by Robert Wilkinson
Today we celebrate one of the most outrageous stage shows ever to get our attention, the outrageous Alice Cooper. We have some amazing videos!
The world of pop music didn’t know what to think when Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier February 4, 1948) hit the big time. Up to that point we had performers who ran the spectrum from James Brown with his rubber knees to Arthur Brown with his flaming hair, Pete Townshend with his windmill bloody guitar strokes to Jimi with lighting his guitar on fire.
All that paled in comparison with what Alice brought to the stage. Never had the world seen anything like Alice Cooper, with his stage show featuring electric chairs, fake blood, guillotines, and boa constrictors. From Wikipedia: “Cooper is credited with helping to shape the sound and look of heavy metal, and he is regarded as being the artist who "first introduced horror imagery to rock'n'roll, and whose stagecraft and showmanship have permanently transformed the genre."
Discovered by Frank Zappa (who else?), Alice Cooper (the man and the band) were pure theater from the beginning. While I never liked the faux violence of the act, it certainly got everyone’s attention as the over-the-top theatrical stage show that it became, with Alice’s stage persona morphing through various identities, including some of the first gender-bending performances in pop music history.
They took a stage persona of violent theatrical glam rockers, and transformed the “rock band as bad boys” image, taking it where it had never gone before. So of course millions of the rocking young would love them, while a lot of adults were shocked in ways that created public outrage. He broke through in late 1970 with the teen angst song “I’m Eighteen” and never looked back, creating some awesome rock and roll these past decades.
As an aside - No, he never did bite off the head of a chicken. Somehow a live chicken found its way to the stage (?!) and Alice threw it into the audience thinking it could fly. (Well, he is from Detroit, not someone from Farmville.) Of course, chickens don’t fly and so it fell into the crowd and people freaked out and apparently did some weird stuff. The story was picked up the next day and alleged he had bitten off the head of the chicken. Frank Zappa thought NOT setting the record straight would be good for publicity…..)
More from Wikipedia: “(“School’s Out”) won over devoted fans in droves while at the same time horrifying parents and outraging the social establishment. In the United Kingdom, Mary Whitehouse, a Christian morality campaigner (Editor’s note - made famous when she was called out by Roger Waters in Pink Floyd’s “Pigs – Three Different Kinds”), persuaded the BBC to ban the video for "School's Out" and Member of Parliament Leo Abse petitioned Home Secretary Reginald Maudling to have the group banned altogether from performing in the country.”
Oh my. Pass the smelling salts. Anyway, in retrospect, none of it was as violent as it seemed at the time, and while I wish he had chosen a different stage show, he and the band made some really great Rock and Roll! Today we’ll feature some of his biggest from the 70s and early 80s!
Live from 1971 at the Detroit Tubeworks, Alice live doing “I’m Eighteen”
From a 1981 French television special, a much slowed down, incredibly macabre live performance of “I’m Eighteen” and from the same show, “School’s Out”
At the Beat Club, a compelling version of "I’m Eighteen"
Also from Love It To Death,” live in 1971, the oh-so-seductive “Is It My Body”
Their 1971 performance of “Under My Wheels” on The Old Grey Whistle Test has disappeared. So instead, we have this classic early video performance from Beat Club in October 1971 of "Under My Wheels" and here’s yet another rocking live performance of “Under My Wheels.”
Here’s a magnificent video clip of "Be My Lover," “Only Women Bleed,” and “I Never Cry,
I found it again! Here’s an early live performance by Alice Cooper in 1972 on the UK television Top of the Pops cranking out their major hit from the School’s Out album, "School's Out." Here’s the reprise on TOTP 2000! "School's Out"
I found it again! Here’s Alice Cooper’s 24 minute set live at Hofstra University in 1972 courtesy of ABC in Concert, so have fun! Alice Cooper in Concert at Hofstra University - 1972 (Set list: “I’m Eighteen,” “Gutter Cats vs the Jets,” “Street Fight,” ”Killer,” “Elected” – promo video, not live - and “School’s Out”
I found this last year, and the link’s still good so if you want part of it in color, here’s a 17+ minute colorized video of that show, featuring Alice cranking out ”Gutter Cats vs the Jets,” “Street Fight,” ”Killer,” and “School’s Out”
Also from School’s Out, a great one! It’s one of my favorite songs of the genre, here’s the original studio version of the awesome “Blue Turk”
From the Billion Dollar Babies album, a rocking look at politics!
First, beginning with a guitar riff lifted from Hendrix, from Bonnaroo 2012, "Elected"
(For the sake of comparing the opening riffs, here’s “Dolly Dagger” by Jimi Hendrix)
Last year I had “Elected” and “I’m Eighteen” from this show but they’ve disappeared. But I did find this one! Live in Houston Texas in 1973, a great performance of “Under My Wheels.”
From December 1973 in Toronto, an hour and 15 audio of Alice Cooper Live in Toronto - 1973."
From The Midnight Special tv show in 1979, Alice performing the title cut of the album "Billion Dollar Babies."
We have two more great performances from other tours! First, on French tv in 1981, Alice looking severely emaciated as he performs "Billion Dollar Babies," followed by yet another great live performance by Alice and the band in 1990 of “Billion Dollar Babies”
While all the single clips of the 1981 Capitol Theater performance are gone, I found a video clip of the entire hour and 25 show! Alice Cooper Live at the Capitol Theater in Passaic New Jersey - 1981 (Set list: “Who Do You Think We Are?,” “Model Citizen,” “Go To Hell,” “Guilty,” “I'm Eighteen,” “Cold Ethyl,” “Only Women Bleed,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Clones (We're All),” “Under My Wheels,” “I Never Cry,” the Arthur Lee classic “7 And 7 Is,” “Grim Facts,” “Pain,” “Billion Dollar Babies,” “Generation Landslide,” “Who Do You Think We Are?,” and “School's Out”)
The clip of “No More Mr. Nice Guy” from the movie Good to See You Again, is still gone as is the 1973 Houston performance. However, here’s a performance from 1979 in San Diego of the very raunchy hit from Billion Dollar Babies, "No More Mister Nice Guy"
His version on Letterman is gone so from Alice Cooper Trashes the World, the official music video for "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
From French television in 1981, a strange video of this tune from Billion Dollar Babies: "Generation Landslide" From what looks to be the same show (but attributed to 1982) “Who Do You Think We Are?”
Here’s the original 1974 music video for "Teenage Lament ‘74"
From 1979 in San Diego, Alice performing 4! We begin with "Only Women Bleed" then move into "How You Gonna See Me Now." From there, we go to “Quiet Room” and “I Never Cry”
Alice in a White Suit with Tails and a Top Hat rallying the rabble! "School's Out" - Live at Montreux 2005
From 2011, the London clip of this is gone, but here’s the Manchester performance of "We’re All Clones."
Also in 2011 in the UK, here’s Alice and the Foo Fighters in front of 70,000 people doing “School’s Out” and “I’m Eighteen”
Here’s the original music video to “Welcome To My Nightmare”
From the same tour, in Germany, performing “Halo of Flies”
From 1979, Alice does 26 minutes on The Midnight Special tv show! Alice Cooper on The Midnight Special
In a nod to his gigs with the Muppets, here’s Alice singing to “Miss Piggy” "You and Me" and here's Alice on The Muppet Show doing “Welcome to My Nightmare.” We'll close with Alice and the Muppets dancing to “School’s Out”
In a special nod to Glen Buxton, the original guitarist for Alice Cooper born Nov 10, 1947 who died in 1997, last year I had "A Memorial for Glen Buxton" that was 11 minutes of pure gold! Yes, HE’S the one who gave us the immortal chord progression - Em-A, Em-G, Em-A-G, notes: E,D#,D - that kicked off “School’s Out,” one of the most famous riffs in history. This year it's gone, so maybe next year! Though I gave it to you earlier, it’s classic Glen in 1972 cranking out the immortal riff of “School’s Out”
Here’s a memorable performance by Alice performing in 2011 with my old friend Arthur Brown (complete with modern flaming hair!) at Alexandra Palace in London doing Arthur’s immortal hit from 1968, “Fire”
(Here I’ll interject that Arthur’s actually a very gentle spiritual man with an amazing sense of humor and deep sense of what’s going on. As you can see, he still plays around a bit from time to time, so catch his show when you can.)
Moving toward the finale, we have four shows from long ago and two from 2017! This gives a broad view of the many incarnations of this show!
First, a gem! Here’s 13 minutes of very live, very raw Alice at the beginning! This is the show that John Lennon, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Doors, and a whole bunch more legends performed at! For your amazement, Alice Cooper Live at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival - 1969
In November 1972, Alice did this 24 minute set at the Olympia Theater in Paris! Alice Cooper Live at the Olympia Theater - 1972
The hour and 23 concert from October 1991 in Ghent Belgium is gone, so instead, from Sweden, here’s an hour and 19 of Alice Cooper Live in Sweden - 1991
Next, their entire set from Sao Paulo in 1995! Alice Cooper - Live In Sao Paulo, Brazil - 1995 Monsters Of Rock
We jump 8 years, and here’s an hour and 37 in Toronto! Alice Cooper Live in Toronto 2003
Our fourth show last year was 90 minutes of this show, but it’s disappeared. Instead, here’s 28 minutes live from Dresden! Alice Cooper Live in Dresden 2017
Our final treat is 88 minutes of Alice Cooper Live in Canberra 2017
For the closer, from 2011 in the UK, here’s Alice and the Foo Fighters in front of 70,000 people doing “School’s Out” and “I’m Eighteen”
Our first encore is another great performance of his biggest and best! From the 2012 “Golden Gods Awards,” Slash on guitar backing Alice in a ripping version of “School’s Out”
For our second encore, just so you know he rocks as hard as ever these days, here’s the Summer 2012 Bonneroo edition of “School’s Out” (with a little of “Another Brick in the Wall!”)
For our final encore, an entire 1 hour 19 show in Basel, Switzerland! Alice Cooper Live at the AVO - 2012
For those who want to know more, he was featured on Behind the Music, so for your enjoyment, 44 minutes of Alice Cooper – Behind the Music.
This is said to be a very good 44 minute biography on Alice. Alice Cooper - Bio
Last year I had a 1972 French documentary on the band, but it’s disappeared. So instead, here’s a strange 11 minute report from Germany on Alice’s 1972 tour. Alice Cooper – German Television Report 1972
Thanks for the tunes, Alice! Happy 76, and may you keep rocking on!!
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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