Steel Notes Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 18

Steel Notes Magazine Dennis: So now it’s like, well what are you going to see the hang- ing or the guillotine? [ Laughter ]  Alexxis: Choices, choices! Dennis: It’s still the same! It’s like there’s more ways to execute some- body if you have to keep executing someone. [ Laughter ] Alexxis: [Laughter ] Right. Dennis: I just thought all of a sudden it turned into the sort of people when they go, they get what they ex- pect and there’s nothing wrong with that except it went totally against what we wanted to do. We wanted to because we had a million ideas all the way back when we were just starting out. We just didn't have the money to do it. So now when we finally were about to sign a new contract and had the money to do these ideas, now all of a sudden the rug was pulled from under us. So it was a very difficult time and I put it all behind me, I had some dark years where thank God I had Cindy and she would come in the room where I’m sitting in a rocking chair sort of pouting. And she would be like “Is this what you’re going to do? Is this what you’re going to do with the rest of your life?”  Alexxis: That is a shame; it must have been really rough for you... Dennis: She was right you know? The good thing about it Cin- dy and I had decided too when we were out on the road for all those years that we were going to have a family someday but we’re going to first wait until we're done doing all this traveling because when we have a family we want to be there with our kids and all that. So that worked out perfectly because we had two wonderful daughters and I was home to raise them you know, and my artistic inclinations shifted from me getting things out and painting a picture to me getting out everything that my kids needed to paint a picture. If they were doing a water color and needed clean water I would run down to the kitchen and get some clean water for them. [ Laughter ] Alexxis: Those were precious times for you. Dennis: I got a video camera and oh boy, we have a million hours of them putting on shows and I was home! So that was really the blessing. 18 Steel Notes Magazine www.steelnotesmagazine.com Spring 2017 Alexxis: So you were lucky that way because a lot of artists obvi- ously if they’re touring and and having kids they miss out on all that and those years of their kids growing up you know? Dennis: It’s tough you know and some people are more cut out for that obviously like entertainers like Bob Hope and you know Phyllis Diller, people that spend their whole lives in it, they are entertainers and that are what they are on this earth for, and Alice falls into that category. Me, it was more like the creating an artistic statement and creating a way to present it to people was the whole thing and getting out there and being on the road so long that you would wake up and not know what town you were in and not even care what town you were in and having The Holiday Inn Menu memorized, that wasn’t my thing you know? [ Laughter ]  Alexxis: [ Laughter ] I can imagine! Dennis: You know, Alice manages to do it well because of course his wife Cheryl is an amazing dancer and entertainer in her own right and so she’s out with him again. She took a break for a while when their kids were younger and their daughter Calico was in the show so you know they manage as well as they can but Alice is still doing hundreds of shows every year. Alexxis: Oh yes, absolutely, ok so then at this point you raised your kids, and your oldest daughter’s name is Renee right? Dennis: Yes Dennis: Yes she's a self-motivated person and a go getter and she decided she wanted to be a singer but when the record industry was starting to belly up she was hip to that and she decided to go Corporate and said “Well it’s very unlikely I’ll make any money in music so I’ll go this other direction.” And then she gave up a successful corporate job to volunteer for a special unit of the AS- PCA helping animals that were busted from hoarder cases or dog fighting rings so she’s gone back to something else that she loves. Our daughters grew up with Saint Bernard’s, Cindy and I had four of them.  Alexxis: That’s awesome! Dennis: The first one lived with The Alice Cooper Group in Pon- tiac, Michigan and then it also lived at the mansion in Greenwich. So after that we got another one then we got another one then we got another one, not all at the same time. One at a time, but our daughters grew up with Saint Bernard’s and have that love of ani-