Billion Dollar Babies Era 1
Background
Billion Dollar Babies is the 6th Alice Cooper Group studio album and was released in 1973. It ranks as the best-selling album by 'Alice Cooper' and also received probably more critical acclaim than any of the others too. The reason for this is quite simple, it’s literally rammed full of hits and was to prove the very peak of the original Group's achievements (although their demise was already starting to take place behind the scenes, as evidenced by involvement from the likes of guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner). The School’s Out album was a massive overall hit, but this record managed to eclipse it from both a commercial and artistic perspective. At this time, the Alice Cooper Group were probably the biggest act on the planet.
The finest of all Alice Cooper album openers, Hello Hooray has featured regularly at the start of the live shows over the years. And rightly so, it was born for that very job (even it started life as a rather mundane Judy Collins song). It's an immensely atmospheric song that brilliantly captures the moment the lights go down and the start of a show. The end to the song is quite superb with Alice’s vocals at their very best.
Raped And Freezin' is a somewhat under-rated track which manages to hold its own against some of the bigger hits on the album. The song is another example of how tight the Group were and the edgy, yet commercially appealing, material that they were capable of.
Elected was another hit single for the Group, having been re-worked from the song Reflected on Pretties For You. The concept was as simple as School’s Out, take a well-known moment in our lives (i.e. election time) and write a song about it. Like its sibling, Elected has stood the test of time and is still regularly played around election time in a number of countries. It also featured in one of the first ever ‘proper’ music videos and was amusingly covered by Mr Bean and Bruce Dickinson in 1992.
The title track features iconic, military-style, drum work by Neal Smith and has become a staple of Alice's live shows throughout his career. Unfinished Sweet is a six-minute signature Alice Cooper Group track which takes you on a dental-inspired mini musical journey. Most notably, we have the James Bond style interlude in the middle, followed by a dark and menacing instrumental, before finally returning to the upbeat tempo at the start.
No More Mr Nice Guy is the stand-out track of the album and one of the Alice Cooper Group's classiest songs. Unashamedly radio friendly, it recounts Alice's journey from the son of a preacher into one of the most revered figures in rock. Generation Landslide, another highly polished track, provides the perfect end to the commercially friendly proceedings (it would eventually be revisited on the solo Alice Special Forces album).
After the often brutal content of the Love It To Death and Killer albums, the tone of School’s Out and Billion Dollar Babies (up till now) was fairly conservative. Enter Sick Things, which is dark, menacing, and sees Alice at his sinister best as he and the Group pay tribute to their fans (Alice once famously said "The sicker our fans get, the sicker we'll get"). This is a real chiller with the lights turned off! Sick Things merges seamlessly into Mary Ann, a short piano driven ballad with Alice again in great voice (is this really the same person who sung on the previous track?). The production is interesting in that Alice’s voice can only be heard on the left speaker (with just a ghostly echo in the right).
The album concludes with the majestic I Love The Dead, a cold, dark, track which sits perfectly with Sick Things and Mary Ann. The song sees Alice at his psychotic best as he pays homage to 'art' of necrophilia.
Billion Dollar Babies Album Cover
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Promotional Vinyl Album
1973, Warner Brothers, BS 2685
This USA 12" promotional vinyl album of, probably, the most iconic Alice Cooper release comes supplied in a deluxe embossed gatefold 'Snakeskin Wallet' sleeve with rounded corners (designed by Ernie Cefalu). When opened, it reveals a massive 'illegal tender' Billion Dollar Bill secured by a faux money clip and some perforated cards featuring each member of the Alice Cooper Group.
The inner sleeve features an image of the Alice Cooper Group dressed in white satin clothing surrounded by money and, err, white rabbits! Alice also holds a baby girl (Lola) who is sporting his signature snake-eye makeup. On the other side are track listings, lyrics and credits. Not known to everyone, further track listings and credits are provided inside the main sleeve, but you only see this if you detach the perforated cards.
As this is a promotional copy, it includes white Warner Brothers vinyl labels that state, 'PROMOTION NOT FOR SALE'.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Promotional Vinyl Album
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 56013
This German 12" promotional copy of Billion Dollar Babies is practically identical to the USA version (above) only that it features a unique-to-Germany purple hype sticker on the front and alternative white Warner Brothers vinyl labels that state 'Unverkäufl. Warenprobe ohne Wert' and 'Echantillon gratuit / Trade Sample' which, converted to English, reads 'Not for sale. Sample without value' and 'Free sample / Trade Sample'. Additionally, on the back of the sleeve is a small sticker which confirms the album release date (18th February 1973) and the total running time of each side of the album.
The perforated cards on this copy have been previously removed, meaning that you can see the further track listings and credits underneath. These are set to a white background, which is the same as the USA version.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Quadraphonic Vinyl Album
1975, Warner Brothers, BS4 2685
Both the Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle Of Love albums were subject to unique 'Quadradisc' editions in the USA. Better known as 'Quadraphonic' releases these provided a different, 4-channel, mix which were designed to be enjoyed using a 4-speaker set-up (effectively meaning that it was the first notable attempt at 'surround sound'). The downside of enjoying such audio pleasure was that it could only be fully achieved with a suitably expensive hi-fi / speaker set-up, meaning that this format never really landed with the mass music-buying market.
Unlike the Muscle Of Love Quadraphonic release, this version contains some fairly notable differences to the standard release. These have been documented in great detail by Alice Cooper Group superfan Anders Mossberg, who has kindly allowed me to share the information below:
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1. Hello Hooray 4:13 (same)
By the end you hear Alice say "I feel I know I am" which is not there at all on the regular version.
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2. Raped And Freezin 3:35 (regular version is 3:17)
The little line from Alice where he goes "OK boys" appear just before the guitar solo section as opposed to between verses on the regular version.
Also you hear Alice sing "Alone with a bloody nose" at the end instead of "Alone down in Mexico". The crowd effect that sounds like a crowd chanting "Alice" at the very end is longer in this
version.
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3. Elected 4:21 (regular version is 4:04)
Alice's vocals appear in both left and right channel and are also stronger in the mix throughout the track. Difference at the break section between 2.09 to 2.36 where the commentary voice is
lower in the mix. Note when Alice says Elected with Echo effect at circa 2.30 it is much louder in this version,
which makes it stand out much more, you hardly hear it on the regular where it's almost buried in all the instrumentation. The ending is also longer (fade out starts later than the regular
version).
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4. Billion Dollar Babies 3:33 (same)
No significant differences found.
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5. Unfinished Sweet 6:14 (same)
On the regular version the music is slowly fading out for 20 seconds before fading back up for the final seconds at the very end, this version plays all the way through at full volume without
fades.
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6. No More Mr Nice Guy 3:05 (same)
No significant differences found.
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7. Generation Landslide 4:45 (regular version is 4:30)
Only noticeable difference is the longer and different ending with Neal's drums closing the track.
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8. Sick Things 4:49 (regular version is 4:16)
Very different, starting with a fuzz-guitar instead of just Alice and the bass.
The fuzz-guitar continues throughout. Also has longer ending (fades out much later).
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9. Mary Ann 2:16 (same)
On this version there is an overall ambience sound that to me sounds like Alice is sitting in the piano bar at a cocktail party. You hear a crowd mumbling with glasses in the background...
The piano is different too, and Alice's voice is in both channels.
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10. I Love The Dead 5:04 (same)
Starting at 2.57 and onwards there are different background vocals on the chorus going "Love - the - dead".
Sounding sort of like "demented 50's doo-whop background vocals".
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In terms of the packaging, it is less lavish than the main release (above) as it does not feature the gatefold design, embossed detailing, rounded corners or perforated cards (the Billion Dollar Bill is retained, however). A further version of this release, which includes the gatefold sleeve, is understood to exist though. The front of the sleeve features an additional Quadradisc logo on the front. Also, the disc features Warner Brothers 'Palm Tree' labels (rather than green), which include an extra Quadradisc logo and a slightly different code (i.e. BS4 2685 rather than BS 2685).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Vinyl Album
1973, Warner Brothers, K 56013
This UK first pressing of Billion Dollar Babies is identical to the USA promotional copy (above) only that it features alternative green Warner Brothers labels. Additionally, the further track listings and credits underneath the perforated cards are set to a green background, rather than a white one.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Vinyl Album
1973, Warner Brothers, GX 01-600
This Mexican 1st pressing of Billion Dollar Babies comes in a simple card sleeve, which is a far cry from the super deluxe packaging found in many other territories around the world (see above).
Notably though, the vinyl features distinctive gold bilingual (i.e. Spanish and English) Warner Brothers vinyl labels. This style of label is believed to have only been seen again on initial Canadian pressings of Easy Action plus Mexican releases of Easy Action, Killer and School's Out. I don't know why these were used instead of the iconic olive green labels, but they certainly make these releases unique.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Vinyl Album
2011, Rhino Records, R 12685
Unlike some of the other 180g vinyl re-issues of the same time, this USA re-issue faithfully mimics the original release and comes complete with textured cover, perforated cards and billion dollar bill. This is most welcomed and a great addition to any collection.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Vinyl Album
2016, Rhino Records, R 12685
In October 2016, Rhino Records launched a 'Rocktober' campaign featuring limited edition releases of 13 classic vinyl albums. Included in this event was Billion Dollar Babies, which was limited to 3,000 copies in the USA only.
This version is identical to the above re-issue with the notable exception that the black vinyl disc is replaced by a partially translucent green, yellow and orange marble swirl effect design. The effect is very cool and nicely compliments the theme of the original album.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 12" Vinyl Album
2024, Warner Brothers, R1 725031
This USA vinyl re-issue of Billion Dollar Babies was released by Warner Brothers in 2024 to mark the album's 50th anniversary (so technically a year late). Featuring a whopping three discs, and a whopping price tag to match (about $100), this offered fans the following exciting content:
> Super deluxe packaging, including textured snakeskin wallet sleeve, replica billion dollar bill, a comprehensive ‘Billion Dollar Babies Story’ by music journalist Jaan Uhelszki, including detailed track-by-track comments (including the bonus content) by Alice, Dennis, Mike, Neal and Bob Ezrin;
> The original album remastered by D2 Mastering;
> The previously released collection of live tracks from the 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour shows in Dallas and Houston, Texas (which originally were recorded for the Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper film and were also subsequently included in the 2001 Remastered & Expanded CD Album (below) and the Billion Dollar Babies Live USA Black Friday Record Store Day 2019 vinyl release).
> The outtakes Slick Black Limousine and an alternative version of Generation Landslide titled Son Of Billion Dollar Babies.
> Single versions of Hello Hooray, Billion Dollar Babies, Elected, Mary Ann and Slick Black Limousine.
If this wasn’t great enough already, Good Records in Dallas (the masterminds behind the iconic Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper releases) released their own exclusive 'Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition'. Limited to just 250 individually numbered copies (mine being #00001!), it was exactly the same as the standard version but also came with a limited edition numbered 12" x 12" chipboard silkscreened art print of the Alice Cooper Group, a 12” x 12” slick with unique additional artwork, plus trading card, holographic sticker and button badge. Finally, the cover was hand-signed by Dennis Dunaway, who attended a 'Billion Dollar Babies 50th Anniversary' party in Dallas a few days before the release of this record.
I’m no audiophile, but Billion Dollar Babies has never sounded better, with Hello Hooray, No More Mr Nice Guy and I Love The Dead sounding especially brilliant (not they weren’t before, of course).
Although none of the content provided is particularly new or exciting, this, or the CD version (see below), or both, are definitely worth picking up and must surely be seen as the quintessential versions of Billion Dollar Babies.
Equally good 50th anniversary releases were also made by Warner Brothers for the Killer and School's Out albums.
Promotional text:
“Hello Hooray,” a new version of Billion Dollar Babies, is on the way as Alice Cooper’s delightfully subversive sixth album returns in all its snakeskin
glory for an extended 50th-anniversary celebration. After hitting #1 on the album charts in America and the U.K. in 1973, the record remains a highwater mark for the original lineup, featuring hits
like “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Elected.”
BILLION DOLLAR BABIES: “Trillion Dollar” DELUXE EDITION will be available from Rhino on March 8 on 3-LP and 2-CD. Both feature a newly remastered version of the original album, along with bonus
material, including studio outtakes, single mixes, and an electrifying 1973 concert recording. In the vinyl edition, the gatefold cover faithfully replicates the original’s textured snakeskin wallet
design and comes complete with a $1 billion dollar bill tucked inside.
An instant smash when it was released in March 1973, Billion Dollar Babies delivered a theatrical mix of hard rock and glam laced with macabre lyrics that explored wealth, decadence, and
fame’s darker side. Newly remastered, the platinum-certified album sounds better than ever. The set also features outtakes (“Coal Black Model T”), single mixes (“Mary Ann”), and “Slick Black
Limousine,” which originally came out on flexi-disc within an issue of the British rock paper New Musical Express.
The “Trillion Dollar” Deluxe Edition also features a live show recorded in Texas in April of 1973, during the “Billion Dollar Babies” tour. The powerful performance includes live versions of
many of the album’s tracks, highlights including “Elected” and “Hello Hooray,” along with several of the band’s earlier hits, including “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out.”
The LP and CD versions both come with an oral history of the album and the bonus tracks by the surviving band members (as told to Jaan Uhelszki) – Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, and
Neal Smith – and Bob Ezrin, who produced the album. (Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton died in 1997)
In the notes, Cooper recalls writing “I Love The Dead” and “Sick Things.” He says, “We were writing those songs looking at each other, and every time we’d write a line I’d say, ‘Oh, this is gonna
kill them. Oh, they’re gonna hate us on this one.’ But at the same time, it was almost like an Edgar Allan Poe short story when you listen to ‘I Love The Dead.’ I tried to write that the way Vincent
Price would sing it.”
Shortly after release, a limited USA TalkShop.Live exclusive version was also offered to fans. These were effectively the standard release, but included the additional 12” x 12” slick that was provided with the Good Records version and was signed by Michael Bruce, Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith (see image below). Similar versions were also produced for the Killer and School's Out releases.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 8-Track Album
1973, Warner Brothers, WB M8 2685
This USA 8-Track album features a black cartridge and includes abridged artwork on the front. The wrap-around sticker also provides the product code on the side and track listings on the rear.
One notable aspect of this release is that the track order is different to the usual arrangement, with the majority of them appearing out-of-place. This is presumably to enable the album to fit over the four 'programs' on the cartridge, rather than having some split between them (meaning no interrupted playback as the reading head changed position).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 8-Track Album
1973, Warner Brothers, Y8K8 56013
This UK 8-Track album features a green cartridge and includes the original cover artwork and track listings on the front. Another sticker on the back features a black and white image of Alice plus further track listings and credits. This copy also includes a matching green card sleeve.
As with the USA 8-Track album (above) the track order is different to the usual arrangement, although this version features a further variation. Also, the length of I Love The Dead (5:09) is such that it spans more than one of the 'programs' on the cartridge (meaning that it had interrupted playback as the reading head changed position). This illustrates the limitations of this music format.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Cassette Album
1973, Warner Brothers, WB M5 2685
This USA 1st edition cassette version of Billion Dollar Babies comes in a plastic 'Slipcase' containing abridged artwork on the front and track listings on the back. Inside is a black tape with printed additional track listings.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Cassette Album
Unknown Year, Warner Brothers, M5 2685
This USA cassette re-issue of Billion Dollar Babies features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork and track listings. Inside is a white tape which provides additional track listings.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Cassette Album
1973, Warner Brothers, ZCK4 56013
This UK 1st edition cassette version of Billion Dollar Babies features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is a green tape with matching stickers providing additional track listings.
Oddly, Unfinished Sweet and I Love The Dead (tracks five and ten) are switched places. A similar anomaly also occurred on the UK 1st edition cassette version of Killer.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Cassette Album
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 456 013
This German 1st edition cassette version of Billion Dollar Babies features a single-sided J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. The artwork also has additional 'Including Elected and Hello Hooray' hype text. Inside is a grey tape with green stickers.
Like the UK 1st edition cassette version (above) Unfinished Sweet and I Love The Dead (tracks five and ten) are switched places.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Cassette Album
1973, Warner Brothers, 456013
This French 1st edition cassette version of Billion Dollar Babies features a single-sided fold-out J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is an orange tape which provides additional track listings.
Unlike the UK and German versions, above, this features all the tracks in the same order as the original vinyl album.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Cassette Album
1973, Warner Brothers, K 456013
This Italian 1st edition cassette version of Billion Dollar Babies features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings, credits and details of releases by other artists of the time. Inside is an orange tape providing additional track listings.
Oddly, Sick Things and Elected (tracks three and eight) are switched places.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies CD Album
1990, Warner Bros, 7599-27269-2
This European CD version of Billion Dollar Babies comes in a jewel case and features an 8-page booklet containing track listings, lyrics, credits and a one-sided Billion Dollar Bill replica. There is also a useful 'Notes' page featuring a short history of the Alice Cooper Group up to and including the Billion Dollar Babies era.
This release is ok but fails to capture the majesty of the original vinyl release (below) and has since been superseded by the vastly superior 'Remastered & Expanded' CD edition (also below).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Remastered & Expanded CD Album
2001, Warner Brothers, 8122-79791-2
A welcome European CD re-issue of Billion Dollar Babies was released by Warner Brothers in 2001. Provided in a deluxe 'Digipak' case it features two CDs, the first containing a remastered version of the original album and the second a collection of live tracks from the 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour shows in Dallas and Houston, Texas (which originally were recorded for the Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper film and were also subsequently included in the Billion Dollar Babies Live USA Black Friday Record Store Day 2019 vinyl release).
Also provided on CD 2 is Slick Black Limousine (see below), a demo version of the same song titled Coal Black Model T and an alternative version of Generation Landslide titled Son Of Billion Dollar Babies.
This is an excellent all-round package and we can only hope that the rest of the back catalogue gets this kind of treatment one day. It would be great to have every album remastered with the supporting tour alongside it!
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies 'Mini LP' SHM CD
2011, Warner Brothers, WPCR-14304
In 2011, all the Alice Cooper albums from Pretties For You through to From The Inside were re-issued in Japan on 'Super High Material' (SHM) CD format. SHM CD's are, apparently, made of improved material, that provides a clearer medium for the reading of the data and so reduces read errors and thus can improve sound quality.
A notable feature of all the SHM releases is that they closely replicate the original packaging of the vinyl releases. In the case of Billion Dollar Babies, this includes the super deluxe embossed 'Snakeskin Wallet' sleeve, the Billion Dollar Bill and perforated cards. An additional black-and-white bilingual lyric booklet and external 'Obi Strip' are also provided (both of which are common features of Japanese music releases).
What would have been really cool though is if they had made the CDs look more like miniature vinyl discs. What is offered is still more than satisfactory though and the SHM releases are definitely the quintessential Alice Cooper CD editions of all the available variants out there.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies SACD CD Album
2014, Audio Fidelity, AFZ 170
This USA release by Audio Fidelity offers a remastered version of the original album and comes on an SACD rather than the '24k' gold CDs that were used in their previous releases (i.e. Love It To Death, Killer, and School's Out).
The packaging is fairly true to the original, with a folded Billion Dollar Bill included inside. There is also a small booklet provided which contains track listings, lyrics, photos, credits and some of the original album artwork.
This is a limited edition release and is numbered #2,489 on the back of the sleeve. I'm not sure how many were produced but I assume it is 5,000 like the Audio Fidelity 24k releases.
A further SACD release was also made by Audio Fidelity for the Muscle Of Love album.
Discogs Link: Click Here
NOTE: Further CD copies of this album are featured in the Compilations and The Studio Albums 1969-1983 sections of this website.
Billion Dollar Babies DVD-Audio Album
2000, Warner Brothers, 8122-76663-9
One of a few short-lived media formats, 'DVD-Audio' was designed to provide an enhanced entertainment experience by providing images and video as well as enhanced surround sound music.
This European version has some of the bonus live tracks of the 2001 CD re-issue included as well as the original Elected music video, audio interview with Alice and a photo gallery with song lyrics. Great right!? Not really, as you need an Audio DVD player to benefit from these features (all you get if you use a normal DVD player is track list and an ability to hear the music). To this day I've never seen such a device so this must rank amongst the least accessible officially released material out there, which is a real shame.
Sonically, this release features the original quadrophonic mix which can be played in 'Advanced Multi-Channel' stereo and surround sound plus Dolby 5.1 surround sound.
The oddest thing about this format was the size of the case which is the same width and depth as a CD but about 2cm higher making it somewhat cumbersome to store.
Welcome To My Nightmare is the only other Alice Cooper album to receive a DVD Audio release.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies Blu-Ray Album
2023, Warner Records, BA2 2685
This 'Quadio' Blu-Ray version of Billion Dollar Babies features audio transferred from the original half-inch four channel masters of the album. Apparently, the multi-tracked audio is mixed dimensional, immersing the listener in an expansive soundscape. For those without a quadraphonic speaker system, the album can also be played in more traditional stereo sound. Both versions are navigated using a single-screen graphical interface (see screenshot below).
Not being an audiophile, I'm unable to support the above claim, but it's always good to have another version that attempts to subtly improve what is alread a bona fide classic rock album. If you're a more casual Alice Cooper Group fan then this is an unessential release and you'd be better off tracking down a copy of the 2001 Remastered & Expanded CD Album (above).
This release includes a simple eight-page booklet containing a mixture of artwork from the original album together with bespoke material relating to this specific version.
Promotional text:
This Blu-Ray was mastered using the original 4-track Quad mixes as the source material. The original format of the master was a 4-track, half-inch analog tape running at 15 ips. There is not a seperate or "discrete" LFE (subwoofer) track, although one can hear (or not hear) the LFE channel based on what settings one chooses on the integrated amplifier.
This Blu-Ray can be played back two ways: with Bass Management or without Bass Management. Bass management sends the sum of the low-frequency information (frequencies below 80 Hz) from the four main speakers to the LFE speaker. If your surround speakers are of the satellite variety, you will want to engage Bass Management on your system to hear the full range of the recording. If your surround speakers are the large, full-range type, then we recommend turning Bass Management off.
Now enjoy some Quadio!
Discogs Link: Click Here
Billion Dollar Babies CD Album
2024, Warner Brothers, R2 725031
This USA CD re-issue of Billion Dollar Babies contains all the same material as the 2024 vinyl release (see above). Other than the different format, the only major difference is that most of the written material has been moved to a separate 28-page booklet.
This is an essential purchase for all fans, especially if you can't afford / find the vinyl version.
As with the vinyl version, equally good CD releases were also made by Warner Brothers for the Killer and School's Out albums to celebrate their 50th anniversaries.
Billion Dollar Babies 7" Vinyl EP
1973, Warner Brothers, S2685
This USA 7" vinyl EP features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper envelope sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy, Mary-Ann and Raped And Freezin' on Side A and Hello Hooray and Billion Dollar Babies on Side B (all from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The front of the sleeve has green-tone artwork from the Billion Dollar Babies album and on the back are track listings. Also provided is the complete sheet of 10 jukebox strips that came with this release.
This great item was a very generous gift from hardcore UK-based Alice Cooper Group fan Chris Daniels. Thanks Chris!
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Promotional Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, WB 7631
This USA 7" promotional vinyl single features white Warner Brothers labels and includes Mono and Stereo versions of Elected (from the Billion Dollar Babies album) on Sides A and B respectively. This was a common feature of promotional singles at the time, as it enabled radio stations to play songs on both AM (Mono) and FM (Stereo) stations.
Each label also includes an 'Intro' time, which helped DJs to understand how long they had to introduce a song prior to the lyrics beginning.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, WB 7631
This USA 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, K 16214
This UK 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brother labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 16214
This German 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brother labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The sleeve has the same image of Alice being 'sworn in' on both the front and back, the latter of which has some additional promotional material for the Killer and School's Out albums.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, P-1173W
This Japanese 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve complete with fold-out colour insert, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (both from the School's Out album).
The insert has an image of Alice being 'sworn in' on the front, track listings, lyrics and credits on the inside and an additional image of Alice and promotional material for the Love It To Death, Killer and School's Out albums on the back.
A promotional copy of this release also exists, which is identical except that it features white vinyl labels instead.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, 16214
This French 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brother labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The front of the sleeve has an image of Alice being 'sworn in' and on the back is promotional material for the Killer and School's Out albums.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, 16214
This further French 7" vinyl version of Elected is almost exactly the same as the above copy but features an alternative image of Alice performing live on the front of the sleeve. I'm not sure why 2 different versions were produced, but it was perhaps an early attempt at getting fans to buy the same product twice (something that became much more common a few decades later)!
The labels are almost identical, although this copy had them attached the wrong way around (which is why the former owner corrected them by hand).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, WB-16214
This Dutch 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The front of the sleeve features a pink-tone image of a naked Alice flanked by a snake (which famously featured on the truck that "broke down" in London in 1972) and on the back is promotional material for other artists of the time. The use of the image on the front is notable because it was also chosen for the Dutch and Italian pressings of the School's Out single and the Portuguese No More Mr Nice Guy single (below).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, 72602
This Turkish 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The front of the sleeve features a striking drawing of Alice complete with spider-eye makeup and two colourful mini Alices emerging from either side of his head(!) and on the back are track listings.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, N-S-63-23
This Portuguese 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The sleeve has a purple-tone image of Alice on the front (from the School's Out album photo shoot) and on the back are track listings and credits.
The presence of the Palm Tree labels on my copy is a bit of a mystery. This is because they were not generally introduced around the world until the No More Mr Nice Guy single (see below) was released in 1973. Also, many copies of this Portuguese version are known to feature the traditional green Warner Brothers labels. I can only surmise that this single was released slightly later in Portugal and, like No More Mr Nice Guy, was subject to versions with both designs (as the transition took effect). Either that or it may have been re-issued at a later date as the Alice Cooper Group hit the peak of their commercial success.
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, WB-16214
This Spanish 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a card sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The front of the sleeve has an image of Alice being 'sworn in' and on the back are track listings, lyrics (for Elected only), credits and promotional material for the Killer and School's Out albums.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, K 16214
This Israeli 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, K 16214
This Yugoslavian 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Elected on Side A and Luney Tune on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The sleeve has images of Alice performing live on both the front and back. Also, on the back is the hype text 'Alice Cooper!!! Novi Hit (i.e. New Hit) "Hello Hurray".
Discogs Link: Click Here
Elected 7" Vinyl Single
1979, Warner Brothers, WB 17.536
This Dutch 'Original Oldies' 7" vinyl single re-issue features white Warner Brother labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes Elected on Side A and School's Out on Side B (from the Billion Dollar Babies and School's Out albums respectively).
The sleeve has a casual looking image of Alice on the front (taken from the 1977 single cover of You And Me) and promotional material for other 'Original Oldies' releases on the back.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Promotional Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 7673
This USA 7" promotional vinyl single features white Warner Brothers labels and includes Mono (Edited) and Stereo (Long) versions of Hello Hooray (from the Billion Dollar Babies album) on Sides A and B respectively. This was a common feature of promotional singles at the time, as it enabled radio stations to play songs on both AM (Mono) and FM (Stereo) stations.
Interestingly, Hello Hooray is titled 'Hello Hurray' on the labels. This is rather odd as it is titled as the former on the Billion Dollar Babies album (which I consider to be the correct presentation).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 7673
This USA 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner / Reprise paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 7673
This USA 7" vinyl single is exactly the same as the above version only that it comes in a different paper sleeve and, interestingly, features Alma Mater on Side B (from the School's Out album) rather than Generation Landslide.
There appears to be little information available on why this additional version was produced, but it's clear that this version is much rarer.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, K 16248
This UK 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 16248
This German 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The sleeve has the same image of Alice performing live on both the front and back. As with the Side A vinyl label, Hello Hooray is titled 'Hello Hurray' on the sleeve.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 16248
This further German 7" vinyl single is exactly the same as the above version only that, interestingly, the labels and sleeve both state the alternative 'Hello Hooray' instead.
This is the only release of Hello Hooray that I'm aware of which featured alternative versions with both spellings. I can only assume that this version was produced once it was determined that Hello Hurray was not the correct presentation of the song title.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, 16248
This French 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Hello Hooray 7" Promotional Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, CP-176
This Spanish 7" promotional vinyl single features white Warner Brothers labels with unique red song titles, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The front of the sleeve features a red-tone image of Alice in Spider-Eye makeup and Spanish text stating 'DISCO DE PROMOCION PROHIBIDA SU VENTA' (i.e. 'Promotion disc forbidden for sale'). On the back are track listings, credits and a short, but fascinating, biography in Spanish that reads as follows:
To say that the American group ALICE COOPER is an authentic sensation in the world of rock music in all countries, it sounds old.
ALICE COOPER is not only an important group, ALICE COOPER is also the name of the leader of the ensemble and the most attractive name of "Gay power", along with David Bowie.
ALICE COOPER after "School Out" and "Elected", offers us another hit in a totally different sound: "Hello Hooray".
"Hello Hooray" is a topic for today. "Hello Hooray" is the latest in the "pop" world. "Hello Hooray" is a preview of the new millionaire ALICE COOPER LP titled "Billon dollars babies".
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, HS-917
This Spanish 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, P-1200W
This Japanese 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve complete with fold-out colour insert, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The insert has the famous glam image of Alice with a flower on the front, track listings, lyrics and credits on the inside and promotional material for the Love It To Death, Killer and School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies albums on the back.
A promotional copy of this release also exists, which is identical except that it features white vinyl labels instead.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, K 16248
This Italian 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 16248
This Dutch 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 16248
This further Dutch 7" vinyl version of Hello Hooray is the same as the above copy but features an alternative sleeve. This has the famous glam image of Alice with a flower on the front and on the back is a caricature image of Alice plus promotional material for the Love It To Death, Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies albums.
I'm not sure why two different versions were produced, but it was perhaps an early attempt at getting fans to buy the same product twice (something that became much more common a few decades later)!
Discogs Link: Click Here
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 16248
This Turkish 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, 16248
This Yugoslavian 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 16248
This rare Swedish 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in an open-sided card sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album). To my knowledge, this is the only Swedish Alice Cooper 7" single that featured a picture sleeve.
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, N-S-63-31
This Portuguese 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The sleeve has a blue-tone image of the Alice Cooper Group dressed in tuxedos with hair pulled back in ponytails on the front and on the back are track listings and credits.
Like the Portuguese Elected 7" vinyl single (above), the presence of the Palm Tree labels on my copy is a bit of a mystery. This is because they were not generally introduced around the world until the next single, No More Mr Nice Guy (see below) was released later in 1973. Also, many copies of this Portuguese version are known to feature the traditional green Warner Brothers labels. I can only surmise that this single was released slightly later in Portugal and, like No More Mr Nice Guy, was subject to versions with both designs (as the transition took effect). Either that or it may have been re-issued at a later date as the Alice Cooper Group hit the peak of their commercial success.
Hello Hooray 7" Vinyl Single
1972, Warner Brothers, K 16248
This extremely rare Israeli 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Hello Hooray on Side A (labelled 'Hello Hurray') and Generation Landslide on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Slick Black Limousine 7" Vinyl Flexi Disc
1973, New Musical Express, LYN 2585
'Flexi Discs' were thin, flexible, vinyls that were cheap to produce and commonly included as free items with magazines and other music-based literature. Their heyday was in the 1960's and 70's before seeing a decline in the 80's following the launch of the Compact Disc.
In February 1973, during the height of the Alice Cooper Group's commercial success, New Musical Express (NMW) included a Flexi Disc on the front cover of their UK magazine featuring the previously unreleased song Slick Black Limousine on Side A plus short samples of Elected, No More Mr Nice Guy, Billion Dollar Babies and I Love The Dead on the unlabelled Side B (all from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Thousands of these discs were produced and they can easily be found today for less than £10. This makes them a fun and quirky item to have in your collection, so worth snapping a copy up.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Promotional Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 7691
This USA 7" promotional vinyl single features white Warner Brothers labels and includes Mono and Stereo versions of No More Mr Nice Guy (from the Billion Dollar Babies album) on Sides A and B respectively. This was a common feature of promotional singles at the time, as it enabled radio stations to play songs on both AM (Mono) and FM (Stereo) stations.
Each label also includes an 'Intro' time, which helped DJs to understand how long they had to introduce a song prior to the lyrics beginning.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 7691
This USA 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner / Reprise paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
This was the final USA Alice Cooper Group 7" single to include the green Warner Brothers label design, with all subsequent releases changing to the 'Palm Tree' (also known as the 'Burbank') design until the final single of the Muscle Of Love album. This change actually occurred during the release of this single, with an alternative Palm Tree variant also produced (below).
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 7691
This USA 7" vinyl single is exactly the same as the above copy only that it features the updated 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Promotional Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, P-1222W
This Japanese 7" promotional vinyl single features white Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve complete with fold-out colour insert, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The insert has the same image as used on the inner sleeve of the Billion Dollar Babies album on the front, track listings, lyrics and credits on the inside and promotional material for the Billion Dollar Babies, School's Out, Killer and Love It To Death albums on the back.
A stock copy of this release also exists, which is identical except that it features green vinyl labels instead.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, K 16262
This UK 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, WB 16262
This German 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The sleeve has an image of Alice in full make-up on the front and promotional material for the Billion Dollar Babies album on the back.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, WB 16262
This German 7" vinyl single is exactly the same as the above version only that it features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, HS-968
This Spanish 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes Basta Ya Sr. Simpatico (i.e. No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, WB 16262
This Dutch 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The sleeve has a yellow-tone image of Alice in Spider-Eye makeup on the front and on the back is a caricature image of Alice plus promotional material for the Love It To Death, Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies albums.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, 73603
This Turkish 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The sleeve has a green-tone image of the Alice Cooper Group dressed in tuxedos with hair pulled back in ponytails on the front and on the back are track listings.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, N-S-63-40
This Portuguese 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The front of the sleeve features a black-and-white image of a naked Alice flanked by a snake (which famously featured on the truck that "broke down" in London in 1972) and on the back are track listings and credits. The use of the image on the front is notable because it was also chosen for the Dutch and Italian pressings of the School's Out single and the Dutch Elected single (above).
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, N-S-63-40
This Italian 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The sleeve features a black-and-white image of Alice and Neal Smith performing live in concert on both the front and back.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brother, N-S-63-40
This French 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A and Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
The sleeve features the same Billion Dollar Baby logo from the original album artwork (above) on the front and on the back is promotional material for the Love It To Death, Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies albums.
Discogs Link: Click Here
No More Mr Nice Guy 7" Vinyl Single
1973, Warner Brothers, WB 7691
This Israeli 7" vinyl single features green Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve, and includes No More Mr Nice Guy on Side A Raped And Freezin' on Side B (both from the Billion Dollar Babies album).
For the Billion Dollar Babies era 2 Click Here.
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