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Alice Cooper Finds the Going Tough

NEWARK, N.J. — Alice Cooper, who helped usher in the age of glitter rock at the turn of the '70s, is back on the concert trail after a two-year ab­sence, trying to expand his following beyond the usual rock audience.

The going so far has been tough. Cooper has put together a "best of" show, featuring his famous snake, guillotine and hanging scenes. He's also using several Las Vegas production numbers, one of which has him wielding a 40-foot toothbrush and chasing five dancing girls dressed as teeth, in hopes of attracting preteens and adults who usually shun rock concerts.

But thousands of empty seats greeted Cooper at his only New York area appearance, forcing scalpers to unload tickets for $2 and less.

THE AUDIENCE seemed subdued during much of Cooper's show, which pales in comparison to groups like Kiss that "vomit" phony blood, breathe fire and use small flamethrowers to wow fans.

"When I took the two years off I expected somebody to fill the gap," said Cooper, born 29 years ago as Vincent Furnier. "I don't think we do the same type of thing — we put more produc­tion into it. When we go into a show we do it as a Broadway production whereas Kiss goes into it as a rock 'n' roll show."

"Rob Iscove, who did Ann-Margaret and people like that, came in and cho­reographed the show. Joe Gannon, who does the lighting and direction for Liza Minnelli, helped produce it. I went out to get people who were real pros — not just rock 'n' roll people, but people who know how to work a Broadway stage," he said.

"We had so many comments from older people going to our shows. They said they never expected it to be like that because what it really was a rock 'Hellzapoppin.' They said it was so entertaining, even though they really didn't understand why it had to be so loud," he said.

COOPER came out of the rough-and-tumble Detroit rock scene where he competed with bands like the MC5, Mitch Ryder and Iggy and the Stooges for public acclaim. He still dons mascara in concert to sing his early hits like "18" and "School's Out," which feature stellar guitar work by Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner.

His last three hits have been middle­-of-the-road ballads — "Only Women Bleed," "I Never Cry" and the current "You and Me," in keeping with his at­tempt to broaden his audience. But dur­ing "You and Me," a tender ballad about the love of a working-class man for his wife, the old Alice springs into action, hacking up a life-size female doll while he sings the lyrics in a misty-eyed fashion.

"I think the thing to be is an all around entertainer. My whole roots are in rock 'n' roll. But I think you have to have some dramatics in there and some comedy. But I think at the same time you have to have enough tough rock 'n' roll to make it work."

NONETHELESS, Cooper told Chicago writer Lynn Van, Matre in a recent interview, rumors about his stage act are often more dramatic than true.

"I'd say that 90 per cent of the things people hear about me," Cooper insisted, "are rumors. Totally. Like a lot of people still think I chopped up a chicken onstage once as part of my act, right?

"Well, that never happened. What did happen was, once in Toronto, someone tossed a chicken onstage at me; so I tossed it back. I'm a city boy — born in Detroit — and I'd always thought that chickens could fly."

Instead, the unfortunate fowl took a header into the audience.

"But it didn't die or anything," Alice continued. "Someone took it home as a pet. But right after that, I found out how strong a rumor can be. Somehow, by the time the incident got back to the press, the story was that I had taken a chick­en and torn its head off and done all kinds of horrible things to it. My manager even called me up about it, wanting to know why I'd done it. I couldn't believe it.

"THEN THERE was the time I read in a newspaper that I'd taken a weather balloon full of earthworms and sent it out over the audience during one of my shows," Cooper continued plaintively, "and then shot it with a BB gun so that everyone got covered with earthworms. That was supposed to have happened in Shreveport, La.

"The only thing was, I'd never even been there. When you wear makeup and do theatrical stuff and have this bizarre image, people tend to totally invent things about you."

Alice sees little new in the "punk rock" movement hailed in some quarters as "the next big thing" — and besides, he says, it won't last long at the top.

"I think you're going to see something happening in music within the next six months that's going to balance out punk rock. I think we're headed for a real ro­mantic period. Peter Frampton's almost like that now, a pretty boy of rock and roll; but I think somebody else is going to come along soon who's really going to be romantic, someone totally unique — a kind of Valentino image. Because it just seems like everything's got to bal­ance."

IF COOPER'S predictions come true, he probably will be among the last to hear the new singing lover boy. He listens to very little contemporary music, preferring in­stead to hearken to the siren call of the small screen. "I consider television my best friend," the singer said. "I don't know why, but I love it. Especially the game shows. But I'll watch anything.

When not watching the tube, Cooper spends much of his time playing golf near his Beverly Hills home. His band plays Las Vegas regularly, he's appeared on television's "Hollywood Squares" and "The Gong Show" and is in Mae West's upcoming film, "Sextette."

"I'm 29 now and I'll keep going until I feel out of place in rock. I think the Alice Cooper show will go on forever, production-wise, even if I'm not in the show."