Respect for the Sleepers

Alice Cooper co-founder and Hall Of Fame inductee Dennis Dunaway answers your questions!

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VinceRaven
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Respect for the Sleepers

Post by VinceRaven » Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:02 am

Hey Dennis,

The lyrics for this Muscle of Love demo dwell on a theme that Alice would return to regularly as the years went on. Was there ever any possibility that the song wild have made the album with this kind of lyric or was it always a work-in-progress looking for a more satisfying direction?

Also, Michael says the title is taken from a catchphrase of Glen's. Any anecdotes about that?

Cheers

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Re: Respect for the Sleepers

Post by Dreary » Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:24 pm

VinceRaven wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:02 am
Hey Dennis,

The lyrics for this Muscle of Love demo dwell on a theme that Alice would return to regularly as the years went on. Was there ever any possibility that the song wild have made the album with this kind of lyric or was it always a work-in-progress looking for a more satisfying direction?

Also, Michael says the title is taken from a catchphrase of Glen's. Any anecdotes about that?

Cheers
Boy, that's a rough demo for bass. When we were in song writing mode, our song ideas usually evolved several times over in a single day of rehearsals. We had to whip songs into shape as fast as we could. If we had less time, those lyrics might have made the album. If we had more time, Muscle of Love might have evolved into some other concept. If the lyrics hadn't called for smut magazines in a locked bathroom, the album cover might not have been that brown cardboard box with the stain.

Glen had so many catchphrases that it made your head spin, but he kept us laughing. At the end of the day, I would often try to remember all of his witty lines but there were always too many to recall. It was a challenge to try to capture his personality in my book. Every so often, I would be in the back of the station wagon, or on a plane, and I would try to write down Glen's quips, but I couldn't write fast enough.

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Re: Respect for the Sleepers

Post by Ted Sallis » Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:32 pm

I've read that the original title and lyrics for the song MOL were inspired by Glen's penchant for wanting to sleep in when the ACG was on tour, whereas Road Manager David Libert was seemingly always trying to get him up and ready on time to depart to the next city on the tour.

Ted

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Re: Respect for the Sleepers

Post by Dreary » Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:54 pm

Ted Sallis wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:32 pm
I've read that the original title and lyrics for the song MOL were inspired by Glen's penchant for wanting to sleep in when the ACG was on tour, whereas Road Manager David Libert was seemingly always trying to get him up and ready on time to depart to the next city on the tour.

Ted
Waking GB up was certainly one of the toughest challenges for Dave Libert. It wasn't just when we were on the road. When we were writing songs for the Billion Dollar Babies album, we had to start early. One morning, Dave came into the rehearsal room and announced that Glen had answered his door gripping a switchblade. Dave hung tough and called his bluff but it soon lead to Glen sleeping through recording sessions.

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Re: Respect for the Sleepers

Post by Ted Sallis » Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:59 pm

Dreary wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:54 pm
Waking GB up was certainly one of the toughest challenges for Dave Libert. It wasn't just when we were on the road. When we were writing songs for the Billion Dollar Babies album, we had to start early. One morning, Dave came into the rehearsal room and announced that Glen had answered his door gripping a switchblade. Dave hung tough and called his bluff but it soon lead to Glen sleeping through recording sessions.
That's right and I believe you wrote in your book about GB not making it to the BDB album writing sessions for the same reason: he wouldn't wake up/want to get up. I have Michael Bruce's book as well as yours, and I believe MB wrote in his book about the incident where Glen greeted Dave with a switchblade when he answered his door.

Ted

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Re: Respect for the Sleepers

Post by Dreary » Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:33 pm

Ted Sallis wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:59 pm
Dreary wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:54 pm
Waking GB up was certainly one of the toughest challenges for Dave Libert. It wasn't just when we were on the road. When we were writing songs for the Billion Dollar Babies album, we had to start early. One morning, Dave came into the rehearsal room and announced that Glen had answered his door gripping a switchblade. Dave hung tough and called his bluff but it soon lead to Glen sleeping through recording sessions.
That's right and I believe you wrote in your book about GB not making it to the BDB album writing sessions for the same reason: he wouldn't wake up/want to get up. I have Michael Bruce's book as well as yours, and I believe MB wrote in his book about the incident where Glen greeted Dave with a switchblade when he answered his door.

Ted
Glen did attend the majority of rehearsals. He was part of developing the songs. Some of the rehearsals were Michael, Neal, Glen and I. We all stayed up late writing songs but we could work the next morning, although Glen did have his rough days.

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Re: Respect for the Sleepers

Post by Ted Sallis » Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:16 pm

^^ Thanks for the clarification Dennis.

Ted

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