Billion Dollar Babies
Battle Axe

Billion Dollar Babies -Battle Axe (1977)

We 're all clones!! sang the good Alice Cooper, perhaps referring to the Billion Dollar Babies, his renegade offspring: a rock band without a dad and especially without a wallet, orphaned by their frontman and the name: Michael Bruce on guitar, while the rhythm section - Neal Smith and Dennis Dunaway - in the distant '77, during the punk era, pulled out of the top hat -without Alice Cooper, only the hat was left! -this glam-rock record, complete with a concept album, costumes, and show, a sort of theatrical performance - on a titanic battle between rock and disco that was raging at the time. Billion Dollar Babies also included Mike Marconi on lead guitar replacing the late Glen Buxton and keyboardist Bob Dolin; the production is by another Italian-American, Lee De Carlo.

Right from the opening - with the track Too Young - Michael Bruce's lead vocals mimic the old Alice, and you can't say our guy makes you miss the original: his voice is less menacing than daddy's but this record could very well fit into Vincent Furnier's discography, in every way, indeed it definitely sounds better than Alice's alcohol-infused records of that period. Shine Your Love is another adolescent rock piece in the style of the Rolling Stones, and on the lines of Killer's and T.rex's rhythms comes the hypnotic groove of I Miss You; the following ballad is also nice, Wasn't I The One, resembling an improved clone of Only Women Bleed, with a short but full-of-feeling guitar solo. Love Is Rather Blind brings us back to the glory days of No More Mr. Nice Guy, with an added touch of Boston synths and straightforward guitar riffs as immediate as a riff from Status Quo. With a Kiss-like opening, Rock 'n' Roll Radio is a nonsensical anthem that perhaps would have needed a harder, more decisive production to become a new School's Out, while synthetic brass weighs it down and gives it a lighter, more radio-friendly cadence. Dance with Me is another notable ballad on the album, followed by the rock instrumental Ego Mania and finally the 'Battle Axe Suite', a rock march with a gladiator theme, which among big riffs, keyboards, and prog and jazzy interludes brings us back to the best repertoire of the old band: during the suite, a real battle ensued on stage with axe-shaped guitars - Mike Bruce and Marconi fought dressed as futuristic gladiators - with costumes between American football Power Rangers! - and Rollerblade: guess who was present at their opening show? A certain Gene Simmons who borrowed a little idea for the shape of his bass! The track Winner, a revived Hello Hooray at the end of the concert, closes the album, amidst the shouts of the audience ecstatic over the victory of rock. A Pyrrhic victory, unfortunately, despite their skill and professionalism.

Too good, the replicants of that late '70s arena rock proved to be better than the original, and were therefore heavily boycotted by Alice’s manager, Shep Gordon, who threatened legal action against the band and their record label, Polydor: after a tour ended after only 4 gigs due to lack of funds, the Billion Dollar Babies collapsed almost immediately, like a San Diego Chargers hero tackled just steps away from the goal line.

The axe-shaped plexiguitars were withdrawn by the manufacturer, I love plexi guitars - I have a plexi imitation Strat - and I set out to find this piece of history: on one site I even found them, but they told me not for sale - item not available - I was just steps away from the goal...