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With a career spanning four decades, Alice Cooper was putting the “shock” in shock rock long before Iron Maiden or Marilyn Manson. Rebellious kids reveled in the horror movie-style imagery and thunderous hard rock sound. The theatrical stage show was more than just a concert – it was a visual showcase of creepiness and over-the-top performance that was unique in the world of rock and roll music.

 

Vincent Damon Furnier was the son of a minister in Arizona. Wanting to be as big as the Beatles, he formed a band called The Earwigs in the mid-1960’s with some fellow students. They developed from a garage band to a psychedelic combo known as Alice Cooper – a name the band said they got from a Ouija board. Furnier took the name Alice Cooper as his own, and before long, they had recorded two albums for Frank Zappa’s record label, Pretties For You and Easy Action. They both featured the band’s sound of hard rock combined with freeform psychedelia, along with strange, funny lyrics.

 

The group released Love It To Death in 1971, and it defined the Alice Cooper style. It focused on a hard rock sound, and featured clever and satirical lyrics dealing with teenage confusion in "I'm Eighteen” - their first hit single - and mental illness in "The Ballad of Dwight Frye". During the accompanying tour, Alice started wearing heavy, harlequin eye makeup that became his trademark look. The show was elaborately theatrical, featuring snakes, a guillotine, and a fake electric chair upon which Alice was “executed” at the end of each show.

 

Alice Cooper’s next album, Killer, showcased a sound that was evenly split between feel-good rockers like "Be My Lover" and grandiose epics like "Halo Of Flies." They took on serious themes such as child abuse with “Dead Babies” and the death penalty in “Killer.” But their big breakthrough came in 1972 with the release of School's Out. The title song went to #1, and the tight hook and rebellious lyrics struck a chord with teens everywhere. They continued their strain of theatricality with the West Side Story-inspired track, “Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets," a number which benefited from a mock-knife fight during their stage shows.

 

Their biggest-selling album Billion Dollar Babies, was a glam-rock classic released in 1973. Two hit singles off of that release were "Elected," a rockin’ political commentary and “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” a humorous take on how Alice the image was often confused with Alice the person. The album also included the horror-rock epics "Sick Things" and "I Love The Dead, " and the release was followed up by a world tour. Their next hit was "Teenage Lament '74," off the Muscle of Love album, a ballad that featured icon Liza Minelli on background vocals.

 

In 1975, the band broke up, and Alice Cooper the person decided to continue recording solo under the same moniker. He released Welcome To My Nightmare that year, a thematic horror-rock opus that led listeners through the intricacies of Alice’s dreams. It featured both hard rocking numbers like "Cold Ethyl" and "Department Of Youth," as well as the hit single "Only Woman Bleed," a ballad dealing with spousal abuse. The story-like theme of the album made it perfect to be produced into a television special of the same name. It starred Vincent Price, who had narrated portions of "Black Widow" on the album. This visual translation combined music and visuals in a way that wouldn’t be seen until the advent of MTV.

 

Alice continued to release a string of theatrical, horror-themed albums with Alice Cooper Goes To Hell, and Lace and Whiskey . The former featured Alice battling Satan for his soul and the latter had Alice positioning himself as a tough detective. He also continued to have success with ballads like "I Never Cry" and "You And Me."

 

It was at this point that Alice took a break from working and went into rehab to deal with his alcoholism. When he completed his treatment, he released what is considered one of his greatest albums, From The Inside. The songs deal with his experiences getting sober, including the title track, "Jackknife Johnny," which told the story of the others in rehab, and the ballad "How You Gonna See Me Now."

The 1980’s saw Alice incorporating new wave elements into his releases Flush The Fashion and Special Forces. He went back into rehab a few years later, and in 1986 released a new album, Constrictor. The record included a tribute to the Friday the 13^th series, called "The Man Behind The Mask," and featured a return to the classic Alice Cooper horror-rock sound. He had another major hit in 1989 with the release of Trash, featuring contributions from members of Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, and containing the hit power ballad "Poison."

 

In the 1990’s Alice put out Hey Stoopid and The Last Temptation (which inspired a comic book from the famous author Neil Gaiman.) He took a break from music to open a sports-themed restaurant called Cooperstown in Phoenix, Arizona. He continued to tour, and released A Fistful Of Alice in 1997, a live album that featured appearances from Sammy Hagar and Slash of Guns N' Roses. In 2000, he followed that up with Brutal Planet, a critically-acclaimed album once again combining hard rock and social commentary. Truly unique among the rock elite, Alice Cooper’s career proves that you can stay true to your muse and still maintain a long and illustrious career.