On our Alice Cooper episode Reg Harkema director of the irreverent documentary Super Duper Alice Cooper discussed the indelible mark Alice Cooper left on numerous genres of music in the past 50 years.
Alice Cooper’s pioneering approach influenced many genres of music
In fact, the tale that Harkema weaves about Alice’s journey on this Garage to Stadiums episode has so many incredible twists and turns, it almost begs for a movie treatment. That movie would have to contain the undeniable subplot of how Alice influenced so many future music stars with his pioneering early 70’s blend of theatrical shows, androgynous outfits, and brash attitude . Harkema believes everyone from David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust to brash punk bands like The Sex Pistols through to glam metal bands like Motley Crue to Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift owe a debt to the pioneering Alice.
Was on-stage mayhem a reflection of the violence of society that rocked the late 60s?
Bringing a new genre to the fore referred to as “shock rock”, Alice Cooper’s brand of onstage gore and violence seemed a symbol of the turbulence that melted away the peace and love vision of the 1960s.
Violence seemed to be ever present through violent images of Vietnam on TV screens daily. The murder spree of Charles Manson and his cult followers became part of everyday conversation and murder and mayhem could even occur at a rock concert, as it did at the filmed Rolling Stones outdoor concert at Altamont Speedway in Northern California in 1969. As Alice says “my goal was to drive a stake through the hippie dream of the 1960s' '. And, indeed, he did.
What makes Alice’s tale from the garage to the stadiums even more unfathomable is his Christian faith instilled at an early age by his preacher father, an ordained minister. Harkema informed listeners that even to this day, Alice cites his enduring Christian faith of he and his wife Cheryl as key to his success. This seems at stark odds to the image cultivated over decades of shocking parents with his on-stage theatrics and offstage debauchery.
The early roots: how Alice’s love of surrealist art infused his image
Alice was a Detroit native, and his original name was Vince Furnier. He moved from the Motor City to Phoenix as a young man due an early bout with asthma and that is where his transformation began. Harkema’s documentary introduces us to the young and artistic Alice who loved the Dadaist art movement and surrealist art like Salvador Dali along with his childhood friend and future bandmate Dennis Dunaway. This appreciation of art would play a key role in the theatrics to follow in both outfits, concert performances, and off-stage antics.
Not only did Harkema weave a fantastical tale of how the strange Alice Cooper name came about for the band, but he also illuminated listeners on how Alice’s surrealist influence led to early intriguing tunes like the Ballad of Dwight Frye performed at the Beat Club in 1971. Reg actually reveals in our episode who this song was about.
The performance where Alice’s shock rock was truly born
But let’s go back even farther. The turning point for the Alice Cooper band that truly created a sensation was at the 1969 Toronto Summer Festival along with other acts like John Lennon, The Doors, Chuck Berry and others. Fans turned out in the thousands to see megastars like Lennon and The Doors and were abruptly shocked when a new band Alice Cooper came on stage and proceeded to launch feathers, a live chicken (yes, a chicken…) and other paraphernalia into the crowd with what can only be described as a punk rock type performance about seven years before punk became a thing. The airborne chicken cemented the infamy of the band in the media.
How legendary producer Bob Ezrin cut his teeth on The Alice Cooper Band
However, the theatrics of this hard rocking, dress-wearing band were not its only asset. The band proved its nose for business when it signed on the young producer Bob Ezrin, then a 19-year old newbie, to produce their next album. Ezrin helped shape the early sound nuggets of possibility that the Alice Cooper band possessed when he was signed on to produce the band’s landmark album Killer in 1970. Ezrin went on to produce acts like Kiss, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart and U2, but Alice was his first job at producing.
The album Killer was followed by Love it to Death featuring the monster radio hit I’m Eighteen. As Reg says in the episode, this was an angst ridden teenage anthem in the mold of the song My Generation by The Who. We have a rare clip of an early performance of that tune from a local Detroit television show called Detroit Tubeworks.
Interestingly, the song received tons of airplay in Canada due to Ezrin’s Canadian citizenship. Canadian stations were not subject to FCC limits on geographic reach for American radio stations. As such, the 50,000 watt station in Windsor, a 5-minute ride over the Detroit River from Alice’s hometown of Detroit, beamed “I’m Eighteen” far and wide across America, leading callers to flood US stations to hear the song.
The innovation of Alice’s stage theatrics
Alice went on to even greater heights with the release of the album containing the title track of School’s Out in 1972. As Reg says “you can’t find a straighter line into the brains of a teenager than the phrase school is out for the summer” The title track on that album became an even bigger hit for the band, cementing the Alice Cooper Band as legitimate rock superstars in the early 70s. Shep Gordon, the outrageous former drug dealer turned Alice Cooper’s maniacal manager, plotted a theatrical show for the ensuring toor that would shock parents with fake hangings, beheading and other dastardly deeds.
The savvy Gordon knew that when parents are afraid of a rock band, kids flock to follow that band. Elvis’ hip-shaking on television and The Rolling Stones bad boy image were but two examples of that proven formula.
One more massive album Billion Dollar Babies followed in 1973 yielding the hit “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, an ironic title given Alice Cooper’s already established image as a villainous lead character.
Vince changes his name to Alice and goes it alone to his solo career
This brought to a close the Alice Cooper Band era, as Vince (remember, he is still Vince at this juncture) left the band in 1974 to establish himself as a solo artist. As if to emphasize his dominance over the band members, Vince legally changes his name to Alice Cooper which shockingly goes unopposed by his bandmates. Alice would likely defend his decision on the grounds that he was the one in demand by the press on tours, he was the one who visited radio stations on tour stops and made public appearances while the rest of the band rested at the hotel. As frontman in the elaborate theatrics on stage, Vince clearly established the perception that he “was” Alice Cooper.
With the release of the album Welcome to My Nightmare, his solo career was launched with Bob Ezrin once again at the mixing board as producer. Shep Gordon stepped up his own game to create the most elaborate rock show of the era, complete with dance troupe, fake electric chairs, guillotines and other horror flick tricks. Clips of this Welcome to My Nightmare era show demonstrate the lengths that Alice went to differentiate his shows with vaudeville and horror tactics.
The two addictions that plagued Alice for years
Alice actually met his wife Cheryl as she was a dancer in the Nightmare show. Guest Reg Harkema highlighted how each night he would perform a romantic scene with Cheryl on stage and the chemistry began to build between the couple. She would go on to play a pivotal role in his sabbatical from touring for treatment for alcoholism. Clips of the day of him in interviews usually have him usually sipping a beer. As Reg documents in his documentary, Alice was literally put in a former insane asylum in Upper State New York as celebrity rehab clinics were few and far between in those days.
Upon drying out he resumed touring and began to write an album called From the Inside, a concept album reflecting his take on being in the asylum. With the rise of punk in the mid to late 70s, Alice believed he could take another shot at the “shock rock” crown and keep up with the new breed of punk youngsters as he was only in his late 20s. Alice signed on Elton John’s writing partner Bernie Taupin to assist in song creation. Taupin, of course, wrote the lyrics for all of Elton’s huge hits like Rocket Man, Yellow Brick Road, and Crocodile Rock. Unfortunately, it was Taupin introduced Alice to cocaine, a tale he recounted when appearing in the documentary. Why was cocaine Taupin asked? It was considered at the time a pragmatic substitute for the alcohol Alice had given up.
As Reg detailed this album writing period was the genesis for another ultimate descent into addiction as free-basing cocaine became Alice’s vice of choice. A second intervention was necessitated by Cheryl who left with their young daughter. During this period Alice began to physically deteriorate, even as he continued his torrid pace of touring and appearing on mainstream shows like The Muppet Show with Kermit and the gang. One particularly harrowing interview clip, which was discussed on this Garage to Stadiums episode, is his interview with 1970s late night talk show host Tom Snyder where a cocaine ravaged Alice is barely coherent. Viewing that clip gives a sense of how far he had fallen.
Alice's influence manifests in 80s glam metal
Alice would not be heard from again for three years as he was taken in by his parents to recover a second time from an addiction. His influence could be felt as the 1980s started to crank up with glam metal bands like Motley Crue and Twisted Sister rising up the music charts. As you can see, these bands borrowed heavily from Alice’s makeup, curled hair and colorful clothes. As Alice realized he was their inspiration so why not get back on the road to capitalize on the trend? As Reg says on this episode, as a shrewd business person who recognized that being a leading brand of shock was critical to success, Alice was always attracted to an opportunity. The glam metal or “hair metal” trend of the 80’s seemed to be his ticket back to the top.
The live concert comeback on MTV Halloween 1986
The irrepressible Shep Gordon was assigned the comeback challenge. What could he conjure up to make a splash? The perfect answer: a live concert broadcast on Halloween night on MTV called The Nightmare Returns bringing Alice to an entire new generation of rock fans. On our episode, Reg discusses Alice’s nerves backstage as he readied for his first appearance in over 3 years. This renaissance period actually led to Alice’s next hit song Poison which rapidly climbed the charts in the late 1980s, over 20 years after his first album.
Alice’s lasting legacy of influence on so many performers in so many genres
In summary, what I really came to appreciate in this episode of Garage to Stadiums: The story of Alice Cooper with director Reg Harkema of the documentary Super Duper Alice Cooper was just how many acts were influenced by this band and this lead singer Vince Furnier or Alice Cooper.
David Bowie owes his androgynous character Ziggy Stardust to consultation with Alice. The glam rock era of Bowie, T-Rex, Roxy Music and others also have obvious parallels to Alice’s glitter clothes and makeup. Alice’s influence on punk was openly cited by Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny “Rotten” Lydon and mentioned by Reg in the episode. Glam metal of the 1980s is almost a direct take from the Alice hard rock and theatrics act of the 70s, and what led to his 1980’s comeback.
Reg Harkema also comments on the episode that pop star Lady Gaga has thanked Alice for his influence in shaping her brand and onstage antics. Interestingly, Reg calls out Taylor Swift and Beyonce as performers who owe a great debt to Alice, as well.
Today Alice still performs at age 75 and has an upcoming book entitled Starring Alice Cooper coming out. His music has appeared in numerous movies including Friday the 13th and Freddy Krueger series of movies. Here is a hilarious international version of Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare starring Alice overdubbed in Italian.
So there you have it. Why Alice Cooper influenced a host of performers and should be remembered for his impact on the history of music by bringing a brand of aesthetic and stage theatrics previously unheard of. As was said in the episode, Alice Cooper influenced many including….Taylor Swift.