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50 years after their self-titled debut album, the R&B legends
share the stories behind nine of their biggest hits.

By Chuck Arnold in Entertainment Weekly

"Keep Your Head to the Sky" • 1973
This spiritual ballad from Head to the Sky was written by the group's frontman, the late Maurice White, during EWF's "time in the light," says co-lead singer Philip Bailey. "Maurice wanted to use the music in a way to uplift people and 'to render a service to humanity.' That's his direct quote." As for the glass-shattering whistle notes he hits at the end, Bailey says, "I was a fan of Minnie Riperton. I used to listen to the album Come to My Garden and [Riperton's earlier group] Rotary Connection. When we did Head to Sky, Jessica Cleaves was in the band, and so at the end, we just started playing around with how high we could sing."

"Shining Star" • 1975EWF's first and only single to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 had a prophetic title. "Shining Star" was the song that broke a lot of barriers," says Bailey, who co-wrote the tune with Maurice White and Larry Dunn, then the band's keyboardist. The track was recorded at the same ranch in Colorado where Elton John made Caribou. "We were in the mountains, so it was great," recalls bassist Verdine White, adding that his brother Maurice was inspired by the star-filled skies.

"Reasons" • 1975
The epic slow jam isn't as romantic as many fans might think it is. "It's funny 'cause people say, 'We played that song at my wedding,' and I'm like, 'Did you listen to the lyrics?" The song is talking about a one-night stand," explains Bailey. "Me and Maurice were talking about the on-the-road life, what was going on at that time [for us] being young men. It's totally lust for the moment. It's a screw record."

"I'll Write a Song for You" • 1977
As lovey-dovey as it sounds, this songwriter's declaration from All 'N All wasn't penned for that kind of sweetheart. It was written as an ode to Bailey's now 42-year-old daughter, Pili -- whose mother was the Emotions' singer Jeanette Hutchinson -- after he found out that he was going to be a dad. "I was in Florida, and I got the news that Jeanette was pregnant with Pili," says Bailey. "I happened to have that track that Al [McKay, former EWF guitarist] had sent me and wanted me to write lyrics to. So when I got the news she had been conceived, that inspired me."

"Fantasy" • 1978
For this mystical voyage, Maurice White took a sonic cue from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But a close encounter of a different kind almost kept Bailey from singing. "The day that I had to sing the lead to that, I was playing basketball with my best friend," he says. "He elbowed me and knocked my front tooth loose. So I had a busted lip and a loose tooth when I did the vocal for that."

"Got to Get You Into My Life" • 1978
Drummer Ralph Johnson stepped up to hype man, percussionist, and background vocalist thanks to this hit Beatles cover. "We were asked to participate in a movie called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and each band that was performing was asked to cover a Beatles tune," he says. "So we covered 'Got to Get You Into My Life.' We're on the stage -- at that time, we had a choreographer by the name of George Faison, who [did] The Wiz on Broadway -- so George is looking at the camera setup and out of nowhere he says, 'Ralph! Come off the drums, stand right here next to Maurice.'"

"September" • 1978
"What was great about that song is that Al -- we called him Sweets -- was always working on this lick," says Verdine White. But when Maurice and co-writer Allee Willis were having trouble coming up with lyrics for the chorus, they decided to just "let it be a vibe," as White says, with famous "ba-dee-ya" hook. "When we didn't have words, we would 'ba-dee-ya' the melody," says Bailey. "And so once they kept doing it, Maurice just said, 'You know what? If it's grooving, just leave it alone."

"Boogie Wonderland" • 1979
Although it had people kicking up their boogie shoes, this hit from I Am wasn't designed to be the disco anthem it became. "We were not chasing after the disco trend," says Johnson. "Matter of fact, that tune was cut for another group -- Curtis, the Brothers -- that Al McKay was producing. Maurice heard it, and he said, 'Hey, man, I gotta have that.'" It was Maurice's idea to to have the Emotions join the party. "We knew that it was gon' be hot with them singing the chorus," says Bailey.

"After the Love Has Gone" • 1979
Before legendary producer-writer David Foster worked with superstars like Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston, he co-wrote this EWF ballad that found big love on the pop and R&B charts. "Foster was one of the biggest session piano players in the game; he met Maurice and had 'After the Love Has Gone,'" says White. "But we weren't the first to record it." In fact, the song had been recorded by one of its co-writers, former Chicago member Bill Champlin, for his 1978 solo debut Single but was ultimately pulled from that album because Maurice wanted it for his band. "When we did it over, it came out great." 

For his new studio album, 'Detroit Stories', Alice Cooper
drew inspiration from the hard-rocking city he grew up in.

Alice Cooper
Detroit Stories
Earmusic/Edel
ROCK

By Hilary Hughes in Entertainment Weekly

here are few things that Alice Cooper loves more than telling a good story, especially one with vibrant characters, tons of action, and horrific scares that unfold one verse at a time. But for Detroit Stories , the shock rocker, 73, turned to his hometown for inspiration.

" Welcome to My Nightmare , Brutal Planet , School's Out -- I like writing to a theme," he says. "This one, I said, 'I want to do a real rock & roll album.' That takes me immediately to Detroit, because it's the home of hard rock, Los Angeles had the Doors; New York had the Rascals; and Detroit, what were they known for? Iggy and the Stooges, the MC5 -- and Alice Cooper."

Cooper (born Vincent Furnier) grew up in Detroit, but his family moved to Arizona when he was 10. He cut his teeth with his first band in Phoenix before heading to Los Angeles, where he scored a deal with Frank Zappa's Straight Records. But Cooper's career didn't really take off until he left L.A. and returned to the Midwest. "We just didn't fit in anywhere we went," he says. Detroit has always been Cooper's lodestar. He considers it to be the "proving ground" of hard rock, which goes back to his first gig in his home state in 1969.

"In Detroit, if you didn't come on stage with an attitude, and with artillery, that audience is not going to respect you," he says. "They could see that we were not against a little violence on state. They took us right under their wing. When they realized I was born in Detroit, I became a favorite son."

While the heavy guitars that roar throughout Detroit Stories nod to the scene of his youth, the lyrics are just as surly and street-savvy -- and occasionally inspired by the Detroiters Cooper counts as kin. "When I started writing the songs, I thought, 'What references can I make to when I was a kid?'" he says. "I made a reference to St. Clair Shores; my mom was a waitress there. I tried to put something about Detroit that tasted like Detroit in every lyric."

Detroit Stories is, if anything, a prompt for further listening: It's a love letter from Cooper to his city, and one that encourages a deep dive into his own catalog and that of his peers. "I'm proud of being from Detroit," he says. "I really am." 

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