"Only Women Bleed" (A. Cooper, D. Wagner) - Alice Cooper; Atlantic label, # 12 Billboard Hot 100 - 1975.
Released as a single from Alice Cooper’s first solo album, "Welcome To My Nightmare," the gentle ballad represented a complete reversal from the hard rock hits of his former band. Although its lyrics were clearly about abusive relationships, the song was misinterpreted by some to be about female menstruation, resulting in the title of the single being changed to “Only Women” and its length shortened by 2 minutes to increase radio play.
The music for the song was composed by Dick Wagner several years earlier while he was still a member of The Frost, but it had never been recorded. After Wagner played the basic riff for Cooper, they developed the lyrics for “Only Women Bleed” and it became a highlight of the "Welcome To My Nightmare" album.
The change in style worked very well for Alice Cooper’s solo career as it became his first Top 20 single since “School’s Out” in 1972. The songwriting partnership with Dick Wagner would go on to produce some of the biggest hits of Cooper’s solo career.
