Kane Roberts recalls writing song “Take It Off” and going to see a movie with Paul Stanley

Kane Roberts recalls writing song “Take It Off” and going to see a movie with Paul Stanley

Former Alice Cooper guitarist Kane Roberts was recently interviewed by Metal Mike for the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast. Roberts co-wrote and played guitar on the songs off Alice Cooper‘s comeback albums Constrictor (1986) and Raise Your Fist And Yell (1987).

Roberts was asked about writing the song “Take It Off” with Paul Stanley that ended up on KISS‘ record Revenge (1992) to which he indicated (as transcribed by the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast with slight edits):

“Bob Ezrin called me up and asked if I wanted to write with Paul Stanley. Of course! Paul is a very sweet guy. He’s from New York, he’s a little bit of a wise ass and a little bit of a diva. Writing with him was extremely focused. It was a great experience for me. I played that opening riff and he was like “That’s it”! Ezrin invited me down to the studio and I was there when Bruce [Kulick] did the solo. What a fucking great solo, the guy is such a great guitar player. Working with Paul was amazing. Now this will make everyone who’s a KISS fan jealous. Paul called me up after and wanted to know if I wanted to catch a movie! We went to see “Bill and Ted” together. I got to see a movie with Paul Stanley…. How fucking awesome!”

With respect to his time with Alice Cooper, Roberts stated: “I went to New York City to meet with Alice, Shep Gordon, and Bob Ezrin. These people changed culture with their work. I wasn’t really nervous, more excited than anything. I walked in the room and Alice and I became best friends instantly. It’s hard to explain. It’s what he needed at that point, because he was coming out of a difficult time being in rehab. We just started writing together. I told him if you are going to reemerge on the scene, it can’t be an oldies but goodies thing. It’s gotta be a nuclear version of you. You have to come out and rip the shit with the first chords of your album and playing live.

We did “Constrictor” with Beau Hill at the Record Plant in New York City. I hired Kip Winger at that point to play bass, so a lot of good things were happening. We wanted to use a real drummer, but Beau was pretty busy working on a lot of projects at that point. So he got this drum machine guy, who was amazing, but stylistically I think it’s a little off. It made “Constrictor” sound a little too studio. As time went on, Alice and I really started evolving as a writing team. We were basically living together. It was during that “Nightmare Returns” where we really hit our stride. If you watch the video from that tour, you see these young musicians playing the intro….and when Alice busts through that cage door, it’s like the commander is here. It was a great way for Alice to bust back on to the scene. That was our goal. We became this perfectly tuned machine and it shows on “Raise Your Fist and Yell“. We hit the ground running and kicked the shit out of that album. Alice and I were happy with both records.”

You can listen to the interview with Kane Roberts on the 80’s Glam Metalcast podcast below:

Alice Cooper‘s “Freedom” video (from Raise Your Fist And Yell album):

KISS‘ “Take It Off” video: