Dennis Dunaway

Dennis Dunaway (born December 9, 1946) is an American musician, best known as the original bass guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper. He co-wrote some of the band's most notable songs, including "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out".

Dunaway's first bass was a short-scale Airline. This was used on Alice Cooper's debut album Pretties for You. The band's sophomore album, Easy Action, featured Dunaway playing a short-scale Höfner.

Later, Dunaway procured a Gibson EB-0 short scale bass, modified with a Fender Precision Bass split pickup in the treble position, that he spray painted green and called "the frog". He can be seen with it on the back cover of the Love it to Death album. Dunaway used this bass exclusively in the making of the original Alice Cooper group's first three albums. It currently is on loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dunaway would later switch to a Fender Jazz bass.

Michael Bruce, Mike Marconi, Dennis Dunaway, Bob Dolin, and Neal Smith started a group called Billion Dollar Babies after they left Alice Cooper in 1974. This band was embroiled in a legal suit over the usage of the name. They only released one album, 1977's Battle Axe, before disbanding.

Dennis is married to Cindy (Smith) Dunaway, Alice Cooper's original costume designer who helped create the Shock Rock fashion style. Cindy is the sister of original Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.