Steel Notes Magazine
Spring 2017
Alexxis : [ Laughter ] Yeah , really ! Oh another thing I wanted to ask you is when I saw you last time with Michael at Chiller you had outfits from the shows and bass guitars on display in all the cases . Now do you have them on display somewhere else ?
Dennis : I ’ m working on doing some displays because the 50th Anniversary of certain landmarks , you know when we became Alice Cooper and different releases is coming up , so I ’ m talking to different Museums about having them call it ‘ Dr . Dreary Snakes Museum of Alice Cooper Artifacts ’ But it ’ s got everything as you saw it . It ’ s even got my track shoes and leather sweater .
Alexxis : Right , and didn ’ t you have some guitars or bass ’ there too ?
Dennis : Yeah , guitars and bass ’ even though some of them are in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix , Arizona those Museums and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has my green bass that we talked about earlier , the Gibson bass , the frog bass . By the way Cindy ’ s the one that named it the frog bass because she used to say when I smiled I looked like a frog . [ Laughter ]
Alexxis : Really ? hahahah
Dennis : [ Laughter ] And that ’ s also the story of the very first night Bob Ezrin showed up at the Pontiac Firm to start working with us on the ‘ Love It To Death ’ Album . He had come in from the airport and we had so many people coming through that house it was like we didn ’ t quite realize he was new to arrive and I had dressed up like a frog with this big green frog mask , which you probably saw in The Snakes Museum , I still have that .
Alexxis : Oh yes I remember it .
Dennis : I was only going to say ribbit until Cindy kissed me and then I would turn into her Prince , you know .
Alexxis : Awwww .
Dennis : I was trying to make a boring night more interesting . So Bob Ezrin showed up and the living room is kind of dark and all he sees is me , a big giant frog . And he says “ Oh , hello Mr . Frog ” and I go “ Ribbit ” [ Laughter ]
Dennis : So well not to that extent but Alice is like that . I mean I would be working and working and working and Michael would be working and everybody ’ s diligently trying to come up with great songs and putting things together and Alice would watch tv and then he would walk in and spurt out a couple ideas that were just as good as ours ! [ Laughter ] So it ’ s fun to work with Alice because he ' s very musical . I mean when you watch him onstage whenever there ’ s a cue , he cues it . He knows the music inside and out . So it ’ s fun to work with him because it ’ s not like ok we ’ ll write the songs and then the singer can write some lyrics and then sing along with us , he ’ s right in there . He ' s the guiding part of it and with Bob Ezrin ’ s involvement , which Bob is working on this . There is a concise approach . You know , it starts out with winging it and the thing I like about it is it ’ s still a lot of humor going on . We ’ ve always had that you know , it ’ s not that we don ’ t take things seriously but having the humor , ongoing humor , helps keep things from getting tense in the studio . You know , it can get tense when recording a track with everybody and you don ’ t want to mess up and the clock ’ s ticking away and you know you have limited time and the dollars are ticking away and sometimes it can get very tense especially if you ’ re working when you ’ ve had a late night or two . So yeah , we ’ ve always had humor to kind of keep everything from getting tense and it ’ s still like that . So if we ’ re in the studio and Neal has an idea , we ’ ll try it . If I have an idea , we ’ ll try it you know . So Bob Ezrin is still very open to that and it kind of picks up right where we left off even though the missing ingredient is Glen Buxton .
Alexxis : Yes Glen ’ s involvement is missed .
Dennis : That rebellious attitude was a big part of The Alice Cooper Group even though his name isn ’ t on a lot of songs as a songwriter he had a lot to do with the attitude . I mean that attitude showed in everything that we did you know that was the essence of the group . So like I say he ’ s still in our hearts so he ’ s still there .
Alexxis : I ’ m sure he is always there in spirit and always will be !
Thank you Dennis for taking us with you on your journey in the Alice Cooper Group !
Alexxis : [ Laughter ]
Dennis : So frogs and the color green are kind of in my DNA I guess . Now moving forward you know how working on music with Alice is , he ' s a natural . You know that movie Amadeus ? The guys complaining that he has spent his whole life passionately caring about writing great symphonies and here this young guy Mozart , this kind of viral character just naturally writes stuff that is what better than his . [ Laughter ]
Alexxis : Yes I am familiar with it .
24
Steel Notes Magazine www . steelnotesmagazine . com
Steel Notes Magazine
Alexxis: [ Laughter ] Yeah, really! Oh another thing I wanted to
ask you is when I saw you last time with Michael at Chiller you
had outfits from the shows and bass guitars on display in all the
cases. Now do you have them on display somewhere else?
Dennis: I’m working on doing some displays because the 50th
Anniversary of certain landmarks, you know when we became
Alice Cooper and different releases is coming up, so I’m talking to
different Museums about having them call it ‘Dr. Dreary Snakes
Museum of Alice Cooper Artifacts’ But it’s got everything as you
saw it. It’s even got my track shoes and leather sweater.
Alexxis: Right, and didn’t you have some guitars or bass’ there
too?
Dennis: Yeah, guitars and bass’ even though some of them are in
the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona those Mu-
seums and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has my green bass that
we talked about earlier, the Gibson bass, the frog bass. By the way
Cindy’s the one that named it the frog bass because she used to say
when I smiled I looked like a frog. [ Laughter ]
Alexxis: Really? hahahah
Dennis: [ Laughter ] And that’s also the story of the very first night
Bob Ezrin showed up at the Pontiac Firm to start working with us
on the ‘Love It To Death’ Album. He had come in from the airport
and we had so many people coming through that house it was like
we didn’t quite realize he was new to arrive and I had dressed up
like a frog with this big green frog mask, which you probably saw
in The Snakes Museum, I still have that.
Alexxis: Oh yes I remember it.
Dennis: I was only going to say ribbit until Cindy kissed me and
then I would turn into her Prince, you know.
Alexxis: Awwww.
Dennis: I was trying to make a boring night more interesting. So
Bob Ezrin showed up and the living room is kind of dark and all
he sees is me, a big giant frog. And he says “Oh, hello Mr. Frog”
and I go “Ribbit” [ Laughter ]
Alexxis: [ Laughter ]
Dennis: So frogs and the color green are kind of in my DNA I
guess. Now moving forward you know how working on music
with Alice is, he's a natural. You know that movie Amadeus? The
guys complaining that he has spent his whole life passionately
caring about writing great symphonies and here this young guy
Mozart, this kind of viral character just naturally writes stuff that
is what better than his. [ Laughter ]
Alexxis: Yes I am familiar with it.
24
Steel Notes Magazine
www.steelnotesmagazine.com
Spring 2017
Dennis: So well not to that extent but Alice is like that. I mean I
would be working and working and working and Michael would
be working and everybody’s diligently trying to come up with
great songs and putting things together and Alice would watch tv
and then he would walk in and spurt out a couple ideas that were
just as good as ours! [ Laughter ] So it’s fun to work with Alice
because he's very musical. I mean when you watch him onstage
whenever there’s a cue, he cues it. He knows the music inside
and out. So it’s fun to work with him because it’s not like ok we’ll
write the songs and then the singer can write some lyrics and then
sing along with us, he’s right in there. He's the guiding part of it
and with Bob Ezrin’s involvement, which Bob is working on this.
There is a concise approach. You know, it starts out with winging
it and the thing I like about it is it’s still a lot of humor going on.
We’ve always had that you know, it’s not that we don’t take things
seriously but having the humor, ongoing humor, helps keep things
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