He was one of the founding members of “The Happenings” who enjoyed “hit” records with “See You In September” and “I Got Rhythm”.
He’s been a Tour Manager, a Road Manager, a Personal Manager, a Musician, a Songwriter, a Producer, and Agent and he can now add Author to his resume.
He put together a book of his memoirs titled “Rock ‘n Roll Warrior: My Misadventures with Alice Cooper, Prince, George Clinton, Living Color, The Runaways And More”
(Sunset Boulevard Books, 8033 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90046)
The gentleman we are talking about is Mr. David Libert.
Q – For me, I can relate to your book. I lived through that era. I talked to quite a few of the people you mention in your book and seen them in concert. But, would a kid in high school today be able to relate to any of the things you write about? Have you talked to any high school kids who have read the book?
A – No, not really. I’m not sure what it’s like to go to high school today. I live in Yucca Valley. I suppose that there are kids with musical aspirations. When I was a kid in high school I hung out with guys who used to like to harmonize. We used to listen to vocal groups, singing groups, Doo-Wop groups. That was sort of our menu of music at the time. That was the genesis of it happening actually. It just went from that to hanging out in the parking lot of this restaurant that we frequented a lot. We really weren’t thinking of any musical aspirations, about being in a group. We did it because it was fun and mainly because it seemed a great way to meet girls. It wasn’t until we started to get kind of good at it that we began to realize that we harmonize as well as if not better than almost all of these groups we hear on the radio. Maybe we should take a more serious approach to all of this. That was really what happened. The kid in high school today? I don’t know how it works. I got involved with this young singer, this girl, who said, David go to Spotify and listen to the top 20 and get back to me. Tell me what you think. So, I listen to the top 20. I called her back and she said. Did you notice that of those 20 songs there wasn’t one single guitar? And, in all likelihood all those drums were drum machines as well. It made me realize that it’s completely different today. She was aware of it but, I certainly wasn’t. So, I don’t know what advice to offer anybody in high school that has a desire to be in music except to say whatever your dreams are, be unrelenting. Follow your dreams. If you want it badly enough chances are it’ll happen.
Q – When you were growing up Rock ‘n Roll and Rock was a Big Deal. Today there are just too many distractions. You write in your book there are 250,000 bands in America looking for fame and fortune. Where did that figure come from?
A – I think somebody at Warner Bros. told me. Now, were talking about late 60s, early 70s. Probably in early 70s is when I heard that. I think what they said to me was out of those 250,000 maybe 1000 get signed and out of that 1000 maybe 100 make it. So were talking about pretty long odds. and this was in the early 70s. Those odds today have to be exponentially worse. Maybe it’s 1 million bands or whatever. It’s a lot tougher to make it today I think then it was then. As tough as it was to make it then I think it’s a lot harder today.
Q – Yes, because there’s no system in place. There are no record companies anymore.
A – Right.
Q – Before The Happenings you had a band called the Dynamic Del-Aires that played at The Peppermint Lounge. Did you ever see any famous people come through those doors?
A – No, because we played in the afternoon. We were the Sunday afternoon house band. The place was just the raging club in the evenings Chubby Checker was there at that time and then Joey Dee and The Starlighters. We weren’t there at their hottest hours. We were there in its heyday. I think I mentioned in the book there might have been lines around the corner for Chubby Checker. There were no lines really for The Dynamic Del-Aires. But, we thought we hit the big time because we were playing the “hottest” club in the country, The Peppermint Lounge. There were still plenty of people that filled the place. Mostly tourists from out of town that simply wanted to be inside the famous venue. But no, I didn’t meet any famous people at The Peppermint Lounge because we were the Sunday afternoon band. What famous person would go there when they could go see Chubby Checker at night?
Q – What year would that have been? He was “hot” in ‘61,’62.
A – Yeah. Something like that. He had the Twist. It was all the rage at that moment.
Q – When you played was that in all ages show? Did they serve liquor?
A – I don’t know. The Dynamic Del-Aires had this fast talking, cigar chomping manager who I’m not even sure if I was allowed to play there if I was under 18. But, somehow rules are bent in those days. Also, the drinking age in New York City at that time was 18 whereas in most places in the country it was 21. So, it was sort of loosey-goosey at that time.
Q – Which worked to your advantage.
A – Yeah. Absolutely.
Q – You mentioned in your book there was a radio station in Syracuse, New York that started playing “See You In September” in May of 1966. Do you remember what that station was? Would it have been WOLF or WNDR?
A – No. The station I actually remember was the first to play it was WBCN in Boston. The story was we didn’t really want to put out “See You In September.” We recorded two other songs. We really wanted this other song to be the single. And Mickey Eichner who was the Head of Promotion for Jubilee Records, the distributor of our label absolutely insisted we release “See You In September.” He said it’s a seasonal song. If we don’t release it now it’s never going to be released and it’s never going to be a “hit”. He basically just beat us into submission. He was unrelenting. That’s how “See You In September” got released. Then when it got released he sent out 3000 promotional copies to every radio station that had a top 40 format for their playlist and not a single station decided to play the record. We thought it was a disaster. His job I suppose was on the line. So, he called in a favor at WBCN. He said, “please just give this record three weeks of decent rotation. You got it do me a favor.” He groveled and bagged and they said okay. So, that first week nothing much. Then the second week a bit of a trickle. The third week the sales were decent enough for WBCN to decide to continue to play it and up the rotation to heavy. And while all this was going on, Mickey, the promotion guy was calling places like Syracuse and New Haven and Buffalo and Albany, Schenectady areas. Hey! WBCN in Boston is on it! You guys don’t want to be left behind. So, he was able to pick up a lot of stations all over New England using WBCN as ammunition to get them to play it as well.
Q – Dick Clark was paying you $300 a night and you had a number one single on the charts.
A – Yeah.
Q – Were you the headliners of the show? If not what was he paying the headliners?
A – Oh, who knows? Lou Christie was on that tour. The Capitals were on that tour. They had a song called “Coal Jerk”. It was maybe seven or eight different bands on that tour. Maybe 8 different groups and everybody got to play three or four songs. And there was a backup band. We were a vocal band so we needed a backup band. And here is an interesting thing Gary that isn’t in the book, the backup band was called The Elves and the lead singer of that band was Ronnie James Dio.
Q – Right. Ronnie James Dio from Cortland, New York.
A – Yes. And we developed a friendship Ronnie and I that lasted all the years until the end of his life. When I moved to LA he was already living there. What a sweetheart of a guy. But, I thought that was an interesting fact. Everybody in the band was really tiny like Ronnie was. And they dressed like Elves.
Q – I was surprised to read in your book that William Morris agreed to take The Happenings on. They were primarily known for booking people like Frank Sinatra. Who was booking you at William Morris?
A – You would be surprised to know that the head of the music department was Steve Leber, from Leber Krebs and he was very forward thinking. Our guy was Al DiMarino. So, there was a Rock Department there. One of the reasons they wanted us is they could package us with other bands sort of like us like Jay and The Americans. They had the Buckingham’s. They had bands like that. They had Otis Redding. So, they were pretty contemporary in terms of their roster. Yeah, they had Frank Sinatra. They had a Nightclub Department. They realized Rock ‘n Roll was the way to go. David Geffen was one of the agents there at the time. He was an agent trainee there at the time we became clients of William Morris.
Q – What song of yours did Gerry And The Pacemakers record?
A – It was a song written by my songwriter partner Bob Miranda. One of the few songs he wrote by himself. It was decided by the producer of Gerry And The Pacemakers to record it. It was released as their new US single. What is the significance of this? The producer of Gerry And The Pacemakers was a guy by the name of George Martin. Who also just happened to be the producer of a band you may have heard of called the Beatles.
Q – Of course!
A – So they really put us on the map people noticed that we existed.
Q – And Gerry And The Pacemakers were actually the first group signed to a management deal by Brian Epstein, before the Beatles. Did you know that?
A – No, I didn’t. But, it makes sense that George Martin was the producer for both Gerry And The Pacemakers and the Beatles.
Q – Here you are in the “hit” group like The Happenings and you became a Tour Manager. Wasn’t that a come down for you to be in a support position for someone else?
A – I didn’t feel that way at all. By the time I decided to leave the happenings there were a lot of reasons. Mostly creative differences in the band. I had been managing the band for quite a while, almost right after that Dick Clark tour. (Laughs). I took over the management rains. I started to realize I could manage other bands and do other things in the business. I was pretty sure Gary that I couldn’t be a Happening forever. So, I decided to learn as much and acquire as much knowledge and experience as I possibly could to set myself up for life on the other side of the microphone. By the time I went from artists to music business person I had pretty much made up my mind that that’s what I wanted to do. I had my experience of being a musician and playing in front of a bunch of people. Of course that was exhilarating as you can imagine. But, I suppose I didn’t have that rage within me that I just couldn’t live without it. I was very happy to live without it. In some manner it was a lot more natural and relaxing, not that there’s anything relaxing about the music business. (Laughs). I just enjoyed being on the outside looking in rather than the inside looking out.
Q – As Charlie Daniels father told him “Find something you like and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
A – Its true. If you love what you do it doesn’t feel like work at all.
Q – Before your time with Alice Cooper, the group, they went through quite a few road managers. I realize you were the tour manager, but did you get a lot of heat from the guys in the group? Were they hard on you? Did they really push you?
A – Well, I suppose one of the qualities I brought to the table was, I was aware of the last tour manager that they had. In the end they simply ate him up and spit up the pieces. So, I knew going in that those were and if I was going to survive I had to be even tougher. So, I just made up my mind; there was a couple of things I decided. It also took a minute because I remember my first night in Atlanta, Georgia, my first day on the job, I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do. The legendary Shep Gordon, Alice Cooper manager said, well, just observe. See what’s going on. You’ll get the hang of it David. My first impression was 30 or 40 crazy looking people crawling all over the equipment and gear like giant insects. I said, oh, my, God what did I get myself into?! After a few days it all started to fall into place and I realized if I can make life for these people better on the road then they’ve ever had it, then they would see the value in me and they would be glad that I was there. I also had to stand up to them. Technically they were my bosses but Shep said, don’t look at it that way. I’m your boss. Look at it that way and you be able to stand up to them. Actually, it turned out that everybody that works for Alice Cooper was extremely professional, knew their jobs really well and I supported them in every way I could. Hey!-It turned out just to be a fantastic job working for one of the biggest bands in the world and traveling everywhere in private planes, selling out arenas and stadiums across the entire globe. I should also mention that it was a lot of fun, a lot of partying, a lot of shenanigans, a lot of camaraderie. We were all in it together. It was one big family. I seem to have fit in well and it was basically my responsibility to make things run as smoothly as possible and I think it did. It was a pretty well oiled machine. It functioned well.
Q – I just heard that Alice Cooper will be third on the bill, followed by Motley Crue and Def Leppard will be the headliner. Motley crue was probably inspired by Alice Cooper.
A – They were.
Q – And Alice Cooper probably had more “hits” then Def Leppard. Why would Alice Cooper agree to be third on the bill as a special guest?
A – I noticed that as well. There is a question at least in my mind, maybe you know better about this than I do Gary. Is it possible that Alice is simply going to do a walk on?
Q – I don’t know.
A – I don’t know either.
Q – Do a couple of songs and say thank you!
A – Yeah. Something like that. Maybe he’ll come out in the middle of the Def Leppard set and do four songs, I really don’t know. That’s what crossed my mind when I saw that lineup. I’m not saying that what it is. Listen, Shep Gordon is a genius. He’s not going to do anything that’s going to degrade Alice Cooper. I know one of his philosophies is “never play second to anybody.” So, there’s a twist to it all. That’s what I thought.
Q – Let’s talk about the genius of Shep Gordon. Before he became a manager, he had no management experience. I don’t want to say he was a drug dealer, but, he was selling marijuana.
A – Yeah. He was a drug dealer.
Q – So, how would that experience translate to dealing with a record company like Warner Bros. and reviewing complex record contracts? Was it Shep’s business partner Joe Greenberg who was a lawyer who knew what to look for in a record contract?
A – Joe wasn’t a lawyer. Shep grew up in Long Island and went to college in Buffalo, New York along with Joe Greenberg. They did a couple of things. They ran a card game. They may have promoted a concert or two. When Shep moves to Los Angeles somebody said to him, hey, you’re Jewish. You should be a Rock ‘n Roll manager. I think it was Jimi Hendrix who told him that. He was inspired when he saw Alice Cooper by the fact that people were so disgusted by what they were seeing that they all walked out. (Laughs). And Shep says, “wow! If I can harness that kind of power this band could be really big.” (Laughs). Here’s a guy who thought outside the box.
Q – That was the genius of his thinking right there.
A – He saw that as a force. And, it was true. People used to go there to hate him (Alice Cooper). Listen, I learned is 99% of everything I learned about the business from Shep Gordon; the way you promote a band, everything really. So much so was my knowledge acquired by working for Shep that I was actually able to have a somewhat successful career after I left Alice Cooper as a booking agent, as a manager, and the producer. So, I owe the guy a lot.
Q – I looked up Alice Cooper’s net worth and its $50 million. Gene Simmons of KISS is worth $350 million. Alice Cooper was at the forefront of Theatrical Rock. Shouldn’t Alice be worth as much as Gene Simmons if not more? Did someone drop the ball? Why isn’t Alice Cooper as rich?
Q – Well, that’s not necessarily how he works. I think Alice had a period in his career where he wasn’t making any money. He fell into despair in the 80s. It was a very tough for Alice. He ended up with nothing. It wasn’t anybody’s fault but his own. His wife left him. Of course she came back. He pulled it together. He’s been sober now for decades. Shep stood by him all that time. But it wasn’t easy for Shep at all. Somehow or another they were able to rebuild his career and he’s as famous as he’s ever been. He’s an icon today. Why doesn’t he have his much money as Gene Simmons? Well, I can only guess. Gene Simmons is a very entrepreneurial type of guy with TV shows and all kinds of deals in things of that nature. It’s hard to base somebody’s words on what you think they should be worth. There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that people do that end up with his net worth. I don’t think Gene Simmons ever had a 10 year down. Like Alice Cooper had and I think that had a lot to do with it. If Alice is worth $50 million I think he’ll be able to pay his electric bill.
Q – Yes, he will. He’s able to keep a roof over his head.
A – Yeah.
Q – You write in your book that the guys in the Alice Cooper band were getting fed up with the theatrics of the show and felt it detracted from them being taken seriously as musicians.
A – Yeah.
Q – Then you write “There were no theatrics when someone listened to and Alice Cooper album. It was just the music.” This is actually the point I was trying to make in the late 70s to a concert promoter, Mark Puma, about the record “Beth”. When people listened to Peter Criss of KISS singing that song, it was about the song. No one saw the theatrics a good song is a good song is a good song. You would say what to that?
A – Without the song you have nothing. Everything is built on that. The truth is, with all the props and the greatness of the Alice Cooper show and other bands as well, Alice Cooper’s music did hold up astonishingly well without any props or special effects. I’m a great believer in the song. Without the song you have no career in my opinion unless you have a great songwriter. Who in this music world has ever been successful without fabulous songs? I think hardly anybody, if anybody at all.
Q – What made Jon Podell, Alice’s Booking Agent more decadent then the artist he booked? I didn’t understand that statement?
A – (Laughs). Johnny Podell was the guy who got me the job with Alice Cooper. We were good friends prior to that. Johnny Podell is a unique character in the music business. First of all, he’s probably the best agent that’s ever existed. He can talk anybody into anything. That’s why I refer to him in my book as “the world’s greatest asker.” He can ask for the most unreasonable of all things and make it sound perfectly reasonable. That was one of his great talents. He was a party guy and I suppose when you’re out there every night… He had his own Rolls-Royce. He’d be up for a couple of days. He’d probably wreck his Rolls-Royce but, he’d simply hire a limo and have somebody else drive him around. And then after a couple of days the limo driver would say “Johnny, I got a go home. I got a wife and kids.” Johnny would invariably stay up for days at a time. He was just a lot of fun. So, if you were a Rock Star and you found yourself a New York City with nothing to do, you’d called Johnny Podell “because you’d want to hang out with him. Johnny Podell was his own party. All of the famous rock stars wanted to hang out with him. I think I mentioned in the book, more than once I had been in a room with Johnny, Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart and Robert Plant, Leslie West and maybe some other people and Johnny Podell would be the absolute undisputed center of attention with all of those famous people. He was simply more fun and he even looked as much of a rock star as they did. He had long hair. He was a handsome guy. He never took off his sunglasses. You just wanted to hang out with Johnny Podell. You know you were going to have a great time.
Q – You called Toby Mamis an in-house publicist for Alice Cooper. I read an interview with Toby Mamis where he said he was co-managing Alice along with Shep. So, was he a Co-manager or a Publicist?
A – Well, he went from in-house Publicist to having his own publicity firm to going back to Shep’s management company Alive Enterprises. And now, yes, he is the Co-manager of Alice Cooper and basically takes care of all the Alice Cooper details. So, it was a progression from Publicist to being Alice’s Co-manager. I mean if I need something that’s Alice Cooper related, I certainly don’t call Shep. I call Toby and I get what I need.
Q – You write that Glen Buxton did not play guitar onstage for the “Muscle Of Love” tour. Those guitar parts were played by Mick Mashbir and Bob Dolin. Glenn’s amp was turned down. Now see, I’ve heard the exact opposite. So, did he or didn’t he play guitar on that tour?
A -Well, I suppose there were things that he could play. The sound engineers new what to tune-up, but, he certainly was dysfunctional as he could be and still be on stage. He was a lovable guy, but, he was also a musical embarrassment because it got to the point where he was incapable of remembering his parts and doing his parts right and his amp was turned all the way down for most of the show. I shouldn’t say the amp. The amp was turned up so he could hear himself play. The microphone on his amp was the thing that was controlled by the House guys. On a big stage, in a big arena what you really hear is the guitar through the PA system, not really through the little amplifier on stage or even if it’s a big amp. So, it was the microphone that was controlled the output of what people heard in the audience. And that was controlled by the sound engineer who was instructed to keep the night down.
Q – After the “Muscle Of Love” tour there was no more Alice Cooper group. Alice went on to do his own “Welcome To My Nightmare” tour. I realize that Michael Bruce was a songwriter, but did the other guys in the group collect royalties going forward from there time in the band?
A – Of course they did. If you recorded on an album you continue to get royalties. If the group changes you still get those royalties. It’s just like I still get royalties from “The Happenings” recordings and it’s been quite a while since I was a Happening. Michael Bruce if he co-wrote songs with Alice still gets his writer royalties. But, that never changes Gary. If you wrote something, you wrote it. You get paid whether you’re in the band or not after that.
Q -On page 95 you write about the cost of sending a “groupie” back to her home city and if one of the roadies didn’t pay up after being with her, he was fired. If you fired that guy, was there a plentiful supply of guys you could call up and say “Come out on tour with us”?
A – What do you think Gary? You get a call if you’re a guitar tech and you’re working for a small band? Would you like to be a guitar tech on an Alice Cooper tour? Who’s going to say no? It was easy.
Q – Are Rock Musicians and Singers meant to be performing 50 years after they started? And, I’m not necessarily talking about Alice Cooper. Paul McCartney is stills touring, Mick Jagger. Pink Floyd. What happened in music that these guys can still draw huge crowds?
A – I’m a huge Rolling Stones fan and maybe I’ve seen the Stones 10 times over a 50 year period. My opinion of the Stones is they simply do it better than anybody else. That’s why they are still around. They have great songs. Mick Jagger may be the greatest front man that ever existed. Keith (Richards) has the simplicity and the abundance of the lyrics that he comes up with. They are timeless. I think the other bands you mentioned probably have those same qualities. Some bands simply have that endurance thing. I’m sure Mick Jagger is surprised that he still around after all this time.
Q – And, I can’t let you go without asking about Connie Hamzey (“super groupie”). She never pursued a career in any aspect of the music business. Who could she brag to about all the musicians she had been with? What did she get out of it? She even serviced the road crew.
A – Well, for one thing I think she liked doing what she did. She was on a TV show and the person said I have a question for you Connie, why? And her answer was, “Because I love being around rock bands. I love being on the tour bus and being backstage and I love doing to them what I do. So, I do it.” She just loved to do it. What can I say? Nobody was going to say no to her. She was a very pretty girl. It wasn’t like you had to manipulate her into doing anything. That’s what she was there for. That’s why she wanted to be there. She was kind of cool in a way. She was a very sweet girl in a way. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body. She just wanted to hang out and please everybody and please herself. What can I say?
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