Gary James' Interview With Michael Bruce Of
Alice Cooper
Michael Bruce was the original guitarist and keyboardist with The Alice Cooper Group. He wrote the majority of Alice Cooper's hits, including "Billion Dollar Babies", "School's Out", "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "I'm Eighteen". Michael appeared as the lead vocalist and guitarist on Billion Dollar Babies' album "Battle Axe". Just recently, Michael Bruce recorded his first solo album for Euro Tee Records titled "Rock Rolls On".
Q - Why the secrecy involved in making your solo album? Why'd you slip into the studio late at night to record?
A - Because it was cheaper I suppose. (laughs)
Q - Why are there no pictures of you on the album cover or inside the album cover?
A - Since there are so many pictures on the older albums, we thought it might be interesting to let people wonder 10 years later what he looks like now. You know, they'll be plenty of time for that. So, we just wanted to create a little mystery, a little interest.
Q - The world of music has not heard from Michael Bruce since the Billion Dollar Babies album. What have you been doing with your life prior to the release of this album?
A - I moved to Arizona last year (1982), where I'm originally from. I got married. I've been doing some production work in a local studio here. Writing, playing a little. I have a studio in my house and more or less just carrying on.
Q - Why couldn't the Million Dollar Babies group have succeeded on a major level?
A - The main problem was management. We were well on our way, but he really destroyed our relationship with the record company to a point where we had to disband the group. Plus he advised us to invest so much money in an elaborate stage show and when things started going a little rough, it was almost impossible to financially support.
Q - Clone bands are very popular. There are Beatles, Stones and Creedence clones. Have you ever seen a band that patterned themselves after Alice Cooper?
A - We've got one in L.A. called Twisted Sister. I know those guys and they're really great Alice Cooper fans. They've been trying to get a deal forever.
Q - They're now on Atlantic Records and currently "the hottest" group in Europe.
A - Are they? They were trying to make it in Heavy Metal when Disco was out and nobody really wanted to know about them.
Q - On Alice Cooper's Muscle Of Love Tour (1973), was that done as suggested in Bob Greene's book, solely for financial reasons? Supposedly each member of the group made enough money to buy a condominium complex and therefore would be set financially for life.
A - That wasn't the reason. There was a lot of things said in that book that Bob took a lot of liberties with; things that were taken out of context, things that didn't exist. The Muscle Of Love Tour was just to promote the album. I don't have a condominium out here that I'm aware of, although I did invest money in property here in Arizona.
Q - According to one magazine article, in the early days of Alice Cooper, you were so poor that you were carrying a spaghetti plate and hot plate to feed 11 people on $15 a week. What kept you going under what must have been very trying circumstances?
A - The hope that we could make it big. You know, that's about all you got. That's about all you really have to hang on to.
Q - Is there any chance the original Alice Cooper Group will ever re-unite?
A - Since the album has been released, strange and mysterious things have been happening. We've been kickin' around the idea, talkin about it for, oh, a year now. I got together with Alice and talked about a reunion, so that may be in the works for next year. (1984) Everybody's real excited about it. Everybody is real positive about it.
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