Bones From The Yard has proven to be one of the most outstanding recordings Dennis has made, proving, with a culmination of years of songwriting and the meeting of these accomplished musicians, that Dennis’ prestigious past lead the way to a future that promises a roller coaster of twists and turns.

Critics agree that the album has similarities to Dennis’ earlier successes (as founding member and bassist of the legendary Alice Cooper Group,) but with a modern edge. Alice Cooper himself plays Bones From The Yard regularly on his “Nights With Alice Cooper” show. Songs have aired as far away as Australia as well as worldwide due to Sirius Satellite Radio.

In order to accumulate the experiences that led to the Dennis Dunaway Project, Dennis had to be Born Dennis Dale Dunaway on December 9, 1946, in Cottage Grove, Oregon, to Shirrel and Kathleen Dunaway who met and married upon Shirrel’s return from military service in the Philippines during World War II. The family lived in a modest house on Kathleen’s Fathers farm in Creswell, Oregon, where, on October 10^th, 1948, a second son, Dean, was born.

Shirrel worked long hours in a lumber mill until, in 1951, after “a couple of close calls,” he felt the mill was too dangerous and decided to move the family to Phoenix, Arizona, where he found work at a Steel Plant.

The arid desert climate contrasted sharply with the wet conditions in Oregon. Rainstorms were replaced by dust storms and the summer heat soared well above 100 degrees. The desert also held other new experiences for the Dunaways, like scorpions, rattlesnakes, and even a dark cloudy invasion of grasshoppers.

After several relocations in Phoenix, the family mortgaged a new home on the north side of town where Dennis and Dean attended and graduated Washington Elementary School and went on to Cortez High School.

On December 11^th, 1954, Kathleen gave birth to a daughter, Tawnya, and then on September 20^th, 1959, a third son, Kim.

In 1962, Dennis met Vince Furnier. They shared many interests, including Modern Art, and music. They both studied journalism and wrote for the Cortez newspaper, the Tip Sheet.

In 1964, Dennis and Vince started a band called “The Earwigs” (because they were to wear wigs and spoof the Beatles at a talent show sponsored by the Lettermen’s Club, of which Dennis and Vince had become members by excelling in Cross Country.)

The staff and student body thought the spoof was a good joke, but Dennis, Vince, and Glen Buxton (the Tip Sheet’s photographer who played guitar), plus a Cross Country teammate, John Speer, decided to turn the spoof into a serious band. John took up playing drums while Vince picked up the harmonica and Dennis learned to play bass guitar. They also added another classmate, John Tatum, who played rhythm guitar. One of their first gigs was the Halloween Dance at Cortez High School. They decorated the stage with giant spider webs, a coffin with a ghoul, and an elaborate working guillotine.

The Earwigs began to play anywhere anyone would allow them, including a Pizza Parlor, and a birthday party, which helped to prepare them for a serious audition with a Phoenix promoter named Jack Curtis.

Curtis said he would hire the band if they came up with a more marketable name. And so, as he Spiders, they became the “House Band” at the VIP Lounge. Re-creating the giant spider webs, the band built their own stage and dubbed it “The Spider Sanctum” (a moniker echoed in a barrage of ads that saturated the airwaves of the top 40 radio stations.)

Dennis and Vince figured audiences would keep coming back to see a band that kept changing, so a variety of visual antics became a staple in their performances. The Spiders built a reputation for introducing a multitude of surprising theatrical props, which lead to sold-out shows every weekend. Most of their props were simply copped from the cafeteria at the club. One night, the Spiders stepped on stage with plastic forks in their hair. Another night, they carried an old iron bathtub out to the stage while Vince stood inside pointing like George Washington. They also constructed a giant colorfully painted wheel that spun around fast enough to generate a swift breeze. But topping themselves week after week called for increasingly more outrageous ideas.

Unexpectedly, the rhythm guitarist, John Tatum, gave notice that he had joined another band. Michael Bruce was called upon as a replacement and soon encouraged the band to start writing original material, however, the initial attempts took an abstract direction far from what Michael had envisioned. Having successfully incorporated surrealism and Dada art into stage props, Dennis and Vince wanted to apply it to music. Due to their persistence, and their notable amount of local success, the other members were drawn into the concept.

In response to hearing about a Japanese band with the same name, The Spiders changed their name to The Nazz and decided to adopt a new, scruffier, image.

The Nazz continued packing the VIP Lounge, but Jack Curtis had little control over the act. Nobody knew what the band would do next, never the less, Curtis continued his support and booked The Nazz for a small tour with The Byrds.

As Glendale Community College students, The Nazz played weekend shows throughout the southwest and began to feel they had accomplished all they could in Phoenix. In 1967, they dropped out of school and relocated to Hollywood, California, where their music and image became progressively more avant-garde. Total disregard for commercial appeal handicapped the band’s ability to land jobs, and caused the drummer, John Speer, to quit. A drummer from a rival band in Phoenix, Neal Smith, was added.

In 1968, a Philadelphia band (featuring Todd Rundgren) released a record as The Nazz, and so, determined to come up with a name that would never be duplicated, Dennis, Vince, Glen, Michael, and Neal agreed upon “Alice Cooper” as the name of the band.

On March 16^th, 1968, Alice Cooper opened for Blue Cheer with their new drummer. After their performance, the group decided to come up with the most outrageous costumes and grow the longest hair of any band. Neal Smith’s sister, Cindy, became the band’s designer and soon after created metallic, and clear plastic costumes.

An all night drive from an engagement in Phoenix ended when the band, and all their equipment, tumbling three times across the morning rush hour freeway into Los Angeles. The band’s truck and equipment were destroyed but the band members, along with their lighting technician and road manager, survived without injury. There was no insurance coverage but Dennis agreed to sell his car to cover losses, and so the band was able to continue.

Desperation to land a record deal prompted Alice Cooper to barge their way into Frank Zappa’s sleeping household at 9 a.m., set up their equipment outside the bedroom, (which the Zappa’s babysitter (and Vince’s girlfriend) told them to stay away from, and began to play music until the door opened. After a cup of coffee, Zappa listened and agreed to sign the band to his Bizarre Record label, providing they get a manager. Within 3 days, Neal Smith’s sister, Cindy, found two managers, Joe Greenberg and Shep Gordon, and papers were signed.

Recorded in 1968 but not released until 1969, the “Pretties for You” album had minor success. But word of association with Frank Zappa brought the Coopers some serious attention.

Alice Cooper opened for Led Zeppelin at the Whiskey a Go Go, and then played an extended tour with the Mother’s of Invention. That exposure helped them land more gigs.

Amidst sporadic bookings, the band was pulled into the studio to record “Easy Action”, but the short-notice preparation, combined with lackluster promotion and distribution, forced the Coopers to realize the label wasn’t able to give them the backing they needed.

Living from motel to motel, playing everything from bars to festivals, the band found the most favor from Detroit’s high-energy audiences. The band moved into a farmhouse in Pontiac and converted a large barn into a rehearsal room and focused on writing a new album. The lively Detroit scene influenced a new tougher direction in Alice Cooper’s music, and the band’s image got more sinister.

The stage theatrics became more disturbing with the introduction of swords, snakes, and electric chair executions. Dennis urged Vince to wear spidery makeup so people in the back rows could see his expressions. Vince incorporated the idea, and others, into a stage character with macabre dimensions. Cindy Smith, who had become Dennis’s girlfriend, designed more elaborate stage costumes to support the new concepts.

When Alice Cooper threw chickens into the audience at a Pop festival at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Canada, it caused an overnight reputation near legendary proportion. But despite growing interest, the band was barely staying afloat.

Uncertain of how much longer they could hold together, Alice Cooper showed up for a booking at Max’s Kansas City in Manhattan and found only a handful of people in the audience. The show was an angry assault that drove the people out of the room. But afterwards, a young producer from Toronto, Bob Ezrin, approached them and said he thought he could land them a record deal.

Warner Brothers had passed on the group in the Hollywood days, but this time, Ezrin promised that Jack Richardson (who had produced of a solid string of hits for the Guess Who) would oversee the album production, Warner Brothers signed a deal.

Three weeks in the making, the “Love it to Death” album captured the band’s musical progress, as well as the band's threatening image. Tutored masterfully by the composition-savvy intuitions of the young Bob Ezrin, with considerate input from the seasoned pro, Jack Richardson, who made sure the group delivered a viable album before the deadline, and under budget, “Love it to Death” was released in March of 1971.

Against the CKLW (Windsor, Canada) station manager’s insistence, plus several other DJs who were convinced Alice Cooper was too controversial for airplay, a Disc Jockey named Rosalie Trombley played “I’m Eighteen” and in three days, it became the most requested song in the history of the station. Other radio stations picked up the song and audiences outside the stronghold of the mid-west began to take notice.

Legal papers were signed officially naming the five members of the band as equal owners of the name, Alice Cooper.

The band would enjoy very few days off in the next six years, knocking out two albums a year plus creating the largest and most innovative stage productions ever seen in Rock arena’s. They were the first band to ship and incorporate their own lighting, and the first to wear makeup and sequined costumes, and the first to create albums to support elaborate stage productions. They garnered articles in Rolling Stone, Cream, Circus, as well as Newsweek, and the cover of Forbes magazine. The group would earn six gold and seven platinum albums. Their single, “School’s Out,” chalked up the biggest selling single in the history of Warner Brothers Records.