Crescendo

Before Manson, before Slipknot, heck, before Kiss even, there was Alice Cooper. The Alice Cooper Band was five forward thinking high school friends who had the bright idea to meld theatre with rock shows. At the time, most musicians just stood there and played. The Alice Cooper Band wore makeup and funny clothes and used props to enhance their songs onstage. At first, they chased audiences away but, eventually, they caught the eye of Frank Zappa, who helped them release their first two albums. By their third release, Love It To Death (1971), they were a household name due to their hit songs as well as their reputation for onstage theatrics, such as the ritual mock execution of their lead singer at the end of every show. Parents were terrified to let their children attend Cooper shows, guaranteeing them a place in the hearts of the younger generation.

The band decided to take a well earned vacation after their 1974 Muscle Of Love tour but never managed to regroup. Lead singer Vincent Furnier, now having legally changed his name to Alice Cooper, began a solo career, creating the Welcome To My Nightmare album, TV special and tour, taking the theatrics to an extreme, succeeding beyond all expectations. The rest of the band attempted, unsuccessfully, to foster their own career as the Billion Dollar Babies. The original Cooper group was a five-way democracy, all decisions made by committee. Cooper was now on his own, for better or for worse. Cooper continues to tour and release records to this day, and scored a string of hits in the late 1980s after having been absent from the charts for a few years.

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			Grande Casino, Gulfport, MS September 27, 2003 story and photos by Ritchie Champagne
Before Manson, before Slipknot, heck, before Kiss even, there was Alice Cooper. The Alice Cooper Band was five forward thinking high school friends who had the bright idea to meld theatre with rock shows. At the time, most musicians just stood there and played. The Alice Cooper Band wore makeup and funny clothes and used props to enhance their songs onstage. At first, they chased audiences away but, eventually, they caught the eye of Frank Zappa, who helped them release their first two albums. By their third release, Love It To Death (1971), they were a household name due to their hit songs as well as their reputation for onstage theatrics, such as the ritual mock execution of their lead singer at the end of every show. Parents were terrified to let their children attend Cooper shows, guaranteeing them a place in the hearts of the younger generation.
The band decided to take a well earned vacation after their 1974 Muscle Of Love tour but never managed to regroup. Lead singer Vincent Furnier, now having legally changed his name to Alice Cooper, began a solo career, creating the Welcome To My Nightmare album, TV special and tour, taking the theatrics to an extreme, succeeding beyond all expectations. The rest of the band attempted, unsuccessfully, to foster their own career as the Billion Dollar Babies. The original Cooper group was a five-way democracy, all decisions made by committee. Cooper was now on his own, for better or for worse. Cooper continues to tour and release records to this day, and scored a string of hits in the late 1980s after having been absent from the charts for a few years.