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Can Alice Still Shock You?

Sitting across from one of America's truly great rock 'n' roll originals, it's hard to imagine exactly what separates myth from reality. Over the last 20 years, a young man named Vincent Damon Fumier disappeared and what emerged was the demented alter ego of Alice Cooper.

At 41, the undisputed Master of Shock Rock has released his 20th album, Trash. The new offering, his first for Epic Records, was produced by Desmond Child (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett). "Poison," the debut single, is already garnering much of the attention Alice Cooper lost in the past few years.

Continuing in that familiar Cooper-ized black humor tradition, such songs as "Bed Of Nails," "This Maniac's In Love With You" and the title track may hint at a Bon Jovi sound, but that distinct Alice styling is still prevalent.

At a rehearsal studio in Hollywood, Alice, wearing his familiar black attire, is eagerly auditioning new talent for the forthcoming world concert tour. He's busy putting dozens of excited hopefuls through grueling paces. As with everything in his life, Alice gets exactly what he wants, like the special big name guests that appeared on Trash: Steve Tyler, Richie Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi and Joe Perry.

In this exclusive interview with The Music Paper, Alice Cooper talks candidly about his music career and what his plans are for the future.

THE MUSIC PAPER: First, let's start out with your new record company. Why did you decide to sign with Epic?

ALICE COOPER: Epic Records has been so unbelievable when it comes to Alice Cooper. One day, they came to me and said, "We'll give you an unlimited budget, no time limit, and more." I mean, how can you refuse such an offer? Not me. I couldn't pass it up. Nobody can. All they wanted from me is an album that would be comparable to a Billion Dollar Babies or a School's Out album. Sounded great to me.

TMP: Sounds like a recording artist's dream come true. Splitting with a record company isn't easy.

COOPER: Yeah, I was really unhappy with my old company. I split from MCA in mutual understanding. I know this may seem like a corny thing to say, but we don't have any bad feelings at all between us. Epic kept saying,' "You can have anything you want," so I really didn't have to think about what I wanted to do. I did the perfect album for the '90s.

TMP: What was the production time on Trash?

COOPER: Actually it was only about two months in the studio. That isn't bad at all. The difference with this album is writing the lyrics to riffs. You know, most metalists just write lyrics to riffs anyway and that's so easy. Whereas, when I did Billion Dollar Babies or School's Out, we were really writing songs, and that's what I wanted to do. Desmond, of course, is excellent at writing songs. He's terrific in that sense. You can hear the difference right away. With the last album, we didn't really spend time writing the songs as we should have done.

TMP: What about the pre-production? Weren't most of the songs written in various locations?

COOPER: Oh yeah, Desmond is such a busy guy. He works in a lot of different areas. I love his work with Cher, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and Joan Jett. We were writing in Charlotte, West Virginia, because that's where he lives. It was kind of weird, like Mayberry all over again. Then we started writing all over the place, like Los Angeles and New York. Because we're both so experienced, we were able to write very fast in a short period of time.

TMP: "Poison" looks like it's going to be a runaway hit.

COOPER: Isn't that great? I can't believe it. When I hear it on the radio, I still turn it up. I do it because it has that great Desmond touch to it. You just want to hear it. His songs are unbelievable. I even like that Kiss song, "Heaven's On Fire." It's the only Kiss song I like.

TMP: What exactly is Alice's new "trash attitude"?

COOPER: [Laughs] Trash. Everybody's trash and everybody knows they're trash. I'm the only one who'll admit it, right? So my job is to admit it for the whole generation. We are all trash, okay people? Hear that? What I mean by trash is something that excites me. Trash is also like a compliment, like if I see a classic car I like, I say, "That's trash." Or if I see a beautiful girl walk by, I say,"She's trash." I'm like the new spokesman for trash and people have to listen to me.

TMP: Alice has been through a lot of phases and trash is a logical direction.

COOPER: Exactly. The whole idea was that we took Alice through everything — the nightmare thing, we took him through school, and through money with Billion Dollar Babies, all these things. So now it's time to take Alice through a sexual thing. He's always done it, but now it's trash.

TMP: Sex has always been an underlying theme with Alice Cooper anyway.

COOPER: Sex is a real Alice thing. Actually, this is the first time we've put it under a microscope and blown it up. On Trash, the songs are very sexually oriented. We really touch on the different aspects of sex and relationships. It's all one big package, and it's trash.

TMP: It seems strange for Alice to be less gothic. It's a natural expectation.

COOPER: I know. I did for two albums — the blood and guts, and I had enough of it. I've been known for it for so long since Nightmare and it was getting to be too much. The last two albums were such heavy blood and gore, I knew I couldn't do another album like that now. I would have been painting myself into a corner — a bloody corner, of course. I didn't want people to say, "Oh Alice, that's all he knows how to do." I could have done another horror album, but I had never dedicated an album to sex, and I wanted to do that.

TMP: Actually, there's a real fine line between horror and sex coming from Alice.

COOPER: Sure. I think there is something about the character Alice. There have always been a lot of sexual things going on with Alice. It's been a fine line between sex and horror. Songs like "Is It My Body" were focused in on sex. There's a real correlation; Alice wants sex now more than ever before. Wait till you see the new show.

TMP: What do you have in mind besides the obvious?

COOPER: I don't want to give it all away. When you see the show, it will be a combination of everything I've done. It will be the greatest hits of Alice Cooper. You know those kind of songs. There will, of course, be a horror section, and a sex section, a real good sex section. There will be four or so different things going on. Right now, we're working on the outline. It's going to be an interesting show. I'm putting together a new band right now. It's going to be unbelievable. Like I said, I don't want to give the whole show away, but it's going to be bigger and better than ever.

TMP: Since Alice is such a specialized act, what do you look for when auditioning new talent?

COOPER: I've worked with a lot of great musicians over the years. My previous band has graduated to bigger and better things and that's how it should be. When I audition I look for certain things in different players. Luckily, I'm in a position where I could pick the best guys to work with 'cause I know they will do things right. Besides, I like discovering new talent and see them go on to better things. Look at the guys in Bon Jovi. If they weren't taken, I would hire them for my band. If I needed a guitarist, I would take Richie Sambora in a second. Tico's a great drummer. Who wouldn't want him? I'm just saying, if these guys never formed a band, they would be with me. Bon Jovi will be a classic band for years to come.

TMP: Are you still getting a lot of flack from church organizations and other moralist groups?

COOPER: Oh yeah, it never stops. But, you know, it doesn't bother me anymore. In reality, think about it. Maybe I sound like a horrible capitalist or something, but every time they ban me or burn my records, we sell twice as many concert tickets. I say, before people judge Alice Cooper shows, at least come in and see it first.

TMP: How do you feel about some of the more extreme metal acts like Kina Diamond?

COOPER: I am really down about this whole Satanic thing. It's so negative. Alice isn't like that. It's the kind of thing where an Alice Cooper show takes you on a roller coaster ride and it scares you to death, but it always brings you back safely. With this Satanic thing, it takes you out to this desolate place and drops you off and the only way back is through suicide or drugs or devil worship. This makes me very angry. I don't want to see this happening in music today.

TMP: How would Alice rectify the situation?

COOPER: Alice would tell these guys that they don't really have any power over anything. I never believed that for one minute and people shouldn't either. In a sense, this devil thing could really cause a lot of damage to people. I tell bands that they should really be aware of what they are doing on stage. Be aware of what you are capable of doing. If you are going to do something extreme on stage, you had better have a philosophy behind it. When I go on stage, I know the audience is going to have fun with me. It's entertainment; it's fun.

TMP: Since your music concentrated more on metal the past couple of years, are you comfortable in that category?

COOPER: I'm not just a metal artist. I don't want to be lumped in with Slayer or bands like W.A.S.P. or King Diamond. Never, never. I want the press, but that is not what Alice does and my audience knows this. Anyone that comes to see Alice Cooper knows what they are getting upfront.

TMP: One thing about Alice is he never disappoints an audience.

COOPER: Right. If I ever went out and did a show that wasn't good and disappointed the audience, I would have to quit right there. I don't care who comes to my shows, just as long as they are there for the same reason. That's to be entertained and that's what Alice does: entertain people.

TMP: Considering Alice's stage antics over the years, do you think there's still room to shock? Today's concert goers have seen everything from Alice to bad copy bands.

COOPER: I wish that if these bands were going to copy me, they would do it right. I think people find Alice much more believable than Blackie Lawless. I'm talking about the character Alice onstage, not me. Look at Blackie — it's so unoriginal. He's saying everything I used to say in the '70s. I know he's a clever guy, so I don't understand why he doesn't say anything original. I think the idea of Alice Cooper is his attitude. It's sort of a death blow to society or something. I can still go out there and shock better than anybody. The thing is, I shock in different ways. There's a lot of things I haven't done on stage, but when I do, you can bet it will be something original and then everybody will copy me.

TMP: Alice is as competitive as ever.

COOPER: When I go onstage, I erase any memory that anybody had out there before. I want my audience to remember this night and have it burned into their memories forever. This way, I know I've done my job.

TMP: Do you find it difficult living up to a legend all the time?

COOPER: I don't really see it as legendary really. A lot of people do. I can see it when other bands copy Alice, so I think that makes it legendary. I realize I've made an impact. I think I live up to it everyday. Every show we do, we look at it like it was the last show we did. We put everything into it.

TMP: Of all the great Alice Cooper rumors heard over the years, which one is your favorite?

COOPER: I love the gross-out rumor the best. That's the one with Frank Zappa. Boy, those were great, rumors. There were so many of them. There still are. The Frank Zappa one was really heavy stuff, like Frank throwing up and Alice drinking it. It makes you think, "WOW!" The one about the watermelons is good, too. It was in Toronto. I threw watermelons out to the first row. I didn't know the people were crippled! Nobody told me, and here I am throwing watermelons out. I think the people probably had fun, because I didn't treat them like cripples. There was this one where I had a paraplegic onstage. That's not true; I never did that.

TMP: Are there any special career memories you would like to share?

COOPER: Oh yeah, there are so many. My whole career has been special to me. My career is a lot different from other bands. We defined a lot of areas in rock, Alice has always been treated as a special act. Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I have been. The vision of Alice Cooper and what it is — it's so accepted and yet so hated by people. I have so many fond memories of the past playing Alice. I even have memories I don't remember! I'm enjoying Alice now more than ever before.

TMP: What do you foresee in the future for Alice?

COOPER: The only thing Alice wants to do is have fun. Alice is timeless. He's going to go on forever. This is just the beginning for us. I'm healthier than ever now. I really am. I mean, I haven't touched a drink in seven years. Look at me, I'm happy with Alice. There's no reason for me to stop. The future of Alice Cooper is the future of America.

TMP: Have you ever thought about what rock 'n' roll would have been like without Alice Cooper?

COOPER: Oh no, I can't think about that. Rock 'n' roll would be very, very dull and boring. Very dull. I can't imagine that. Who would?