just before he kicked it, somewhere. Robert Shooks and I took many Super 8 movies of various concerts back then. The don’t transfer well. I have a lot of Welcome to my Nightmare footage I shot at the LC Walker arena concert, when Alice’s album first came out. Carl (friend) and I were pushed through the glass doors that night, but I didn’t get cut, but Carl did though. I shared the footage with guitarist/friend Dick Wagner, just before he died. I shared a lot of music with Dick, since he never really had time to own, or even listen to his many bandrecordings. He was just too busy.

I mention the Muskegon nightmare show in a post below, but it’s interesting — that was the second night of that tour, which opened at Wings Stadium in Kalamzoo…

Dick Wagner was so amazing — Ned, are you going to the memorial concert in Detroit? http://www.wagnermusic.com/news.htm

Brian….nice article. Don’t bother posting on the SickthingsUK website. If it isn’t 100% about solo Alice Cooper – you will be ignored. I am the brother in law of the late Glen Buxton and my wife and I have a facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/280523658684684/ (Glen Buxton’s Shiny New Dime.) I’d be happy if you’d post a link to your article there.

Thanks for taking the time to write, Bob! Glad to hear from you. Glen was a huge influence on my own guitar playing…I’m not on Facebook, but I’ll see if my editor will post the link there.

Terrific read. Thank you for giving some much deserved respect to the bands members apart from the guy in the make up.

Thanks! Many of Alice’s later bands are wonderful, but I think the original Alice Cooper band is one of the must underrated groups in all of rock history…

I was there as well – Weren’t there TWO Alice shows there? It seems I recall an earlier show – Maybe Easy Action era – in Holland. We were very fortunate in Michigan. the band resided in Detroit and would play Grand Rapids many times. Nice article!

Thanks, Michael! I talk about this a bit in a post below, but there’s a difference in the number of concerts Alice Cooper is alleged to have played around here vs. the number of concerts that have been documented. I know this is all back in the mists of time, but I’d love to see some of these gaps filled…

They played at the Kentwood Roller Arena, maybe that was Easy Action???

Re: earlier Alice Cooper gigs, the Alice Cooper, I decided not to get into it, but there are also stories of shows at the Grand Haven Roller Rink. Would love to know dates on those — none of those are listed on the Alice Cooper eChive ( http://www.alicecooperechive.com/tourdates/ ). That site lists a Oct. 16, 1970 gig at the Grand Valley Armory and a May 17, 1971 show at Kentwood Memorial Hall. There are plenty of shows on the east side of the state, but the Holland show might be the last performance in West Mich. of the original Alice Cooper band. The next dates are March, 1975 in Kalamazoo and Muskegon, on the “Welcome to my Nightmare” tour.

Of course, that archive is imperfect. I know the person who runs it would love people to send in corrections and additions (as well as ticket stubs and such).

Brian – There were numerous concerts with Alice at a Roller Rink off Division near 54th – at the Armory and other places. I recall seeing the band at least 8 times early in their career – they also played somewhere the same night that BB King played Ft Street Church and ended up at the BB after glow (no, it wasn’t on Mars). I opted for the BB show that night

I heard that Holland was still building the old police station so it was temporarily in the BASEMENT of the Civic Center when this concert happened. Was it really? Or is that just a rumor?

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST NOW

Upcoming shows hosted by local spins, 11am friday april 5 – local spins on wyce 88.1 fm: hot top 5 countdown, 7:30 pm wednesday april 10 – local spins wednesday at speakez lounge: molly, 11am friday april 12 – local spins on wyce 88.1 fm: the skinny limbs, 11am friday april 19 – local spins on wyce 88.1 fm: new michigan music spotlight, 7:30 pm wednesday april 24 – local spins wednesdays at speakez lounge: alex austin trio, annagail, search localspins.com, listen to local spins live.

Subscribe to Local Spins on YouTube

Follow local spins on twitter, like local spins on facebook.

• Concert Calendar
• Album reviews
• Local Spins on WYCE
• RSVP Music Chat
• Live at River City
• The Sonic Coast (Great Lakes – Great Grooves)
• Artist Spotlights
• Venue Spotlights
• About Local Spins
• MICHIGAN MUSIC FESTIVALS 2024: THE GUIDE
• Local Spins Wednesdays @ SpeakEZ: Winter 2024
• Local Spins Fest 2024 Tickets & Info
• MEIJER GARDENS 2024 SUMMER CONCERTS
• FREE OUTDOOR COMMUNITY CONCERTS 2024

Rock and Roll Globe

Real writing about real music.

Generation Landslide: Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies at 50

What you may not know about the band’s classic sixth LP

Released February 25, 1973, Billion Dollar Babies was Alice Cooper’s sixth studio album.

It was the follow up to School’s Out (Warner Bros.’ biggest-grossing record at the time) and another huge success at a time when the band was at its peak of popularity. There’s a ton that can be said about the album – maybe a billion things. Here are just a few:

That’s Donovan singing along on the title track with Alice.

Yeah, that Donovan, the one who had hits with songs like “Sunshine Superman,” “Mellow Yellow,” “Jennifer Juniper” and “Atlantis.” It was a bit of a stretch for the Scottish singer, and you need to stretch your ears a bit to say to yourself, “son of a gun, that IS Donovan,” but those voices complement each other really well.

Donovan wasn’t the only guest on the album.

As Cooper told Classic Rock magazine in 2004 , “We had access to a lot of stars [during the sessions]. “In fact T.Rex, Donovan, Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon are all on that album somewhere, but none of us know where because the session was so drunk.”

The side two leadoff, “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” has insinuated itself deep into pop culture.

Professional wrestler Chris Colt used it as his entrance music in 1976 and wrestling icon Jim Cornette used it as his podcast theme song for years. It’s been featured on TV shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Ash vs. Evil Dead, and Agents of SHIELD. It’s used in the Guitar Heroes: Warriors of Rock video game. It’s not going away anytime soon.

The album taught Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell that rock could be scary.

“When I was in junior high, every Friday the teachers would let the kids play their favorite records,” he told SPIN Magazine in 1989 . “I brought in Billion Dollar Babies and they wouldn’t let me play it. They never vetoed anyone’s choice before. It was then I knew that rock ‘n’ roll could scare the fuck out of certain people.”

The Billion Dollar Babies tour was awesome.

According to the Alice Cooper eChive , the 75-minute performance included Alice killing dolls with a sword, simulating oral sex with mannequins, and being beheaded by guillotine only to return to the stage, after which he and the band beat the crap out of a Nixon impersonator. The tour program was 56 pages and the show was documented in the film Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper.

How awesome was it?

As the rock trivia book Big Bang, Baby reports , a partial list of props from the tour, which required 40 tons of equipment, included a dentist’s drill, a surgical table for a sawing-in-half machine, four whips, six hatchets, 22,000 sparklers, 300 baby dolls, 58 mannequins, 14 bubble machines, 28 gallons of bubble juice, 6,000 mirror parts and 250,000 packages of bubble bath. As Cooper said at the time, “the sicker you kids get, the greater shows we’ll have for you.”

Not everyone was amused.

Just a few months after the tour began in March 1973, as Esquire reported in 1985 , British Parliament member Leo Abse tried to have Cooper show banned. “They tell me Alice is absolutely sick,” he said, referring to his own teenage children, “and I agree with them. I regard his act as an incitement to infanticide for his sub-teenage audience. He is deliberately trying to involve these kids in sadomasochism. He is peddling the culture of the concentration camp. Pop is one thing; anthems of necrophilia are another.”

Cooper has said Billion Dollar Babies is his most decadent album.

“It was reflecting the decadence of a time when we were living from limousine to penthouse to the finest of everything including… well, the finest of everything,” he told Classic Rock. “We couldn’t believe people were actually paying us to do this. We would have done it for free, because we were just a garage band who happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

That they were. Though the original Alice Cooper band would break up in 1974, and Cooper would go on to struggle with and recover from alcoholism, he managed to fashion a career across five decades that brought him wealth and fame, not only as a rock star but as a film actor, restaurateur and golfing celebrity.

At the time Billion Dollar Babies was released, though, no one represented rock’s ability to shock and entertain audiences better than Alice Cooper. He and the original band captured and personified a moment in rock history that will always stand alone.

• Recent Posts

• The Who’s Tommy Returns to Broadway - April 1, 2024
• Seasons of Wither: Aerosmith’s Get Your Wings at 50 - March 15, 2024
• You Might Think: The Cars’ Heartbeat City Turns 40 - March 13, 2024

 You May Also Like

• ← The Soothsayer: Remembering Wayne Shorter
• Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Gary Rossington Gone at 71 →

Craig Peters

Craig Peters has been writing about music, pro wrestling, pop culture and lots of other things since the Jimmy Carter administration. He shook Bruce Springsteen’s hand in 2013, once had Belinda Carlisle record the outgoing message on his answering machine, and wishes he hadn’t been so ignorant about the blues when he interviewed Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1983.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Alice Cooper Announces Summer Tour in 2024

V eteran shock-rocker Alice Cooper announced his co-headlining tour with Rob Zombie a while back, but that tour (with Ministry and Filter) was simply not enough for the tour-happy legend. The “Poison” singer just announced another solo tour slated to start before his run with Zombie! The Too Close For Comfort Tour will hit 12 dates across the United States in July and August. No opening acts have been announced.

The Alice Cooper 2024 Tour will kick off on July 30 in Niagara Falls, New York at Fallsview Casino Resort. Unless Cooper adds more dates, the tour should end on August 17 in Tucson, Arizona at Casino De Sol’s AVA Amphitheater.

Tickets are available for presale via Cooper’s website with the code “SICKTHINGS”. There are also a few different VIP and premium package presale events going down over at Ticketmaster .

General on-sale for the new tour dates will start on April 19 at 10:00 am local. If your tour date sells out, pop over to Stubhub to see what’s available. You might just get lucky.

Get your tickets ASAP to see Alice Cooper live in the US, before they sell out!

Alice Cooper 2024 Tour Dates

July 30 – Niagara Falls, NY – Fallsview Casino Resort (NEW!)

July 31 – Albany, NY – Palace Theatre (NEW!)

August 2 – Kalamazoo, MI – Wings Event Center (NEW!)

August 4 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center (NEW!)

August 6 – Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center at The Heights (NEW!)

August 7 – Rockford, IL – BMO Harris Bank Center (NEW!)

August 10 – Tulsa, OK – River Spirit Casino and Resort (NEW!)

August 11 – Park City, KS – Hartman Arena (NEW!)

August 13 – Denver, CO – The Mission Ballroom (NEW!)

August 15 – Valley Center, CA – Harrah’s Rincon Pavilion (NEW!)

August 16 – Costa Mesa, CA – Pacific Amphitheater (NEW!)

August 17 – Tucson, AZ – Casino De Sol – AVA Amphitheater (NEW!)

August 20 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

August 22 – West Valley City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

August 24 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

August 25 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

August 27 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater – Summerfest Grounds (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

August 28 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

August 30 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

August 31 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 1 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 3 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 4 – Syracuse, NY – Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 6 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 7 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 8 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 10 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 11 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 12 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 14 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 15 – The Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 17 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

September 18 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena (with Rob Zombie, Ministry, Filter)

Photo by Bryan Steffy

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The post Alice Cooper Announces Summer Tour in 2024 appeared first on American Songwriter .

Follow us on MSN: Click here

Enter your email below to be the first to hear about new releases, upcoming events, and more from Dig!

Yes, I want to receive marketing messages with the latest news, events and releases from Dig!. I understand that these emails are based on my information, interests, website activities and device data that is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy . I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing [email protected] .

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about WMX based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy . I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing [email protected] .

‘Billion Dollar Babies’: How Alice Cooper Birthed Their Most Controversial Album

It outraged the censors, but Alice Cooper’s decadent, hit-stuffed album ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ remains a benchmark for 70s rock.

The phrase “cash from chaos” is usually associated with legendary punks Sex Pistols, but it seems equally suited to Alice Cooper ’s early career. Sure, the smart kids dug T.Rex and Ziggy Stardust -era David Bowie in 1972, but they couldn’t get enough of Cooper and co’s winning blend of outrageous stage shows and blistering rock’n’roll. Indeed, the Detroit rockers’ fifth record, School’s Out , didn’t just sell like the proverbial hotcakes, it became Warner Bros’ biggest-grossing record at that time. The downside, though, was the group were expected up the ante with their next album, Billion Dollar Babies .

Listen to ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ here .

The backstory: “we considered ourselves indestructible”.

Cooper and his comrades weren’t unduly fazed, however. They were living the dream during this intense period in the early 70s, and the weight of expectation barely touched them – even as they prepared the material that would appear on what Classic Rock magazine later dubbed their “Grand Guignol masterpiece”.

“I don’t think we really conceived of how big School’s Out was,” Cooper reflected in an interview with that same publication in 2004. “We were really flying by the seat of our pants back then. You’d do two albums a year in those days, and two world tours to go with them. But, again, we considered ourselves indestructible, so we didn’t feel pressure at all.”

Nonetheless, the band were well aware of their burgeoning status – not least because the media attention they were attracting was going off the scale. It was this situation which inspired the concept for their next record.

“We were getting voted Best Band In The World over Led Zeppelin , The Rolling Stones and The Beatles ,” Cooper recalled. “We’d look at that and laugh… Led Zeppelin we would give a run for [their money], but when it came to The Beatles and the Stones, we were embarrassed to be ahead of them in anything…

“The Billion Dollar Babies concept was simply making fun of ourselves,” the singer added. “Here was a band nobody would touch three years ago, and now we’re the biggest band in the world. We’d look at each other and go, ‘We’re like billion dollar babies!’”

Even before the new songs came together, the band were in agreement that, whatever direction they went in, their new album would be bigger, better – and also more bizarre than anything they’d done before.

“[Bassist] Dennis Dunaway had a lot to do with the insanity of the band,” Cooper told Classic Rock . “I let Dennis be as surreal as he wanted to be. He and I were both artists in school and were both really into Salvador Dalí. Also, Dennis did a lot more… let’s just say experimental stuff, than I did.”

The recording: “We were a rock’n’roll band that wanted to be theatrical”

To realise their collective vision, Alice Cooper again hooked up with Bob Ezrin, the man who had overseen all their recordings since their 1971 breakthrough, Love It To Death . The renowned Canadian producer (who also helmed classic albums by the likes of Lou Reed, KISS and Aerosmith) was the ideal foil for a group with big ideas and an innate sense of theatre.

“Bob definitely came along at the right time,” Dunaway said in 2004. “[Guitarist] Mike Bruce’s songwriting had improved leaps and bounds. Neal [Smith, drummer] and I had improved across the board, and Alice’s voice had matured – gotten much stronger and less nasal than the early days – but when Bob came along we were still trying to fit a million ideas into each song. It took him to… finally focus our direction.”

“He was a young guy with a theatrical background, and we were a rock’n’roll band that wanted to be theatrical,” Cooper added. “Bob Ezrin was our George Martin.”

The band concocted the material for Billion Dollar Babies before and during recording sessions for the album, which spread across three stages. Initially, a mobile studio from New York City’s Record Plant facilities was parked outside The Cooper Mansion, in Greenwich, Connecticut, where the group laid down the basic tracks with Ezrin. Band and producer then flew to London, where they recorded overdubs and most of Cooper’s vocals, before returning to New York for mixing at The Record Plant. Everyone involved, however, recalled the London phase, at Willesden’s Morgan Studios, with particular fondness.

“We had access to a lot of the stars,” Cooper said with relish. “In fact, T.Rex, Donovan, Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon are all on that album somewhere, but none of us know where, because the session was so drunk.”

The songs: “It’s our most decadent album”

However, while the Alice Cooper band played hard, their work ethic kept pace, and they succeeded in their quest to make Billion Dollar Babies the flashiest, biggest-sounding – and arguably most controversial – record of their career. Opening with suitably curtain-raising confidence, with a robust version of Canadian singer-songwriter Rolf Kempf’s Hello Hooray, the record achieved the band’s collective aim of producing something even more resonant than School’s Out .

For starters, the album’s rockers were bolder and brasher than before, immediately claiming their places among the best Alice Cooper songs . B illion Dollar Babies ’ title track burnt serious rubber, while the shape-throwing Elected came with a sardonic lyric (“I never lied to you, I’ve always been cool”) that soon sounded all the more prescient in the wake of the Watergate affair: the notorious US political scandal which eventually forced the resignation of US president Richard Nixon.

Closer to home, Cooper relished sending up his own image as corrupter of youth on the infectious No More Mr Nice Guy. He especially enjoyed penning the lyric “Ma’s been thrown out of the social circle/And Dad has to hide”, which related to the way his mother’s church group reacted with undisguised horror when they discovered what her son did for a living.

The controversy: “I knew rock’n’roll could scare the fuck out of certain people”

However, while Billion Dollar Babies made good on the band’s promise to take things to a while new level, it also included some leftfield offerings that indulged their taste for the arcane. Sick Things (“You things are chilled with fright, for I am out tonight/You fill me with delight, you whet my appetite”) was good, clean, goosebump-inducing fun, though it was out-weirded by Unfinished Sweet: an epic, six-minute paean to an especially sadistic dentist, complete with sound effects including a dentist’s drill.

Elsewhere, if the title of the hard-driving Raped And Freezin’ raised a few eyebrows, it was the necrophilia-related I Love The Dead that outraged the moral majority – especially in the UK. This controversial song, which the band were quick to stress was entirely tongue-in-cheek, found itself in the heart of the mainstream after an outraged Labour MP, Leo Abse, described it as “an incitement to infanticide for [Cooper’s] teenage audience”, during a speech in the House Of Commons.

Abse’s impassioned speech inevitably drew support from the era’s other high-profile moral crusaders, such as Mary Whitehouse. The ripples also crossed the Atlantic to the US, where censorious gatekeepers proved to be equally averse to atmospheric songs about making love to corpses.

“When I was in junior high, every Friday the teachers would let the kids play their favourite records,” Soundgarden’s much-missed frontman, Chris Cornell, recalled in a 1989 interview with Spin magazine. “I brought in Billion Dollar Babies and they wouldn’t let me play it. They never vetoed anyone’s choice before. It was then I knew rock’n’roll could scare the fuck out of certain people.”

The release: “We couldn’t believe people were actually paying us to do this”

Ultimately, though, the controversy surrounding I Love The Dead only added fuel to the fire for Billion Dollar Babies , which truly combusted upon its release, on 25 February 1973. With the help of three UK Top 10 hits in Elected, Hello Hooray and No More Mr Nice Guy, the record topped both the UK and US charts, establishing itself as one of the best Alice Cooper albums and rewarding the band with their first platinum disc in the States.

The music press were still in raptures when the band embarked on their subsequent world tour, but however fantastical the stories that followed them (Alice killed due to a fatal malfunction by his own guillotine, anyone?), the Alice Cooper band rode it out – and at this stage they seemed invincible. Thanks to Billion Dollar Babies , they ended 1973 as one of the world’s biggest rock bands.

“ Billion Dollar Babies was our most decadent album,” Cooper told Classic Rock in 2004. “It was reflecting the decadence of a time when we were living from limousine to penthouse to the finest of everything… We couldn’t believe people were actually paying us to do this. We would have done it for free, because we were just a garage band who happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Find out which ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ tracks rank among the best Alice Cooper songs of all time .

• Alice Cooper
• Album Stories

More Like This

‘Cuz I Love You’: Why We Still Adore Lizzo’s Breakthrough Album

The album on which Lizzo realised her full potential, ‘Cuz I Love You’ remains a glorious statement of intent from an unstoppable force.

Tequila Sunrise: How Eagles Wrote Their First Truly Classic Song

The song that kick-started the Don Henley and Glenn Frey partnership, Tequila Sunrise ushered in a new dawn for Eagles’ core artistic force.

Be the first to know

Stay up-to-date with the latest music news, new releases, special offers and other discounts!

Yes, I want to receive marketing messages with the latest news, events and releases from Dig!. I understand that these messages are based on my information, interests, website activities and device data that is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy . I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing [email protected] .

Sign up to our newsletter

Be the first to hear about new releases, upcoming events, and more from Dig!

I Love The Dead (Billion Dollar Babies, 1973)

Apr 28, 2023 | Billion Dollar Babies

“I Love The Dead” Lyrics:

I love the dead before they’re cold Their blueing flesh for me to hold Cadaver eyes upon me see… nothing

I love the dead before they rise No farewells, no goodbyes I never even knew your now rotting face While friends and lovers mourn your silly grave I have other uses for you Darling

La la la la la la la la la la la la la Da da da da da da da da da da da da dead

I love the dead I love the dead I love the dead so

I love the dead I love the dead I love the dead

I love the dead I love the dead I love the dead (Da ga dang, dang ga dang ding dong)

I, I love the dead I, I love the dead I, I love the dead

I love the dead before they’re cold Their blueing flesh for me to hold Cadaver eyes upon me see… Nothing

Released on February 25th, 1973, Billion Dollar Babies  is Alice Cooper’s 6th studio album. Overall, the record is very tongue-in-cheek – a dark comedy of sorts.

Songs on the LP poke fun at or call attention to reality’s ironic, darker truths. They are cautionary tales of humanity and how twisted the world can often be.

At this point, Bob Ezrin was firmly at the production helm and had developed a formula for success. The previous LP, School’s Out, had reached #2 on the Billboard 200, and the title track became an international hit. Alice Cooper had become a worldwide success story – something they couldn’t believe.

“ How could we, this band that two years ago was living in the Chambers Brothers’ basement in Watts, be the Number One band in the world, with people throwing money at us? ” – Alice Cooper

Even in their disbelief, Billion Dollar Babies would set new heights – becoming a #1 album in the US and UK.

“ I Love The Dead ,” the last song on the LP, is arguably one of the all-time most notorious Alice Cooper songs – a taboo, dicey account of sexual attraction to corpses (AKA necrophilia).

During the Billion Dollar Babies tour , Alice’s villainous stage antics (and ‘love’ for the dead) ultimately lead him to his punishment – death by beheading. And, what critics, naysayers, and pious folks fail to see about this song (and the show) is the morality play at hand. In the end, evil is always punished.

Just as before and many times over, Alice Cooper is punished for his crimes and is an example of what not to do. As if to say, “ Don’t try this at home. Don’t choose the path of evil!”

“I Love The Dead” exemplifies one of humanity’s worst vices and crimes. It can be seen as an illustration of just how low sin will carry us – if we allow it.

If this topic disturbs you, it should, but bear with us a little further. The song itself is straightforward; the dude in the song loves dead things. They arouse him. But the question is, why?

“ Cadaver eyes upon me see…nothing. ”

The lyrics above point out that no judgment or emotion (good or bad) is shown from the stares of a lifeless face. It’s creepy, but there’s some truth to it. There’s no correct or incorrect verdict from the dead. No way to please or displease them. There’s only numbness and indifference – two things our world thrives on.

But, stop and think about the song from two other perspectives – our Heavenly Father’s and the enemy’s.

Our Heavenly Father’s position:

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. – Matthew 10:37-39

Our Creator sees death as a beginning. Not just the beginning of our eternal life after death but the beginning of our spiritual journey. Before we can truly live, we must first die.

With that being said, are we not called to be dead ? Dead to sin ( Romans 6:1-2 ), dead to the ways of the world ( Galatians 6:14 ), and dead to self ( Colossians 3:5 ), yet ALIVE in CHRIST ( Romans 6:11 ).

Before we can truly live, aren’t we required to die?

We are called to cast aside our flesh (our earthly self) and allow Christ to transform us into something different – a new creation. In Him, we find our original purpose through His brilliance and righteousness.

Satan’s position:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were, by nature, deserving of wrath. – Ephesians 2:1-3

The enemy loves the thought of someone being spiritually dead, caught in the web of his lies. Someone that is living life with no meaning – just here for no reason at all.

Live once, play hard, and care nothing for anyone or anything but ourselves; that’s what the enemy loves and wants from us. It’s easy for him that way. There’s no tempting, swaying, poking, or prodding.

Satan is waiting for the day when those who remain spiritually dead leave this life. Once they leave this world, he will indeed “ have other uses for ( them). ”

Stripped of our flesh, are we not all the same? And isn’t that the way our Creator sees us? As being His – created in His image.

We are linked together through creation and the Father’s love. And while some divisions of humanity may not accept one another, our Father has adopted us ALL through the blood of His Son.

Instead of seeing the world through our own eyes, shouldn’t we instead see it through the eyes of Christ?

A world in need of love and acceptance. A world that is dead to the things of this earth yet alive in Him. Aspiring to unconditionally love one another, including all walks of life ( Romans 15:7 ).

As we let go of our selfish nature, we should become more and more comfortable with the idea of laying aside our old mentality. Our minds become new through Him and His Word. A new outlook that bears fruit and brings us closer to our Lord ( John 15:5 ).

We live or die by the blood in our veins, but we live life anew by the blood spilled on the cross. The invitation for us to dwell with Him in Spirit (on this earth) and eternally (in Heaven) has been given ( Matthew 11:28-30 ).

He’s willing to accept us all. We are only asked to believe and call upon His name ( Ephesians 1:3-6, John 6:29 ).

Wrapping up this week’s post, would you ever expect to see so much beauty in death? It’s the only thing sure in this world. In many ways, it’s the great equalizer.

We will all die a physical death. However, how many will continue to find life after death? It’s a daunting question. One that isn’t always pleasant to ponder.

The truth is that many of us haven’t learned that life is found through the absence of self. It’s a difficult revelation, yet we’ve been called to do our best – to die daily, knowing we will still fall short.

Let us continue to strive for a more perfect life by His example. And, may we know that it is His stripes that heal and save us ( Isaiah 53:5-6 ).

Every lash Christ took on our behalf was a healing blow for our sins, sickness, and downfall, and in return, He merely asks that we show up and answer His call – to believe and know that Jesus Christ is Lord.

In conclusion, “I Love The Dead” rattles many. The song is just too dark, gruesome, and grotesque. However, there’s always more than one way to see things.

During Alice’s stage show, “I Love The Dead” is often used during a medley of songs that reflect the villain’s spiraling descent just before he’s punished for his crime(s). So it’s a fitting place for Alice to pay homage to songs combining the music and the experience.

“Not only is “I Love The Dead” the most Grand Guignol moment of the album, but it is also the band’s career pièce de résistance in terms of merging music and horror. The song begins with a slow, exposed, atmospheric bass line that would be closely recapitulated on in the opening moments of Alice’s 1975 solo debut album, Welcome To My Nightmare.” – Ian Chapman, Experiencing Alice Cooper: A Listener’s Companion

Some might never understand the dark humor, the morality play, or the depth of Alice’s music. Fortunately, we (and many other Metal heads) do, and we’ve seen the parallels between the stage experience and his faith.

Alice Cooper – the man, the music, the show, etc. – may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when consumed slowly (and with just a touch of sugar), we believe anyone willing to try it would soon understand its magnificence.

God Bless Alice and Sheryl Cooper and all those willing to carry His Light into a darkened world.

That’s it for this week. Be well and catch you next Friday.

In the meantime, Keep Walkin’ in Faith and Rockin’ with Alice!

“ Father in Heaven, we thank you for our brothers and sisters in this life. We lift up those that are lost and in need of your spiritual guidance and awakening. We are thankful for your Light and that no darkness comes from you and your presence. We know You love all creation and want them to know and accept You as Lord. We thank You for giving us Salvation through the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and that no man or any living creature can separate us from You once we’ve fully accepted Him and His name. We ask that anyone reading this post that may doubt you or your Love would begin seeking you with all the desires of their heart, and we ask for your blessings and guidance as we strive to live according to your Word – as vessels of your love, dying daily that we may live anew. In Christ’s name, Amen. ”

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior?

If you would like to accept jesus as your personal lord and savior, please pray the following prayer:, "god, i believe in you and your son jesus christ.  i believe that jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave to save me. today, i invite jesus into my heart to stay.  i make you lord over my life. make me new. wash me, lord, and cleanse me. in jesus name, amen".

If you have just prayed that prayer, we want to celebrate your new victory with you.  Please contact us at [email protected] so we can welcome you into the kingdom.  We don't want you to have to walk alone and we have some resources we would like the opportunity to share with you.

NOTE: We’d also like to share the following resources used by “Fridays With Alice.” Without these books and sites, this would be a much more complicated endeavor. So be sure to check them out if interested.

Click the images to learn more about these resources:

Sun Arise (Love It To Death, 1971)

Apr 12, 2024 | Love It To Death

This week we travel back to 1971 and the release of the breakthrough album, Love It To Death. The post focuses on the song “Sun Arise”, and the album has become one of the greatest of all-time – a quintessential Classic Rock record.  Songs such as “I’m Eighteen,” “The Ballad of Dwight Fry,” “Second Coming,” “Hallowed Be My Name,” and “Caught In A Dream” are masterpieces that would not only help them…

Steadfast & Straight Ahead! (Spring Break 2024)

Mar 15, 2024 | Interviews

It’s time for our annual sabbatical away from “Fridays With Alice.” During this time we will be reflecting on God’s Word, reconnecting with nature, and listening to some Alice Cooper albums. 😉

Spring Break! We look forward to beginning posts again at the beginning of April. Each one of you are special and dear to our hearts. We will also spend this time uplifting the page, group, and all its members in prayer. YOU ARE LOVED!

Brutal Planet (Brutal Planet, 2000)

Mar 8, 2024 | Brutal Planet

‘Brutal Planet‘ was released in 2000.  It is one of Cooper’s darker albums – focusing on the demise and destruction of humanity.  Very much like the red pill and blue pill in the Matrix.  This album focuses on what life looks like when God and His plan are left out of the equation.   The product of such an equation is a burning wasteland ruled…

Official Alice Cooper Sites:

Fridays With Alice is not associated with Alice Cooper, Alive Enterprises, Universal Records or any official entity.

This is an unofficial site.

However, Alice and Sheryl Cooper are aware of the page and its content. We have spoken with them both and have been given their blessing to continue posting material. Sheryl is also a member of the Facebook group and frequents the page and group at her leisure as well.

The Fridays With Alice Facebook Page and Site are copyrighted © 2018-2020; all rights reserved. Any duplication or reproduction of the items on this page without permission is prohibited unless you provide a link please. Credits and acknowledgements are noted where known. No copyright infringement is intended.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Pin It on Pinterest

Alice Cooper's 'Billion Dollar Babies' Expanded For 50th Anniversary

Staind Get Animated For 'Better Days' Featuring Dorothy Video- Allman Brothers Band Pay Tribute To Dickey Betts- Pearl Jam- more

Staind Release New Version of “Better Days” with Dorothy

Watch: creed play first show in 12 years on summer of ’99 cruise, dickey betts, co-founding guitarist of the allman brothers band, dies at 80, underoath announce ‘they’re only chasing safety’ 20th anniversary tour, clutch and rival sons announce 2024 north american tour, chevelle announce 2024 tour with tigercub, ice nine kills and in this moment announce 2024 tour, watch: anthrax play first show with former bassist dan lilker in 40 years, watch: ronnie wood joins the black crowes for faces’ “stay with me”, kerry king unleashes video for new single “residue”, aerosmith announce rescheduled 2024, 2025 peace out tour dates, slash, gibson reveal signature “jessica” les paul guitar, watch: megadeth perform ‘peace sells…but who’s buying’ deep cut for the first time since 2014, system of a down and deftones announce joint u.s. concert, architects release new single, add more north american tour dates, deep purple announce 2024 tour with yes, watch: motionless in white rock wrestlemania during rhea ripley’s entrance, the struts announce 2024 north american tour, dream theater announce 40th anniversary tour, porno for pyros release new song “fingernail”.

Alice Cooper Announces ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ 50th Anniversary Release

The ‘Trillion Dollar’ Deluxe Edition arrives in March on CD and vinyl

Shock rock icon Alice Cooper has announced a special 50th anniversary release of  Billion Dollar Babies . His sixth studio album returns in all its snakeskin glory for an extended 50th-anniversary celebration. After hitting #1 on the album charts in America and the U.K. in 1973, the record remains a high-water mark for the original lineup, featuring hits like “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Elected.”

The forthcoming Billion Dollar Babies: Trillion Dollar Deluxe Editon , will be available from Rhino on March 8 on 3-LP and 2-CD. Both feature a newly remastered version of the original album, along with bonus material, including studio outtakes, single mixes, and an electrifying 1973 concert recording. In the vinyl edition, the gatefold cover faithfully replicates the original’s textured snakeskin wallet design and comes complete with a $1 billion dollar bill tucked inside.

The single version of “Elected” from the upcoming set can be streamed below now.

An instant smash when it was released in March 1973,  Billion Dollar Babies delivered a theatrical mix of hard rock and glam laced with macabre lyrics that explored wealth, decadence, and fame’s darker side. Newly remastered, the platinum-certified album sounds better than ever. The set also features outtakes (“Coal Black Model T”), single mixes (“Mary Ann”), and “Slick Black Limousine,” which originally came out on flexi-disc within an issue of the British rock paper  New Musical Express .

The “Trillion Dollar” Deluxe Edition  also features a live show recorded in Texas in April of 1973, during the “Billion Dollar Babies” tour. The powerful performance includes live versions of many of the album’s tracks, highlights including “Elected” and “Hello Hooray,” along with several of the band’s earlier hits, including “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out.”

The LP and CD versions both come with an oral history of the album and the bonus tracks by the surviving band members – Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, and Neal Smith – and Bob Ezrin, who produced the album. Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton died in 1997.

In the notes, Cooper recalls writing “I Love The Dead” and “Sick Things.” He says, “We were writing those songs looking at each other, and every time we’d write a line I’d say, ‘Oh, this is gonna kill them. Oh, they’re gonna hate us on this one.’ But at the same time, it was almost like an Edgar Allan Poe short story when you listen to ‘I Love The Dead.’ I tried to write that the way Vincent Price would sing it.”

Last August, Alice Cooper released latest solo outing. The concept album  Road featured the hit single, “I’m Alice.” The record was Cooper’s 22nd solo LP.

“In the past, the show got reviewed before the music did,” Alice laughs. “We had hit No. 1 albums, but it was always about what we did on stage. For  Road , I wanted the band to be involved in the foundation of all the songs. I only see these guys when we’re on the road. So, I wanted them to be as tight as they are for the show but on all new material. That’s what we did for this record. When you have a band this good, I believe in showing it off, and this is my way of doing so.”

Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies: 50th Anniversary ‘Trillion Dollar’ Deluxe Edition [Rhino, 2024]

LP Track Listing

1. “Hello Hooray” 2. “Raped And Freezin’” 3. “Elected” 4. “Billion Dollar Babies” 5. “Unfinished Sweet”

1. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” 2. “Generation Landslide” 3. “Sick Things” 4. “Mary Ann” 5. “I Love The Dead”

1. “Hello Hooray” – Live, 1973 2. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Live, 1973 3. “Elected” – Live, 1973 4. “I’m Eighteen” – Live, 1973 5. “Raped And Freezin’” – Live, 1973 6. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” – Live, 1973

1. “My Stars” – Live, 1973 2. “Unfinished Sweet” – Live, 1973 3. “Sick Things” – Live, 1973 4. “Dead Babies” – Live, 1973 5. “I Love The Dead” – Live, 1973

1. “School’s Out” – Live, 1973 2. “Under My Wheels” – Live, 1973 3. “Coal Black Model T” – Outtake 4. “Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide)” – Outtake

1. “Hello Hooray” – Single Version 2. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Single Version 3. “Elected” – Single Version 4. “Mary Ann” – Single Version 5. “Slick Black Limousine”

CD Track Listing

1. “Hello Hooray” 2. “Raped And Freezin’” 3. “Elected” 4. “Billion Dollar Babies” 5. “Unfinished Sweet” 6. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” 7. “Generation Landslide” 8. “Sick Things” 9. “Mary Ann” 10. “I Love The Dead”

1. “Hello Hooray” – Live, 1973 2. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Live, 1973 3. “Elected” – Live, 1973 4. “I’m Eighteen” – Live, 1973 5. “Raped And Freezin’” – Live, 1973 6. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” – Live, 1973 7. “My Stars” – Live, 1973 8. “Unfinished Sweet” – Live, 1973 9. “Sick Things” – Live, 1973 10. “Dead Babies” – Live, 1973 11. “I Love The Dead” – Live, 1973 12. “School’s Out” – Live, 1973 13. “Under My Wheels” – Live, 1973 14. “Coal Black Model T” – Outtake 15. “Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide)” – Outtake 16. “Hello Hooray” – Single Version 17. “Billion Dollar Babies” – Single Version 18. “Elected” – Single Version 19. “Mary Ann” – Single Version 20. “Slick Black Limousine”

Fans can pre-order now   HERE

Privacy Overview

PODCAST | NOTABLE RELEASES | NEWS | REVIEWS | FEATURES

Alice cooper unveils ‘billion dollar babies trillion dollar deluxe edition’.

Posted by Buddy Iahn | Jan 23, 2024

The new edition features rare and previously unreleased tracks

Alice Cooper is set to release  Billion Dollar Babies (Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition) on 2 CD and 3 LP on March 8th via Rhino. The new version of Cooper’s delightfully subversive sixth album returns in all its snakeskin glory for an extended 50th anniversary celebration. After hitting No. 1 on the album charts in America and the UK in 1973, the record remains a highwater mark for the original lineup, featuring hits like “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Elected.”

The new edition features a newly remastered version of the original album with bonus material, including studio outtakes, single mixes, and an electrifying 1973 concert recording.

An instant smash when it was released in March 1973, Billion Dollar Babies  delivered a theatrical mix of hard rock and glam laced with macabre lyrics that explored wealth, decadence, and fame’s darker side. Newly remastered, the platinum-certified album sounds better than ever. The set also features outtakes (“Coal Black Model T”), single mixes (“Mary Ann”), and “Slick Black Limousine,” which originally came out on flexi-disc within an issue of the British rock paper New Musical Express.

The Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition also features a live show recorded in Texas in April of 1973, during the Billion Dollar Babies Tour. The powerful performance includes live versions of many of the album’s tracks, highlights including “Elected” and “Hello Hooray,” along with several of the band’s earlier hits, including “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out.”

The LP and CD versions both come with an oral history of the album and the bonus tracks by the surviving band members – Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, and Neal Smith – and Bob Ezrin, who produced the album. (Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton died in 1997).

In the notes, Cooper recalls writing “I Love The Dead” and “Sick Things.” He says, “We were writing those songs looking at each other, and every time we’d write a line I’d say, ‘Oh, this is gonna kill them. Oh, they’re gonna hate us on this one.’ But at the same time, it was almost like an Edgar Allan Poe short story when you listen to ‘I Love The Dead.’ I tried to write that the way Vincent Price would sing it.”

1. Hello Hooray 2. Raped And Freezin’ 3. Elected 4. Billion Dollar Babies 5. Unfinished Sweet 6. No More Mr. Nice Guy 7. Generation Landslide 8. Sick Things 9. Mary Ann 10. I Love The Dead

1. Hello Hooray – Live, 1973 2. Billion Dollar Babies – Live, 1973 3. Elected – Live, 1973 4. I’m Eighteen – Live, 1973 5. Raped And Freezin’ – Live, 1973 6. No More Mr. Nice Guy – Live, 1973 7. My Stars – Live, 1973 8. Unfinished Sweet – Live, 1973 9. Sick Things – Live, 1973 10. Dead Babies – Live, 1973 11. I Love The Dead – Live, 1973 12. School’s Out – Live, 1973 13. Under My Wheels – Live, 1973 14. Coal Black Model T – Outtake 15. Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide) – Outtake 16. Hello Hooray – Single Version 17. Billion Dollar Babies – Single Version 18. Elected – Single Version 19. Mary Ann – Single Version 20. Slick Black Limousine

About The Author

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: [email protected]

Related Posts

POD shares ‘Afraid to Die’

November 30, 2023

Metallica shares ‘Screaming Suicide’

January 20, 2023

Apple Music launches three day concert film marathon

May 22, 2020

Dave Grohl joins 8th Annual Love Rocks NYC

March 4, 2024

Recent Posts

• Episode 202 with Elvie Shane April 19, 2024
• Unicode marks K-pop debut with innovative concept April 19, 2024
• Country Music Hall of Fame updates Taylor Swift Education Center display April 19, 2024
• Darryl Worley, Chris Janson, Justin Moore share ‘Tractor Time’ April 19, 2024
• Elton John celebrates 50 years of ‘Caribou’ April 19, 2024
• Luke Grimes releases live Nirvana cover April 19, 2024
• Staind releases ‘Better Days’ featuring Dorothy April 19, 2024
• Ice Nine Kills, From Ashes to New members form Hillhaven April 19, 2024
• Maren Morris expands 2024 RSVP Redux Tour April 19, 2024
• Taylor Swift surprise releases ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ double album April 19, 2024