ALICE COOPER Billion Dollar Babies 1ST PRESS With Note & Cards A1//B1

	£		35
	$		46

A BREAKDOWN OF THE ARTIST/S :-

Born Vincent Damon Furnier, 4 February 1948, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Alice Cooper became known as the "master of shock rock" during the 1970s, and remains a popular hard-rock artist continuing into the new millennium. The Furnier family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where Vincent began writing songs while in junior high school. Inspired by a dream to become as famous as the Beatles and Rolling Stones, Furnier formed a group in the early 60s called the Earwigs. By 1965 their name had changed to the Spiders and then the Nazz (no relation to Todd Rundgren's band of the same name). Both the Spiders and Nazz played at local dances and recorded singles that were moderately popular regionally. In 1968, the Nazz, which also included Michael Bruce (Born 16 March 1948, California, USA; lead guitar), Dennis Dunaway (Born 9 December 1948, Cottage Grove, Oregon, USA; bass), Glen Buxton (Born 11 November 1947, Akron, Ohio, USA, d. 19 October 1997, Mason City, Iowa, USA; lead guitar) and Neal Smith (Born 23 September 1947, Akron, Ohio, USA; drums), changed its name to Alice Cooper, reportedly due to Furnier's belief that he was the reincarnation of a seventeenth-century witch of that name.

The name Alice Cooper was also attached to Furnier, who invented an androgynous, outrageously attired persona to attract attention. The band played deliberately abrasive rock music with the intention of shocking and even alienating those attending its concerts. In 1969, the Alice Cooper Band found a kindred spirit in Frank Zappa, who signed them to his new Straight Records label. They recorded two albums, Pretties For You and Easy Action, before switching to Straight's parent label, Warner Brothers Records, in 1970. By that time, Cooper had adopted more extreme tactics in his live performances, using a guillotine and electric chair as stage props and a live snake as part of his wardrobe. The finishing touch was the thick, black eye make-up that dripped down his face, affording him his trademark demonic appearance. As the band and its singer built a reputation as a bizarre live act, their records began to sell in greater quantities. In 1971, "Eighteen" was their first single to reach the US charts, at number 21. Cooper's commercial breakthrough came the following year with the rebellious "School's Out" single and album, both of which made the US Top 10, with the single topping the UK chart. A streak of bestselling albums followed: the US and UK chart-topping Billion Dollar Babies, then Muscle Of Love, Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits and Welcome To My Nightmare, all of which reached the US Top 10. The last was his first true solo album following the dissolution of the band, and Cooper officially adopted the Alice Cooper name as his own.

In contrast to his professional image, the offstage Cooper became a Hollywood celebrity, playing golf and appearing on television talk shows, as well as developing a strong friendship with Groucho Marx, with whom he planned a television series. In tribute to the legendary comedian he purchased one of the "O's from the famous Hollywood sign and dedicated it to his memory. The late 70s saw him appearing in movies such as Sextette and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In 1978, Cooper admitted to chronic alcoholism and entered a New York hospital for treatment. From The Inside, with songs co-written by Bernie Taupin, reflected on the experience. His band continued touring, and between 1979 and 1982, it featured ex-Iron Butterfly lead guitarist Mike Pinera (Born 29 September 1948, Tampa, Florida, USA). Cooper continued recording into the early 80s with diminishing results. In 1986, after a four-year recording absence, he signed to MCA Records, but neither of his two albums for that label reached the US charts. A 1989 set, Trash, his first for Epic Records, returned him to the Top 40 and yielded the transatlantic hit, "Poison". Both the single and the album ended up outselling any of his 70s material. Hey Stoopid found him accompanied by Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Slash and Axl Rose from Guns N'Roses, while his 90s tours saw Cooper drawing a new, younger audience who considered him a heavy metal pioneer.

This impression was immortalized by Cooper's appearance in the 1992 movie Wayne's World, wherein the protagonists kneel before their idol proclaiming that they are "not worthy". Cooper retained his popularity throughout the 90s, maintaining a healthy touring schedule and attracting an impressive list of guest artists on the inconsistent The Last Temptation and the live Fistful Of Alice. His duet with Rob Zombie on "Hands Of Death (Burn Baby Burn)' from 1996"s Songs In The Key Of X album was nominated for a Grammy award. Brutal Planet, his first album of the new millennium and his best collection of material since the late 80s, boded well for the immediate future. Of his former band, Neal Smith became a property agent; Bruce is still a songwriter but is bitter about the past - he became an author with the publication of No More Mr Nice Guy. Buxton lived in Iowa and was plagued by ill health until his death in 1997, while Dunaway runs a craft shop with his wife in Connecticut.

Discography:
Pretties For You (Straight 1969)**, Easy Action (Straight 1970)***, Love It To Death (Warners 1971)****, Killer (Warners 1971)***, School's Out (Warners 1972)****, Billion Dollar Babies (Warners 1973)****, Muscle Of Love (Warners 1973)**, Welcome To My Nightmare (Atlantic 1975)***, Goes To Hell (Warners 1976)**, Lace And Whiskey (Warners 1977)*, The Alice Cooper Show (Warners 1977)**, From The Inside (Warners 1978)**, Flush The Fashion (Warners 1980)*, Special Forces (Warners 1981)*, Zipper Catches Skin (Warners 1982)*, Da Da (Warners 1983)**, Live In Toronto (Breakaway 1984)*, Constrictor (MCA 1986)**, Raise Your Fist And Yell (MCA 1987)**, Trash (Epic 1989)***, Hey Stoopid (Epic 1991)**, Live At The Whiskey A-Go-Go 1969 recording (Edsel 1992)**, The Last Temptation (Epic 1994)**, A Fistful Of Alice (Guardian 1997)**, Brutal Planet (Spitfire 2000)****, Billion Dollar Babies Deluxe Edition 2-CD set (Rhino 2001)****, Dragon Town (Spitfire 2001)***, Slack Alice Live In Toronto 1969 (Yeaah! 2001)**, The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (Spitfire 2003)***.

THE HISTORY OF THE RECORD :- The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on the album charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and went on to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was heavily praised by such critics as Robert Christgau, Greg Prato of allmusic, and Jason Thompson of popmatters, but Rolling Stone gave the album only two and a half stars.

Songs were recorded in both the state of Connecticut and London, England. Lyrics cover topics and themes such as necrophilia, the fear of dentists, horror, and sexual harassment.

The album's title comes from the fact that Alice Cooper and the band were surprised about their success. Cooper related: "How could we, this band that two years ago was living in the Chambers Brothers' basement in Watts, be the Number one band in the world, with people throwing money at us." The title was also later used as the name of the group Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, and Michael Bruce formed after Alice Cooper band had split up.Cooper says "The whole idea behind the Billion Dollar Babies album was exploiting the idea that people do have sick perversions."

Alice Cooper, who wrote the majority of the album's lyrics, cited Chuck Berry as a key influence on his writing. "Hello Hooray", the album's opening track, was written by Canadian singer/songwriter Rolf Kempf and was previously recorded by Judy Collins. The band wanted their version of the song to sound like "Alice Cooper meets Cabaret." The album's third track, "Elected", is a rewrite of an earlier song by the band entitled "Reflected". "Raped and Freezin'" has been called a "hilarious and gorgeously catchy" take on the idea of sexual harassment by PopMatters's Jason Thompson "Unfinished Sweet" is about visiting a dentist. The title track was co-written by Reggie Vinson, who had played guitar on and performed vocals for School's Out. Donovan described the song as a "horror story song". The album's closing track, "I Love the Dead", is a tongue-in-cheek song about necrophilia.

THE COVER :- Embossed gatefold sleeve

THE LABEL :- Warner labels

THE VINYL VISUALLY :- On initial inspection of this piece of vinyl I cannot see any areas of immediate concern. The vinyl sits perfectly flat on the turntable so there are no nasty warps to worry about. The vinyl still retains much of its just pressed quality, full of deep shine and lustre. I have only noted a few light scratches, none of them deep that do not affect play and a light scuff on Side One. Graded Excellent Minus visually. 

THE VINYL PLAY GRADED :- The playgrading of the vinyl reveals a little background noise at the beginning of track One where it pops a couple of times. Thereafter there is only any real background crackle between tracks and in extra soft passages. I would say Side Two plays slightly better than Side One but both play very nicely and clearly with no distortion. I would grade the playback as Excellent condition.

THE SLEEVE FRONT CONDITION :- This is the very earliest 1st press embossed textured sleeve. The front of the sleeve is free from writing, free from stickers or evidence of previously removed stickers. The sleeve reveals no ringwear and no creases. There is however some fairly promenent top seam wear an some seam and corner wear at the spine edge. A very difficult cover to keep pristine judging by others I have seen. I would grade as Very Good condition because of the seam wear.

THE SLEEVE REAR CONDITION :- The rear of the sleeve is free from writing, free from stickers or evidence of previously removed stickers. There are no creases on the rear of the sleeve and no ringwear. There is slightly less seam wear than on the front and I would grade again as Very Good to Excellent condition.

THE INNER GATEFOLD CONDITION :- The inner of the sleeve is free from writing, free from stickers or evidence of previously removed stickers. There are no creases on the rear of the sleeve and no ringwear. The strap for the Billion Dollar bill is in great shape and has no damage atall. The cards are all still firmly attached with none of them frayed or damaged. Excellent condition

THE LABEL SIDE ONE CONDITION :- Original Warner label in excellent order free from stickers and no damage at all. Some of the tracks have been underlined in biro. Light signs of play around the spindle hole. Excellent condition.

THE LABEL SIDE TWO CONDITION :- Original Warner label in excellent order free from stickers and no damage at all. Some of the tracks have been underlined in biro, also a previous owners name and the number 2 are written. Light signs of play around the spindle hole. Very Good condition.

THE SPINE CONDITION :- The spine is not in brilliant shape, the are small splits top and bottom about 10mm in length. It is slightly kinked also. All of the text is clearly readable though. There is rubbing on the top edge and freying in both corners. Good condition.

THE INNER SLEEVE CONDITION :- The original picture inner has no knifing or creasing but has a slightly grubby appearence from handling. Very Good condition

THE EXTRAS :- The Billion Dollar bill is in fine shape, no damage, a couple of light marks but in Excellent condition generally. The cards are still attatched to the inner cover and are in Excellent condition. 

THE CATALOGUE NUMBER :- K56013

THE YEAR OF RELEASE :-  1973

THE LABEL :- WARNER

THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN :-  UK

PLAYING FORMAT :- STEREO

THE MATRIX NUMBERS :-  K56013 A1  &  K56013 B1

TRACK LISTING :-

SIDE ONE :-

1. HELLO HOORAY
2. RAPED AND FREEZIN'
3. ELECTED
4. BILLION DOLLAR BABIES
5. UNFINISHED SWEET

SIDE TWO :-

1. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY
2. GENERATION LANDSLIDE
3. SICK THINGS
4. MARY ANN
5. I LOVE THE DEAD

WHAT WE PLAY THE RECORD ON :- 

We use a Project 6 Perspex Turntable to play grade our records which delivers a rich authoritative sound and achieves a rich and weighty vibrancy unrivalled by the majority of decks within its price range

HOW WE CLEAN YOUR RECORD :- 

We use a V.P.I. HW-16.5 record cleaning machine to clean your vinyl. "A highly recommended machine" as quoted by Stereophile magazine. This removes any excess dirt before playing

HOW WE PACKAGE YOUR RECORD :- 

Your record will be package very securely to minimise any risk of damage during transit. We remove the record from the outer sleeve unless asked not to do so. This helps to minimise the risk of seam spliting. We use a high quality record mailer which is designed to give superior protection for your vinyl record. We place stiffeners either side of the record for added protection. The album will also be placed in a 450 gram Poly outer sleeve for even extra added protection

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING CHARGES FOR UK CUSTOMERS :-

We advise that items reaching over £50 in price to be insured and sent by Special Delivery. This protects both of us and ensures better handling of the parcel during transit.We are in no way out to make money from postage. The postage price includes the record mailer, stiffeners and plastic sleeve. We just want your item to reach you in the best possible condition. A breakdown of insured postal services are listed below. Please choose to use the relevant postal service for your own protection as once these rare records are lost they can quite often seldom be replaced

FIRST CLASS RECORDED FOR RECORDS INSURED UP TO £50 :- £4.50

SECOND CLASS RECORDED FOR RECORDS INSURED UP TO £50 :- £4.50

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY UPTO 500g :- £7.75

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY FROM 500g - 1000g :- £9.05

(SPECIAL DELIVERY INSURES YOUR ITEM UPTO £500)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION :-    

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the European Union by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £6.22 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £11.37 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £13.97 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE USA AND CANADA :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the USA & Canada by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £8.78 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £13.93 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.53 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN AND ROW :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the Australia & Japan by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS :- £9.06 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £14.21 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.81 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT PROFIT FROM POSTAGE, THE PRICES WE QUOTE ARE QUITE ACCURATE AND INCLUDE THE PACKAGING MATERIALS AT COST PRICE

NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS:

PLEASE AWAIT AN INVOICE BEFORE PAYING SO WE CAN WORK OUT THE CORRECT POSTAGE/SHIPPING CHARGES

BUYERS OF MULTIPLE ITEMS :- 

Postage prices and courier methods for multiple purchases will be calculated after the auction end. It is impossible for us at the pre auction stage to determine these prices as the final weight is unknown.If you are the winner of multiple items the please await contact from us or alternately contact us yourself for a breakdown of the shipping costs.You will only pay the stamp price + relevant packaging charges so there are big savings to be made with multiple purchases

HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR RECORD :-

We can accept the following payment methods

UK BUYERS :- 

• PayPal
• Personal cheque (Please allow to clear)
• Bankers Draft
• Postal Order

OVERSEAS BUYERS :-

• Paypal only

TERMS AND CONDITIONS :-

We always try to appraise the record for sale as openly and honestly as possible and provide plenty of pictures for you to look at but please be aware that errors however rare do occur and not everyone has the same audio  equipment. There is no problem that cannot be worked out in a civilised manner. We urge you to contact us so that we can discuss any small problems that may occur. We offer a refund of the purchase price for returned items within 7 days of purchase and are happy to help you with any questions or concerns you may have during the auction

SAVE US TO YOUR FAVOURITES LIST AS WE INTEND TO LIST MANY MORE RARE VINYL TREATS OVER THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS