#michael bruce

Ballad of Dwight Fry · Alice Cooper Group

from  Love It to Death   ℗ 1971 Warner Records Inc.

Dennis Dunaway (w/ Chris Hodenfield): Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group (2018)

I’m still sore at Vincent Furnier for virtually erasing Michael Bruce from 2014's idiotically-named Super Duper Alice Cooper documentary (I think Bruce was mentioned ONCE near the very end!), and I was almost as pissed at original Alice Cooper band bassist Dennis Dunaway for being seemingly complicit with that crap.

But Dunaway quickly sought to redeem himself by setting the record straight with his memoirs, Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group, in which he brought Bruce back into the picture, along with lead guitarist Glen Buxton (R.I.P.) and drummer Neal Smith, while taking Vincent/Alice to task for his sins.

As such, this book provides an engaging first-hand account of the original quintet's High School origins in Phoenix AZ, their protracted dues-paying throughout the late '60s, and meteoric ride through the early '70s, when Alice Cooper -- the band -- somehow became unlikely mega-selling superstars as theatrical and shock-rock pioneers.

As I'd hoped, the book only vaguely addresses the solo career Furnier embarked on after taking the Alice Cooper name for himself, but I do wish Dunaway had spared more than a few, cursory lines to his ill-fated post-A.C. project with Bruce and Smith, Billion Dollar Babies, and '77's flawed but collectible Battle Axe LP.

Nevertheless, whether you're a diehard or a casual Alice Cooper band fan like myself, this book provides a far more absorbing, detailed, and believably human account of this influential group's adventures and misadventures than the aforementioned puff-piece documentary.

Featured Records:

Alice Cooper: Love it to Death (1971)

Alice Cooper: Billion Dollar Babies (1973)

Billion Dollar Babies: Battle Axe (1977)

Alice Cooper Muscle of Love [Deluxe Edition] 2024 Warner Brothers ——————————————————————— Tracks LP One: 01. Big Apple Dreamin’ (Hippo) 02. Never Been Sold Before 03. Hard Hearted Alice                                   04. Crazy Little Child 05. Working up a Sweat 06. Muscle of Love 07. Man with the Golden Gun 08. Teenage Lament ‘74 09. Woman Machine

Tracks LP Two: 01. Big Apple Dreamin’ (Hippo) [early version] 02. Never Been Sold Before [early version] 03. Hard Hearted Alice [alternate mix] 04. Crazy Little Child [early version] 05. Working up a Sweat [alternate mix] 06. Muscle of Love [alternate mix] 07. Man with the Golden Gun [early version] 08. Teenage Lament ′74 [acoustic diversion] 09. Woman Machine [alternate mix]

Tracks CD One: 01. Big Apple Dreamin’ (Hippo) 02. Never Been Sold Before 03. Hard Hearted Alice                                   04. Crazy Little Child 05. Working up a Sweat 06. Muscle of Love 07. Man with the Golden Gun 08. Teenage Lament ′74 09. Woman Machine

Tracks CD Two: 01. Big Apple Dreamin’ (Hippo) [early version] 02. Never Been Sold Before [early version] 03. Hard Hearted Alice [alternate mix] 04. Crazy Little Child [early version] 05. Working up a Sweat [alternate mix] 06. Muscle of Love [alternate mix] 07. Man with the Golden Gun [early version] 08. Teenage Lament ′74 [acoustic diversion] 09. Woman Machine [alternate mix] 10. Teenage Lament ′74 [single version] 11. Muscle of Love [single version]

Tracks Blu-ray: 01. Big Apple Dreamin’ (Hippo) 02. Never Been Sold Before 03. Hard Hearted Alice                                   04. Crazy Little Child 05. Working up a Sweat 06. Muscle of Love 07. Man with the Golden Gun 08. Teenage Lament ‘74 09. Woman Machine ———————————————————————

Michael Bruce

Glen Buxton

Alice Cooper

Dennis Dunaway

Neal Smith

Song Review: Alice Cooper feat. Robby Krieger - “Black Mamba”

Alice Cooper - the band and its namesake frontman - tried too hard on “Black Mamba.”

The first single from what’s billed as the Original Alice Cooper Group’s first album in more than a half-century finds Cooper, guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neil Smith swinging like early Black Sabbath only to undermine their efforts with spoken-word bits that steer the track toward novelty status.

And that’s a real shame because the band - with Robby Krieger in tow - is solid, delivering a muscular track that has no business being as good as it is and would’ve been better if Cooper, the dude, had just sung the lines.

I’m crawling up your leg now baby/to hiss-per in your ear/a little poison lie now baby/you got nothin’ to fear, Cooper says in a spooky voice before a sung, wordless refrain gets things back on track.

This unintentionally silly aside notwithstanding, “Black Mamba” suggests the Revenge of Alice Cooper (July 25) has some goods to deliver. Late AC guitarist Glen Buxton appears on a couple of tracks to boot.

Grade card: Alice Cooper feat. Robby Krieger - “Black Mamba” - B-