Guitarist Vinnie Moore explains why he parted ways with Alice Cooper in 1991

Guitarist Vinnie Moore explains why he parted ways with Alice Cooper in 1991

UFO guitarist and solo artist Vinnie Moore was recently interviewed by Andrew Daly for Vinyl Writer Music.

Moore was asked how he ended up joining Alice Cooper‘s band more than 30 years ago to which he replied: “I was in the studio recording Meltdown and got a call asking about playing on Hey Stoopid (1991), which Alice was recording at the time. They were having a bunch of guest guitarists play on it. They already had Slash, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai, as well as others. It was an honor to be asked to be a part of that. I went up to Bearsville Studios, in upstate New York, to record the two tracks I was on, “Dirty Dreams,” and “Hurricane Years.” I played rhythms and leads, and it was all done in half a day. We all went for dinner, and then, I drove home. Weeks after that, I heard that they wanted to have me play on the tour.”

In terms of his recollections of recording two of the songs for Alice Cooper‘s album Hey Stoopid album with Alice Cooper, Moore stated: “I remember my amp shutting off while recording, but luckily it was just a blown fuse. When I met Alice, he and Stef Burns were playing a game that they had invented on a ping pong table called “Scud Ball.” It involved plastic cups on the table and trying to get the ball to land in them. “Scud” came from the Scud Missile. So, one of my first conversations with Alice was regarding the rules of Scud ball. It was very cool to work with Peter Collins, who was producing, as well as Paul Northfield, who ended up mixing two of my records long after.”

Moore was asked why he didn’t stick around with Alice Cooper as the ’90s progressed to which he indicated: “I had recorded Meltdown, and we had planned a big tour for that, which I hadn’t really done with the earlier records. When the thing with Alice happened, it changed things a little. It all looked like a perfect plan because I would be out there on the road all over the USA with Cooper when my record was coming out. But then, Alice’s tour plans changed, and they decided to go to Europe instead of doing the US. My record label told me, “There is no point in putting out my record if you’re going to be away in Europe for six months.” They planned to delay the release. I had finished with Meltdown in January, and the label was scheduled to release the album in October, which I was already not very happy about. If I stayed with Alice, it would have been held back for another half year. I just couldn’t do that. Also, opening for Rush became a possibility, and that was something I really wanted to do.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Vinnie Moore at Vinyl Writer Music‘s website.