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Punk and Ghoul Packs a Punch

HE'S every mother's bad dream. He plays with snakes, he talks about nasty things — he's Alice Cooper.

Named after a witch allegedly contacted through a ouija board, Alice has been a shocker since 1969.

He broke in Britain way back in 1972 with the LP Killer, and then the single School's Out.

Discovered by Frank Zappa, he first toured Britain to little interest with a group of transvestites.

Then he hit upon his ghoulish trademark — and hasn't looked back.

Alice may have been one of the original punks — for many years he provoked outrage and controversy, not least for having a stage act which included beating up an actor who was President Nixon's double!

He plays with his famous boa constrictor, stabs at dolls, and simulates the murder of dress shop mannequins.

The climax of his act for many years now has been the guillotine.

Dragged across the stage by the executioner, Alice is then decapitated in a very clever illusion.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, plain Vince Furnier, he's had a steady stream of hits for the past decade and a half — Billion Dollar Babies, Welcome To My Nightmare, Alice Cooper Goes To Hell, and others.

Alice is the man who has merged rock, theatre, and Hammer horror into one gory glob.

Watch out Sunday, because Alice has promised something special for Reading. It even makes him sick — and that's saying something.

(Originally published in the Reading Rock '87 special of the Evening Post — Reading, UK — August 25, 1987)