1973 - Billion Dollar Babies
Jan 1973 Billboard reports Alice Cooper have paid for a billboard in Times Square, New York for a month showing a New Year greeting in 6 languages.
Jan 1973 Alice and Cindy move into Penthouse apartment in Manhattan.
Jan 7th 1973 News reports circulate that Alice Cooper has arranged for $1million to be shipped to London for a photo shoot with renowned photographer David Bailey to be used on the 'Billion Dollar Babies' cover. They have to get special permission from the "secret servive" to photograph the money as US law prohibits colour photographs of US currency. It sounds a little like a publicity stunt, but a genuine letter exists stating that they have approved the request as 'the reproductions of currency submitted by [Alice Cooper] for examination are not in sufficient similitude or likeness of any genuine currency to constitute a voilation of the statute.' If in the end it isn't clear it's real money, so the band could have just as easily used fake cash!
Jan 16th 1973 'Hello Hooray' released as a second preview to the 'Billion Dollar Babies' album.
It's also announced that the 'School's Out' album has been nominated for a Grammy award for best cover, and the US tour is announced playing 60 shows in 56 cities to an estimated 800,000 people and expected to be the largest grossing tour in Rock and Roll history. The billboard sign in Times Square, NY will flash up the call letters of each radio station who adds 'Hello Horray' to their playlist.
Feb 3rd 1973 'Hello Hooray' enters the Billboard chart at #72.
Feb 10th 1973 'Hello Hooray' is at #65 on the Billboard chart.
Feb 12th 1973 Alice takes a flight from/to New York
Feb 14th 1973 The 'ABC In Concert' show is repeated across the US and cause yet more complaints and controversy. Disc readers vote Alice Cooper as the top international group and 'School's Out' as top single in their annual readers poll.
Feb 17th 1973 'Slick Black Limousine' is released as a flexi disc included in the New Music Express. Alice attends a Jack Benny show at Shepherd’s, Drake Hotel, NYC
- 'Hello Hooray' is at #65 on the Billboard chart.
New Musical Express covers.
Feb 18th 1973 Alice is invited to introduce the legendary comedian George Burns at Burns' Philharmonic Hall performance. In fact Jack Benny was the compare for the evening but Alice did get to meet them both after the show and he presented them with the 'Alice Cooper Living Legend' award (a gold coiled snake) Alice had had one made up for Benny but that had yet to arrive.
George Burns - The Times 1973:
"I've really got to admire a person who plays to 20,000 people at a time."
Billboard also reports Alice had dinner with Salvador Dali.
"I met Salvador and Gala Dali at the Saint Regis Hotel in NYC to discuss using Alice in a hologram that would be designed by a young scientist and Dali. My first meeting was alone, then Joe Greenberg, who arranged the meetings, came and so did Charlie Carnal, the band's long time lighting technician."
(Dennis Dunaway, 2014)
Feb 20th - 25th 1973 Planned dates at The Palace, New York City. This was to be the 'Alice At The Palace' event which never happened. a class="fancybox" href="clippings/1973-01-05 Lowell Sun [Palace Canceled].jpg">The Lowell Sun has some background info. Apparently the Palace Theater pulled out of the deal and an attempt to stage the show at the Broadway Theater also failed when that theater also withdrew. Later there are talks of staging the show in Las Vegas but that fails as well.
Feb, 1973 The band in rehearsals at the mansion. Mick Mashbir is brought in to augment Glen. Bob Dolin plays keyboards.
Feb 24th 1973 'Hello Hooray' is at #50 on the Billboard chart.
Feb 27th 1973 Billion Dollar Babies album released. [Date based on Billboard information]
Feb 26th 1973 Alice poses for the Dali hologram in New York.
Disc 21st April 1973: 'Dali's portrait of Alice Cooper was begun on February 26 as Alice, wearing over a million dollars worth of jewels, on loan from Harry Winston, posed for the artist with an anatomical brain designed by Dali which included such Daliesque symbols as a coffee eclair (indicating Alice's accessibility to his public), Dali ants and a soft watch. Alice also held a microphone designed by the artist of a sectioned Venus de Milo, representing 'the shattering of antiquity by this rock star's voice.' The sitting was filmed through a special holograph process involving a laser beam and refracted light.'
Billion Dollar Babies Tour
Flo and Eddie support at almost all shows.
Enter the Guillotine.
New Snake: Eva Marie Snake
Billboard tour adverts. Dates on these are suspect...
..But the dates on this poster appear accurate.
Feb 27th 1973 Dress Rehearsal show in Port Chester, NY and Billion Dollar Babies album released
Melody Maker reports that there was no paying audience and they opened with 'Dead Babies'.
On the morning of the show, Alice is invited to give a lecture at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY on the art of writing 'popular music'. Although it seems it didn't happen various newspapers mentioned it.
Mar 1st 1973 Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener Memorial Auditorium [Tour Poster]
Mar 2nd 1973 London, Ontario, London Arena [Tour Poster][Eye witnesses confirms]
OR Niagra Falls, NY, R.F. Skylawn Tower (listed in Billboard 17th February but nowhere else that I can find so probably safe to assume it was a mistake in Billboard. )
Mar 3rd 1973 Ottawa, Ontario, Civic Center [Ticket] [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
- 'Hello Hooray' has up to #42 on the Billboard chart.
Circus Oct 1973 Neal Smith Interview: The amazing violent streak made its first nasty appearance in Toronto, during the first part of the tour. An M-80 bomb, equivalent to K stick of dynamite was tossed onto the stage. 'It landed in between me and Dennis,' shudders Neal. 'The impact was incredible. It almost blew us off the stage.'
Mar 4th 1973 Hamilton, Ontario, McMaster University [Tour Poster] - Eye witness had tickets but the show was canceled when it was discovered they couldn't get the equipment through the doors!!
Mar 5th 1973 Rochester, NY, War Memorial [Tour Poster] - Review in Rochester Democrat and Chronicle March 6th 1973. Full page preview in Mar 4th edition. Alice and Ashley Pandel spend the evening at Max's.
Mar 8th 1973 Philadelphia, PA Spectrum [Tour Poster] [Show Review in New Orleans Times Picayune March 25th and Philadelphia Daily News March 9th.] - Band introduced by Kal Rudman
Mar 9th 1973 Philadelphia, PA Spectrum [Ticket] [Tour Poster] [Review in Levitown Bucks County Courier Times March 10th and Pittsburgh Press March 18th] - Band stay at the Penn Centre Inn. After the show the band head to "the Show Boat" at "Peir !!" for a private cruise with invited guests (according to the Philadelpia Daily News anyway.)
Mar 10th 1973 Roanoke, VA Civic Center (w/ Earth, Wind and Fire) [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
Mar 10th 1973 'Hello Horray' rises to #38 on the Billboard chart.
Mar 11th 1973 Williamsburg, VA William and Mary College Hall [Tour Poster] [Listing in Richmond, VA Times Dispatch March 11th and review on the 18th March]
Mar 13th 1973 During a brief break because of the canceled Knoxville show the band returns to the Mansion in Greenwich, CT to work on material while Alice goes to New York.
"Dr. Dreary's Magnificent Time Machine is set to March 13, 1973. Alice is in New York but the group is home at the Mansion in Greenwich, CT, writing songs for the next album. Michael is banging away at the piano working on a jazzy idea called "Crazy Little Child." I'm playing bass quietly so not to interrupt his creative flow."
(Dennis Dunaway, 2012)
Mar 15th 1973 Knoxville, TN, Civic Auditorium (CANCELLED)
Mar 16th' 73 Fayetteville, NC, Cumberland County Memorial Arena [Tour Poster] [Preview in Lumberton Robesonian 13th March]
Mar 17th 1973 Clemson, SC, Littlejohn Coliseum [Tour Poster] - Review in the 'Greenville News' Mar 19th confirms they were in Fayetteville the previous night. There is also mentions somewhere that the police were on hand to arrest Alice for indecent behavior and the Human Society were there for the animals. It confirms the venue and also mentions the show was something to do with a local Clemson University who promoted the show.
Mar 17th 1973 'Hello Horray' rises to #38 on the Billboard chart. 'Billion Dollar Babies' enters the Billboard album chart at #98.
Melody Maker run the story that Alice has been killed when the Guillotine malfunctions at the Mar 9th Spectrum show.
Mar 18th 1973 Charlotte, NC Coliseum [Ticket] [Tour Poster][Eye Witness]
Mar 20th 1973 Jackson, MS, Mississippi Coliseum [Tour Poster][Small announcement in Jackson Clarion-Ledger 9th March.] 5 people arrested for possession.
Mar 21st 1973 Originally show scheduled for either Little Rock or Auburn, AL but was canceled
Mar 22nd 1973 Savannah, GA (CANCELLED)
An advert for Flo and Eddie lists most of the dates for
this tour, and for a change it actually seems to match what we know!
Mar 23rd 1973 Atlanta, GA The Omni [Ticket] [Tour Poster] [Show Review in Marietta Journal March 27th]
Mar 24th 1973 Columbia, SC, (University of South) Carolina Coliseum [Tour Poster, Local listings][Photos exist]
- 'Billion Dollar Babies' is up to #18 on the Billboard album chart. 'Hello Horray' is stuck at #35. However the album is #1 on the Cash Box album chart.
The 'Billion Dollar Babies' stage at Carolina Coliseum.
See more photos of the show at
Fluidr.
Mar 26th 1973 Boston, MA, The Garden [Guest Ticket] [Tour Poster] [Review in Boston Mass Media 23rd April and Boston Globe March 28th]
Alice at Boston Garden.
After show party at the Bal-o-rue Roller Rink with The Shittons playing.
Mar 27th 1973 Hershey, PA, Hersheypark Arena [Tour Poster]
- 'No More Mr Nice Guy', the third single from 'Billion Dollar Babies' is released with a full page advert in Billboard. - 'Billion Dollar Babies' is up to #10 on the Billboard album chart. 'Hello Hooray' is down to #47. Warner Brothers annnounces they will be running a TV campaign on London Weekend Television (LWT) in the UK to promote the album. A few weeks later Billboard reports TV spots will also run in New York during primetime viewing.
Mar 28th 1973 Baltimore, MD, Civic Center (ticket exits behind paywall)
Mar 30th 1973 Indianapolis, IN Convention Center [Ticket] [Ticket] [Tour Poster][Anderson Herald Bulletin 12th March announcement and there is a review]
Mar 31st 1973 Cleveland, OH Public Hall (w/ Flo and Eddie)[Tour Poster] - Sold Out [ Cleveland Plain Dealer April 2nd has a review]
April 1st 1973 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati Gardens (ATT. 12,000) [Tour Poster] [Preview in Hamilton Ohio Journal News 9th March and a review on April 8th.]
April 2nd 1973 Louisville, KY Convention Center [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
April 3rd 1973 Alice is in New York Knoedler Galley for a press conference with Salvadore Dali and the opening of the Dali Hologram Exhibition. That evening he parties at the St. Regis Hotel. The Evensville Courier has some background.
Melody Maker feature 14th April 1973: "Between Louisville on Monday and Detroit on Wednesday, Alice sidestepped back to New York for the unveiling of his chronograph portrait by Salvador Dali in the chichi Knoedler Gallery on Manhattan's Upper East Side."
April 4th 1973 Detroit, MI Cobo Arena [Ticket] [Ticket] [Tour Poster] Review in Detroit Free Press April 6th. Alice's mother in attendence talking to reporters backstage. The band are presented with platinum albums for 'Billion Dollar Babies'.
Detroit Free Press 9th March ran a story on the front page of a young girl, Lena Elizabeth Jarl, who was murdered trying to travel to Detroit to buy tickets for the second Cobo Hall show. Her parents had already bought her a ticket for the first show, but when the second show was added the 16 year old decided to travel there on her own to get a second ticket. Sadly she was sexually assaulted and strangled on a stairway at Cobo Hall.
April 5th 1973 Detroit, MI Cobo Hall [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
Alice Cooper parties at the Roostertail nightclub after one of the Detroit shows, transporting everyone there in a double decker London Transport bus. Disc and Jackie Interview Alice, his mother and uncle Vince at the same time as they were in the audience and are at the hotel, the St. Regis.
He also appears to have a puppy named 'Astor' "named him after a character in an old movie I saw on television. It was a series called the Thin Man and it starred Myrna Loy and William Powell." .
The article confirms he's just been in NY with Dali.
April 6th 1973 Pittsburgh, PA, Civic Arena [Tour Poster]
April 7th 1973 'Hello Hooray' is down to #69 on the Billboard chart and heading out. 'Billion Dollar Babies' is up to #7.
April 8th 1973 Fort Wayne, IN, Allen County War Memorial Coliseum [Ticket] [Tour Poster] - Review in Elmhurst Advance
April 9th 1973 Chicago, IL, International Amphitheatre [Tour Poster]
April 10th 1973 Chicago, IL, International Amphitheatre [Tour Poster]
Circus Oct 1974 Neal Smith Interview: One night, in the middle of the first number, "Hello Hooray," at the Chicago Amphitheater, when Neal felt the penetration of a sharp object into his white satin covered back as he hammered out the strong beats of the opening number, he realized that whoever had tossed the projectile at him had done it intentionally. "I called over Goose, one of my guys from Detroit who sets up my drums, and I said, 'Check my back.' He did and noticed it was bleeding. Finally, he looked down on the ground and saw a dart!"
April 12th 1973 Lincoln, NE Pershing Municipal Auditorium [Ticket][Tour Poster] - 9,000 attendance according to Columbus Telegram 14th April. [Lincoln Star 8th April has a preview, a news report on April 4th, and a review on April 13th.]
April 13th 1973 St. Louis, MO Municipal Auditorium [Tour Poster] - Review in the St Louis Dispatch 14th April.
April 14th 1973 Memphis, TN Mid South Coliseum [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
- 'Billion Dollar Babies' reaches #2 on the Billboard album chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' arrives on the Billboard singles chart at #88.
April 15th 1973 Allen Fieldhouse. Lawrence, Kansas (not Kansas City Municipal Auditorium) [Ticket][Preview in Lawrence Journal World 6th April and review on 16th April] - The band were originally booked in the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium [Tour Poster] but for some reason the auditorium date was cancelled. Rather than not playing in the area and causing a routing problem they asked the senior class of Kansas University to sponsor the event in Allen Fieldhouse.
April 17th 1973 Newspapers report Alice Cooper will be launching a new line of cosmetics called 'Whiplash'.
April 20th 1973 Dania, Miami, FL Pirate's World [Ticket] [Tour Poster lists 20th AND 21st as does local Newpaper listing.]
April 21st 1973 Dania, Miami, FL Pirate's World [Review in the Miami News 27th April confirms two shows, Friday and Saturday.]
"We were on stage at Pirate's World in Miami, Florida. After 4 days off, somehow my bass neck didn't feel as familiar and so the show somehow felt fresher. Some jerk tossed a one foot baby Boa Constrictor onto Michael's side of the stage. I ran over and guarded it till the song was over then I caught it and handed it to Andy Mills. After the show, the jerk wanted it back but Cindy and I decided he didn't deserve a pet and so we named it Angel and kept it."
[Dennis Dunaway, April 2012]
April 21st 1973 'Billion Dollar Babies' hits #1 on the Billboard album chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is at #65.
April 22nd 1973 Jacksonville, FL, Veterans Memorial Coliseum [Tour Poster]
April 25th 1973 Mobile, AL Municipal Auditorium [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
April 26th 1973 New Orleans, LA, Memorial Auditorium [Tour Poster]
Cream reports that after a meeting at the hotel, the band and Shep decide that once the tour is over, everyone will take a year off.
April 27th 1973 Shreveport, LO, Hirsch Memorial Coliseum [Tour Poster] Mention in Shreveport Times April 22nd. - ABC In Concert is aired again, this time as a 3 hour compilation featuring the first two shows in the series. This time it is simultainiously transmitted in stereo on 57 local radio stations.
April 28th 1973 Dallas, TX, Memorial Auditorium [Ticket] [Ticket] [Tour Poster] [Review in Dallas Morning News 29th April] - Live footage filmed for 'Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper'
- 'Billion Dollar Babies' is almost there at #3 on the Billboard album chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is at #55.
April 29th 1973 Houston, TX, Sam Houston Coliseum [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
Live footage filmed for 'Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper'
Circus Oct 73 Neal Smith Interview:
When the band's Lear Jet swooped down into the Houston airport for a concert appearance that night, Alice, Michael, Neal, Glen and Dennis were hustled into a waiting Brinks armored truck for the ride to the hotel. Suddenly, the quintet was astonished to hear the thundering of horses hooves and the whooping of what sounded like a band of cowboys. Almost immediately, the door of the truck was yanked open, and a tall lean Texan with a ten gallon hat and smoking six-gun poked his bronze face into the dark truck. "You guys the Billion Dollar Babies?' he drawled. "No, not us, somebody else," mumbled the frightened captives. The cowboys pulled the five quaking long-hairs from the truck, forced them to put their hands up against the side of the truck, and proceeded to strip them of their jewelry, money, and expensive clothing. One cowboy held a gun to the truck driver's head. Another shot the second driver and he fell with a thud to the ground. Suddenly, a blast of familiar music materialized from thin air and a white horse came galloping towards the small band of superstars. The Lone Ranger, garbed grandly in white, sat perched astride the beautiful stallion. "He must have had twenty shots in one gun," recalls Neal, "because he shot all the cowboys. Everyone was sprawled on the ground immediately the band realized the entire event had been a specially staged act for their enjoyment— and that everything was being filmed by the Hollywood film crew - flown out to capture them on celluloid. Eight cameras were pointed at them from various hiding spots.
Bootleg tapes circulating, marked Corpus Christi 30th April 1973 are in fact this Houston show.
(April 30th 1973 Corpus Christi - There is a tape in circulation of this gig but it's actually Houston the day before. This show, if it happened, isn't on any tour itineraries or adverts that are known to exist)
May 1st 1973 Oklahoma City, OK, Fairgrounds Arena [Ticket] [Tour Poster][Preview in The Oklahoman March 18th plus various other mentions]
"We're in Oklahoma City to play at the Fairgrounds Arena. We got a surprise at the Houston Airport yesterday. On short notice, the group filmed a cowboys and Indians sequence for our movie. We didn't know anything about it beforehand. I guess because it was so sophomoric and the band had much more sinister intentions for OUR movie. Rather than taking America by the throat, they had us doing silly schtick. The concert went well though. Charlie's lighting was working again. And Alice was having fun singing the theme song from Oklahoma the musical with a very extended O."
(Dennis Dunaway, 2012)
May 2nd 1973 Tulsa, OK, Tulsa Assembly Center [Tour Poster]
May 3rd 1973 Fort Worth, TX, Will Rogers Coliseum [Tour Poster] Rock Scene lists "Terraute City Center" but I can't see any venue of that name existing.
May 4th 1973 Albuquerque, NM, University of New Mexico [Tour Poster]
May 5th 1973 Tucson, AZ Community Center [Ticket] [Tour Poster] [Article - Tucson Daily Citizen 19th April, Review in 7th May AND 10th May issues]
- 'Billion Dollar Babies' has dropped to #5 on the Billboard album chart... 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is up to #41.
May 6th 1973 San Diego, CA, Sports Arena - Preview in the Times-Advocate. A awful lot of unused tickets exist dated May 13th. Whether these are fakes, or incorrectly printed tickets is unknown.
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May 10th 1973 Los Angeles, CA, (Inglewood) The Forum [Tour Poster] - This appears to be wrong?? The LA Times listings on the 10th mention a show on the 11th, and on the 11th they mention a show "tonight". Also a joint poster only mentions one night which would be unlikely if there was two.
May 11th 1973 Los Angeles, CA, (Inglewood) The Forum [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
May 12th 1973 San Bernadino, CA Swing Auditorium [Tour Poster][Joint Advert above]
- 'Billion Dollar Babies' drops to #8 on the Billboard album charts. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is up to #39.
May 15th 1973 Amarillo, TX, Civic Center Auditorium [Tour Poster] [Review in Amarillo Globe Times 17th May]
City commisioners recieve complaints from "parents, teachers and students' about the forthcoming Alice Cooper show and declared: "It has, so I am told, some very nasty scenes. Parents need to be aware of what's coming in. As we learned in federal court several years ago we can't keep such shows out. The police department is fully aware of what it is about. It's not what you would call family entertainment".
The show sold out in advance.
May 16th 1973 Wichita, KS, Henry Levit Arena/Field House [w/ Blue Oyster Cult] [Tour Poster] [Show mentioned in Amarillo Sunday News Globe Article about previous days show 13th May 1973])[Poster exits][Blue Oyster Cult replaced Flo And Eddie for this one show. Both Buck and Joe Bouchard remember the show as it was a one off on this tour. [Hotrails To Hull]
May 17th 1973 Denver, CO, Denver Coliseum
May 18th 1973 Denver, CO, Denver Coliseum [Ticket] - A poster apparently exists, and a made up poster appeared on ebay listing Blue Oyster Cult as support.
May 19th 1973 Salt Lake City, UT Salt (Lake) Palace [Tour Poster] (canceled?)
- 'Billion Dollar Babies' still at #8 on the Billboard chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is up to #29
May 20th 1973 Las Vegas, NV [Tour Poster] (Canceled?)
May 23rd 1973 A show was booked for the Butte Civic Center in Butte, MT by someone pretending to be a representative for Alice Cooper. The Montana Standard April 12th reports the man had no official sanction to book shows and so it was canceled.
May 24th 1973 Portland, OR, Portland Memorial Coliseum [Ticket] [Tour Poster]
May 25th 1973 Seattle, WA, Center Coliseum [Tour Poster] - Alice is cited for "disorderly conduct for inciting obscenities". He gets a fine. [Seattle Daily Times 26th May]
Circus Oct '74 Neal Smith Interview: Alice was again the moving target of a frenzied fan's vendetta in Seattle, Washington, on the last leg of the band's tour. "Someone tossed a bottle at his head, and Alice went right down," reveals Neal. "He was singing at the time, and he dropped the microphone and fell right down. He had a little cut over his eye later on, but he was O.K."
Poster exists saying this was May 25th.
Reports exist saying Alice was arrested for citing a riot by Seattle Police because he was holding posters between his legs and telling the crowd to come get them [San Antonio Express And News 27th May 1973][Manitoba Brandon Sun 31st May reports Alice is released on $50 bail]
May 26th 1973 Vancouver, BC, PNE Coliseum [Tour Poster] (Attendance 18,003) [Review in Richmond Review 30th May]
- 'Billion Dollar Babies' is up to #7 on the Billboard chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is up to #26.
May 28th 1973 Warner Brothers starts airing 10 second adverts on ABC in New York for the Madison Square Garden show. It apparently airs 19 times during primetime shows between today and June 3rd.
May 29th 1973 Alice leaves Canada
May 30th 1973 Minneapolis, MN, Metropolitan Sports Center [Tour Poster] - Review and article in Minneapolis Star June 1st.
May 31st 1973 Milwaukee, WI, Milwaukee Arena [Tour Poster, Local newspaper mention and listing.]
June 1st 1973 Possible planned show at Toledo, OH, Sports Arena canceled
June 2nd 1973 Possible planned show at the Boston Gardens but canceled.
- 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is at #25 on the Billboard chart. 'Billion Dollar Babies' is at #10.
June 3rd 1973 New York, NY Madison Square Garden [Ticket] [Ticket] [Tour Poster] - Alice is hit and hurt by something thrown from the audience.
Me Alice: "I went on stage with six broken ribs, a fractured elbow and 20lb over weight, bloated with fluid".
Kiss reportedly in the audience
June 5th 1973 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY [Ticket][Ticket] [Tour Poster] - Some sources list June 5th 1973 Vancouver, BC (Additional Show) but there is a news report on June 6th reporting 18 arrests at the Nassau Coliseum show. - 'Billion Dollar Babies' drops to #10 while 'No More Mr Nice Guy' up one to #25.
June 7th 1973 Providence, RI, Civic Center [Tour Poster] (Flo And Eddie join the band for a last night run through of the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night") [Ticket] [Article in Newport Daily News 22nd June]
June 8th 1973 the band return to Los Angeles. Alice bought a house next to republican politician Barry Goldwater.
After the tour, Joey Greenburg and Charlie Carnel leave the band organisation. Alice was a mess. His legs and arms were bruised from the show and he had two broken fingers, a cracked rib and severe mental tiredness.
June 9th 1973 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is down to #31 on the Billboard chart. 'Billion Dollar Babies' is at #24.
June 12th 1973 Newspapers start mentioning Vincent Damon Furnier has legally changed his name to "Alice Cooper"
June 16th 1973 'Billion Dollar Babies' is up to #22 on the Billboard chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is at #27.
June 23rd 1973 'Billion Dollar Babies' up to #20 on the Billboard chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' down to #34.
June 24th 1973 Des Moines, IA State Fairgrounds - Listing in the Des Moines Register June 10th. The tour ended on June 7th so this seems unlikely to be correct.
June 30th 1973 Alice Cooper place a full page advert in Billboard as a thank you to promotors and venues for the success of the tour. 'Billion Dollar Babies' is at #22 on the Billboard chart. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is at #38. Both continue down from here.
Alice Banned from the UK
In June of 1973, Alice received a lot of press in the UK and US due to the attempts of Leo Abse MP to have the Alice Cooper banned from playing in the UK. Apparently, Abse had taken exception to Alice and tried to get him banned from entering the country. Alice reaped the rewards of the added publicity while keeping relatively quite about the fact that the band had no plans to tour the UK anyway.
Some news reports from the time:
Sounds - 2nd June 1973:
MP Abse aims to ban Alice's Wonderland
THERE'S SOMETHING faintly ridiculous about the sight of 56-year-old Labour MP from Pontypool - a man with a record of kindly if rather fashionable ideas - getting hot under the collar about dear ol' Alice Cooper and his conjurer's guillotine.
The spectacle moves into the realms of farce when we're told that his attempt to get the Home Secretary to refuse Alice an entry permit for his planned Autumn tour was inspired by the revulsion of his teenage children.
New Musical Express - 2nd June 1973
Abse V. Alice - Hypocrisy?
LEO ABSE, the M.P. for Pontypool, is another of those individuals clearly bent on restricting the public's freedom of choice. He announced last week plans to revoke Alice Cooper's entry permit for his forthcoming British tour.
Not to be outdone, Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers and Listeners Association eagerly climbed aboard the Abse bandwagon - completely overlooking the fact that Cooper has no plans for a British tour in the immediate future and has not even applied for an entry permit.
Seems that Abse objects to Cooper's "commercial exploitation of masochism" - including his bizarre make-up, smashing up of toy babies, mock executions and tangling with a snake. If these are his main worries, maybe he should also try to ban Punch and Judy, whose show has included the same features for decades past.
As it happens nothing further had been heard at Press time of Abse's Parliamentary clarion call - presumably because the Commons have been too busy contemplating their own internal sex scandal. Which should be an indication to Abse that, before criticising others, he should see that his own House is in order.
Record Mirror - 2nd June 1973
Leo Abse MP, declaimed: "Cooper is peddling the culture of the concentration camp. Pop is one thing - anthems of necrophilia are another."
July 11th 1973 'Billion Dollar Babies' single released. The album is still at #21 on the Billboard chart.
July 1973 Article in Kingsport News 17th July reports Alice, John Lennon and others are guests at the wedding of pop composer Jimmy Webb and Birgitta Sullivan in Ojai, CA.
July 19th(thur) 1973 Alice attends a party in New York Thursday for Van Morrison which was also attended by Roman Polanski. While up in Greenwich Connecticut, Michael Bruce is laying down songs for his solo album.
The band spend much of the summer separated. Alice goes to Acapulco with Cindy and then to Phoenix and New York. In New York he is often seen at the Max's Kansas City nightclub.
July 1973(Either 30th or 31st July) Alice is at Max's Kansas City to see that Stooges and shares a table with Todd Rundgren amongst others.
Aug 19th 1973 'Alice takes part in a benefit for Free Shakespeare called 'A Shakespearean Cabaret' in Los Angeles held at the Hollywood Bowl. This is the first time Alice has perfomed on his own without the rest of the band. Many other celebrities attended including Roddy McDowall, Jean Simmons, Glenn Ford and with Governor Reagan introducing the glittering array of talent' Alice performed 'Gutter Cat Vs The Jets' although amusingly Billboard reports him "performing a variety of number from 'West Side Story'."
While the advert for the event
states it is the 18th, Sunday was the 19th and news articles confirm it actually took place on the 19th August.
Aug 20th 1973 Alice is in Canada (ONT)
End Aug 1973 Neal Smith marries Babbette.
Aug/Sept 1973 At some point here Alice presents an award to a Louisville Slugger at baseball match
Sept 1973 The band are at the Hyatt House, Toronto for awards from WEA. Also rehearsing at Nimbus 9 studios while Alice goes fishing. Alive Enterprises announces they are moving into films with a feature named "Pin-Stripe Dream". The band are presented with Platinum awards for 'Love It To Death', 'Killer', 'School's Out' and 'Billion Dollar Babies' at the Hyatt House for Canadian sals of over 100,000 for each album.
Sept 9th 1973 The band fly to Los Angeles
Mid Sept 1973 the band join up in Los Angeles to look at footage for a film, "Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper". They also record backing tracks for 'Muscle Of Love'. Glen is becoming a problem as his playing is almost unusable. The Hollywood Vampires date from this time. During a trip to Hawai, Alice discoveries Golf.
Oct. 1973 Neal living in Phoenix. In Circus Oct 1973 he makes reference to the band moving to new individual houses in Greenwich, Conn.
Oct 1973 Circus (Jan '74): Alice is staying at a house on Malibu Beach. Michael is at Sunset Sound in Hollywood putting down basic tracks for 'Never Been Sold Before'. A week later, Alice Cooper, still dressed in a Malibu T-shirt and torn white shorts, was standing before a microphone in the plushness of the Record Plant studios on West 44th Street in Manhattan. He was in the middle of a song called "Man with the Golden Gun," which hadn't been given publicity because Alice wanted it to be a surprise to the James Bond people. Later that evening, Alice did the vocals for "Woman Machine."
Oct 4th '74 US newspapers everywhere report Alice has been joined in a studio in New York by Liza Minelli and Ronnie Specter recording vocals for 'Teenage Lament '74".
Oct 10th 1973 Alice recieves his Japanese visa giving him free travel to Japan for four years
Oct 12th 1973 Rolling Stone: '"Michael O. Bruce, guitarist and Keyboard man with the Alice Cooper band, and two other men [Dolin and Mashbir] were arrested Friday October 12th (1973) at a Greenwich, Connecticut, house on suspicion of possession of cannabis for sale. Police, who said they had a search warrant and were acting on a tip, turned up four pounds of the alleged illegal weed. The three were released on $1000. bond and told to appear in court on November 5th."
The report is reprinted in many US newspapers.
Oct 13th '72 Billboard reports 'Muscle Of Love' is complete. Also Alice is reportedly looking at movie scripts that will "please his current fans and prove to others he's a great entertainer".
Oct 19th 1973 Alice in Japan
Sounds Nov 17th: He arrived in Japan on October 19 to announce the simultaneous worldwide release of his forthcoming LP "Muscle Of Love". He was greeted by an airport reception of close to 5,000 fans who tore at his hair and clothes, before one particularly loyal fan presented Alice with a nine-foot boa constrictor named "Moische, Moische" which means "Hello, Hello".
Circus News report Jan '74: 'When Alice Cooper arrived in Tokyo, Japan recently for a promotional visit and TV special, he was greeted at the airport by a reception of 5000 Nipponese fans who tore at his hair and clothes. One particularly loyal fan presented Alice with a 9-foot boa constrictor named "Moische, Moische," which means "Hello, Hello." Two hundred journalists gathered at the Akasaka Prince Hotel the next day for the largest press conference ever held for an entertaining personality in Tokyo. During the conference Alice received as a present several Geisha girls who attended him for the entirety of his five-day stay in Japan. The Geishas performed such tasks as peeling grapes and feeding them on toothpicks to the Muscleman of Love and entertaining him with little stories and dances which are supposed to make the listener mellow and ready for an evening's pleasure. '
Oct 22nd 1973 Alice leaves Japan and returns to the US
Nov (3rd?) 1973 Article in Nov 4th Lubbock TX Morning Avalanche has text saying "Department of Parks' Volunteers in the Parks Program, 300 "Cooper Troopers" — neighborhood youth organization volunteers — staged a thorough cleanup of Riverside Park. Alice Cooper himself appeared in a chauffeur-driven sanitation truck. After heaving filled garbage bags into the truck, Cooper said "I think it would be a good idea for rock performers all over the world to take a few hours out of their schedule to involve themselves in community service-oriented programs." Sun visors, arm bands, plastic collection bags, rakes, shovels and brooms were provided by Atlantic Records and Cooper's Alive Enterprises.
Nov 15th 1973 'Muscle Of Love' album released