Article Database
Publications
Independent
John Walsh meets Alice Cooper
(Independent, 1997-06-21)
"Take the electric chair," said Alice Cooper's genial, owlish manager Toby, indicating a floral monstrosity in the corner of the sixth-floor suite at the Conrad Hotel. It was not, in fact, wired up, or plugged into the mains, but I could see his point: the armchair was at right angles to, and as close as possible to the sofa where a 49-year-old apparition lay, watching CNN. Alice Cooper at first sight is merely disconcerting. At second and third sights he is downright worrying. His hair is long andblack like a bedraggled raven's....
How to get a perfect swing - Alice Cooper
(Independent, 1997-07-05)
You know how you feel when you are so furious you want to throw the club away forever? Well, that's your perfect swing. Take your right arm right back, and then let it swing through the apex, aiming at one o'clock. Just don't let go. Before hitting, I blank out everything except the ball. I'm not distracted at all - you could put a marching band through there and I'd still hit the ball. A golf swing is about balance and timing. Get back on your right side and swing through onto your left side. If you finish the swing and you're falling forward or back, then your balance is wrong. It won't go anywhere if you hit it hard - you've got to hit it with rhythm. Johnny Miller says that if you chant 'Cin-dy Crawford, Cin-dy Crawford', that's the perfect rhythm. I chant 'She-ryl Cooper, She-ryl Cooper' because otherwise my wife will hit me. ...
Concert Review
(Independent, 1997-07-11)
Alice Cooper's songs only appeal to minority groups, For example, "School's Out" will have no meaning for people who've never attended an educational institution. In the same way "Only Women Bleed" merely addresses the problems of half the earth's population. Despite these limitations, all his early compositions seem to have survived very well since 1972, when Alice Cooper's name first began to appear scrawled on classroom desks. In that historic year the British school leaving age was raised from 15 to 16. Such are the ramifications of pop music....
Obituary: Glen Buxton
(Independent, 1997-11-03)
Glen Buxton, guitarist: born Akron, Ohio 17 June 1947; died Clarion, Iowa 18 October 1997. Striking, outrageous frontmen often obscure the contribution other musicians make to a particular band. Indeed, before its singer branched out as a solo artist, the American act Alice Cooper was very much a group creation. Glen Buxton was one of the original guitarists with the Seventies shock-rockers and contributed to some of their most enduring and influential hits like the immortal teenage rebel anthem "School's Out", a British No 1 in 1972. ...
I Wanna Be Respected
(Independent, 2000-05-14)
In 1969, Alice Cooper was booked to fill time between the Door and John Lennon at the Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival. His band weren't much good at the time, but the singer was already making a name for himself, not least because he has adopted a woman's name....
A Clown Called Alice
(Independent, 2000-07-21)
THE YEARS pass slowly in heavy metal. Whereas most contemporary music is required to assimilate new ideas and modify its sound, this essentially conservative genre has remained locked in a timewarp for decades. It has the advantage of...
Cooper's still rockin', still theatrical and still contemporary
(Independent, 2000-10-03)
Alice Cooper presented a full, fantastic rock show Sunday night at the Murat Theatre. To show gratitude, every person in the sold-out audience of 2,450 should buy a copy of Cooper's current album. Without the songs of Brutal Planet -- a criminally overlooked recording -- the original shock rock star can throw a mildly enjoyable oldies revue....
'Most bands today are so PC, so boring...'
(Independent, 2011-10-29)
Alice Cooper is living the rock'n'roll dream: perched on the sofa of a luxury hotel suite, shortly after the sun has risen over the nearby Hollywood Hills, with a half-empty bottle in his hand, and an enormous flat-screen TV blaring....