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For some strange reason, when writing or talking about the guiding spirits of hard rock from the seventies, Alice Cooper's name is sometimes omitted.
People never forget Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Kiss, but the good old Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948, son of a Protestant pastor) sometimes slips through the cracks. Or they only remember his "resurrection" in the '80s with the album 'Trash' and especially the single 'Poison'. Yet, his importance, both artistically and commercially, is comparable to that of the untouchable groups mentioned earlier: just think of the spectacle arranged every time by this man (or woman, according to him, who prophesies himself as the reincarnation of a 1600s witch named Alice Cooper) in the grand concerts held all over the globe, concerts that still cause a stir for the gory and grand-guignolesque atmosphere that pervades them (much to the delight of Marilyn Manson).
Alice Cooper's artistic career began in 1970, leading in the following years to masterpieces of the caliber of "Love It To Death" (1971, featuring the immortal anthem "I'm Eighteen"), "Killer" (1971), and "School's Out" (1972), a trilogy that inaugurated the decisive partnership with producer Bob Ezrin.
In 1973, the quintet's state of grace (which includes the mention-worthy skilled guitarists Glen Buxton, who passed away in October '97, and Michael Bruce) is such that ten medium-short length tracks are enough to propel 'Billion Dollar Babies' to the top of the US sales charts.
The album opens with the legendary "Hello Hooray" with the screaming vocals of mister/miss Alice dominating in a song that is elegant and solemn at the same time. The following "Raped And Freezin" is a bit more unrestrained and has a rhythm that immediately sticks in your head and makes it impossible to stay still, but it's with "Elected" that the heaviness increases exponentially, presenting a catchy and repetitive track that stands as one of the album's highlights, still a mainstay of Uncle Alice's show setlists today. Track number 4, the title track of the record, is perhaps the strangest episode, due to a broken riff and very incisive bass line; the singing is a mix of various voices, some of which almost seem to have escaped from a cartoon, contributing to a result that is pleasing overall, embellished by a great final solo. More splendid rock alchemy with "Unfinished Sweet" precedes the classic "No More Mister Nice Guy," another of Alice Cooper's countless generational anthems and undoubtedly the best song on the album for its immediacy and quality; the riff is superb and will become one of the most copied and imitated by countless bands around the world. Without any hesitation, this song can be compared to other memorable and legendary songs like "Paranoid," "Rock And Roll," and "Detroit Rock City". The following "Generation Landslide" won't become equally famous, but its potential will prove slightly less while "Sick Things" turns out to be a sinister and morbid apology for perversion, orchestrated in a truly memorable crescendo of tension. The wonderful piano ballad "Mary Ann" is then the prelude to the delirious and necrophiliac "I Love The Dead," a worthy black epitaph for an epochal album that still feels relevant today.
Before falling victim to his own character and entering the tunnel of self-destruction, still leaving an absolute masterpiece with "Welcome To My Nightmare" (1975), Alice Cooper was one of the most excellent and visionary rock minstrels of the seventies, a master of exaggerated and intelligent provocation, with shock concerts that will remain an unattainable peak for anyone.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Hello Hooray (04:15)
Hello! Hooray! Let the show begin,
I've been ready.
Hello! Hooray! Let the lights grow dim,
I've been ready.
Ready as this audience that's coming here to dream.
Loving every second, ev'ry moment, ev'ry scream,
I've been waiting so long to sing my song
And I've been waiting so long for this thing to come.
Yeah - I've been thinking so long I was the only one.
Roll out! Roll out with your American dream and its recruits,
I've been ready.
Roll out! Roll out with your circus freaks and hula hoops,
I've been ready.
Ready as this audience that's coming here to dream.
Loving every second, ev'ry moment, ev'ry scream,
I've been waiting so long to sing my song
And I've been waiting so long for this thing to come.
Yeah - I've been thinking so long I was the only one.
I can stand here strong and thin.
I can laugh when this thing begins.
God, I feel so strong.
I feel so strong.
I'm so strong.
I feel so strong.
So strong.
God, I feel so strong,
I am so strong.
02 Raped and Freezin' (03:19)
Finally got a ride, some old broad down from Santa Fe.
She was a real go-getter.
She drawled so sweetly, "I think, child, that things'll get better."
We pulled off the highway, night black as a widow.
"Yes, I read the Bible," she said, "I wanna know of you."
Hey, I think I've got a live one,
Hey, I think I've got a live one, Yeah, Yeah,
I think I've got a live one.
Felt like I was hit by a diesel or a greyhound bus.
She was no baby-sitter.
"Get up, sugar, never thought you'd be a quitter."
I opened the back door, she was greedy.
I ran through the desert, she was chasin'.
No time to get dressed, so I was naked, stranded in Chihuahua.
Hey, I think I've got a live one,
Hey, I think I've got a live one,
Hey, hey, I think I've got a live one,
Alone, raped and freezin',
Alone cold and sneezin',
Alone down in Mexico,
Alone.
03 Elected (04:05)
I'm your top prime cut of meat, I'm your choice,
I wanna be elected,
I'm your yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce,
I wanna be elected,
Kids want a savior, don't need a fake,
I wanna be elected,
We're all gonna rock to the rules that I make,
I wanna be elected, elected, elected.
Good evening Mr & Mrs America and all ships at sea,
The candidate is taking the country by storm.
I never lied to you, I've always been cool,
I wanna be elected,
I gotta get the vote, and I told you 'bout school,
I wanna be elected, elected, elected,
Hallelujah, I wanna be selected,
Everyone in the United States of America.
We're gonna win this one, take the country by storm,
We're gonna be elected,
You and me together, young and strong,
We're gonna be elected, elected, elected,
Respected, selected, call collected,
I wanna be elected, elected.
"And if I am elected
I promise the formation of a new party
A third party, the Wild Party!
I know we have problems,
We got problems right here in Central City,
We have problems on the North, South, East and West,
New York City, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago,
Everybody has problems,
And personally, I don't care."
04 Billion Dollar Babies (03:43)
Billion dollar baby
Rubber little lady, slicker than a weasel,
Grimy as an alley
Loves me like no other lover
Billion dollar baby
Rubber little monster, baby, I adore you
Man or woman living couldn't love me like you, baby
We go dancing nightly in the attic
While the moon is rising in the sky
If I'm too rough tell me
I'm so scared your little head will come off in my hands
Billion dollar baby
I got you in the dimestore,
No other little girl could ever hold you
Any tighter, any tighter than me, baby
Billion dollar baby
Reckless like a gambler, million dollar maybe
Foaming like a dog that's been infected by the rabies
We go dancing nightly in the attic
While the moon is rising in the sky
If I'm too rough, tell me
I'm so scared your little head will come off in my hands
Million dollar baby
Billion dollar baby
Trillion dollar baby
Zillion dollar baby
05 Unfinished Sweet (06:18)
Candy everywhere, got chocolate in my hair,
Aching to get me.
Sticky sweet suckers in the Halloween air,
Aching to get me.
Saint Vitus dance on my molars tonight,
Aching to get me.
Aching to get me, get me oh ...
Take it to the doc, I guess he ought to know,
La, da, da, da, da.
Which ones can stay, which ones gotta go.
La, da, da, da, da.
He looks in my mouth and then he starts to gloat.
He says my teeth are O.K.,
But my gums got to go. Oh oh ...
I come off the gas but I'm still seeing spies,
Aching to get me.
I can see them all through a glassy pair of eyes,
Aching to get me.
De Sade's gonna live in my mouth tonight,
La, da, da, da, da,
And the rotten tooth fairy is satisfied,
La, da, da, da, da,
Aching to get me, get me oh ...
06 No More Mr. Nice Guy (03:06)
I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing
'Til they got a hold of me.
I'd open doors for little old ladies,
I helped the blind to see.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen
With me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm feeling mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen
With me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm getting mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
My dog bit me on the leg today.
My cat clawed my eyes.
Nice Guy ooh
Ma's been thrown out of the social circle,
And dad has to hide.
I went to church incognito.
When everybody rose
The Reverend Smedley,
He recognized me,
And punched me in the nose.
He said:
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
he said you're sick, you're obscene.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
07 Generation Landslide (04:31)
Please clean your plate dear, the Lord above can see you
Don't you know people are starving in Korea?
Alcohol and razor blades and poisons and needles
Kindergarten people, they used 'em they need 'em
The over indulgent machines were their children
And there wasn't a way down on earth here to cool 'em
Cos they look just like a human at Kresge's and Woolworths
But decadent brains were at work to destroy
Brats in batallions were ruling the streets scene and
Generation landslide, close the gap between them
And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived those billion dollar babies
La la da da daa
Militant mothers hiding in the basement
Using pots and pans as their shields and their helmets
Molotov milk bottles heaved from pink high chairs
While mothers' lib burned birth certificate papers
And dad gets his allowance from his sonny the dealer
Who's pubic to the world but involved in high finance
Sister's out till 5, doing banker son's hours
But she owns a Maseratti that's a gift from his father
Stop at full speed, at 100 miles per hour
The Colgate invisible shield finally got 'em
And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived those billion dollar babies
La la da da daa
No one gives an oink about prom night or football
Cos just getting at home from school safe is a gamble and a blessing
Girlsies play with girlsies and boysies with boysies
Bored with one another, like old broken Christmas toysies
Kids are all hot and their parents so annoisy
And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived those billion dollar babies
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