Music
Alice Cooper had the rare opportunity to hang out with John Lennon and Harry Nilsson, but the pair’s arguments would often get heated
John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were good friends who often got drunk with one another, especially during Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” period. One person who the pair also spent time with was Alice Cooper. Cooper recalled hanging out with the two musicians and having to play referee between the two, as they loved getting into fights with each other.
Alice Cooper would break up fights between John Lennon and Harry Nilsson
During Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” in the early 1970s, the former Beatle had a few public outbursts with Nilsson. The pair would get drunk and cause a scene. One example of this occurred at a nightclub in Las Vegas where Lennon got ejected for asking singer Frankie Valli to perform a lewd act on stage.
Lennon and Nilsson often hung out with the Hollywood Vampires, a drinking club with several stars who stayed out in Hollywood after hours. One person who was often there was Alice Cooper, who recalled having to “referee” John Lennon and Harry Nilsson when their arguments almost got out of hand.
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“The original Hollywood Vampires was a drinking club, a last-man-standing kinda thing,” Cooper explained to NME. “You’d go over to the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood every night and there would be myself, Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees, [Elton John co-writer] Bernie Taupin, Keith Moon and Harry Nilsson. If John Lennon was in town, he’d always be hanging out with Harry, so he’d come by too. Everything became an argument: if John said white, Harry would say black; if John said Republican, Harry would say Democrat. I was the guy in the middle, trying to referee these ridiculous arguments they would have.”
Lennon would try to get Cooper to discuss politics, but that wasn’t Cooper’s avenue. The “Imagine” singer was passionate about his political beliefs, so it’s not surprising that his arguments would get heated.
Lennon was a fan of Cooper’s music, even though it stayed away from politics
John Lennon wasn’t afraid of sharing brutally honest opinions about other artists, but he thought highly of Alice Cooper’s work. In an interview with Kerrang magazine, Cooper said Lennon’s favorite song was “Elected” from his 1972 album School’s Out.
“John Lennon’s favorite song was ‘Elected’, which he used to talk about, and that gave us some credibility,” Cooper stated. “I do think that the music was overshadowed by the theatrics, but that didn’t keep us from trying to write great songs.”
Lennon typically preferred music that made a statement, but Cooper said he tried to stay out of politics. He does contribute to humanitarian efforts, but he doesn’t see that as being political.
“I don’t like to mix politics and rock ’n’ roll,” he told The Guardian. “I don’t look at Bono, Sting, and Bruce Springsteen as political. I look at them as being humanitarian. I’ll contribute to anything humanitarian. Helping people who can’t help themselves. But when musicians are telling people who to vote for, I think that’s an abuse of power. You’re telling your fans not to think for themselves, just to think like you. Rock ’n’ roll is about freedom – and that’s not freedom.”
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