Experiencing Alice Cooper

A Listener's Companion

Ian Chapman

Experiencing Alice Cooper: A Listener’s Companion takes a long overdue look at the music and stage act of rock music’s self-styled arch-villain. A provocateur from the very start of his career in the mid-1960s, Alice Cooper, aka Vince Furnier, son of a lay preacher in the Church of Jesus Christ, carved a unique path through five decades of rock’n’roll.

Despite a longevity that only a handful of other artists and acts can match, Alice Cooper remains a difficult act and artist to pin down and categorize. During the last years of the 1960s and the heydays of commercial success in the 1970s, Cooper's groundbreaking theatricality, calculated offensiveness, and evident disregard for the conventions of rock protocols sowed confusion among his critics and evoked outrage from the public. Society’s watchdogs demanded his head, and Cooper willingly obliged at the end of each performance with his on-stage self-guillotining. But as youth anthem after youth anthem - “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out,” “Elected,” “Department of Youth”—rang out in his arena concerts the world over and across airwaves, fans flocked to experience Cooper’s unique brand of rock. Critics searched for proper descriptions: “pantomime,” “vaudeville,” “retch-rock,” “Grand Guignol.” In 1973 Cooper headlined in Time magazine as “Schlock Rock’s Godzilla.”

In Experiencing Alice Cooper: A Listener’s Companion, Ian Chapman surveys Cooper’s career through his twenty-seven studio albums (1969-2017). While those who have written about Cooper have traditionally kept their focus on the stage spectacle, too little attention has been paid to Cooper’s recordings. Throughout, Chapman argues that while Cooper may have been rock’s most accomplished showman, he is first and foremost a musician, with his share of gold and platinum albums to vouch for his qualifications as a musical artist.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 232 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4422-5770-2 • Hardback • March 2018 • $47.00 • (£36.00)

978-1-4422-5771-9 • eBook • March 2018 • $44.50 • (£35.00)

Series: Listener's Companion

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Rock, Music / Instruction & Study / Appreciation

Experiencing Alice Cooper

A Listener's Companion

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Experiencing Alice Cooper: A Listener’s Companion takes a long overdue look at the music and stage act of rock music’s self-styled arch-villain. A provocateur from the very start of his career in the mid-1960s, Alice Cooper, aka Vince Furnier, son of a lay preacher in the Church of Jesus Christ, carved a unique path through five decades of rock’n’roll.

Despite a longevity that only a handful of other artists and acts can match, Alice Cooper remains a difficult act and artist to pin down and categorize. During the last years of the 1960s and the heydays of commercial success in the 1970s, Cooper's groundbreaking theatricality, calculated offensiveness, and evident disregard for the conventions of rock protocols sowed confusion among his critics and evoked outrage from the public. Society’s watchdogs demanded his head, and Cooper willingly obliged at the end of each performance with his on-stage self-guillotining. But as youth anthem after youth anthem - “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out,” “Elected,” “Department of Youth”—rang out in his arena concerts the world over and across airwaves, fans flocked to experience Cooper’s unique brand of rock. Critics searched for proper descriptions: “pantomime,” “vaudeville,” “retch-rock,” “Grand Guignol.” In 1973 Cooper headlined in Time magazine as “Schlock Rock’s Godzilla.”

In Experiencing Alice Cooper: A Listener’s Companion, Ian Chapman surveys Cooper’s career through his twenty-seven studio albums (1969-2017). While those who have written about Cooper have traditionally kept their focus on the stage spectacle, too little attention has been paid to Cooper’s recordings. Throughout, Chapman argues that while Cooper may have been rock’s most accomplished showman, he is first and foremost a musician, with his share of gold and platinum albums to vouch for his qualifications as a musical artist.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 232 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4422-5770-2 • Hardback • March 2018 • $47.00 • (£36.00)

978-1-4422-5771-9 • eBook • March 2018 • $44.50 • (£35.00)

Series: Listener's Companion

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Rock, Music / Instruction & Study / Appreciation

Author

Ian Chapman is a senior lecturer in music at the University of Otago, New Zealand. A specialist in glam rock, he is a former professional musician and the author of several books, including Experiencing David Bowie (R&L, 2015) and Kiwi Rock Chicks, Pop Stars & Trailblazers(2010).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: New Freaks on the Block: Pretties for You and Easy Action, 1969 & 1970
Chapter 2: The Halcyon Years of the Alice Cooper Band: Love it to Death, Killer, School’s Out, Billion Dollar Babies, Muscle of Love, 1971-1973
Chapter 3: Alice Dreams Alone: Welcome To My Nightmare, 1975 [US#5 UK#19]
Chapter 4: Confessions from the Heart of the Monster: Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, Lace and Whiskey, From the Inside, 1976-1978
Chapter 5: The Demise of Alice Cooper: Flush the Fashion, Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin, DaDa, 1980-1983
Chapter 6: The Worm that Turned: Constrictor, Raise Your Fist and Yell, Trash 1986-1989
Chapter 7: Taking Stock again in the 1990s: Hey Stoopid, The Last Temptation, 1991-1994
Chapter 8: ‘The Coop’, Post-millennium: Brutal Planet, Dragontown, The Eyes of Alice Cooper, Dirty Diamonds, 2000-2005
Chapter 9: The Resurrection: Along Came A Spider, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, 2008, 2011
Postscript
Selected Listening

Reviews

“Nowadays he is considered an elder statesman of rock, but during his 1970s heyday, Alice Cooper (born Vincent Furnier) was a one-of-a kind, often-controversial performer and, in Chapman’s estimation, a
“Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer.” He was revered and reviled as his theatrical brand of rock drew on such disparate sources as horror films, garage rock, heavy metal, and even vaudeville, usually performed with a knowing wink. Chapman covers the full gamut of Cooper’s idiosyncratic career, going through his recording catalog with care and loving detail and examining the rocker’s infamous live performances. He begins with the Alice Cooper Band’s first record, Pretties for You (1969), and ends with Paranormal (2017), which features three of the original band members. He also discusses the hit singles: “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out,” and the ahead-of-its time ballad “Only Women Bleed,” about domestic violence against women. He writes about Cooper’s problems with alcohol and how he resurfaced with a healthier addiction to golf. Like the inestimable Cooper himself, this portrait, a must for rock fans, is full of sly humor and unexpected surprises.”
— Booklist

Rowman & Littlefield's 'Experiencing' series is growing at a steady pace, in-depth studies of artists, groups or musical genres including many who have strong followings but are often overlooked in favour of the regular names that are duplicated numerous times. 'Experiencing Alice Cooper' by Ian Chapman is the perfect example of the premise for the series.
— The Beat (UK)

Outrageous, witty, knowing, Alice Cooper’s blood-splattered and theatrical mix of glam, goth and shock rock has always had a hidden message behind the mayhem. Musicologist Ian Chapman welcomes us to Cooper’s nightmare. School’s out? Not with Chapman in charge. This book is Cooperology 101 for fans, fiends and bats.
— Chris Bourke, content director, AudioCulture.co.nz

Experiencing Alice Cooper

A Listener's Companion

Ian Chapman

Experiencing Alice Cooper

A Listener's Companion

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