In an interview with the Independent UK, Alice Cooper looked back to his almost 50-year-old career in rock music and revealed the story of how the band’s producer asked him to dumb the songs down so that they could become a popular band.
As you may know, the iconic vocalist Alice Cooper, also known as the ‘Godfather of Shock Rock,’ has been working on his iconic songs and other projects for more than 50 years now. Cooper is famous for his raspy voice and the legendary stage he and his bandmates perform on stage live. The legendary singer has been working on his 21st solo album titled ‘Detroit Stories’ which will be released on February 26, 2021.
Recently, Cooper joined a conversation with the Independent UK to talk about his highly-anticipated solo album, ‘Detroit Stories,’ and he looked back to his successful music career which will turn 50 next month. During the interview, Alice Cooper recalled the time when his band managed to create a sound that they thought would make them rich and famous.
However, Alice stated that the band’s producer Bob Ezrin told them to ‘dumb it down‘ particularly when he heard their song titled ‘I’m Eighteen.’ Apparently, Ezrin thought that the song didn’t need to be complicated and long. Cooper mentioned that they actually dumb the song down enough that it turned out to be a hit. He also said that considering all the guitar thrashing and wearing bloodied panties over leather pants, his band was everything that the parents of their audience hated.
Here is what Alice Cooper stated about how they decided to change their sound:
We were playing these long, complicated songs, with jams that would go on and on. Our song ‘I’m Eighteen’ was like that. But then our producer, Bob Ezrin, said to us, ‘dumb it down, dumb it down. This song doesn’t want to be complicated.’ Finally, when we got it dumbed down enough, it became a hit.
We gave the audience everything their parents hated. The way we saw it if you’re driving by and you see Disneyland on the left side and a plane wreck on the right, you’re going to look at the plane wreck. We were that plane wreck.”
Click here to see the source.
