Was Alice Cooper not that different than David Bowie ?

[sunvalleylaw]

I want a print of that.

 

[DdBob]

yeah i forgot that sketch...anyway it looks like something my two dogs drew

 

[xStonr]

To me, Alice Cooper was shtick. David Bowie was an artist.

 

[Peen Simmons]

To me, Alice Cooper was shtick. David Bowie was an artist.

Bowie was a thoughtful, curious guy who turned hisself into a capital A artist. But he did almost 10 years of schtick before he made it stick with Hunky Dory.

 

[DdBob]

To me, Alice Cooper was shtick. David Bowie was an artist.

um sorry but this is not "schtick"

 

[dmn23]

Hey, I love me some Alice. Hell, I've got albums Alice has probably forgotten about (Da Da, Zipper Catches Skin, Flush the Fusion, Special Forces).

But you're out of your mind.

 

[DdBob]

Hey, I love me some Alice. Hell, I've got albums Alice has probably forgotten about (Da Da, Zipper Catches Skin, Flush the Fusion, Special Forces).

But you're out of your mind.

 

[rickenvox]

It's real simple, Alice Cooper doesn't write music.

 

[Peen Simmons]

It's real simple, Alice Cooper doesn't write music.

I’m not sure about Alice’s process, but Bowie certainly wasn’t a genius composer. He was an ace bandleader and talent scout. And he had Mick Ronson for some crucial years, which probably helped him cement his legend. And then Carlos Alomar. Not to mention the assists from Eno.

 

[DdBob]

It's real simple, Alice Cooper doesn't write music.

Define "music"

 

[DdBob]

I’m not sure about Alice’s process, but Bowie certainly wasn’t a genius composer. He was an ace bandleader and talent scout. And he had Mick Ronson for some crucial years, which probably helped him cement his legend. And then Carlos Alomar. Not to mention the assists from Eno.

I saw a video doc onCooper and it says He and three of his long distance running teamates in high school (he was on the cross country team) used to make up lyrics to Beatles songs during their training runs to pass the time. They started to mess around with real instruments and later decided to enter a talent show and it went from there. Basically Alice Cooper was 4 Pheonix, AZ high school cross country runners.

 

[Danhedonia]

He gave up booze for golf.

Says it all.

 

[VoidTerraFirma]

He gave up booze for golf.

Says it all.

And touring with Johnny Depp.

 

[rickenvox]

I’m not sure about Alice’s process, but Bowie certainly wasn’t a genius composer. He was an ace bandleader and talent scout. And he had Mick Ronson for some crucial years, which probably helped him cement his legend. And then Carlos Alomar. Not to mention the assists from Eno.

You're joking right? Bowie plays piano and guitar and you can hear his songwriting most clearly on Hunky Dory. Ronson and Alomar didn't write shit. This was probably the most misinformed post I've seen from you.

 

[rickenvox]

Define "music"

melody, chord progression, lyrics.

 

[Peen Simmons]

You're joking right? Bowie plays piano and guitar and you can hear his songwriting most clearly on Hunky Dory. Ronson and Alomar didn't write shit. This was probably the most misinformed post I've seen from you.

I’m not saying that Bowie didn’t write his tracks. But he had some serious assists in arrangement and embellishment. And Bowie was a fine songwriter, but I wouldn’t say he has was brilliant as a composer or arranger. But he knew how to collab.

And Alomar has a few cowrites.

I mean, compare and contrast the demo of “Quicksand” and the album cut.

It’s still a good song and Bowie’s vocal sounds rad. But it’s not untouchable genius stuff in terms of writing.



But the arrangement really elevated the cut. Which is what being smart enough to work with Mick Ronson can get you.

 

[DdBob]

melody, chord progression, lyrics.

That's a pretty limiting definition bro .....for starters that would leave out all ambient music ....no lyrics.....that would also leave out 'found sounds" type things like a trains rhythmic click going down the track, etc, etc

 

[rickenvox]

I’m not saying that Bowie didn’t write his tracks. But he had some serious assists in arrangement and embellishment. And Bowie was a fine songwriter, but I wouldn’t say he has was brilliant as a composer or arranger. But he knew how to collab.

And Alomar has a few cowrites.

I mean, compare and contrast the demo of “Quicksand” and the album cut.

It’s still a good song and Bowie’s vocal sounds rad. But it’s not untouchable genius stuff in terms of writing.



But the arrangement really elevated the cut. Which is what being smart enough to work with Mick Ronson can get you.

Well I don't disagree with that and misunderstood your original statement to mean people were helping Bowie write the songs. But that's in the same category as George Martin's arranging for the Beatles (which was huge but didn't give him a song writing credit).

 

[rickenvox]

That's a pretty limiting definition bro .....for starters that would leave out all ambient music ....no lyrics.....that would also leave out 'found sounds" type things like a trains rhythmic click going down the track, etc, etc

so . . . now you're just talking about Bowie and not Alice Cooper. Cooper's songs really don't go beyond a typical rock formula.

 

[Peen Simmons]

Well I don't disagree with that and misunderstood your original statement to mean people were helping Bowie write the songs. But that's in the same category as George Martin's arranging for the Beatles (which was huge but didn't give him a song writing credit).

Bowie—like the Beatles—benefitted from having a strong supporting cast. Maybe Cooper didn’t have that...though I suspect he also just wasn’t that into high-concept pop auteurship. But there’s def some early mediocre Bowie that hints at what looked to be his ceiling at one point. He got hooked up with Ronson and Visconti at a critical point in his career...and even then it’s not like Arnold Corns or The Hype was knocking me dead.