Dennis Dunaway

Dennis Dunaway
Born	December 9, 1946(1946-12-09) Cottage Grove, Oregon
Genres	Rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Associated acts	Alice Cooper

Dennis Dunaway (born December 9, 1946 in Cottage Grove, Oregon) was the bass guitarist for The Spiders (Pre-Alice Cooper), The Earwigs (Pre-Alice Cooper), Alice Cooper group from 1969–1974.^[1] He co-wrote such hits as "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out".

Dunaway's bass playing displayed varying influences including Latin ("Below Your Means"), Indian Raga ("Gutter Cat") and Jazzy Blues ("Crazy Little Child", "Blue Turk") along with many other genres. He incorporated all of these musical styles to help create a sound that could support the theatrical performance of the "on-stage" Alice Cooper persona. He had a Gibson EB-0 short scale bass, modified with a Fender Precision Bass split pickup in the treble position, that he spray painted green and called "the frog". He can be seen with it on the back cover of the Love it to Death album. He used this bass exclusively in the making of the original Alice Cooper group's first three albums. It currently is on loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dennis would in time switch to a Fender Jazz bass. He had three.

'Billion Dollar Babies' was the name of the band founded by Michael Bruce, Mike Marconi, Dennis Dunaway, Bob Dolin, and Neal Smith after they split from Alice Cooper in 1974.^[2] This band was embroiled in a legal suit over the usage of the name. They only released one album, 1977's Battleaxe, before disbanding.

Dennis is married to Cindy Dunaway, Alice Cooper's original costume designer who helped create the Shock Rock fashion style. Cindy is the sister of original Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith. Their oldest daughter, Renée Dunaway, is also a musician and fronts the band Jetsetter.

Dennis performs on Alice Cooper's Welcome 2 My Nightmare. On July 1, 2010 when talking about the newly retitled album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, Alice said in a Radio Metal interview: "We’ll put some of the original people on it and add some new people, I’m very happy with working with Bob (Ezrin) again.” Other names mentioned were: Slash, Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, Steven Hunter and Dick Wagner. Dunaway and Smith wrote two songs and perform, along with Michael Bruce, on three tracks on the album, released in September, 2011.

Dennis currently plays live with his bands, Blue Coup and 5th Avenue Vampires. Dennis Dunaway and Blue Coupe's new single "You (Like Vampires)", written by John Elwood Cook, is nominated for the Best Rock Song Grammy. The song can be heard on ITunes or Pledgemusic.

2010 album release

In April 2010, 5th Avenue Vampires released their debut album, Drawing Blood

Artists

• Joe Von T - Vocals
• Dennis Dunaway - Bass
• Ritchie Scarlet- Guitar
• Russ Wilson - Drums

Track listing

1. Cravin a Drink
2. Light in My Head
3. She'll Lie
4. Psycho Sexual
5. Vampires of 5th Avenue
6. Pleasure and Pain
7. Dream Police
8. Hell O Insanity
9. Fear Me
10. Broken Ways

2006 album release

In September 2006, The Dennis Dunaway Project released their debut album Bones from the Yard.^[3] It is available on iTunes, their website and at shows.

Artists

• Dennis Dunaway - Bass, vocals,
• Rick Tedesco- Guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Russ Wilson - Drums
• Ed Burns - Keyboards, vocals
• Ian Hunter - Piano on "Little Kid (With A Big, Big Gun)," Background Vocals on "Me and My Boys," Theramin on "Subway"
• Joe Bouchard - More Cowbell on "Little Kid (With A Big, Big Gun)," Shakers on "Subway"
• Patty Gesmondi - Shakers on "Subway"
• Gary Blu - Saxophones on "Me and My Boys," and "Home Sweet Home"
• John DaSilva - Trumpet on "Me and My Boys," and "Home Sweet Home"
• Jessica Williams - Moans of pleasure on "Red Room"
• Mike Tedesco - Saxophone on "Home Sweet Home"
• Stephanie Tedesco - Help Me! Vocals on "On the Mountain"

Track listing

1. Kandahar (Dunaway, Tedesco, Burns, Wilson)
2. Me and My Boys (Dunaway)
3. Man Is a Beast (Dunaway, Tedesco)
4. Red Room (Dunaway, Tedesco)
5. Little Kid (With AaBig, Big Gun) (Dunaway)
6. New Generation (Dunaway, Tedesco)
7. Needle in the Red (Dunaway, Tedesco, Burns, Wilson, Hunter)
8. Stalker (Dunaway, Tedesco, Wilson)
9. Satan’s Sister (Dunaway)
10. On the Mountain (Dunaway, Tedesco)
11. Subway (Dunaway)
12. Home Sweet Home (Dunaway, Tedesco)

References

1. ^ Dan Haggerty (2010-02-05). "The Mosh Pit 2.05.10: The History Of Metal - 1971". 411 mania. http://www.411mania.com/music/columns/129010. Retrieved 2010-02-02. "A group called Alice Cooper comprising Vincent Furnier on vocals and harmonica, Glen Buxton on lead guitar, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar and keyboards, Dennis Dunaway on bass, and Neal Smith on drums would get heir start in 1969 but would struggle until 1971 to enter the lexicon of rock and roll. And for the record Vincent would be the singers real name, for a number of years he would be surprised when people would call him Alice simply because that was the name of the band. It wasn't until 1975, when he assumed control of the band as the only original member, that he would took the name for himself." 
2. ^ Alex Parachini (1975-03-21). "Alice Cooper's image fading". Anchorage Daily News. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=gD8dAAAAIBAJ&sjid=26YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3132,2262079&dq=dennis-dunaway+billion-dollar-babies&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 
3. ^ "Dennis Dunaway, ex Alice Cooper, lança disco". whiplash.net. 2006-06-17. http://whiplash.net/materias/news_907/044366-dennisdunaway.html. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 

External links

• "Dennis Dunaway website". http://www.dennisdunaway.com. 
• "5th Avenue Vampires website". http://www.5thavenuevampires.com. 
• "Dennis Dunaway Project myspace page". http://www.myspace.com/dennisdunawayproject. 

Persondata
Name	Dunaway, Dennis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1946-12-09
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death