Alice Cooper still scaring up crowds
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, August 08, 2008
Alice Cooper will perform at the Orpheum Theatre
Shock rock is dead, according to one of its parents.
"The audience today is shock-proof," says Alice Cooper. "The best we can do is entertain...and that's always what it has been about."
Still, few could incite a crowd like Cooper. In the '70s, detractors mounted protests whenever his concert tickets went on sale. By the time he arrived in town, they were like an angry mob, ready to slay the monster.
"In those days, there wasn't the Internet. There wasn't CNN. Everything came from urban legend. By the time I got to town there were so many great stories even I couldn't believe them. They'd say things like, 'He's going to set a German shepherd on fire.' I would never do that. But parents were just terrified. 'He wears makeup so he must be a devil worshipper.'"
Today, men wearing makeup is no big deal (several Olympic athletes even cop to it) and real-life killer is more frightening. "Turn on CNN and you can see a guy really getting his head cut off by terrorists."
Even Marilyn Manson has lamented the death of shock rock. But, says Cooper, there's still a need to entertain.
And that could explain why he's still going strong 40 years after making his first big splash.
"Younger bands don't have a work ethic," he says. "I can't imagine not giving the audience a show. How could you be in a band and just sing the songs for 40 years?"
In the '70s, Cooper, Elton John, David Bowie, The Who and Pink Floyd thrived on the idea of concept albums. "Our idea was to give the audience more of its money's worth. You start with an empty canvas and then you paint it," Cooper says. "If you say, 'Welcome to my nightmare,' you better give them the nightmare."
To prove as much, Cooper has hired Broadway directors to stage his shows. Even his latest -- "Psycho-Drama Tour" -- includes three Chinese assassins and "a total cast of freaks. It's the best of Alice." The production comes to the Orpheum Theatre Sunday night.
Cooper's newest album, "Along Came a Spider," was released at the end of July. True to form, it has plenty to rile and a storyline that seems ripe for film. In it, Cooper plays a serial killer who imagines himself as a spider. Spider falls in love with one of his victims and has to deal with the guilt.
Still, a show about a serial killer? "It's OK to get behind a fictional serial killer," he insists. "Hannibal Lecter. Darth Vader. Jason Voorhees. You don't feel guilty about them."
The stage show -- slated sometime next year -- will feature bodies wrapped in silk and other ghoulish images.
The name has no relationship to the first group Cooper was in (called The Spiders); it's merely a play off the Little Miss Muffet nursery rhyme. "It has a great story...being a lyricist, I'm always interested in that."
Now 60, Cooper says he still loves touring. "There's a certain rhythm to living on the road. Now, it's a lot easier. You travel in buses and it's like traveling in a hotel room. You have 500 channels of satellite, Internet access and movies.
"In the '70s, we were traveling in vans."
Contemporary artists, he says, don't look at music as a lifelong career. "The music business doesn't allow people to be around longer than three years. If you go to your local mall, you see 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds wearing T-shirts for Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, Alice and Deep Purple." They stand the test of time, he adds.
"We've traded gourmet rock for fast-food rock. If Paul McCartney made a better album than Sergeant Pepper, it wouldn't get played today. It's not what's good. It's what's next."
When Cooper started out, artists were signed for more than one album. "It was like a movie contract. MGM had Cary Grant. They owned that guy...and they really cared about him. Today, it's 'Get the money.'"
Cooper understands. But he always remembers what good friend Groucho Marx said: "Alice is the last hope for vaudeville."
The show's the thing.
And as long as Cooper's around, he says, "the show will go on."
"The audience today is shock-proof," says Alice Cooper. "The best we can do is entertain...and that's always what it has been about."
Still, few could incite a crowd like Cooper. In the '70s, detractors mounted protests whenever his concert tickets went on sale. By the time he arrived in town, they were like an angry mob, ready to slay the monster.
"In those days, there wasn't the Internet. There wasn't CNN. Everything came from urban legend. By the time I got to town there were so many great stories even I couldn't believe them. They'd say things like, 'He's going to set a German shepherd on fire.' I would never do that. But parents were just terrified. 'He wears makeup so he must be a devil worshipper.'"
Today, men wearing makeup is no big deal (several Olympic athletes even cop to it) and real-life killer is more frightening. "Turn on CNN and you can see a guy really getting his head cut off by terrorists."
Even Marilyn Manson has lamented the death of shock rock. But, says Cooper, there's still a need to entertain.
And that could explain why he's still going strong 40 years after making his first big splash.
"Younger bands don't have a work ethic," he says. "I can't imagine not giving the audience a show. How could you be in a band and just sing the songs for 40 years?"
In the '70s, Cooper, Elton John, David Bowie, The Who and Pink Floyd thrived on the idea of concept albums. "Our idea was to give the audience more of its money's worth. You start with an empty canvas and then you paint it," Cooper says. "If you say, 'Welcome to my nightmare,' you better give them the nightmare."
To prove as much, Cooper has hired Broadway directors to stage his shows. Even his latest -- "Psycho-Drama Tour" -- includes three Chinese assassins and "a total cast of freaks. It's the best of Alice." The production comes to the Orpheum Theatre Sunday night.
Cooper's newest album, "Along Came a Spider," was released at the end of July. True to form, it has plenty to rile and a storyline that seems ripe for film. In it, Cooper plays a serial killer who imagines himself as a spider. Spider falls in love with one of his victims and has to deal with the guilt.
Still, a show about a serial killer? "It's OK to get behind a fictional serial killer," he insists. "Hannibal Lecter. Darth Vader. Jason Voorhees. You don't feel guilty about them."
The stage show -- slated sometime next year -- will feature bodies wrapped in silk and other ghoulish images.
The name has no relationship to the first group Cooper was in (called The Spiders); it's merely a play off the Little Miss Muffet nursery rhyme. "It has a great story...being a lyricist, I'm always interested in that."
Now 60, Cooper says he still loves touring. "There's a certain rhythm to living on the road. Now, it's a lot easier. You travel in buses and it's like traveling in a hotel room. You have 500 channels of satellite, Internet access and movies.
"In the '70s, we were traveling in vans."
Contemporary artists, he says, don't look at music as a lifelong career. "The music business doesn't allow people to be around longer than three years. If you go to your local mall, you see 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds wearing T-shirts for Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, Alice and Deep Purple." They stand the test of time, he adds.
"We've traded gourmet rock for fast-food rock. If Paul McCartney made a better album than Sergeant Pepper, it wouldn't get played today. It's not what's good. It's what's next."
When Cooper started out, artists were signed for more than one album. "It was like a movie contract. MGM had Cary Grant. They owned that guy...and they really cared about him. Today, it's 'Get the money.'"
Cooper understands. But he always remembers what good friend Groucho Marx said: "Alice is the last hope for vaudeville."
The show's the thing.
And as long as Cooper's around, he says, "the show will go on."
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