Alice Cooper

[Doc Emmett Brown]

Awesome can't wait The Eyes of Alice Cooper was one of his best ever albums and certainly his best in years i hope it continues with the great sound.  Ok everyone what are your top ten Alice Cooper tracks, mine are;
1. Might As Well Be On Mars
2. He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)
3. Hey Stoopid
4. Poison
5. No More Mr. Nice Guy
6. Under My Wheels
7. Be With You Awhile
8. Only Women Bleed
9. I'm Eighteen
10. Hello Hurray

My favorite Alice Cooper song is I'm Eighteen.  The lyrics are brilliant.  I also love Teenage Lament '74 - more great lyrics!  Billion Dollar Babies, How You Gonna See Me Now, and Desperado are my other favorites.  I also like the video for the song Welcome to my Nightmare.

[Malcolm]

 According to a post at SickthingsUK, the ALICE COOPER movie "Good to See you Again, Alice Cooper", featuring footage of the Billion Dollar Babies tour in 1973, is tentatively scheduled for release on DVD in the U.K. on September 12.

Filmed in Dallas (April 28) and Houston, Texas (April 29) in 1973, "Good to See you Again, Alice Cooper" was in limited release in the theaters back in the mid-'70s. The film, which was directed by Joe Gannon and produced by Penthouse magazine, was shot on 16mm and then blown up to 35mm.

[Dead N' Bloated]

Ok last tuesday was the best. for 4 years I have been saying that AC/DC put on the best show ever but that all changed on tuesday night at the civic theatre Newcastle when Alice Cooper took the stage. I got to Meet Him after the show and get a photo with him and had a little chat. The only dissapointment was that Teddy Zig Zag was not on the tour but I got over that real quick.


 

[Malcolm]

 According to a post at SickthingsUK, ALICE COOPER will be filming their upcoming show in Switzerland for a possible DVD release later this year. "No official confirmation as yet and it's probably a ways off but still something to look forward to!" the post adds.

[Malcolm]

Fans of '70s-era rock can look forward to a double dose when Alice Cooper and Cheap Trick  join forces for a late-summer run through North America.

The veteran rockers have lined up a co-headlining trek that kicks off Aug. 20 in Cincinnati and is so far scheduled to run through mid-September. Aside from their joint venture, both artists also have some of their own headlining dates lined up. The itineraries are included below.

Tickets for a number of shows are on sale now. Hard-core Cooper fans can purchase premium-ticket packages for most dates; details are available at Cooper's website.

The outing follows the Aug. 2 release of Cooper's new studio album, "Dirty Diamonds," which follows 2003's "Eyes of Alice Cooper." Cover art for the new set is posted at Cooper's website.

Cooper--born Vincent Damon Furnier--has been cranking out albums since 1969, the year he issued "Pretties for You." He scored his first hit with the cut "Eighteen," featured on 1971's "Love It to Death."

Cheap Trick's most recent studio collection is 2003's "Special One." The group has reportedly finished recording a follow-up set, but no release date has been announced.

Formed in the early '70s, Cheap Trick--vocalist Robin Zander, guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos--released its self-titled debut album in 1977. Two years later, the group scored a Top 10 hit with the cut "I Want You to Want Me," featured on 1979's "Live at Budokan." That album remains the band's most commercially successful release.

Alice Cooper / Cheap Trick

August 2005
20 - Cincinnati, OH - U.S. Bank Arena
22, 23 - Toronto, Ontario - The Docks
25 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap Filene Center
26 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
28 - Farmingville, NY - Brookhaven Amphitheatre
29 - Holmdel, NJ - P.N.C. Bank Arts Center
30 - Syracuse, NY - New York State Fair

September 2005
1 - Rockford, IL - On the Waterfront Fest
2 - Madison, WI - Alliant Energy Center
4 - Loveland, CO - Budweiser Events Center
5 - Pueblo, CO - Colorado State Fair
9 - Grand Junction, CO - Festival Grounds (Rock Jam)
10 - Albuquerque, NM - New Mexico State Fair
14 - El Cajon, CA - Concerts in the Park
16 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre


Alice Cooper

September 2005
7 - Topeka, KS - Landon Arena
28 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
29 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall

October 2005
4 - South Bend, IN - Morris Performing Arts Center
7 - Cleveland, OH - Tower City Amphitheater
17 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel/The Joint
19 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Orpheum Theatre
21 - Calgary, Alberta - South Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
22 - Edmonton, Alberta - Francis Winspear Centre for Music
23 - Red Deer, Alberta - The Centrium
24 - Lethbridge, Alberta - Enmax Centre


Cheap Trick

July 2005
14 - Walker, MN - Moondance Jam
16 - Comstock, NE - Second Wind Ranch (Comstock Rock)
17 - Cadott, WI - Rock Fest
19 - Central Point, OR - Lithia Motors Amphitheater
21 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark
22 - Fond du Lac, WI - Fond Du Lac Fair
29 - Grand Beach, Manitoba - Manitoba Summer Fest

August 2005
5, 6 - Reno, NV - Silver Legacy Casino
11 - West Allis, WI - Wisconsin State Fair
13 - Malone, NY - Franklin County Fair
14 - Springfield, IL - Illinois State Fair (w/ REO Speedwagon)
18 - Louisville, KY - Kentucky State Fair

October 2005
6 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Hotel/Casino
8 - Marksville, LA - Paragon Casino Resort

[Dead N' Bloated]

These are the dudes that opened for Alice in Newcastle Australia http://www.hellcityglamours.com/

[Malcolm]

 In a recent online interview conducted by Rock N Roll Universe , original ALICE COOPER GROUP drummer Neal Smith (BOUCHARD, DUNAWAY & SMITH) spoke about the possibility of a reunion of the original band with Alice Cooper. An excerpt from the interview follows:

Rock N Roll Universe: How realistic is it for fans to hope for any kind of reunion?

Neal Smith: "All I can say is there's always a chance that something can happen. Realistically or not, nobody's ever going to know. Let's put it this way, as long as I'm alive, I will always be one of the people trying to negotiate something that maybe could make that happen. Whether it's putting the right elements together, or helping the right elements or if the elements were put together that I would be there. Dennis and I have always offered to talk about a reunion since the band broke up. I told Alice in '75, if you ever need my help call me, and in 1985 he came up to Connecticut and he did all the pre-production work for the 'Constrictor' album at my studio at my home with Dennis and I and Kane Roberts, who played guitar on it. Our doors are and have always been open."

Rock N Roll Universe: So, the ball would be in Alice's court at this time?

Neal Smith: "Well, the ball's in Alice's court, yes, and no, it would have to be a group decision. Michael would have to want to do it, Alice would have to want to do it, I would have to want to do it, and Dennis would have to want to do it. I don't see a full-scale world tour, but do I see the possibility of like CREAM playing the Royal Albert Hall in London for a consecutive number of nights at the same venue. I don't see why that couldn't happen. All I know is there's more support as the days roll by than not. As long as I'm alive, I'll never turn a deaf ear to the possibility, and there's only one reason I want to do it, two reasons actually, in honor of Glen (RIP) and because our fans deserve it."

[Malcolm]

 According to Video Business, ALICE COOPER's July 12 performance in Montreux, Switzerland was filmed by more than 20 high-definition cameras for DVD release sometime next year.

[Malcolm]

Alice Cooper
Dirty Diamonds
Release date: August 2, 2005

After 30 albums and some of the most famous rock songs ever recorded, you?d think Alice Cooper?s demons would?ve been conquered by now?or maybe locked in a cage and fed undercooked meat. But the man who changed the course of rock music in the ?70s with bloody guillotines, sparking electric chairs, slimy boa constrictors, and a little blood and eyeliner still has more to slay in 2005. Alice Cooper is master at re-inventing himself, shedding his skin like one of his snakes to become everything from a mascara?d grave robber to a leather-wrapped street hooligan, a film noir detective, insane asylum honor student, and nihilistic dada-ist. 2003?s Eyes of Alice Cooper saw another of these shape-shifts, grinding musical gears with back-to-basics garage rock. Wrapping his famous sneer/snarl around a fistful of power chords, Alice?lean and mean?pumped the adrenaline to toxic levels. With the release of Dirty Diamonds, Coop is back in even finer form, promising more thrills, chills and doctor bills.

?Dirty Diamonds sounds like Eyes of Alice Cooper with more polish on it,? says Alice. ?On Eyes I wouldn?t allow the band to do overdubs. We did everything in the studio: write, record it and put it to bed. I don?t want a Queen album or a Def Leppard album that?s perfectly recorded. They?re terrific, you can?t knock those albums, but that?s not the sound I?m looking for. I?d much rather have the sound of an early Stones album.? And that?s exactly what Dirty Diamonds is ? a nod to the British Invasion past while acknowledging the Nu-rock White Stripes/Jet present. Guitars and solos are strip-searched of effects, giving sharp bite to songs like ?Woman of Mass Distraction,? a smoker?s cough sheen to ?Your Own Worst Enemy? and testosterone feistiness of ?Steal That Car.? ?This whole album takes you in a lot of different directions,? he says, ?yet it still really sounds like an Alice album.? His roadmap this time takes you through glam-trash [?Dirty Diamonds?], last call blues [?Six Hours?], all-purpose punk [?Steal That Car?], country & western [?Saga of Jesse Jane?], New Orleans? swampy mugginess [?Zombie Dance?], and undiluted south-of-the-belt-buckle, Stones hard rock [?Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies?)].

And there?s no shortage of razor-tongued, phrase twisting?like his famous black eyes, another Alice plot device. In ?Run Down The Devil,? when he catches Satan (?the ultimate road kill?) in his headlights, he promises to ?take him to the Mercury grill? and ?kick his future up his past.? He even punk?s Chihuahua-toting Paris Hilton types in ?Sunset Babies? with the line, ?I?d buy her a diamond collar, if she?d only throw me a bone.? ?The art of the lyric is something I spend all my time on,? says Alice. ?I love the idea that a song will throw a lyrical curve at you or at least make you go, that?s an Alice lyric. I learned to write lyrics from listening to Chuck Berry who is maybe the best rock lyricist. I always said an Alice lyric should always be a cut above everyone else when it comes to clever. If I can make myself laugh, then I know it?s a good lyric.? A prime example comes in the form of a country western ballad, ?The Saga of Jesse Jane,? whose cross-dressing main character finds himself jailed in a Texas town ?in my sister?s wedding gown.? The song asks, ?Are you just a normal guy who dresses like a butterfly?? ?I say we should release that to country & western radio and not tell anybody who it?s from. [laughs] I tried to make it sound like Johnny Cash. I can hear this playing in a truck stop jukebox. The idea that it has clever lyrics shouldn?t take away from the fact that the song is actually a catchy number.?

Of the many standout tracks, Alice professes fondness for the song, ?Perfect.? While its middle-finger guitar riff and lyrical swagger points a straight line back to Love It To Death and ?Be My Lover,? Alice says it has more in common with Meet The Beatles. ?I just absolutely pride myself on that song. Wouldn?t it be great to be able to write ?I Saw Her Standing There? or ?You?re Gonna Lose That Girl?? Any three-minute Beatles song. I finally wrote something I feel could?ve been a Beatles song at one point, even if it was a Beatles song they would?ve thrown away.

One of the album?s more deceptive tracks is ?Pretty Ballerina,? a dark ballad imbued with Alice?s eerie softer voice, veiled in classic Cooper unease. ?That was originally written by a band called The Left Banke who had a hit with ?Walk Away Renee,? says Alice. ?Pretty Ballerina? was their second hit. I heard it when I was a kid in 1965-66. It?s just such a great curveball; it sounds a little bit like ?Only Women Bleed.? It has that delicacy and darkness, even though when you listen to it it?s just a love song. The way it was written really appeals to that darker romantic side of me.?

Writing and recording Dirty Diamonds with Alice is his band, long-time guitarist Ryan Roxie, recent addition guitarist Damon Johnson (best known for his band Brother Cane), bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Tommy Clufetos. Unlike Alice?s 2003 album The Eyes of Alice Cooper, which featured the band and only the band with virtually no overdubs, Dirty Diamonds has a more arranged and produced feel to it, and features additional contributions by a host of highly regarded LA musicians and writers, including guitarist Rick Boston (Rickie Lee Jones), bassist Mike Elizondo (Eminem, 50 Cent) and keyboardist Teddy Zigzag (who has worked with everyone from Guns N Roses to Carole King).

?I really look at Dirty Diamonds as an Alice gem. There are no fillers. Pick any song you think might be a single and I?m happy with that song representing the album. That to me is quality. Every track has got to be a great song, which is something I learned from Bob Ezrin.? (producer of the Alice Cooper platinum classics Love It To Death , School?s Out, Billion-Dollar Babies, and Welcome To My Nightmare, as well as Pink Floyd and Kiss). Co-produced by Steve Lindsey (who has worked with everyone from Leonard Cohen to Elton John) and Rick Boston, the minimalist ?set it and forget it? approach captures Alice Cooper in all his timeless black humor and raw wound glory. ?With Steve we were able to write it, record it and move on to the next song,? says Alice. ?He?s one of those guys who has the same kind of music pedigree as Ezrin. We were on the same page as far as the kind of music we were talking about.? The only song that indulges mapped-out production is the title track, with a movie soundtrack horn section that recalls the West Side Story spin of ?Gutter Cats Vs. The Jets.? ?Almost everything through Alice Cooper has had a cinematic sound to it. Think of ?Dirty Diamonds? as being a James Bond movie. That?s something that Alice does that nobody else does,? he says.

Dirty Diamonds is pure Alice Cooper. He?s still and forever rock?s reigning shock rock icon. ?I always treated Alice as a dignified criminal, like Hannibal Lecter,? he says. ?Lecter would never lower himself to use bad language. Alice was always too much of an elegant gentleman; He wouldn?t swear?but he?d slit your throat.?

[Cornell]

Alice is definately worth going to see!    He puts on as good a show now as he did 20 years ago.  I've seen him several times.  I may go to the Fair in Syracuse that day to check him out again.

[Malcolm]

Billboard magazine is reporting that ALICE COOPER has his highest-charting album on The Billboard 200 in 11 years.

"Dirty Diamonds" (New West) opened at No. 169 in the week ended August 7. That's COOPER's highest-debuting and highest-charting set since "The Last Temptation of Alice Cooper", which debuted and peaked at No. 68 in July 1994.

"Diamonds" is the 23rd chart album of COOPER's career, which began with the debut of "Pretties for You" in June 1969. That LP reached No. 193. The most successful ALICE COOPER album is "Billion Dollar Babies", which spent the week of April 21, 1973 at No. 1

[Malcolm]

Alice Cooper is taking his Dirty Diamonds tour to the world, supporting a new New West release of the same name that represents a real return to Detroit rock form.

The vibe of "Dirty Diamonds" recalls Cooper's classic 1971 album "Killer," which include such gems as "Be My Lover", "Desperado" (not to be confused with the Eagles' song of the same name) and "Dead Babies."

"The new album was pretty much going back to that era," Cooper tells Billboard.com. "The last three albums [I did] were all pretty modern, industrial kind of Alice rock albums, big story albums, [with] apocalyptic, end of the world things going on, real heavy story lines."

After those three albums and tours, Cooper says he wanted to go back to a "live-in-the-studio" sound, with no overdubs. "I was thinking let's not spend a lot of time on production, let's spend our time writing the song and performing the song, rather than layering it," Cooper explains. "We actually did the album in about 15 days. We went in the studio, wrote the song in the morning, took a lunch break, and then recorded it that evening."

Dirty Diamond cuts like "Perfect" fit nicely alongside early gems like "Be My Lover" in the Cooper canon. "When ['Perfect'] came along, we were worried that it was a little light, and I said, 'you know what, in my early albums we had songs like that, songs with a little Beatles flavor to them," Cooper says. "As long as the lyric and the storyline and Alice's attitude are right, it can be like that. 'Be My Lover' was not a heavy song. I don't mind a little glam in Alice Cooper, because we were at the beginning of glam. We were pre-Bowie when it came to glam."

Cooper says many of his main influences, then and now, were cinematic. "When I first fashioned 'Desperado' I was thinking of Robert Vaughn's character in the 'Magnificent Seven'," he says. "He was the gunslinger that was lightning fast, the guy who could kill you at any second. On top of that, he was kind of a Jim Morrison character. He had that black suit on with a little white lace on the sleeves, which made him like the gentleman gambler that could blow your brains out."

Cooper says what's old in rock is now new again. "I've been listening to a lot of cutting edge bands right now -- White Stripes, the Vines, the Strokes, Jet -- and every single one of these bands are retro bands. They're all garage bands, 1968 Detroit garage bands. And I'm right at home with that because that's where I lived in 1968. We were doing shows with the Stooges and the MC5 back then."

Cooper's 28-song setlist on the tour is light on ballads, as is the new record. "I always believe you have to put one ballad on an album," Cooper maintains. "You're supposed to break the girl's heart at least once on the album."

The current tour includes such traditional Cooper set-pieces as guillotines, strait jackets and "female vampire whip dances," but he says perception has always been more over-the-top than reality for the shock-rocker.

"If you asked 10 people in 1975 to go to an Alice Cooper show and do a two-page report on what they saw, you'd get 10 different shows," he says. "People saw things that weren't there. People say 'when you threw the chicken out' and 'when the snake came out' and I went 'we didn't use the snake tonight.' We haven't used the chicken since 1967."

Cooper shows offer sensory overload, he says. "When you've bombard an audience with images ?- there's crutches, there's guillotines, there's strait jackets, there's manikins that come to life, there's garbage cans, there's swords, money, jewelry thrown in the audience -? at the end of the show they'll tell you the most amazing story you've ever heard. And I'll think about half of that really happened."

Over the weekend, Cooper wrapped a European tour with a show in Iceland. A U.S. run, during which he will share stages on many occasions with Cheap Trick, opens Aug. 20 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. A Canadian stint is on the books for October, followed by November U.K. dates.

[Malcolm]

TheRockRadio.com is reporting that a rare ALICE COOPER concert film will make its first appearance on home video in November. "Live 1973: Billion Dollar Babies Tour", which played theatres that year in limited release, will arrive on DVD on November 8. The DVD includes 14 songs, plus a new interview with Cooper, the original theatrical trailer for the film, and biographies of the original band members.

Some of the footage was previously included on the "Billion Dollar Babies Deluxe Edition" CD that was released in 2001.

Cooper is touring to promote his new album, "Dirty Diamonds", and performs on Thursday, September 1 with CHEAP TRICK in Rockford, Illinois.

[Malcolm]

KISS drummer Eric Singer, who is currently touring with CHEAP TRICK as part of ALICE COOPER's backing band, has posted the following message on his official web site:

"The tour is going really well... CHEAP TRICK is great to watch/hear every night.

"I got the privledge of seeing Bun. E's [Carlos, CHEAP TRICK drummer] private drum collection at his home in Rockford the other day. Wow, what a great collection of vintage drums in some of the coolest colors every seen!! Mostly Ludwig (of course...)? He really has a passion for this, which I can relate to, since I feel the same way about watches :-)

"The same night, after the Rockford show, I went to Rick's [Nielsen, CHEAP TRICK guitarist] house and got to see some of his vintage guitar collection!! Some really rare collectable stuff. And he has such great artifacts from his career as well that he was kool enough to share."

[Malcolm]

Launch Radio Networks reports: Putting ALICE COOPER and CHEAP TRICK together for a late-summer tour might seem odd to some, but not to the musicians themselves. Cooper told Launch that he's glad to be out with his old friends, since his history with CHEAP TRICK dates back to some recording sessions in 1978. "When I was doing (the) 'From the Inside' album, I did a song called 'Serious', and I listened to Rick (Nielsen)'s guitar playing, and I said, 'I really want this guy to play on this record,'" he said.

The COOPER/TRICK tour hits the Rock Jam in Mack, Colorado, tomorrow (Friday, September 9). They wrap things up next Friday (September 16) at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, then both move on with their own touring plans.

[Malcolm]

DEEP PURPLE and ALICE COOPER will be teaming up for a German tour in February 2006. Unconfirmed dates are as follows:

Feb. 06 - Max Schmeling Halle - Berlin, GER
Feb. 07 - Ostseehalle - Kiel, GER
Feb. 09 - Arena - N?rnberg, GER
Feb. 10 - Westfalenhalle - Dortmund, GER
Feb. 11 - Schleyerhalle - Stuttgart, GER
Feb. 12 - Messehalle - Erfurt, GER
Feb. 14 - Arena - Trier, GER
Feb. 15 - Mittelhessen Arena - Wetzlar, GER
Feb. 17 - SAP Arena - Mannheim, GER
Feb. 18 - Olympiahalle - M?nchen, GER

[Malcolm]

 According to a posting at SickthingsUK, Shout! Factory has set a November 8 release date for the DVD version of the ALICE COOPER film "Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper". The movie, which captures the original band lineup in the middle of the legendary 1973 "Billion Dollar Babies" tour, has never before been available on home video or DVD.

The DVD will feature the original cut of the film (including skits featuring the band) which was given a very limited theatrical run-mostly at midnight screenings-in the mid-'70s. This is the early cut, predating the Holywood version. Now available for the first time since the theatrical release, "Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper" boasts a new high-definition film transfer as well as a new Surround Sound mix created from the 16-track master tapes, plus a multitude of extras, including movie-length commentary by Alice himself. "The film that out-grosses them all" ? as it was originally billed ? is back, looking and sounding better than ever.

Track listing:

01. Hello, Hooray
02. Billion Dollar Babies
03. Elected
04. I'm Eighteen
05. Raped And Freezin'
06. No More Mr. Nice Guy
07. My Stars
08. Unfinished Sweet
09. Sick Things
10. Dead Babies
11. I Love The Dead
12. School's Out
13. Under My Wheels
14. The Lady Is A Tramp (studio)

Special Features:

* Audio Commentary by Alice Cooper
* Anamorphic Widescreen & 5.1 Surround Sound
* "Play concert only" viewing option
* Original Theatrical Trailer and Radio Spots
* Deleted Scene and Outtakes
* Easter Eggs
* Poster Gallery with Original Promotional Material
* Band Biographies

[Malcolm]

Alice Cooper, who is about to wrap up a string of co-headlining dates with Cheap Trick, will remain on the road as he continues to support his recently released album, "Dirty Diamonds."

September 2005
14 - El Cajon, CA - Concerts in the Park (w/ Cheap Trick)
16 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre (w/ Cheap Trick)
27 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live
28 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
29 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
30 - Naples, FL - Hayes Hall

October 2005
1 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
4 - South Bend, IN - Morris Performing Arts Center
6 - Mount Pleasant, MI - Soaring Eagle Casino
7 - Cleveland, OH - Tower Amphitheater
8 - Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
9 - Erie, PA - Warner Theatre
10 - Peoria, IL - Peoria Civic Center Theatre
12 - Joliet, IL - Rialto Square Theatre
13 - Noblesville, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center
17 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
19 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Orpheum Theatre
21 - Calgary, Alberta - Jubilee Auditorium
22 - Edmonton, Alberta - Winspear Centre
23 - Red Deer, Alberta - The Centrium
24 - Lethbridge, Alberta - ENMAX Arena
25 - Salmon Arm, British Columbia - Sunwave Centre
27 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
28 - Eugene, OR - McDonald Theatre
29 - Tacoma, WA - Emerald Queen Casino
31 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove of Anaheim

[Malcolm]

 As a result of Eric Singer's touring commitments with KISS (related to their Honda Fest appearance last weekend), the last three shows of ALICE COOPER's current tour have featured the welcome return of Tommy Clufetos to the drum stool. Tommy, of course, played on the 2004 tour and is the drummer on COOPER's latest CD, "Dirty Diamonds" (despite not being pictured on the sleeve), and has spent most of this year touring with ROB ZOMBIE. Singer is scheduled to return to the ALICE COOPER tour momentarily and is expected to take part in the U.K. dates in November (also featuring TWISTED SISTER).

[Malcolm]

When considering metal luminaries who manage to outshine even the most intense light cast by legend, Alice Cooper indisputably stands as a beacon to all who  love music. Face it, one could easily put him right alongside such influential frenetic vocalists as Ozzy or Dio and say, ?hard rock wouldn?t have been the same without him.? When Vincent Furnier first created the persona of Alice Cooper, there was nothing like him. The make up, bloody guillotine and sense of vaudevillian humor he introduced was revolutionary enough, but?let?s face it, theatricality minus the quality music is basically Mudvayne or Slipknot. The component that has set him apart and has given Cooper the greatest staying power has indisputably been the memorable songs. Without classic tracks like ?Billion Dollar Babies?, ?School?s Out? and ?I?m Eighteen?, Alice would have quickly been relegated to the status of mere gimmick, and if that had been the case, he certainly wouldn?t still be releasing records as consistent as Dirty Diamonds or managing to tour the country at venues most bands who accept limping through their latter stages couldn?t even begin to hope to fill.

Where Vince ends and Alice Cooper begins though is anyone?s guess and by his own admission, the vocalist has stated that there were times during his career where even he didn?t know where his alter ego ended and his true self actually began. Although those days have long since come and gone, it is important to note that Furnier continues to maintain that ?Alice is still my favorite rock and roll star.? Anyone who has seen AC during the current tour can attest to the fact that Cooper?s live show is just as energetic and engaging as ever, and the standards are all well represented in the set as is Alice?s penchant for entertaining the adoring throngs. His current perspective regarding retirement appears to be that if the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney can continue making music while in their mid sixties, then that prospect should easily be within reach for him as he is only five years away from the milestone himself. Unlike others who have watched as their credibility waned with an uncaring public, Cooper has maintained his standing as the bad boy of the genre even as Vince the person hits Scottsdale to play golf or runs his restaurant, Cooperstown, in Phoenix. When any fan who gets the opportunity to see him belting out future standards from Dirty Diamonds like ?You Make Me Wanna? and ?Sunset Babies?, it?ll be easy for each and every one of them to sense that the character of Alice is as appropriately sick and as twisted as ever?and feel that the world is a better place because of it.

KNAC.COM: There has been something that I have been wanting to ask you for a while---how was the idea of doing the Muppet Show first presented to you?

ALICE: I think that maybe I was the most notorious character in the world at that time, but the Muppet people never saw it like that. They had just had Vincent Price on and John Cleese and Peter Sellers on the show. They thought, ?what about Alice Cooper?? I was like--absolutely. First of all, the Muppets never offended anyone because they were blue and green. You could say anything about anybody and get away with it. The hardest part though was that Ms. Piggy would not take her paws off of me. I had hoof prints everywhere.

KNAC.COM: Basically she was all over you like all the other females at the time?

ALICE: Yeah, but the problem was that Kermit was really starting to get an attitude about it.

KNAC.COM: You could have taken him though--don?t you think?

ALICE: Well yeah, but it just made it real awkward for the entire week. I finally had to sit him down and just tell him, ?look, it was all her--she?s a pig.?

KNAC.COM: Was Animal as good of a drummer as everyone said he was?

ALICE: Animal was based on Ginger Baker, so yeah, he definitely was. I got along with Sam The Eagle too because he was all American. (This statement was followed by numerous flawless Muppet impersonations.) I liked that guy. I loved doing that show too, but the craziest part was that the characters just had so much personality. When you rehearsed, you were kind of like on a bench like at a basketball game because the puppeteers were down under you holding the puppet up. I might be sitting there doing a song with Ms. Piggy, and I?d go, ?you know, it would be funny if you?d put your head on my shoulder right here.? Then, I realized?I was talking to his hand. When I said that though, Ms. Piggy would turn her head around at the time and go, ?that was a great idea.? After that, I would look down at the puppeteer to suggest something, and the guy is like, ?no no--that?s alright. Talk to the pig.? You do find yourself talking to the characters while you?re rehearsing. It was the weirdest thing. Kermit would say, ?maybe you should turn a little bit this way, and it would be funnier if the arrow just misses me.? I was like, ?oh yeah, that?s a great idea.? Then I realized, of course, that I was talking to this green sock.

KNAC.COM: That was a credit to Jim Henson and the crew though?all of the characters had such distinct personalities.

ALICE: Yeah, you were honestly taken into it.

KNAC.COM: I?m sure, and how many people have you met in your life who have had eighty percent less personality than any one of the Muppets?

ALICE: They were more animated and had more personality--by far--than most rock stars.

KNAC.COM: Uh?yep. You do know though, you make this all sound really funny now, but ?Welcome To My Nightmare? scared the hell out of me even with the presence of all the colored puppets. It just seemed like such an odd juxtaposition.

ALICE: The whole idea of the Faustian selling your soul to the devil concept--

KNAC.COM: That was a heady trip for a seven year old!

ALICE: It was, but to us it was really light and silly, but I can see to a little kid how scary that would be.

KNAC.COM: Just think, that was my introduction to you.

ALICE: (Laughs) To this day, you know, I had immediate credibility with my two year old. I was on The Muppets.

KNAC.COM: Wouldn?t that make you a legend even if you hadn?t done anything else afterwards? I mean, you were on The Muppet Show!

ALICE: Yeah, and I went on right after Peter Sellers. To me, if you are in the same building with Peter Sellers or John Cleese, or any of those guys and holding your own making other people laugh, that?s a compliment.

KNAC.COM: How do you manage in a career as illustrious as yours has been to not get trapped in that ?oh no, this was a climactic moment--I?ll never be able to top this!? kind of mindset?

ALICE: It is probably the same as it is with The Stones or The Who. For me, I?ve never lost my thrill of rock and roll. If you write a great rock song, and the chords are right and it has a great opening with the drums coming in just right?it is something amazing. I?m listening to the new Stones record right now, and those guys are about five or six years older than us, and ?Rough Justice? could be ?Street Fighting Man? or any of the songs from that era. They haven?t lost one bit of their edge. I am left to sit there and just go, ?I guess it really has nothing to do with your age.? It has everything to do with your attitude in rock and roll. I get onstage now with more attitude at fifty-seven than I had when I was twenty. When I was twenty, my attitude was kind of like, ?yeah, yeah?I?m a big rock star.? Now, when I get onstage, I go up there, and I am the Moriarty of rock. I am the consummate villain. I am the Hannibal Lector of rock, and I play it like that. Alice just seems like an arrogant bastard or villain who is making the audience feel as though they are lucky to be there when in reality that is exactly the opposite of my personality. With Alice though?it is great to play him or portray him as an Alan Rickman type character who is very condescending. That?s what makes him fun to watch--he?s Captain Hook.