Alice Cooper (band)
[1] The Alice Cooper band was one of the few glam rock acts to achieve mainstream popularity in the United States, rising to fame in 1971 with the hit single "I'm Eighteen", from their third album Love It to Death.They acquired musical instruments from a local pawn shop, and proceeded to learn how to play them, with Buxton doing most of the teaching, as well as much of the early songwriting.For the next year the band performed regularly around the Phoenix area with a huge black spider's web as their backdrop, the group's first stage prop.They soon renamed themselves Nazz and released the single "Wonder Who's Lovin' Her Now", backed with future Alice Cooper track "Lay Down and Die, Goodbye".[4] The legend is that the name "Alice Cooper" came from a session with a Ouija board, largely chosen because it sounded innocuous and wholesome, in humorous contrast to the band's image and music."[11] Eventually Furnier adopted this stage name as his own from 1969 onwards, being referred to as Alice Cooper on the cover of the band's debut album.The band was the subject of media criticism after Furnier threw a live chicken into the audience during the 1969 Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival Festival.Also in 1970, the band had two songs ("Titanic Overture" and "Refrigerator Heaven") that appeared on a Warner Bros sampler album, Zapped, featuring acts produced by Zappa.Here, their bizarre stage act was much better received by Midwestern crowds accustomed to the proto punk styles of local bands such as the Stooges and the MC5."[22] Hooking up with young producer Bob Ezrin, Alice Cooper released the single "I'm Eighteen" in November 1970, and it became a surprise Top 40 hit by early 1971.The single's success convinced Warner Bros that the band could be a viable commercial act, leading to much stronger investment in the third Alice Cooper album, Love It to Death.The album was initially released on Straight Records, but was reissued on the Warner label following its buyout of the imprint from Zappa, giving Alice Cooper even greater exposure.[24] With Love It to Death and its follow-up album Killer both charting well, the band was able to afford a more elaborate stage show, including sophisticated props and elements of gothic horror, and they became a highly popular concert attraction in the US and UK over the next few years.[25] Calls by members of British Parliament in 1972 to have the group banned from performing in the UK only solidified the band's legend,[26] and the next year's Billion Dollar Babies tour broke box office records.Bruce contends that Buxton's issues with substance abuse, which at one time led him to pull a switchblade on the band's tour manager, likely hastened the breakup.[28][35] Bruce, Dunaway and Smith would go on to form the short-lived band Billion Dollar Babies, producing one album – Battle Axe – in 1977.[36] This lineup would perform together again (televised) on March 14, 2011, at the induction of the original Alice Cooper group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as on May 11, 2011, at London's Battersea Power Station at the Jägermeister Ice Cold 4D event (webcast).[53] Alice Cooper are seen as precursors to punk rock, but also influenced glam, hard rock, metal, new wave, goth and members of the Sex Pistols, Nine Inch Nails, the Ramones, the New York Dolls, Guns N’ Roses, Devo, Cheap Trick, Ozzy Osbourne, the Cramps, Kiss, the Plasmatics, the Misfits, White Zombie and Marilyn Manson.[57][58][59] Alice Cooper takes inspiration from 60s rock, such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, Love, The Doors, Jim Morrison, Pink Floyd and The Beach Boys, but also proto-punk, such as MC5 and The Stooges.
Phoenix, ArizonaHard rockglam rockshock rockpsychedelic rockStraightWarner Bros.Vincent FurnierGlen BuxtonMichael BruceDennis DunawayNeal SmithAlice CooperI'm EighteenLove It to DeathSchool's Outalbum of the same nameBillion Dollar Babiesthe Rolling StonesRock and Roll Hall of FameGarage rockrock and rollproto-punkCortez High SchoolLetterman'scross-countrythe BeatlesPlease Please Mepawn shopthe Whothe Kinksthe Doorsthe YardbirdsMarvin GayeTamla RecordsHitch Hikethe Lovin' Spoonfulthe Animalsthe ByrdsNorth High SchoolTodd RundgrengimmickOuija boardMark RadcliffeRadcliffe and MaconieBBC Radio 2urban legendManfred MannVenice, CaliforniaShep GordonFrank ZappaStraight RecordsPretties for YouBillboardTorontoEasy ActionKillerPontiac, MichiganDetroitMidwesternproto punkthe Stoogesthe MC5Bob EzrinRio de JaneiroSteve HunterBattersea Power StationJägermeisterWelcome 2 My NightmareSuper Duper Alice CooperTribeca Film FestivalHot Docs Canadian International Documentary FestivalRyan RoxieParanormalNashville, TennesseeDetroit Storiesheavy metalglam punkrock 'n' rollacid rockexperimental rockpunk rockthe Sex PistolsNine Inch Nailsthe Ramonesthe New York DollsGuns N’ RosesCheap TrickOzzy Osbournethe Crampsthe Plasmaticsthe MisfitsWhite ZombieMarilyn MansonElvis PresleyChuck BerryJim MorrisonPink FloydThe Beach BoysArthur BrownScreaming Lord SutchList of Alice Cooper solo band membersMick MashbirAlice Cooper discographyMuscle of LoveGreatest HitsThe Radcliffe and Maconie ShowGoogle BooksMetro TimesAllMusicBlabbermouth.netClassic RockHarvard University PressUniversity of RostockPerfect Sound ForeverTucson SentinelIndy WeekLos Angeles TimesBroadcast Music, Inc.Canongate BooksChuck GarricTommy HenriksenGlen SobelNita StraussFormer solo band membersWelcome to My Nightmare