The Michael Bruce Group
No More Mr Nice Guy : The Inside Story of the "Alice Cooper" Group by Michael Bruce and Billy James was released on October 1, 1996 (and updated and re-released in 2000). It is a relatively short book (159 pages) with some rare pictures from Bruce's personal collection. It was published by SAF Publishing (a company in the UK). Also in 1996, Bruce had moved to Texas and saw his album, In My Own Way, released for the first time on compact disc by One Way Records (now out of business). In 1998, while residing in Houston, Michael formed a band that performed locally and toured as The Michael Bruce Group. The members of the band were Michael Bruce (guitars, vocals and keyboards), David "Vito" Mastrovito (guitar and vocals), John Glenn (keyboards and vocals), Wilton Hudgens (bass and vocals) and Troy Powell (drums and vocals); Tom Turner (road manager and assistant). After the first leg of the 1998 tour, Mastrovito left the band; Glenn had opted out of touring from the beginning. The three piece line-up of the Michael Bruce Group (Bruce, Hudgens and Powell) performed in Clarion, Iowa at the first Glen Buxton Memorial (during their 1998 midwestern tour); Clarion is where Michael's former band mate passed on and was laid to rest.
The band briefly relocated to the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois at the end of the summer of 1998. Bruce and Hudgens performed with Neal Smith (original Alice Cooper group drummer) at the first Chiller Theatre Convention in Washington, D.C. before returning to Texas at the end of the year. They reformed the band with Joe Garbo (drums and percussion) and Jeff Harris (sax, piano and vocals), in 2000. This version performed at Anne Rice's Coven Ball at The State Palace Theatre (New Orleans) in Lousiana and The 3rd Glen Buxton Memorial at The Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles, California (Ingo Geirdal also guested on guitar with the group at the 3rd Glen Buxton Memorial in L.A.).
After 2003, Bruce returned to his home state of Arizona. When he got there, he began seeking out other players for a new band. His reformed, Michael Bruce Group, featured Bruce (guitars and vocals), Bob Russell (guitars and vocals), Thomas Dominick (bass and keyboards) and Bob Allen (drums).
May 1, 2004 was the debut of a new Michael Bruce Group in Tucson, AZ. The line up was Bob Russell (guitar), Jeff Harris (sax, piano & vocals), Thomas Dominick (organ & keys), Mondo Thomas (bass), Robin Horn (son of jazz icon Paul Horn) (drums), and Bruce (guitars, keys, & vocals).
September 16, 2005 saw the release of a new Michael Bruce album authorized for Iceland in a limited edition of 200 copies in a deluxe digipak. "The Second Coming Of Michael Bruce - Alive & Re-Cooperated" is Bruce's first official release in years (although exclusive only to Iceland at this time) and features 17 songs recorded in Iceland 2002 -2003. The 74 min long CD included new studio recordings as well as previously unheard live performances by Michael Bruce & his Icelandic band performing songs from throughout his career. All the recordings were professionally done on 24-track and mixed by Ingo & Silli Geirdal. The deluxe digipak featured artwork of Michael Bruce by Ingo, band photos and exclusive liner notes by Dennis Dunaway.
During 2010, Michael was called on for participation in a new Alice Cooper record; Welcome 2 My Nightmare (The sequel to the original Welcome to My Nightmare). The album also featured work involving Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter. Alice also invited Bruce, Hunter, Dunaway and Smith to perform with him that December at his Annual Christmas Pudding fundraiser at The Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, AZ.
In spring of 2011, Bruce (as a member of the original Alice Cooper group) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the "Performer" category.
Read more about this topic: Michael Owen Bruce
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