<\/p>\n \u201cIt was that fake, quasi-spiritual ’60s thing,\u201d Cooper says of the song in a new interview with Classic Rock<\/a>. \u201cThe lyrics were stupid. We didn\u2019t know what we were talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n The single bombed; Cooper says the band \u201cnever really expected anything to happen with it.\u201d<\/p>\n But in 1972, after the band established its brand of shock rock with hits like \u201cI\u2019m Eighteen\u201d and \u201cBe My Lover,\u201d Cooper found himself embroiled in controversy when parents and educators came together to demand radio stations ban his latest single, \u201cSchool’s Out,\u201d believing it encouraged rebellious behavior.<\/p>\n Amused by the firestorm he’d unintentionally created, Cooper was inspired to poke his finger in the eye of another institution: American government. And why not? It was, after all, an election year, and no less than “Tricky Dicky” Nixon was running for re-elestion.<\/p>\n \u201cI decided to write a song as a general poke at politicians,\u201d Cooper explains. \u201cAnd in America at that time, we had Richard Nixon, who was the ultimate target. Your president is always a focal point for satire, but Nixon \u2014 you couldn\u2019t satirize him enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides, as Cooper said in a 2024 interview, \u201cthe idea of Alice, the scourge of the entire world, being president was just too good.\u201d<\/p>\n Cooper made himself the epitome of a grotesque politician, supplementing his trademark ghoul make-up with the show-biz trappings of a cane, a top hat and a cape. He even included a bogus $1 billion dollar bill bearing a photo of himself in Billion Dollar Babies.<\/p>\n #alicecooper ” #elected ” 1972 – YouTube Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n The idea to reprise \u201cReflected\u201d came from producer Bob Ezrin, whom the band had worked with since 1971’s Love It to Death. <\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cBob was our guru,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cAnd he loved ‘Reflected.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n The cover for the single “Elected.” (Image credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n Ezrin wanted the song to be reborn \u201c100 times bigger.\u201d To achieve that, he had the band perform it with what Cooper calls \u201ca tip of the hat to the Who and those big Pete Townshend chords.\u201d Coincidentally, Who drummer Keith Moon was present when the song was recorded at Morgan Studios in London. (And it wasn’t the only song on the record to channel the band, either<\/a>.)<\/p>\n T.Rex’s Marc Bolan and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr would also pop by during the sessions for Billion Dollar Babies, while Donovan<\/a> provided backing vocals on the title track. Steve Hunter, who featured on Aerosmith’s cover of “Train Kept A-Rollin’,”<\/a> also provided a host of guitar solos across the record.<\/p>\n \u201cElected,” however, was strictly a Cooper band special with Ezrin, their unofficial sixth member, adding the all-important finishing touches.<\/p>\n \u201cBob knew how to get your records played on the radio,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cAnd when he added on the orchestration at the end of ‘Elected,’ it really did sound like a big brass band playing at somebody\u2019s election rally. The song became so theatrical, and that was what Alice Cooper was all about.\u201d<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n The icing on the cake, though, came after a brief chance encounter with John Lennon.<\/p>\n \u201cRight after we cut \u2018Elected,\u2019\u201d Cooper recalls, \u201cI was at our record company office in New York, and John Lennon walked past me. He said, \u2018Great record, Alice!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018Thank you\u2019. And then he took about three more steps, turned around, and said, \u2018Paul would have done it better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The song became so theatrical, and that was what Alice Cooper was all about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Alice Cooper<\/p>\n \u201cI looked at him and went, \u2018Well of course he would \u2014 he\u2019s Paul McCartney!\u2019,\u201d Cooper retorted.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I was so thrilled. I mean, come on \u2014 John Lennon loved my song. It doesn\u2019t get any better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n (Cooper and Lennon would soon be spending time together, when Lennon moved out to Los Angeles during his Lost Weekend<\/a>.)<\/p>\n In related news, the Alice Cooper Band has just reunited for one last album<\/a>, and though the void left by the late Glen Buxton had to be filled, the guitarist still features on the record, thanks to a rediscovered guitar riff<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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