Alice Cooper     

Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948), is a rock singer and musician. Alice Cooper was originally just the name of Furnier's band. Furnier officially changed his own name to Alice Cooper for a successful solo career.

Furnier was born in Detroit, but moved to Phoenix, Arizona in his youth. His Grandfather, Thurman Furnier, was an ordained Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite). Cooper's father, Ether Furnier, was an ordained Elder. Cooper had some distant French Huguenot ancestry; the remainder of his ancestry was English.

Cooper, influenced by British Bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks and in particular The Yardbirds, formed a number of rock bands in the 1960s, including the Earwigs, The Spiders, and The Nazz. Furnier, upon learning that Todd Rundgren also had a band called the Nazz, changed the band's name to Alice Cooper (the name Alice Cooper is said to have been agreed upon after one of Furnier's Ouija sessions, and learning that he was a reincarnation of a 17th century "witch" of the same name, according to band legend, although Cooper in interviews has said the name actually came out of thin air conjuring an image of "a cute little girl with an axe behind her back").

The classic Alice Cooper group line up consisted of guitarists Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith. After moving to California in 1968, the band enlisted Shep Gordon and Joe Greenberg as their managers, and the band was soon signed to Frank Zappa's label, Straight Records - releasing two competent but outlandish albums, Pretties For You and Easy Action, to a frosty public and critical reception.

Although the band incorporated theatrics in their stage act from the outset, a chance case of press misreporting an unfortunate, unrehearsed stage routine involving Alice and a live chicken led to the band changing tack - capitalizing on tabloid sensationalism and creating a new sub-genre, shock rock. Alice claims that the chicken incident was an accident. He says he thought, "Chickens have wings, so they must be able to fly" so when it was on the stage, he threw it out over the crowd, with the intention of having the chicken fly away. But chickens can't fly, so it was instead ripped to shreds by the rowdy audience.

1970s

In 1970, the band teamed up with fledgling producer Bob Ezrin on their album entitled Love It to Death. This was the first of more than 10 Alice Cooper group and solo albums done with Ezrin who is credited with having helped to create their definitive sound. A hit single soon followed in 1971's 'I'm Eighteen'. The band's trailblazing mix of shock and glam theatrics stood out amongst bearded, denim-clad hippy bands by sporting sequined costumes by the prominent rock fashion designer Cindy Dunaway (Pink Floyd, The Who) and stage shows that involved Gothic torture modes imposed on the lead singer. The follow up Killer included further singles in 'Under My Wheels' and 'Be My Lover' and also one of the most critically acclaimed Cooper songs in the epic 'Halo Of Flies', which was a Top 10 hit in Holland. In the summer of 1972, Alice Cooper served up School's Out to their hungry audience. The album reached number two on the charts and sold over a million copies. The title song went Top 10 in the US and was a number one single in the UK.

Album cover for Billion Dollar Babies.

Billion Dollar Babies, released in 1973, was the band's most commercially successful album, reaching no. 1 in both the US and Britain. 'Elected' a 1972 top 10 UK hit included on the album (featuring one of the first creative promo films 3 years before Queen's promo video to 'Bohemian Rhapsody'), was followed by 2 more UK top 10 singles in 'Hello Hooray' and 'No More Mister Nice Guy' which was the last UK single from the album and also reached number 25 in the U.S. The title track was also a US hit single.

With a string of successful concept albums in the bag and several hit singles, the band toured the world - attempts to ban their shocking act by politicians and pressure groups only serving to fuel the myth of Alice Cooper and generate more audience interest. The 1973 US Tour broke box office records set by The Rolling Stones.

A film 'Good To See You Again Alice' (recently re-released on DVD) was released and saw the band as the biggest act in the world at that time. Muscle of Love the last album from the classic line up marked Alice Cooper's last UK top 20 single in the 1970's, with 'Teenage Lament 74'. Even a James Bond theme song was recorded for 'The Man with the Golden Gun', but a different song of the same name by LuLu, was chosen instead.

In 1974, the band split - Cooper himself wanting to retain the theatrics that had brought them so much attention, the rest of the group wanting to concentrate on the music which had given them credibility.

His first solo album was Welcome to My Nightmare. He was backed by Lou Reed's band, guitarist Dick Wagner, guitarist Steve Hunter, bassist Prakash John, keyboardist Joseph Chrowski, and drummer Penti Glan. The album was another top 10 hit for Cooper and is regarded along with the stage show as ground breaking moments in rock history. In addition the 1975 US TV special 'The Nightmare' was the first video album and as with the album featured horror movie film star Vincent Price, several years before he guested on Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Following two less acclaimed studio albums Alice Cooper Goes To Hell and Lace And Whiskey along with the 1977 live album The Alice Cooper Show (recorded in Las Vegas) it was clear that Alice Cooper lacked some of the cutting edge of the creative 1971-1975 period, and in 1977 Cooper was hospitalized in a New York sanitarium for alcoholism. This may be responsible for a surprise return to form on the hard-rocking, semi-autobiographical album From The Inside. Around this time Cooper led celebrities in raising money to remodel the famous Hollywood Sign in California. Cooper himself chipped in over $27,000 for the project, doing it in memory of friend and comedian Groucho Marx.

1980s

His albums from the beginning of 1980s, Flush the Fashion, Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin, and DaDa, were not commercially successful, especially in comparison to previous sales. They were regarded as very strange and bizarre at that time, and are now considered cult classics. Flush the Fashion has a spare, edgy musical sound that was so unexpected as to have been truly baffling to long-time fans. The songs are typically clever, however, and hold up very well. Special Forces was a bit darker and more cynical, but continued with the experimental sound. However even DaDa the best of the alternative albums had only mildly positive commercial and critical response. DaDa was again produced by Bob Ezrin, who used one of the first sequencers (the famous Fairlight) instead of real drums.

Cooper then released Constrictor (1986), a heavier album, which had more, but still very limited, success, followed by Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987) which had a rougher sound than its predecessor and better songs. Both Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell were recorded with guitarist Kane Roberts & bassist Kip Winger, both of whom would leave the band by the end of 1988 (although Kane Roberts played guitar on 'Bed Of Nails' on the 1989 Trash album). Kane Roberts would go on as a solo artist, while Kip formed Winger. Roberts' stage attire was unusual since he was basically a Rambo-clone - muscular body, scanty clothing and a guitar that resembled a machine gun.

In 1987, he made a brief appearance in the movie Prince of Darkness directed by John Carpenter. His role had no lines, and consisted of menacing the protagonists with a bicycle frame.

He also appeared at WrestleMania III escorting wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts to the ring. After the match was over, Cooper got involved and threw Jake's snake Damien at The Honky Tonk Man's manager Jimmy Hart.

In 1989, his career experienced a real revival with the Desmond Child produced album Trash, which spawned the hit single 'Poison', reaching # 2 in the UK, and a worldwide arena tour.

It was during this time in the 1980s he became a Born-again Christian and became sober.

1990s

In 1991, Hey Stoopid was released. It was hailed as one of Cooper's best albums since the 1970's, and the title track became an anti-drug anthem. He also appeared on the Guns N' Roses album Use Your Illusion I, singing backup on the track "The Garden". In 1992, he made a famous cameo in the movie Wayne's World, in which he discusses the history of Milwaukee in some depth. In 1994 he released The Last Temptation, which contains deeper theological thoughts. In 1997 he recorded the intro narration for the Insane Clown Posse album The Great Milenko. He also made a brief appearance as the abusive father of Freddy Krueger in the 1991 Nightmare On Elmstreet film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.

2000s

A pause, lasting for six years, ended in 2000 with Brutal Planet. Brutal Planet is musically strong, dark and loud, with subject matter thematically inspired by the brutality of the modern world, although set in a post-apocalyptic future. It was succeeded by Dragontown in 2001, which has been described by Cooper as being "the worst town on Brutal Planet". These two albums are the first parts of a trilogy that was apparently put on hold with the release of The Eyes of Alice Cooper (2003) People frequently mistake "The Last Temptation of Alice" for the first installment. Alice's latest album, Dirty Diamonds, seems to be in a similar vein as "The Eyes of...". Also in 2001, Cooper made a brief appearance in the movie 'Attic Expeditions' as the unstable Samuel Leventhal.

In 2003, Cooper again adopted a leaner, cleaner sound for The Eyes Of Alice Cooper. Recognizing that many current bands were having great success with his former sounds and styles, Cooper worked with a somewhat younger group of road and studio musicians who were very familiar with his oeuvre. However, instead of rehashing the old sounds, they updated them, often with surprisingly effective results. The resulting Bare Bones tour adopted a less-orchestrated performance style that had fewer theatrical flourishes and a greater emphasis on musicality. The success of this tour help support the growing recognition that the classic Cooper songs were exceptionally clever, tuneful, and unique.

Cooper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003. It is located at the corner of