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Alice Cooper in Person Not All That Horrible

"No I don't rape ostriches."

With that comment Cooper took center stage for the Wichita press Wednesday afternoon.

Armed with an open can of Budweiser and two unopened cans on an adjacent coffee table, Cooper said he was well prepared.

And he was.

SHIRTLESS, clad in white flares and deck shoes, Cooper hardly looked the part of a "horror rock" star who cuts up toy dolls filled with stage blood and does a thing with a large boa constrictor named "Eva Marie Snake."

In fact, at 25 years and into the 56th day of his most recent tour, Cooper appeared a little tired and perhaps was not kidding when he showed 31 bruises and remarked:

"I started this tour when I was 25 and now I'm 48."

And for the record Cooper made it clear he was an all-American product.

"We really believe in it when we play God Bless America... we aren't doing a putdown. We're probably the most nationalistic band there is."

But Cooper said he doesn't push anything, cause or otherwise. Entertainment pure and simple.

And everything is for fun and thrills.

"I DON'T believe in any future; I don't think our plane is going to make it to Denver," Cooper laughed when asked about his plans.

"We've changed the show, toned it down in some spots to give more impact for the stuff we do; you can't scream all the time and hear a scream. Our show is more tense now."

Cooper added that although sex and violence sold tickets, he thought the music of the group could stand up to that of any current group's.

"They (the other four members of the band) do all the music — I only write the lyrics," he explained.

"Together nine years from high school through college, we all hate each other," he added with a grin.

COOPER SAID he likes young audiences — "They haven't been sexually brainwashed yet. They can still fantasize. I hate the critics who come to the show with their minds made up they are going to hate the show. They are not having fun."

Cooper said his band just came into the theatrics of the show through a natural evolvement.

"People hated us so much that out of frustration we took advantage of their emotions. We were so terrible that our first two albums sold 12 records. Even our parents didn't buy them.

"Of course I lie a lot: I lie all the time," the bare-chested musician added.

HE MAY BE "bad," but three young Wichita girls got behind Cooper's act unexpectedly at the close of the afternoon conference when they presented him with a gold locket.

For a moment the act was still there.

"What's in it, a tarantula?" Cooper asked half-jokingly.

But he came around, thanked the girls, adding a kiss to the thank you.

"I will wear it tonight," he said as he left.

On stage Alice Cooper might not admit it, but the real person for a brief moment sounded awfully sincere.

(From the collection of Anders Mossberg)