Gary James' Interview With Eric Brittingham Of
Cinderella



Just two years ago Philadelphia based rockers Cinderella released their debut album. It became the fastest selling album to go Gold (500,000 copies sold) without the aid of a hit single. That album, "Night Songs" went on to sell more than three million copies around the world. "Long Cold Winter" is Cinderella's latest release and the group has taken to the road in support of that album. Bassist Eric Brittingham spoke about the meteoric success of Cinderella.

Q - Eric, Geraldo Rivera had a show that focused on teenagers and their growing fascination with devil worship and satanic cults. One 14-year-old boy killed his mother and later committed suicide. In this boy's bedroom were posters of Motley Crue, Poison, Randy Rhoads and Cinderella.

A - Yeah, that's what I've heard.

Q - You don't believe that Cinderella's music is responsible for this boy killing his mother and then taking his own life, do you?

A - Oh, no. Not at all. There's been controversy for quite a few years now about the music influencing all the suicides and killings. There's been a lot of suicides and murders for the last 50,000 years. Heavy Metal has just surged out here in the past five years. I don't think that's the root of the problem. I think the root of the problem is the person themselves. They're like a little unstable. I do feel that it's not too healthy for some bands. I won't name actual bands that have this whole satanic vibe to them. I don't really feel that's too healthy for these kids to be listening to. Our music is more lyrical content. There are some bands that have lyrical content that I don't feel is appropriate for young kids to be listening to. We try to have music that is uplifting to people. That's what we wanna do. We want somebody to listen to our album and just make 'em feel good. That's all we want out of the business.

Q - It seems that every few months a big push is given to a new band or an established band with a new album out. For a while all you hear about or read about is David Lee Roth or Motley Crue or Van Halen or Poison or Gun 'n Roses or Cinderella. Then nothing. The group disappears from the radar until the next album is released. Are you ever worried when you're in the studio recording that the public will forget who you are, or even worse, when an album is released, not care?

A - Yeah. There's a little fear. But hopefully, as you're recording your album, you're very confident that what you're recording can't be ignored when it comes out. With our new album we just had a good feeling about it the whole way through. We were pretty confident that when it came out it would sell. And it's just integrity. I don't think that this band is gonna lose that. We're not gonna get lazy about the music and put out an album that's just crap because we've already made enough money that we don't care. We play music. We entertain people and we like to make people feel good.

Q - Band member Jeff La Bar has given your record label, Polygram, credit for a great deal of Cinderella's success. In a business where talk is cheap and promises mean nothing, how did you know that Polygram's Derek Schulman (Head of A&R) was a man of his word?

A - You just have to trust people and Derek seemed to be like a really good guy. As it turned out, he really pushed for us. And not only him, but everybody else with the label. They've been behind is 100%. And you would think we would get lost in the shuffle 'cause they've got Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Def Leppard and KISS, but they don't use favoritism and push just one band. We're pretty equal with everybody they have, which is really good. They're really involved. They know the music. They know the band. A lot of record companies, it's like I wonder if they, the people who are promoting the albums, really know the albums.

Q - Your lead singer, Tom Keifer has made the comment, "Rock 'n' Roll isn't about how much you drink or how many girls you screwed." Since he didn't mention money, can we assume that Rock 'n' Roll is now about money? And if not, what is Rock 'n' Roll about these days?

A - There's a lot of bands that really sell image these days and lifestyle. They make themselves out to be these wild, crazy, partying guys. To us, Rock 'n' Roll is just music. We like to go out there and play and have fun. If we stop having fun, then that's when we stop playing. We're not in it for the money. It's great that the money is there.

Q - I guess it's no secret that Tom is married. It wasn't too long ago that this kind of thing was hushed up and kept a secret. Why do you think that kind of thing no longer matters?

A - With us, we're not trying to sell a love god image or any sexual image. Tom's married. I'm married. I have a little daughter. I make no secret of it. I'm proud of it.

Q - Tom wrote all of the songs on Cinderella's debut album, which means he made a lot of money when the publishing royalties were counted. How did this go over with you and the other guys? Was there any jealousy or resentment?

A - No. I wrote a song on our new album and like there's no problem as far as the songwriting if any of us comes up with a song that really fits everything else we're doing. As far as money wise, I made plenty. I'm not complaining. Neither is anybody else. They made plenty too. The way I look at it is ten years from now if we're still making albums, we're making money. Who cares?

Q - I'm just wondering how much the image of your band was considered when you were up for a record deal. Let's face it, there are no Frank Zappa look-a-likes in Cinderella. If there were, do you think it would've been held against you?

A - That's a good question. There's this band from Philadelphia that just got signed with Atco Records. They're called Tangiers. We're real good fries of theirs. They're not a particularly good looking band. They were shot down by every record company, and frankly every song this band has is great. When the album comes out, musically it'll probably be the best album of next year. The songwriting is incredible. But they weren't getting signed just because they didn't look good. So what happened is, Derek Schulman (A&R) was leaving Polygram and going to Atco. We bugged Derek to no end and he finally saw the light. "Okay. You're right. I was being stupid. This is a good band. I'm gonna sign 'em."

Q - When you were putting the band together you sent a demo tape to Gene Simmons. Why did you think of him? He's a musician, not a manager. And what type of advice did he give you?

A - Michael Kelly Smith of Britny Fox was originally in our band. Years ago when they had replaced Ace Frehley, he sent a package to them. They were interested, but nothing came of it. So, he still had Gene's address. (laughs) So, we made our first demo and said, "Why not? Let's send it to him." He really liked it. He called up and was interested. He gave us some advice on the type of songs he would like to hear. He thought we should go with a heavier type of music. Over the course of probably six months we wrote twenty songs that were really heavy duty. As it turned out, we never used any of them 'cause we kind of realized we're a little more Rock 'n' Roll than Heavy Metal. Nothing really came out of it 'cause we got real busy and started working with that band, Keel. And I don't think he really had the time to be 100% involved with us. So, as it turned out, that little flame sort of went out.

Q - Fred Coury didn't play drums on your latest album. Can he duplicate the drumming on the album, in concert?

A - Oh, yeah. It wasn't Fred's ability to play. He plays great live. In the studio he was inexperienced and he was just nervous about doing it. We went in for weeks and we were trying to get the drum tracks down with him and he just wasn't getting it right. As far as the other people, they played the parts he had already played. That was Fred's decision to just go ahead and have someone do it. At that point we had spent $70,000 on studio time and we were getting nowhere. And Fred said, "I don't mind if someone comes in. I'd just like to keep it low key." But as things go, the band's popular now and and those kind of things don't stay under wraps. He was bummed out and I don't think he really likes to hear or read about it. I know there's been a ton of stories out that we're going to can him, but that's just a bunch of bull.

Q - Cinderella was playing the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania club circuit before Polygram signed you. Rumor has it that Jon Bon Jovi got you the deal. What role did he play in getting you signed to Polygram?

A - He saw us playing and he came backstage afterwards. At the time we had heard of him, but we didn't know who he was. He had one album out. He was in Philly, working on his second album. We were like, "It's nice to meet you." Big deal. And like the next thing we heard, our manager said, "What did you say to Jon Bon Jovi? He went up to Polygram and raving about you guys." Polygram had seen us and passed on us before. Derek saw us and sort of liked us. He's like really cynical. Jon asked him, "Well, what do you think?" Derek said, "They were alright." Jon was like, "Alright? You're crazy. They're great!" So, the second time Derek came down, Jon came back down with him and like bent his ear the whole set. So, Derek ended up signing us. And he didn't ask for anything, like when we were talking with Gene Simmons, he wanted to manage and produce the band he signed to his label. We were like, "We want a different producer and we already have management." But like Jon didn't ask for anything. Yes, he did ask for something. When we got signed he said, "I want a Platinum album."

Q - Eric, you've had two successful albums so far. In an era when so many groups are here today and gone tomorrow, will Cinderella be able to continue?

A - We're sure as hell gonna try. I think we have the musical integrity, and I don't think we'll lose that. This is what we enjoy doing. I was playing clubs when I was eleven years old. I'm twenty-eight now. I think I'll be doing what I'm doing when I'm forty-eight. That's what I want to do. So, I'm not stopping. I think as long as you're playing music that you like, that you believe in, it's gonna sell.

© Gary James. All rights reserved.

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