Bruce Roberts

[mr.barlow]

From mr.barlow:
""wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills" I think was another song originally composed by Taupin with Elton John in mind."

There can't be much truth in that if, as Dick Wagner claimed, it was he and Alice that were the originators of most of the material (musically) on the album. Is there anything about this in the book that Wagner wrote?

Wagner wrote that the music on the album was written by David Foster and himself. He participated in writing 8 of the 10 songs on the album. He also states the first song written for the album was "How You Gonna See Me Now" which he wrote in 20 minutes after being handed the lyrics by Alice and Taupin.

He also states that he considered Bernie Taupin to be the best lyricist in the business next to Dylan and that he was thrilled to learn that he would be writing with him. He also states the affection he had for the songs of Elton John.

I was wrong to state that a few songs may have been written for Elton John. But, after going back and re-reading Wagner's comments, I'm sure that the music of Elton influenced his writing on those songs, especially since he was writing them with Taupin. I also think it would be quite safe to say that Taupin had a lot of influence over the composition of the music which would have led to the Elton influence in the songs.

I have always thought that "Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills" could have been a #1 hit for Elton John. The song to me IS an Elton John song. It reeks of Elton John. But....that's my opinion

The same goes for "Jackknife Johhny". That's a quintessential Bernie Taupin/Elton John "story" song. But again...just my opinion.

I also think that Taupin introduced Alice to Davey Johnstone and Dee Murray and had them play on the album which even further added to the Elton influence on the album.

I think it was around this time that Alice was neighbors with Elton John too. I'm not too sure but maybe someone can confirm this.

I've always called FTI Alice Cooper's Elton John album.

[A_MichaelUK]

From mr.barlow:
"Wagner wrote that the music on the album was written by David Foster and himself."

That in itself in interesting as the latter only has three writing credits.

>I think it was around this time that Alice was neighbors with Elton John too. I'm not too sure but maybe someone can confirm this.

There is the story about him calling the fire brigade when Alice's was house burning down and but I don't know how true that was. They were both very much moving in the same circles as they were part of what was the 'rock aristocracy' at that time and also, two or three members of Elton John's band were in Alice's band at that time as well. Also, Kiki Dee is on the album and Alice appeared at an Elton John show as well but mainly, at the time, it was Alice and Taupin who had a very strong friendship. From what I remember, both he and Sir Elton were very generous with their time when they were interviewed for the documentary.

[mr.barlow]

From mr.barlow:
"Wagner wrote that the music on the album was written by David Foster and himself."

That in itself in interesting as the latter only has three writing credits.

>I think it was around this time that Alice was neighbors with Elton John too. I'm not too sure but maybe someone can confirm this.

There is the story about him calling the fire brigade when Alice's was house burning down and but I don't know how true that was. They were both very much moving in the same circles as they were part of what was the 'rock aristocracy' at that time and also, two or three members of Elton John's band were in Alice's band at that time as well. Also, Kiki Dee is on the album and Alice appeared at an Elton John show as well but mainly, at the time, it was Alice and Taupin who had a very strong friendship. From what I remember, both he and Sir Elton were very generous with their time when they were interviewed for the documentary.

Like with many Alice Cooper songs (and nearly every other artist/band), the songwriting credits don't always tell who actually wrote the song. With David Foster being the producer, perhaps he looked at his input as being more in the production role rather than being looked at as co-writer. Much like Ezrin with the original band on a lot of their material.

For the most part you can hear who wrote what in the songs themselves.

The one that really threw me was "I Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills". After re-reading Wagner's comments and seeing that he had such admiration for Elton John's music it now makes sense. I'm sure Taupin had a lot of sway in the overall development of the song and in a way it could have been a tip of the hat or a homage to Elton John--or the Elton John song. I'd love to hear Elton John perform that song!

[A_MichaelUK]

From mr.barlow:
"Like with many Alice Cooper songs (and nearly every other artist/band), the songwriting credits don't always tell who actually wrote the song."

That much is true.

>With David Foster being the producer, perhaps he looked at his input as being more in the production role rather than being looked at as co-writer. Much like Ezrin with the original band on a lot of their material.

While that's possible, the two situations were different. By the time "From The Inside" came around, Foster had been in the business for a while, whereas in 1970, Ezrin had not, so you would expect Foster to have been a bit more experienced and knowledgeable about protecting his interests and getting the right number of credits. You could be right though.

[Mr.Bluelegs]

The FTI album was engineered extremely well. The piano, drums, guitars, and vocals sound excellent. Foster's production was a bit overblown with excess backing vocals as we've discussed numerous times. Love the album despite some of the production. 1978 & 1979 were interesting and great years for rock. You had the old guard like Alice, McCartney, The Stones, The Who, etc.. trying to stay current in a climate of punk, disco, and the slick production values of that period ( e.g.- Steely Dan's Aja). All the old bands succeeded those years with really good releases. It was a great period for music because you had the old guard and the new ones like Elvis C., Joe Jackson, The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Baby's, The Police, Etc, etc... releasing great albums. I remember that there'd be incredible albums being released every Tuesday for such a long period of time. And I don't mean 1 album a week, I mean 3 or 4 classics every week! Those days are so far gone, unfortunately. Any how, as mentioned here, Flush was a bold move and WB should have put in more of an effort to promote it. It charted better than FTI, but deserved a better fate. This was seemingly the last Alice album WB put any sort of "somewhat-decent" promotion in to.

[Babysquid]

I guess because a lot of pictures of producers show them behind the desk many people think producing and engineering are the same thing and as mr bluelegs has indicated they are not. You can have a very well recorded album with a poor production. Also regarding Ezrin and Foster's input into the songwriting it should be noted there is a difference between writing a song and arranging it. Adding a harmony part or a key change might be considered arrangement while additional lyrics or a new bridge considered songwriting. I'd be interested to know how a song like pass the gun around evolved from its original creation by Alice and Wagner to the version we hear on dada. Was it written with all those key changes or was that something suggested by Ezrin or someone in the studio?

[While Heaven Wept]

I really like Millie and Billie, one of the standouts on FTI

[Shoesalesman]

The FTI album was engineered extremely well. The piano, drums, guitars, and vocals sound excellent.

Not to stray from the initial thread again, but I agree with this. I don't find it as glossy as some have suggested, but it does sound "fuller" than some of Alice's work before and after FTI. Has some of the best vocal work Alice has ever done, including the range which he alternates throughout the album.

[Paulimo]

Does anyone have a copy of the Alice / BR duet of Millie and Billie and Locked Up Lullaby from Soundstage? If not, has anyone actually seen it?

[A_MichaelUK]

From Paulimo:
"Does anyone have a copy of the Alice / BR duet of Millie and Billie and Locked Up Lullaby from Soundstage? If not, has anyone actually seen it?"

There is a clip in the documentary.

[pitkin88]

The clip is ample.

[Paulimo]

So, the entire thing doesn't exist then? Except in the hands of the Uber collector.

[pitkin88]

So, the entire thing doesn't exist then? Except in the hands of the Uber collector.

Or who ever was involved in making it or putting the movie together.

[steven_crayn]

Having just checked the PRS database I can tell you the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Millie and Billie has a different membership number to the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Only My Heart Talkin which would suggest they are different people regardless of Wikipedia linking them.

[Babysquid]

Having just checked the PRS database I can tell you the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Millie and Billie has a different membership number to the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Only My Heart Talkin which would suggest they are different people regardless of Wikipedia linking them.

The mystery deepens! Thanks Steve

[steven_crayn]

Having just checked the PRS database I can tell you the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Millie and Billie has a different membership number to the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Only My Heart Talkin which would suggest they are different people regardless of Wikipedia linking them.

The mystery deepens! Thanks Steve

He also co wrote this with Alice and Carol Bayer Sager
http://youtu.be/nM5UMd7eq4E

[pitkin88]

Having just checked the PRS database I can tell you the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Millie and Billie has a different membership number to the Bruce Roberts that co wrote Only My Heart Talkin which would suggest they are different people regardless of Wikipedia linking them.

What are the odds two different Bruce Roberts co wrote songs with Alice Cooper?

[RemarkablyInsincere]

David Foster has a definite "sound"on the album's he produces. At least in that era. If you listen to the Chicago albums he did in the 80s, you can hear the similarities in the production values all over the place.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[steven_crayn]

I got in touch with Bruce Roberts who is looking into the different membership number discrepancy as he co wrote both songs.

[steven_crayn]

By the way David Foster had no part in writing Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills. The performance songwriting royalties (radio play etc..) are split equally between Alice, Dick Wagner estate and Bernie Taupin who get 16.67% each with the publisher Warner Chappel getting the rest and all of the mechanical royalties (record sales). Artists and bands got their cut of record sales as part of their record deal/advance and musicians get performance royalties for songs they played on if they are registered for PPL which is different to PRS/ASCAP/BMI etc... the most famous case in point was the backdated PPL for Steve Hunter who played most of the guitar solos on the Billion Dollar Babies album which I mentioned 5 years ago and thanks to his wife Karen's diligent efforts at last he is getting some of the money he was due.

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