Alice Cooper were on their way to oblivion in 1970. Then a neophyte producer named Bob Ezrin thought he heard a diamond in the rough amid their unrecorded repertoire.
The part about Ezrin learning production on Warner Bros' dime while the band was playing like their lives depended on it is wild. I've always thought the best producers are the ones who can hear whats buried under all the noise, and taking an 8-minute meander down to 2:38 without losing the soul of it is kinda the whole game. Reminds me of working with bands in small studios where everyones scrappy and desparate, that energy can actually lead to better decisions than having unlimited time and budget.
The father of the twins next door had a real stereo, the best one in the neighborhood.
Dual turntable, a Kenwood amp and Dynaco speakers.
We were NOT allowed to use it.
But we used it …oh yes…..every day after school ( with a lookout for their dad’s car) to play air guitar and sing every word to every track on Killer with the stereo turned up very very loud.
Same here, friend whose wealthy father was an audiophile and possessed a McIntosh power amp and two massive Altec “Voice of the Theatre” drivers and horns—the ones they used to stack behind movie screens—positioned poolside. The Hendrix version of “All Along the Watchtower” surely still reverberates in fields and forests in the vicinity. And yes, AC’s “Killer,” every word and every track…
I was in grade 8 when Love It To Death came out. In honour of me “graduating” grade 8 my Grandma took me on the #12 Kingston Rd bus to Shoppers World at Danforth & Victoria Park and bought me the record.
My excitement could not be contained!!
Until we returned to her house and I put the album on the stereo turntable and cranked the volume . . . only for her to turn the volume down. Way down. Picture a longhaired pre-teen squirming and gyrating (early 70’s version of headbanging) to the songs on Love It To Death, at very low volume, while my Grandma went about her daily business; washing the dishes, dusting the living room and gardening in the backyard.
At school the word was that Alice Cooper was a fag. It was obvious wasn’t it?! His name alone virtually guaranteed proof of his deviant sexuality!!
I wish I could remember even half of the Alice Cooper urban legends that were conjured up in the schoolyard, each one more wild and implausible in our youthful imaginations.
This so-called knowledge was very confusing to me and my response was to put it to the side and just enjoy the music.
“Well I’m running through the world with a gun in my back, trying to catch a ride in a Cadillac
Thought that I was living but you can’t really tell, trying to get away from that success smell . . .”
I grew up in Phoenix AZ which meant that I grew up with the Spiders and the Nazz both names being used prior to AC. I saw them at the JC’s, a building away from the corner of 7th Street and Indian School Road… but when “Love It To Death” came out, it was eons different than their previous names type of music and MUCH MUCH BETTER!
The Love It To Death album still holds up and I would challenge anyone that “The Ballad of Dwight Fry” is their finest deep cut of any of their albums.
The part about Ezrin learning production on Warner Bros' dime while the band was playing like their lives depended on it is wild. I've always thought the best producers are the ones who can hear whats buried under all the noise, and taking an 8-minute meander down to 2:38 without losing the soul of it is kinda the whole game. Reminds me of working with bands in small studios where everyones scrappy and desparate, that energy can actually lead to better decisions than having unlimited time and budget.
The father of the twins next door had a real stereo, the best one in the neighborhood.
Dual turntable, a Kenwood amp and Dynaco speakers.
We were NOT allowed to use it.
But we used it …oh yes…..every day after school ( with a lookout for their dad’s car) to play air guitar and sing every word to every track on Killer with the stereo turned up very very loud.
“I’m a picture of… ugly stor-ies
I’m a killer and… I’m a clown.”
Same here, friend whose wealthy father was an audiophile and possessed a McIntosh power amp and two massive Altec “Voice of the Theatre” drivers and horns—the ones they used to stack behind movie screens—positioned poolside. The Hendrix version of “All Along the Watchtower” surely still reverberates in fields and forests in the vicinity. And yes, AC’s “Killer,” every word and every track…
I was in grade 8 when Love It To Death came out. In honour of me “graduating” grade 8 my Grandma took me on the #12 Kingston Rd bus to Shoppers World at Danforth & Victoria Park and bought me the record.
My excitement could not be contained!!
Until we returned to her house and I put the album on the stereo turntable and cranked the volume . . . only for her to turn the volume down. Way down. Picture a longhaired pre-teen squirming and gyrating (early 70’s version of headbanging) to the songs on Love It To Death, at very low volume, while my Grandma went about her daily business; washing the dishes, dusting the living room and gardening in the backyard.
At school the word was that Alice Cooper was a fag. It was obvious wasn’t it?! His name alone virtually guaranteed proof of his deviant sexuality!!
I wish I could remember even half of the Alice Cooper urban legends that were conjured up in the schoolyard, each one more wild and implausible in our youthful imaginations.
This so-called knowledge was very confusing to me and my response was to put it to the side and just enjoy the music.
“Well I’m running through the world with a gun in my back, trying to catch a ride in a Cadillac
Thought that I was living but you can’t really tell, trying to get away from that success smell . . .”
Grandmas are the best
“I’m in the middle without any plans…”
Loved it
The young Ezrin was inspired, in 1971 he also produced Detroit with Mitch Ryder and their defining version of Lou Reed's Rock & Roll.
I grew up in Phoenix AZ which meant that I grew up with the Spiders and the Nazz both names being used prior to AC. I saw them at the JC’s, a building away from the corner of 7th Street and Indian School Road… but when “Love It To Death” came out, it was eons different than their previous names type of music and MUCH MUCH BETTER!
The Love It To Death album still holds up and I would challenge anyone that “The Ballad of Dwight Fry” is their finest deep cut of any of their albums.