The Magic of Rock Star Alice Cooper

I loved the show that Alice Cooper brought to the table; he raised the bar pretty high.

Did you know his real name is Vincent Damon Furnier? Yep, born in February of 1948, he didn't adopt his stage name until 1975, when he went solo with his first album by himself, "Welcome to My Nightmare."

The original band, called Alice Cooper consisted of five members. Vincent did vocals, and played the harmonica, and there were three guitarists, Glen Buxton on lead, Michael Bruce on rhythm and Dennis Dunaway on bass. To round out the band, Neal Smith was the drummer.

The original band wrote their first chapter in the history of rock 'n' roll when they broke into mainstream music in 1971, with the single "I'm Eighteen," from their album Love it to Death. Watch the video below!

This was followed the next year with the even more popular single "School's Out" which hit the top of the rock music charts fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the band peaked out with Billion Dollar Babies, an album released in '73.

My four favorite songs from Alice are: "Under My Wheels", "School's Out", "I'm Eighteen! and "No More Mr. Nice Guy".

Since his solo career began, Alice Cooper has had 18 solo albums, including the most recent, Along Came a Spider, released in 2008.

What is the magic behind all of this? Many things, including stage shows that bordered on the macabre.

His shows feature guillotines, fake blood, baby dolls being killed, and his trademark boa constrictor, that he often pranced around with wrapped around his neck like a living boa. He has drawn stage performances from horror movies, garage rock and roll, and still gives grand performances that are often shocking and violent.

My favorite parts of his show involved the snake and the guillotine. I have no doubt that he influenced me to build my magic box. I figured with my magic box and Rock & Roll Staff I could put on a pretty good show.

Some of the other things that make Alice a star is the make up, the outfits that made some wonder about his sexuality, and his distinctive music style.

With raw, simple riffs that told stories that young people could relate too, fans gathered by the thousands to be shocked and awed at what he would do next. When he began his solo career, the music did lose some of the theatrical excitements, and become more straightforward heavy metal, but when he got on stage, and did live performances, he never disappointed an audience.

As a person, Vincent Furnier is quite different than the personae he often portrays. His witty personality and outgoing social manners has even made the Rolling Stone Album Guide speak of him as the most beloved entertainer in heavy metal.

He is an actor, lending his talents in films like Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and many others. He plays golf, has his own restaurants, and since 2004 has had his own radio classic rock show, called Nights With Alice Cooper.

Alice Cooper, even with all the things he does that are unrelated to the music scene, still tours every year, bringing his shocking stage performances that we have all come to love, exposing a new generation to the love of his music and style. You can find out more about him, where tours are scheduled to drop down at, and where to buy tickets to his latest concerts online, and you can buy tickets where ever rock and roll concert performance tickets are sold locally.

I'm so glad a showman like Alice is still performing. He belongs in the Rock Hall!

ROCK ON!

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