Why Donovan Sang on Alice Cooper’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’
One of the most unusual collaborations in the history of classic rock is Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies,” which is a duet with Donovan. It was Cooper’s idea for the two to work together. Subsequently, Donovan had to learn to sing in a new style to record “Billion Dollar Babies.”
Donovan felt Alice Cooper’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ sounded like The Rolling Stones
During a 2016 interview with Songfacts, Donovan was asked why he duetted with Cooper on “Billion Dollar Babies.” “I’m not shy of trying any genre,” he said. “That particular session, I was at Morgan Studios in London, and I just happened to be there when Alice was downstairs.
“He came up to say ‘Hello,’ and then he invited me to listen to what he was doing,” he said. “He was particularly doing this song called ‘Billion Dollar Babies,’ and he said, ‘What do you think?’ I listened.” Donovan found the song “interesting.”
“So here was this guy that I just met, he played me the song, and said, ‘Would you like to put a vocal on?'” Donovan recalled. “I said, ‘OK. Give me the chorus.’ I listened to the chorus, and his guitar player was playing like Keith Richards — something very powerful that he’d learned from Keith or from Brian Jones in the Stones. And when I listened to the chorus, I said, ‘OK. I’ll give it a go.'”
Donovan looked to another classic rock singer to help him perform Alice Cooper’s song
Donovan was familiar with “power rock” because he worked on “Hurdy Gurdy Man” with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. However, he was intrigued by “Billion Dollar Babies” because he enjoyed Hammer Horror movies, Edgar Allan Poe, and Gothic literature.
Singing “Billion Dollar Babies” was challenging for Donovan because he had to learn to sing in falsetto. He asked Chris Squire of Yes how to sing in that style. Squire said Donovan had to sing so listeners could hear him above Cooper’s guitars. The “Mellow Yellow” singer added his vocal to “Billion Dollar Babies” and didn’t think about the song again until its parent album became a hit.
How ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ performed in the United States and the United Kingdom
“Billion Dollar Babies” peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for six weeks. The track appeared on the album of the same name. Billion Dollar Babies reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a single week, making it Cooper’s first and only No. 1 album. Billion Dollar Babies lasted on the chart for a total of 50 weeks.
On the other hand, The Official Charts Company reports “Billion Dollar Babies” didn’t chart in Donovan’s native United Kingdom. Its parent album peaked at No. 1 in the U.K. for a week, remaining on the chart for 23 weeks altogether. Notably, Billion Dollar Babies was Cooper’s only No. 1 album in the U.K. as well.
“Billion Dollar Babies” was difficult for Donovan to record but it paid off in the end.
