Some random questions.
1) Do you remember hearing your first Alice Cooper record on the radio? If so what was it and how did it make you feel?
2) What is the strangest thing a fan has ever given you?
3) What are some of the things you wish you'll still had from the band years.
4) What was the biggest thing, aside from real estate, you bought when the royalty checks started coming in?
5 ) What is the smallest royalty check you received?
Odds and Sods
Moderators: Si, SickThings, Shoesalesman, Dreary
Re: Odds and Sods
1. I first heard "I'm Eighteen" on a radio in the band's farmhouse in Pontiac, Michigan. I was extremely excited.
2. This was more cute than strange, but someone once gave me a handmade Christmas stocking with my name in glitter.
3. I wish I still had my original Sunn Coliseum amplifier that never made it back from Rio de Janeiro.
4. A 1956 Thunderbird.
5. These days, digital platforms pay beans to artists. Royalty statements are page after page of domestic and international plays that earn pennies each. But the combination of all of those various sources can add up to a significant amount. It's all about mass volume and songs like "School's Out." Individual royalties from a less active source could result in a quarterly check that might barely be enough to buy a beer.
2. This was more cute than strange, but someone once gave me a handmade Christmas stocking with my name in glitter.
3. I wish I still had my original Sunn Coliseum amplifier that never made it back from Rio de Janeiro.
4. A 1956 Thunderbird.
5. These days, digital platforms pay beans to artists. Royalty statements are page after page of domestic and international plays that earn pennies each. But the combination of all of those various sources can add up to a significant amount. It's all about mass volume and songs like "School's Out." Individual royalties from a less active source could result in a quarterly check that might barely be enough to buy a beer.
Re: Odds and Sods
Great answers! More odds and sods.
1) I believe Im Eighteen and Schools Out pay the most royalties. What other three songs round out the top five?
2) Does the band own the back catalogue? I seem to recall you only owning the greatest hits.
3) Who decides if a song can be used in a tv ad or a movie?
4) Have you ever been pissed off at a song being used or do you just see $ signs?I
5) Do you have any favorite songs by artists covering Alice Cooper and are there any you just hate?
1) I believe Im Eighteen and Schools Out pay the most royalties. What other three songs round out the top five?
2) Does the band own the back catalogue? I seem to recall you only owning the greatest hits.
3) Who decides if a song can be used in a tv ad or a movie?
4) Have you ever been pissed off at a song being used or do you just see $ signs?I
5) Do you have any favorite songs by artists covering Alice Cooper and are there any you just hate?
Re: Odds and Sods
As for royalties, "School's Out" is the king for the original Alice Cooper. As for the other top royalty generators, I only see songs that I have song writing credits on. We didn't own our publishing rights so owning the Greatest Hits album isn't true. Publishers have a lot of clout for song use, especially TV or Film. It took me three months to get permission to use the lyrics of "Black Juju" in my book, and I am the sole writer/composer. Various publishers claimed full ownership. Finally, with Shep's help, I got all of them to give me permission while they continued to settle it amongst themselves.
I've never been pissed off over use our songs. I have, however, gotten annoyed about other musicians doing a music video and pretending to perform a song that the original band recorded. Another annoyance is re-recording our songs for use on ring-tones, and things like that. Yes, the performance royalties go elsewhere, but it just never sounds as good to me.
If I only saw $ signs, I wouldn't be here answering your questions. Creativity has always come first for me.
I like Meliah Rage version of "Halo of Flies" and I like Dimma's version that I played on.
I'm flattered by covers and none have bugged me, except maybe those damn ring tones! Ha ha!
I've never been pissed off over use our songs. I have, however, gotten annoyed about other musicians doing a music video and pretending to perform a song that the original band recorded. Another annoyance is re-recording our songs for use on ring-tones, and things like that. Yes, the performance royalties go elsewhere, but it just never sounds as good to me.
If I only saw $ signs, I wouldn't be here answering your questions. Creativity has always come first for me.
I like Meliah Rage version of "Halo of Flies" and I like Dimma's version that I played on.
I'm flattered by covers and none have bugged me, except maybe those damn ring tones! Ha ha!
Re: Odds and Sods
Dimma recorded the basic track in Iceland and Ingo's guitar in Sweden. Then they sent those track files to my studio expert Tarik in New Jersey. Tarik and I were in the control room, and he asked me if I wanted to play along with the track to warm up. I said, we're recording digitally so let's just go for it. I played through the whole song, and when I finished, Tarik just sat still. I said, is something wrong? He said he had never heard that song before and that I just nailed it in one take. He said, I guess you've played this before.
Re: Odds and Sods
The Pretties For You NYC version is nice as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rKw2nfGHec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rKw2nfGHec