No song better represents Alice Cooper's emergence on the world stage than "Elected," the 1972 single from his sixth — and best-selling — album, Billion Dollar Babies. Basking in the fame and notoriety of his previous hit, "School's Out," he used the moment to remake himself from a shock rocker to a proto-punk provocateur, taking on the American establishment and the traditions it holds dearest. Small wonder Sex Pistols singer John Lydon considers Cooper one of his musical heroes.
But before it was a sharp piece of political satire, "Elected" was "Reflected," the group's 1969 debut single, taken from their first album, Pretties for You. The band was still in its psychedelic phase — a period that briefly saw them sharing living space with Pink Floyd — and "Reflected" was filled with nonsensical lyrics.
“It was that fake, quasi-spiritual '60s thing,” Cooper says of the song in a new interview with Classic Rock. “The lyrics were stupid. We didn’t know what we were talking about.”
The single bombed; Cooper says the band “never really expected anything to happen with it.”
But in 1972, after the band established its brand of shock rock with hits like “I’m Eighteen” and “Be My Lover,” Cooper found himself embroiled in controversy when parents and educators came together to demand radio stations ban his latest single, “School's Out,” believing it encouraged rebellious behavior.
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.
“I decided to write a song as a general poke at politicians,” Cooper explains. “And 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 — you couldn’t satirize him enough.”
Besides, as Cooper said in a 2024 interview, “the idea of Alice, the scourge of the entire world, being president was just too good.”
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.
The idea to reprise “Reflected” came from producer Bob Ezrin, whom the band had worked with since 1971's Love It to Death.
“Bob was our guru,” Cooper says. “And he loved 'Reflected.'”
Ezrin wanted the song to be reborn “100 times bigger.” To achieve that, he had the band perform it with what Cooper calls “a tip of the hat to the Who and those big Pete Townshend chords.” 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.)
T.Rex's Marc Bolan and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr would also pop by during the sessions for Billion Dollar Babies, while Donovan provided backing vocals on the title track. Steve Hunter, who featured on Aerosmith's cover of "Train Kept A-Rollin'," also provided a host of guitar solos across the record.
“Elected," however, was strictly a Cooper band special with Ezrin, their unofficial sixth member, adding the all-important finishing touches.
“Bob knew how to get your records played on the radio,” Cooper says. “And when he added on the orchestration at the end of 'Elected,' it really did sound like a big brass band playing at somebody’s election rally. The song became so theatrical, and that was what Alice Cooper was all about.”
The icing on the cake, though, came after a brief chance encounter with John Lennon.
“Right after we cut ‘Elected,’” Cooper recalls, “I was at our record company office in New York, and John Lennon walked past me. He said, ‘Great record, Alice!’
“I said, ‘Thank you’. And then he took about three more steps, turned around, and said, ‘Paul would have done it better.’”
The song became so theatrical, and that was what Alice Cooper was all about.”
— Alice Cooper
“I looked at him and went, ‘Well of course he would — he’s Paul McCartney!’,” Cooper retorted.
“But I was so thrilled. I mean, come on — John Lennon loved my song. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
(Cooper and Lennon would soon be spending time together, when Lennon moved out to Los Angeles during his Lost Weekend.)
In related news, the Alice Cooper Band has just reunited for one last album, 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.
Cooper has also spoken to Guitar Player about the band’s early days and running the L.A scene with the Doors.
