SickthingsUK

Saint&Sinner wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 25, 2021 12:27 am

A crying shame no other shows were filmed to get a good idea of the group firing on all cylinders. a real shame.

That is the positive thing about GTSYA, it is the best documentation ever.

Regarding “The Lady is a Tramp” did you guys actually perform the song or was it just a backing track that Alice sang over?

Daggers & Contracts wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:00 pm

Dreary wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 12:12 am

pitkin88 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:02 pm

I have to ask why was Michael Bruce airbrushed from the cover?

I was told that they wanted the cover to have a cleaner look.

Is there a photo available w/Michael on stage also?

The original photo includes Michael in his white suit with red lighting, which makes the overall photo more colorful and, in my opinion, a lot more interesting.

Babysquid wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2024 6:50 am

Regarding “The Lady is a Tramp” did you guys actually perform the song or was it just a backing track that Alice sang over?

The band was kept in the dark about the plot, perhaps because we had spent nearly a decade brainstorming our own ideas for our movie, which would have also included humor, but it would have been much darker in keeping with the image of the group. The "Lady And The Tramp" bit was sprung on us when we walked onto the set. The music was provided and we pretended to play along.

The schtick comedy bits were added for running time in order to attain feature length status, however, at that time, rock films weren't chalking up big numbers at the box office, so it was decided to do it as cheaply as possible.
Joe Gannon was in charge and it seemed like every question we had was answered with "It's all a goof."

Time was money, so we did what we were told to do, and we did have a bit of fun, but we knew it wasn't right for the band's vision.

The Billion Dollar Babies 50th Anniversary Party in Dallas screened the concert footage only, and the effect was infinitely more powerful. People were saying it was like seeing the original band live for the first time.

Loved the concert only footage shown in Dallas….and the sound was brilliant….even had the balloons coming down from the ceiling at the end. Should make it an annual event .
I was living in London then …and thanks too a certain MP ( Leo Abse ) if my memory serves me right, the group were banned from touring this show in the UK back then

jacknifejohnny wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 14, 2024 2:16 pm

Loved the concert only footage shown in Dallas….and the sound was brilliant….even had the balloons coming down from the ceiling at the end. Should make it an annual event .
I was living in London then …and thanks too a certain MP ( Leo Abse ) if my memory serves me right, the group were banned from touring this show in the UK back then

Questions were certainly asked in parliament (you can find it in the official transcripts), but the band were never actually banned - and had no plans to come here at that point anyway!

Daggers & Contracts wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:00 pm

Dreary wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 15, 2021 12:12 am

pitkin88 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:02 pm

I have to ask why was Michael Bruce airbrushed from the cover?

I was told that they wanted the cover to have a cleaner look.

Is there a photo available w/Michael on stage also?

I have a digital copy of the photo but I'm not sure how to post it here.

ALMOST


https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian ... ock-ban-uk

jacknifejohnny wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:30 am

ALMOST


https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian ... ock-ban-uk

Thanks for posting.

At that time, erasing the original band members was intended to establish the band's name as a solo artist, and in my opinion, likely intended to help prove so in court cases that never came. We had spent a small fortune on a lawyer, then I decided to drop it because the band had started as friends and I didn't think friendships should end over a fight over fame and fortune. Perhaps our loss in the long run but having pursued it would have likely ended the possibility of any future endeavors.

Dreary wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 18, 2024 4:08 pm

At that time, erasing the original band members was intended to establish the band's name as a solo artist, and in my opinion, likely intended to help prove so in court cases that never came. We had spent a small fortune on a lawyer, then I decided to drop it because the band had started as friends and I didn't think friendships should end over a fight over fame and fortune. Perhaps our loss in the long run but having pursued it would have likely ended the possibility of any future endeavors.

You were all so young then too. The bass player from two of my old bands wrote a book about one of them and has decided to do another about the other. I was a bit wary of this due to a lot of acrimonious stuff that happened in that band and I’m rather conscious of opening old wounds. I told him I thought it was a can of worms. But!!!! I was talking recently to the singer and this came up. Her words were basically “we were kids, we did stupid stuff, we’re grown adults now and too old to bear meaningless grudges” . We never got into any legal stuff, maybe if we had she might not (have been able to) say that.

Babysquid wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 19, 2024 9:43 am

Dreary wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 18, 2024 4:08 pm

At that time, erasing the original band members was intended to establish the band's name as a solo artist, and in my opinion, likely intended to help prove so in court cases that never came. We had spent a small fortune on a lawyer, then I decided to drop it because the band had started as friends and I didn't think friendships should end over a fight over fame and fortune. Perhaps our loss in the long run but having pursued it would have likely ended the possibility of any future endeavors.

You were all so young then too. The bass player from two of my old bands wrote a book about one of them and has decided to do another about the other. I was a bit wary of this due to a lot of acrimonious stuff that happened in that band and I’m rather conscious of opening old wounds. I told him I thought it was a can of worms. But!!!! I was talking recently to the singer and this came up. Her words were basically “we were kids, we did stupid stuff, we’re grown adults now and too old to bear meaningless grudges” . We never got into any legal stuff, maybe if we had she might not (have been able to) say that.

Yes, but young decisions can alter people's lives.

Is there a law that says you, Mike and Neal couldn’t go out and perform as The Alice Cooper GROUP ?

jacknifejohnny wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 19, 2024 4:19 pm

Is there a law that says you, Mike and Neal couldn’t go out and perform as The Alice Cooper GROUP ?

I'm pretty sure we would have some legal challenges. Also, that would be misleading to fans. Whenever the 3 of us do anything, we use Billion Dollar Babies.

Dreary wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 19, 2024 3:40 pm

Yes, but young decisions can alter people's lives.

Words of wisdom

I’m so glad I got to see the B$B’s at The Fore N Aft show in 2019….and after hearing a complete live concert from “77” on the “complete B$B’s Battle Axe cd” I really wish that tour hadn’t been cut short, amazing stuff.
A side note on the 2019 Danbury concert. As me and the missus were driving back to Danbury airport , a World War 2 plane carrying 13 people crashed into the airport , closing it down….and we had to drive to Boston to catch our flight back to Tampa

jacknifejohnny wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 20, 2024 11:57 am

I’m so glad I got to see the B$B’s at The Fore N Aft show in 2019….and after hearing a complete live concert from “77” on the “complete B$B’s Battle Axe cd” I really wish that tour hadn’t been cut short, amazing stuff.
A side note on the 2019 Danbury concert. As me and the missus were driving back to Danbury airport , a World War 2 plane carrying 13 people crashed into the airport , closing it down….and we had to drive to Boston to catch our flight back to Tampa

I remember hearing about that plane crash. Glad you maade it home safely.

The Billion Dollar Babies band was in a catch 22 with the Battle Axe Show. Promoter's didn't know how to promote the Billion Dollar Babies as a separate entity from Alice, and not as a headliner without Alice. And our staging was so elaborate, no band wanted us as an opening act. We knew all of this beforehand but Battle Axe was intended to be an Alice Cooper show, and it was too good not to give it a shot. A very expensive shot.

That all makes sense, but such a shame ….but better to have gave it a good shot than to be thinking nearly 50 years later….”if only we had gone out with a live Battle Axe tour “.
Thanks for your interaction with us OG fans, it’s so interesting and insightful for us old farts.