Alice Cooper (born as Vincent Damon Furnier, Detroit (Michigan), February 4, 1948) is an American (hard)rocksinger and musician.
Content[]
Career[Edit][]
Alice Cooper is the alter ego of Vincent Furnier. The name Alice Cooper was also the name of Furniers band. Furnier began after the break-up of the band to a successful solo career.
Vincent Furnier, of French origin (born in Allen Park (Detroit), but grew up in Arizona ) and heavily influenced by The Yardbirds and The Beatles, formed a number of bands in the sixties, the first of which was the Earwigs and then The Spiders (with a local hit Don't Blow Your Mind) and then Nazz. Furnier, who learned that Todd Rundgren also worked with a band under the name Nazz, modified the name of the band in Alice Cooper.
The band consisted of the guitarists Michael Bruce Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway and drummer and bassist Neal Smith. To be moved to California in 1968, after the band was discovered by manager Shep Gordon, which settled an audition at Frank Zappa. The band signed a contract with the label of Zappa, Straight Records and released two albums: Pretties For You (1969) and Easy Action (1969, released in 1970). These two plates were re-released in 1973 under the title Schooldays. Pretties For youwas beaming indeed still the atmosphere of a school band, but with the guitar parts of Bruce and the dark and humorous nonsense poems of Cooper Tire developed rapidly. Easy Action became despite problems with producer David Briggs as a master work. Nevertheless remained commercially success. The band then moved to Detroit. Bob Ezrin became the new producer and Love it to death (1971) had the band with the album Killer (1971)-now a classic-found its final form. With big hits like I'm eighteen, school's out and Elected within a few years the name Alice Cooper was established.
With the successful album Billion Dollar Babies (1973)-number 1 in both America and England-Alice Cooper was even the greatest rock band in the world.
A taste for theater and musical sounded already from the start by in text and music. Quoted was from the West Side Story and The Sound of Music. This passion also came forward in the theatrical performances.The band introduced so the music theatre in the hard rock. At the end of the 1960s joined Alice Cooper in "drag". Alice is for the cover of Pretties for you photographed in a glitter dress, with which the American glam rock was ushered. Other famous exponents of the American glam rock were Lou Reed, Iggy and the Stooges, The New York Dollsand Jobriath, Kiss . At the height of the glam rock, in the early 1970s, this was replaced by a horror show that was a mirror held up to America. Alice ended on an electric chair or on the gallows. This created the band once again a new genre: shock rock. In the early years of the band originated the myth that Cooper had a live chicken on stage the head bitten off. Frank Zappa looked a good publicity stunt in and advised to the story not to deny. It was front page news and Alice Cooper immediately had name recognition.
The band fell apart in 1974 because of disagreement around music rights. Since then works Furnier solo and goes like Alice Cooper through life. Dick Wagner of the Hollywood Vampires, who also worked with Lou Reed and Peter Gabriel became his permanent guitarist and bassist Tony Levin as we can find. Cooper scored a huge hit in America with Only women bleed. This number is later covered many times, including byJulie Covington -who scored in England, Elkie Brooks, Favorite Angel and Guns N ' Roses. Alice Cooper was then accepted by a wider audience: he was asked to perform in The Muppet Show. Bob Dylan stated in an interview that Cooper was an underrated songwriter and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) called Killer the best rock album in history. In this period was his alcohol abuse to unprecedented levels and he was in rehab. A weather sober Alice Cooper described his experiences in that clinic on the album From the inside, that he largely with composer Dick Wagner and lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote. The song How you gonna see me now from that album was again a hit.
Between 1979 and 1983, Cooper in another way. The bombastic and theatrical was abandoned and he concentrated more on writing songs with cabaret songs, humorous texts. In 1986, he was back with a shockrockact. Alice Cooper was in the meantime has become a cult figure and the stars were lining up to appear on his albums, such as Steven Tyler, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora on the album Trash (1989);Slash, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Ozzy Osbourne on the album Hey Stoopid (1991). In 1989 led the comeback to a new world hit: Poison, a few years later, followed by Hey Stoopid and Lost in America.
After 1994 it became a while silent and seemed to be Alice Cooper retired. In 2000 followed a comeback and a new flowering period followed with as tentative highlight the cd The Eyes of Alice Cooper (2003), one of the best records of his career, in which he has returned to his roots: the garage-rock. Successor Dirty Diamonds (2005) seems to radiate nostalgia to the starting period. That's in addition to the texts especially reflected in the frequent quote of riffjes and melody lines that trace back to the days of Black Sabbath and Ziggy Stardust.
In 2008, Cooper sang the lead vocals in as a guest singer, on the album The Scarecrow of the heavy metal opera project Avantasia, the song Toy Master.
Discography[Edit][]
- 1969- Pretties for You
- 1970- Easy Action
- 1971- Love It to Death
- 1971- Killer
- 1972- school's Out
- 1973- Billion Dollar Babies
- 1974- Muscle of Love
- 1974- Greatest Hits
- 1975- Welcome to My Nightmare
- 1976- Alice Cooper Goes to Hell
- 1977- Lace and Whiskey
- 1977- The Alice Cooper Show (Live)
- 1978- From the Inside
- 1980- Flush the Fashion
- 1981- Special Forces
- 1982- Zipper Catches Skin
- 1983- DaDa
- 1986- Constrictor
- 1987- Raise Your Fist and Yell
- 1989- Trash
- 1991- Hey Stoopid
- 1994- The Last Temptation
- 1997- A Fistful of Alice (Live)
- 1998- Snorting Anthrax
- 1999- Super Hits
- 1999- The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper (box with 4 CDs)
- 2000- Brutal Planet
- 2001- The Definitive
- 2001- DragonTown
- 2003- The Eyes of Alice Cooper
- 2005- Dirty Diamonds
- 2006- Live at Montreux (Live)
- 2008- Along Came A Spider
- 2011- Welcome 2 My Nightmare
Charts[Edit][]
Albums[Edit][]
| Album (s) with any charts in the
the Dutch Album Top 100 |
Date of
appear |
Date of
entry |
Highest
position |
Number Of
weeks |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billion dollar babies | 1973 | 10-03-1973 | 1 (7wk) | 22 | |
| Schooldays | 1973 | 11-08-1973 | 10 | 7 | Compilation album |
| From the inside | 1978 | 03-02-1979 | 13 | 12 | |
| Trash | 1989 | 30-09-1989 | 36 | 7 | |
| Hey stoopid | 1991 | 13-07-1991 | 31 | 9 | |
| The last temptation | 1994 | 25-06-1994 | 71 | 3 | |
| Dirty diamonds | 2005 | 23-07-2005 | 88 | 1 | |
| Along came a spider | 25-07-2008 | 02-08-2008 | 76 | 2 |
| Album (s) with chart positions in
the Flemish Ultratop 200 albums |
Date of
appear |
Date of
entry |
Highest
position |
Number Of
weeks |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome 2 my nightmare | 09-09-2011 | 24-09-2011 | 80 | 1 |
Singles[Edit][]
| Single (s) with any charts in the
the Dutch Top 40 |
Date of
appear |
Date of
entry |
Highest
position |
Number Of
weeks |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School's out | 1972 | 19-08-1972 | tip9 | - | |
| Elected! | 1972 | 02-12-1972 | 5 | 15 | No. 5 in the Single Top 100 |
| School's out | 1972 | 03-02-1973 | 6 | 9 | No. 9 in the Single Top 100 |
| Hello hurray | 1973 | 17-03-1973 | 6 | 10 | No. 6 in the Single Top 100 |
| No More Mr. Nice Guy | 1973 | 05-05-1973 | 8 | 7 | No. 9 in the Single Top 100/ Alarm drive |
| Halo of flies | 1973 | 28-07-1973 | 5 | 10 | No. 5 in the Single Top 100 |
| Teenage lament ' 74 | 1973 | 29-12-1973 | tip9 | - | |
| How you gonna see me now | 1979 | 13-01-1979 | 7 | 11 | No. 9 in the Single Top 100/ Alarm drive |
| Poison | 1989 | 30-09-1989 | 10 | 7 | No. 8 in the Single Top 100 |
| Hey stoopid | 1991 | 13-07-1991 | 13 | 6 | No. 22 in the Single Top 100/ Alarm drive |
Radio 2 Top 2000[Edit][]
| Number (s) with markings
in the Radio 2 Top 2000 |
' 99 | ' 00 | ' 01 | ' 02 | ' 03 | ' 04 | ' 05 | ' 06 | ' 07 | ' 08 | ' 09 | ' 10 | ' 11 | ' 12 | ' 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elected! | - | 537 | 583 | 687 | 574 | 629 | 809 | 996 | 894 | 772 | 1332 | 1052 | 1271 | 1618 | 1777 |
| Halo of flies | 63 | 24 | 19 | 21 | 35 | 39 | 57 | 78 | 56 | 51 | 91 | 85 | 109 | 167 | 191 |
| Hello hurray | - | 1322 | - | 1445 | 1374 | 1218 | 1494 | 1561 | 1480 | 1466 | 1975 | 1833 | - | - | - |
| How you gonna see me now | 142 | 136 | 91 | 128 | 168 | 132 | 166 | 289 | 170 | 163 | 414 | 248 | 368 | 711 | 626 |
| School's out | 319 | 124 | 119 | 125 | 156 | 148 | 208 | 338 | 209 | 191 | 417 | 334 | 353 | 645 | 649 |
| Poison | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1893 | 490 | 390 |
Band Members[Edit][]
1963-1972[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Glen Buxton-guitar
- Michael Bruce-guitar
- Dennis Dunaway-bass player
- Neal Smith-drums
1973[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Glen Buxton-guitar
- Michael Bruce-guitar
- Dennis Dunaway-bass player
- Mick Mashbur-guitarist
- Neal Smith-drums
1974-1976[Edit][]
- Josef Chirowski-keyboards
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Penti commercial Glan-drums
- Steve Hunter-guitar
- Prakash John-bass player
- Tony Levin -bass player
- Allan schwartzberg-drums
- Dick Wagner-guitar
1977-1979[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Dennis Conway-drummer
- Penti commercial Glan-drums
- Steve Hunter-guitar
- Prakash John-bass player
- Davey Johnstone-guitar
- Jefferson Kewley-guitar
- Bob Kulick-guitar
- Tony Levin-bass player
- Fred Mandel-keyboards
- Dee Murray-bass player
- Allan schwartzberg-drums
- Mark Stein-keyboards
- Dick Wagner-guitar
1980-1983[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Duane Hitchings-bassist
- Prakash John-bass player
- Davey Johnstone-guitar
- Craig Kampf-drummer
- Richard Kolinka-drummer
- Mike Pinera-guitar
- Erik Scott-bassist
- Jan Uvena-drums
- Dick Wagner-guitar
1984-1988[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Johnny Dime-guitarist
- Donnie Kisselbach-bass player
- Ken Mary-drums
- Kane Roberts-guitarist
- David Rosenberg-drums
- Steve Steele-bassist
- Paul Taylor-keyboards
- Kip Winger-bass player
- Paul Horowitz-keyboards
1989-1993[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Tommy Carradonna-bass player
- Pete Friesen-guitar
- Jonathan Mover-drums
- Al Pitrelli-guitar
- Derek Sherinian-keyboards
- Eric Singer -drums
1994-2002[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Calico Cooper-dancer
- Teddy Andreadis-keyboardist
- Reb Beach-guitar
- Stef Burns-guitar
- Jimmy DeGrasso-drums
- Eric Dover-guitar
- Steve Farris-guitar
- Todd Jensen-bass player
- Jogging & Matt-drummer
- Bob Marlette-bass player
- Merrit Morrison-bassist
- Ryan Roxie – guitar
- Derek Sherinian-keyboards
- Eric Singer-drums
- Greg Smith-bass player
- Paul Taylor-keyboards
- David Vosikkinen-drums
- Dan Wexler-guitars
- Chuck Wright-bass player
- Phil X-guitarist
- Pete Freezin'-guitarist
2003-2010[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper-vocals
- Jimmy DeGrasso-drums
- Chuck Garrick-bassist
- Keri Kelli-guitar
- Damon Johnson-guitarist
- Calico Cooper-dancer
- Jason Hook-guitarist
- Ryan Roxie – guitar
- Eric Dover-guitar, keyboard
- Brent Fitz-drums
- Tommy Clufetos-drums
- Eric Singer-drums
2010 to present[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper – vocals
- Steve Hunter – guitar (1975-1979; 2011-present)
- Tommy Henriksen – lead guitar, backing vocals (since 2011)
- Nita Strauss-guitarist (The Iron Maidens) (since June 2014)[1]
- Chuck Garric-bass, backing vocals (since 2002)
- Glen Sobel – drums (2011)
- Orianthi Panagaris – guitarist, backing vocals (2011-2014) (ex-Michael Jackson)
Filmography[Edit][]
- Alice Cooper: The Nightmare (1975) as Steven
- Sextette (1978) as a waiter
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) as Marvin Sunk (the ' Sun King ')
- Monster Dog (1984) as Vince Raven
- Prince of Darkness (1987) as ' Street Schizo '
- Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) as Freddy's father
- Wayne's World (1992) as himself
- Freak show (1999) as Pirate Jack (voice)
- The Attic Expeditions (2001) as Samuel Leventhal
- Suck (2009) as Bartender
- Dark Shadows (2012) as himself