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 There
have been any number of well-defined movements in rock, but seldom are
they as easy to source as the theatrics that Alice Cooper brought to the
ring. A master of bigger-than--erm--death theatrics, Cooper brought a
twisted sense of his own twisted psyche to the fore of what would become
the rock spectacle. He made audiences expect more, much more, of their
artists.
Born Vincent Furnier in Detroit on February 4th, 1948, Alice (as he
legally became in 1974) made later-day incarnations like Marilyn Manson
possible, even if Marilyn isn't paying the royalties he should.
Throughout his career, Alice's own psychological standing was always as
much of an issue as his music, as he willingly delved into areas that
scared the crap out of the rest of the world. In short, he helped make
rock music dangerous for yet another generation, and part of what's lame
about rock today is that no one can top what he did. Alice Cooper became
infamous for, among other things, hanging and beheading himself in
concert. That his father is an ordained minister makes all of this
"acting out" even more intriguing. Such duality may have been
responsible for thrusting the outrageous performer into the depths of
alcoholism in the late '70s. And while his string of records from
earlier in that decade are essential, it seems that Alice started to
believe his own show, becoming a heavy metal parody of his former self
by the late '80s. In the grand scheme of things, however, he managed to
upset almost everyone--even as he was selling millions of records--which
is no small feat, and should always be respected.
Alice
Cooper Links
Alice
continues to record and tour, now reaching the point when career
retrospective boxed sets are being considered, and he has as many
"greatest-hits" records as actual releases. His fans await a time when
he rises above his own schlock, but he seems fairly comfortable there.
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