Your biggest disappointment in Alice's career

[steven_crayn]

6) Shep Gordon hiring inept lawyers who lost the bands publishing and cost them all a ton of money.
.

It's common for a song publisher to get 50% of performance royalties as currently is the case with the bands biggest hit School's Out and even though the share ownership is currently to be confirmed the other 50% is equally split between the original band members with 10% each being collected on their behalf by BMI.

Every time the song is played on the radio and Alice plays it live Dennis, Michael, Neal and the Glen Buxton estate get paid the same 10% as Alice as they are all listed as equal co writers.

As a PRS member which is affiliated with BMI , ASCAP etc... I can tell you this for a fact as I have access to their database.

Mechanical royalties (record sales) in the case of School's Out are non society, ie not collected by PRS, BMI, ASCAP etc...

The band would have made a lot of money from School's Out when it became the biggest selling single in Warner Bros history and money is still coming in for all the original band members on that song alone and quite rightly too.

I'm not sure what you are saying. Did this bad piece of business cost them a lot of money or not?

Andy answered that question and I will also add that without Shep Gordon the band might not have been as successful as they were.

[steven_crayn]

Also I wish the BDB tour had come here to the UK. And I was gutted when the original band split up.

The power cuts of 73/74 were the reason the Billion Dollar Babies tour didn't come here but one of the biggest dissapointments for me was that the Madhouse Rock Tour never came to the UK.

Frankly I'm baffled how anyone can not love the From The Inside album it is easily Alice Cooper (the solo artist)second best solo effort after Welcome To My Nightmare.

[darkmenace]

"I agree it did some damage at that time but it's too long ago to have any residual impact."

I guess there's no way of knowing for sure but I think it had significant impact over the years. Once you lose a big part of your rabid fan base they tend to become interested in other bands and move on. In addition this period hurt his reputation in critical circles which filters down over the years.

I can't prove it and won't debate it endlessly but I feel this was a pivotal turning point in terms of Alice's popularity but also his acceptance as a great rock artist.

On the plus side for those people who hung in there or became fans later there have been moments of great interest over the years.

[GNDM]

Andy answered that question and I will also add that without Shep Gordon the band might not have been as successful as they were.

This is something that has always made me curious. I wonder what the actual feelings are, for the original band members, concerning Shep Gordon and his business acumen. Obviously Alice has no complaints....but I doubt the other members see this issue the same way. Now, I am only assuming here - I have no first hand knowledge of the band members' feelings about Shep...nor should I! It isn't my business. I just wonder how the original members (not AC) reconcile Shep's great work in building a money machine for them - with Shep's "complicity" in bringing it all to an end (prematurely?).

[VinceRaven]

I haven't really given this idea much thought, nor will I to be honest, but Raise Your Fist And Yell possibly ranks as my biggest disappointment.

[pitkin88]

Also I wish the BDB tour had come here to the UK. And I was gutted when the original band split up.

The power cuts of 73/74 were the reason the Billion Dollar Babies tour didn't come here but one of the biggest dissapointments for me was that the Madhouse Rock Tour never came to the UK.

Frankly I'm baffled how anyone can not love the From The Inside album it is easily Alice Cooper (the solo artist)second best solo effort after Welcome To My Nightmare.

The power cuts thing is BS. Where there no concerts during this time in the UK.

Kiki Dee, David Foster, Toto enough said.

[pitkin88]

Andy answered that question and I will also add that without Shep Gordon the band might not have been as successful as they were.

This is something that has always made me curious. I wonder what the actual feelings are, for the original band members, concerning Shep Gordon and his business acumen. Obviously Alice has no complaints....but I doubt the other members see this issue the same way. Now, I am only assuming here - I have no first hand knowledge of the band members' feelings about Shep...nor should I! It isn't my business. I just wonder how the original members (not AC) reconcile Shep's great work in building a money machine for them - with Shep's "complicity" in bringing it all to an end (prematurely?).

I believe Michael thought Shep held money from GTSYA to finance WTMN. I'll have to pull the book out.

[A_MichaelUK]

>Yes It is because you did not do your research.

What if you did and all the signs were positive? The truth is you don't know what "research" he did or didn't do.

>Why don't you call Michael who was there ( you were not )

Neither were you, yet you're quick to just accept his version of that event.

>and tell him he was " mistaken ".

I already did. We talked about it when I met him - he laughed it off saying his memory wasn't all it could be and also, as for he's a liar or not (which you brought up), it's a shame you can't speak to Glen Buxton about Michael's book (which you cited as your source). He referred to it as a "book of lies". What do you think about that?

[A_MichaelUK]

>So you have evidence that Alice helped Dennis with his bills? Please reveal.

No, I do not. However, the burdon of proof isn't on me as I am not the one claiming that he did. The burden of proof is on YOU - YOU are the one who claimed there was no help offered. I have already asked you for YOUR evidence that there was no help? Where is it? I also asked you for YOUR evidence that Dennis needed help. Where is it?

[A_MichaelUK]

>that without Shep Gordon the band might not have been as successful as they were.

There is a list of people - Bob Ezrin, Joe Greenberg, Jon Podell, Cindy Smith, Rosalie Trombley, Derek Taylor and no doubt, others as well.

[pitkin88]

>Yes It is because you did not do your research.

What if you did and all the signs were positive? The truth is you don't know what "research" he did or didn't do.

>Why don't you call Michael who was there ( you were not )

Neither were you, yet you're quick to just accept his version of that event.

>and tell him he was " mistaken ".

I already did. We talked about it when I met him - he laughed it off saying his memory wasn't all it could be and also, as for he's a liar or not (which you brought up), it's a shame you can't speak to Glen Buxton about Michael's book (which you cited as your source). He referred to it as a "book of lies". What do you think about that?

It doesn't matter what Shep did he up and probably should have been fired. The buck stops with him. It was a MAJOR blunder.

He actually called it " Lumpy's Book Of Lies ". Glen didn't come out too well in the book so what do you expect?

[A_MichaelUK]

>but one of the biggest dissapointments for me was that the Madhouse Rock Tour never came to the UK.

It almost happened but was cancelled before it was announced.

[pitkin88]

>So you have evidence that Alice helped Dennis with his bills? Please reveal.

No, I do not. However, the burdon of proof isn't on me as I am not the one claiming that he did. The burden of proof is on YOU - YOU are the one who claimed there was no help offered. I have already asked you for YOUR evidence that there was no help? Where is it? I also asked you for YOUR evidence that Dennis needed help. Where is it?

I'll ask Dennis and see if I get a response. Is this the first you are hearing that Dennis was very ill and was struggling to pay his medical bills?

[A_MichaelUK]

>Once you lose a big part of your rabid fan base they tend to become interested in other bands and move on. In addition this period hurt his reputation in critical circles which filters down over the years.

Yes, that's true but others were added to that audience as time went on and in significant enough numbers so that all these years later, he still sells something in the region of at least two hundred thousand tickets on each tour. Whichever way you look at it, that is pretty good.

> but I feel this was a pivotal turning point in terms of Alice's popularity but also his acceptance as a great rock artist.

Exactly. This is the point a lot of people miss - I think all the things that supposedly harmed his career actually added longevity to it which is ironic.

>On the plus side for those people who hung in there or became fans later there have been moments of great interest over the years.

Exactly. There have been some iconic or landmark moments since then and to listen to the way some people talk, you'd think his career is completely down the toilet or something.

[A_MichaelUK]

>I have no first hand knowledge of the band members' feelings about Shep...nor should I! It isn't my business.

Why bring it up, then?

>I just wonder how the original members (not AC) reconcile Shep's great work in building a money machine for them - with Shep's "complicity" in bringing it all to an end (prematurely?).

With a little research you can find plenty of public comments by them on the matter and also, that can only be a valid question if you assume there was ""complicity"" (and I note your quotation marks which I assume are meant to signify irony).

[A_MichaelUK]

>I'll have to pull the book out.

Do you mean "the book" that Glen called a "book of lies"?

[pitkin88]

>I'll have to pull the book out.

Do you mean "the book" that Glen called a "book of lies"?

Do you have a problem reading? " Me Alice " was real factual eh?

[pitkin88]

>I just wonder how the original members (not AC) reconcile Shep's great work in building a money machine for them - with Shep's "complicity" in bringing it all to an end (prematurely?).

That can only be a valid question if you assume there was "complicity".

Amd there wasn't eh Andy?

[A_MichaelUK]

>I'll ask Dennis and see if I get a response.

Does that mean you made the statement as if it was a fact without knowing if it was true? That is absolutely brilliant, if so.

>Is this the first you are hearing that Dennis was very ill

No. He wrote to me when he was in the hospital (or after he left).

> and was struggling to pay his medical bills?

I never asked him - it's none of my business.

[A_MichaelUK]

<Do you have a problem reading?

"Do you have a problem" understanding.

> " Me Alice " was real factual eh?

Did I say that it "was"?