Main Man Records Tribute Albums

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

Moderators: Si, SickThings, Shoesalesman, Dreary

Post Reply
User avatar
VinceRaven
Billion Dollar Baby
Billion Dollar Baby
Posts: 449
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 5:33 pm

Main Man Records Tribute Albums

Post by VinceRaven » Mon Jun 28, 2021 2:00 pm

Hey Dennis,

Can you share any info on on these two(?) recordings?

Moonage Daydream was an interesting choice for the Bowie one.

As was Big Bottom for the Spinal Tap! Am I correct in guessing the heavy bass was what appealed to you about that song?

Thanks

User avatar
Dreary
Fashion Flusher
Fashion Flusher
Posts: 573
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:46 am

Re: Main Man Records Tribute Albums

Post by Dreary » Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:47 pm

VinceRaven wrote:
Mon Jun 28, 2021 2:00 pm
Hey Dennis,

Can you share any info on on these two(?) recordings?

Moonage Daydream was an interesting choice for the Bowie one.

As was Big Bottom for the Spinal Tap! Am I correct in guessing the heavy bass was what appealed to you about that song?

Thanks
These tribute albums were released on Main Man Records in New Jersey - not to be confused with Bowie's Mainman records.

The Dennis Dunaway Project guitar player, Rick Tedesco, owned Mick Ronson's Les Paul that Ronson used to record the original version of "Moonage Daydream." Rick had mastered replicating Ronson's parts on that song so we decided to record our version with a faithful guitar track that Rick would record with that legendary guitar.
How did Rick come to own that guitar?
Rick runs his own guitar store called Guitar Hangar. The store is noted for having a full range of guitars, but most impressively high end specialties. One day Rick's long time friend Ian Hunter asked him what was his favorite guitar. Rick said it was Ronson's Les Paul. Ian said, why don't you get it?
Rick checked everywhere in the US, the UK, and Canada. He even contacted a guy at the Hard Rock Cafe who said the Ronson guitar wasn't in their computer. Rick thought he had exhausted all possibilities. Then the Hard Rock guy called back and said his computer didn't include the Hard Rock Cafes in Australia and gave him a phone number. Rick called and asked if they by chance had the Ronson guitar in their collection. The guy said, I'm looking at it right now! So a mutually satisfying trade took place.

By the time I was available, the Spinal Tap tribute record had been recorded and was ready for mastering, but they had saved the bass heavy "Big Bottom" for me. DDP only had one evening to learn, record, and mix the song, so I had no time to overdub multiple bass tracks as I had planned. Despite that, we're happy with the results, and we had a lot of fun knocking it out.

I also recorded "Halo of Flies" with the Icelandic powerhouse band Dimma for a Killer tribute album for Main Man. So many New Jersey bands wanted to be involved that it became a 2-CD release - one with a variety of Alice Cooper songs, and one that follows the song order of the Killer album. My daughters surprised me by recording the closing songs on the Killer tribute CD. Che Monet did a haunting version of "Dead Babies" with ukulele, and Renee did a version of Killer that cleverly suggests the crime committed by the Death Row killer was over his love for Mary Ann.

"Dead Babies" by Che Monet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqdulAETlbQ

"Killer" by Renee Ciara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q48RHzFzf64

User avatar
VinceRaven
Billion Dollar Baby
Billion Dollar Baby
Posts: 449
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 5:33 pm

Re: Main Man Records Tribute Albums

Post by VinceRaven » Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:12 am

Thanks for another very thorough reply Dennis.

It's a shame you didn't get to do the multiple bass tracks for Big Bottom.

The covers by your daughters are excellent, really clever approaches.

Post Reply