Dick Wagner
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For the classical music composer, see Richard Wagner. For the former baseball executive, see Dick Wagner (baseball).
Dick Wagner is an American guitarist and songwriter.
Wagner was Alice Cooper's right-hand man on albums Welcome to My Nightmare, Goes To Hell, Lace and Whiskey, From the Inside and DaDa, helping in songwriting, composing, production and playing lead guitar. Dick was often accompanied by lead guitarist Steve Hunter, they have played together since the 60's.
Wagner lent his playing (and in some cases, songwriting) talents to some of the 1970s biggest hard rock albums, including Lou Reed's Rock N Roll Animal, Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare, and KISS' Destroyer.
Growing up in the Detroit area, Wagner's first true band, The Frost, formed in the late 1960s as they built up a substantial following in the Michigan area (which at the time also nurtured such other outfits as the Stooges, MC5, Bob Seger,The Amboy Dukes, and Grand Funk Railroad), and issued a total of three albums during their tenure together on Vanguard Records: 1969's Frost Music and Rock and Roll Music, plus 1970's Through the Eyes of Love. All three albums plus a 'best of' compilation are available on CD from Vanguard.
Bob Ezrin used Wagner & Hunter on Lou Reed's controversial 1973 studio release Berlin which was a dark concept album that followed a pair of seedy characters beset by drug addiction, which leads to spousal abuse, prostitution, child welfare, and ultimately, death.
Wagner has lent his talents to recordings by other artists. Aerosmith's Get Your Wings has Wagner and Hunter playing the "guitar duel" on "Train Kept A-Rollin'" along with Joe Perry. Wagner also plays on KISS' Destroyer, Peter Gabriel's self-titled solo debut, Hall & Oates' Along the Red Ledge, Mark Farner's self-titled solo debut, and a pair of albums for the star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tim Curry.
In 2005, Dick Wagner permanently moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he is currently writing again with Alice Cooper for a new album.
