Most folks never heard of Vincent Damon Furnier from Phoenix, Arizona. We know him as ‘Alice Cooper’, the original King of Shock Rock.
Vincent Furnier, Glen Buxton, Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, and Michael Bruce formed the band and called it ‘Alice Cooper’.
Although Vincent Furnier was from Detroit, Michigan, his family moved to Arizona where the guys met in high school. Randy Rhoads original guitar virtuoso (Crazy Train) of Ozzy Osbourne’s band once said that Glen Buxton was his biggest influence.
After a series of no-name bands with various members coming and going, they finally signed with somebody who saw the raw talent. Their contract was with Frank Zappa’s Straight Records and guaranteed three record releases. The first two bombed and then ‘Love It To Death’, with producer Bob Ezrin, which included the hit ‘I’m Eighteen’, shot the band to the top of the charts with a 1971 release. In the same year, ‘Killer’ was released and ‘Under My Wheels’ was the hit single. ‘School’s Out’ was the follow up single in 1972 from the album of the same name. In 1973, ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ was the second last release with the original Alice Cooper lineup. This record was by far their best and had several hit songs, and not just the title cut. ‘Hello Hurray’ (a Judy Collins song!), ‘Elected’, and ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ were all on the radio. ‘Muscle of Love’ fell flat in 1974 and the Buxton, Dunaway, Smith, & Bruce went the way of the dinosaur. To this very day, Alice Cooper pays the ex-band members royalties for use of the AC name, even though he legally adopted the name. The name change was one of the best business decisions he ever made.
After the original Alice Cooper band fell apart, he morphed into a solo career. His relationship with producer, Bob Ezrin blew up and he hooked up with Kim Fowley, promoter/manager of Joan Jett’s band The Runaways. He did Alice Cooper no favors and we watched Alice’s career spiral downward through that period. Alice went on the write songs with Desmond Child (wrote Bon Jovi & Aerosmith hits), Joan Jett, and producer, Bob Ezrin. ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ snapped him back on the FM dial with ‘Only Women Bleed’ in 1975. Later, Rob Zombie used the song in a remake of horror movie, ‘Halloween’. In 1977 he recorded a tune called ‘You and Me’ on the album ‘Lace & Whiskey’. I had to look that one up.
The twists and turns of 12 years come and go before Alice Cooper has another hit with ‘Poison’ off the recording, curiously named, ‘Trash’ in 1989. His lineup included: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Hamilton, and Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, Jon Bon Jovi & Ritchie Sambora, even Desmond Child and Joan Jett.
A lot of talent flocked to Cooper’s banner over the next decade. Dee Murray of Procol Harum, Elton John, & the Spencer Davis Group (with Stevie Winwood), Davey Johnstone of Elton John & Meat Loaf, Jim Gordon, studio drummer for Steely Dan, mainstay of Derek & the Dominos (Eric Clapton/Duane Allman), & Frank Zappa, Kip Winger of Winger, Eric Dover of Imperial Drag (with Roger Manning), Kane Roberts of the Rod Stewart Band & Status Quo, Mike Pinera of Blues Image (Ride Captain Ride) & Cactus, and Eric Singer of Kiss, to name just a few.
Alice Cooper was an innovator in many ways. Without Alice Cooper, there would be no Kiss, Marilyn Manson, or Rob Zombie. He was the first to combine horror movie special effects, a suggestive psuedo-sexual transgender persona, and a healthy dose of sado-masochistic bondage visuals. He admitted that the mascara running, death mask makeup was influenced by Bette Davis, from the movie ‘Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?’
Check out Super Dooper Alice Cooper ‘Doc-Opera’ and visit www.alicecooper.com for more about Alice.
