Alice Cooper

All about shock

Alice cooper made way into our hearts his own way – by shocking us with his stage performances and videos we all loved.  He became notorious in the 1970s with his over-the-top performances on stage which shook the audiences worldwide.

Alice-Cooper-Manchester-2011
Alice Cooper on stage in Manchester 2011

Alice’s birth name was Vincent Damon Furnier and he was born in Detroit in 1948. He moved from Detroit to California and some time later to Arizona with his family. He had always had a strong passion for creating music and he formed his first band while he was still in high school. They called themselves the Earwigs. Soon he reinvented the name and called it the Spiders.

He and his band performed covers of their favorite bands like the Beatles and Rolling Stones. After they gained some experience playing local gigs the band went after their dreams and moved to Los Angeles where they met with Frank Zappa, who saw great potential in them.

Alice Cooper as the band

After Alice and the Spiders moved to Los Angeles and Frank Zappa signed a record deal with them. They renamed themselves to Alice Cooper as the bands name. Interestingly, The name “Alice Cooper” is a name a witch doctor from a Ouija board has supposedly introduced himself as to the lead singer, hence the name.

Their first album was called Pretties For You and instantly the band gained the reputation of being shocking and shameless. This was because many of their performances included the use of fake guillotines, electric chairs and other shocking items.

Only Alice Cooper

Despite the group’s success, Alice Cooper decided to go his own way and in 1974 broke away from the band. Only a year passed when he put out Welcome to My Nightmare, his very first solo album which was incredibly successful. But Alice Cooper had problems as his life was starting to go downhill and he found himself in a sanatorium in New York.

Having time to recover he took up golfing as his new hobby and eventually returned to music regaining his former ground as successful musician. In 2011 he has rejoined with his old fellow band members and the group was included into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

YouTube video

 

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