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Alice Cooper performs during the third annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, Tuesday, April 20, 2011, in Los Angeles.
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At 71, Alice Cooper walks the line between man and myth

ASSOCIATED PRESS

At 71, Alice Cooper walks the line between man and myth

Before there was Marilyn Mason there was Alice Cooper.

With a face full of goth makeup and a live show that regularly consisted of hacking body parts, spitting into the audience, killing chickens, and ending the show inside a guillotine, Alice Cooper was widely regarded as the Godfather of shock rock in the 1970s. 

“There's a big difference between having to tour and wanting to tour,” Cooper said over the phone as he prepared for a show in Charleston. He brings his show to Toledo’s Stranahan Theater on Tuesday. “I could have really stopped touring 25 years ago, and be doing fine financially. But to me, I was born to be on that stage.”

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Cooper expressed glee about hitting the stage night after night, saying he loves playing the character Alice Cooper, which he insists is not the man Alice Cooper. 

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“On a tour like this I look forward to being on stage as Alice Cooper because I get to play a character,” he said. “I’m not playing me. I’m playing a somebody that’s very much unlike me, and I look forward to that.”

Alice Cooper the character was created some 50 years ago when the entertainer and his bandmates realized another band was performing under their first stage name: Nazz. In the 1970s, then known to family and friends as Vincent Damon Furnier, Cooper would go on to change his name to avoid legal complications over ownership of the band’s name.

While he loves playing a character, today the rock star said it’s important to let people know he isn’t the Alice they know from the stage.

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IF YOU GO 

Alice Cooper in concert 

WHEN: Tuesday, November 26 

WHERE: Stranahan Theater. 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., Toledo 

ADMISSION: Tickets from $42-$88 

INFORMATIONhttps://stranahantheater.com/events/alice-cooper-ol-black-eyes-is-back-tour/ 

“That was a real problem, a real gray area,” he explained. “Thirty-seven years ago when I was drinking and taking drugs, I thought everybody wanted me to be Alice all the time. So when I quit drinking I separated the two characters.”

Cooper said it was imperative to create a gap between him and his onstage persona so he can engage in things he takes joy in, but what others might find mundane.

“I want to go out and play golf in the morning, go shopping with my wife, coach little league baseball,” he said. “Then during the night hours I can play a show and be the legendary villain.”

“It’s so much more fun to play the character when you don't have to be the character all the time. I really love to get back in his skin at night. Especially when I have a band that’s as great as mine and all those songs to work with. I just never get tired of rock ‘n’ roll.”

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After touring and dropping two albums that garnered little attention in the mainstream, the band Alice Cooper first saw success with its third album Love it to Death. This was the final shot the band had at gaining a hit and the album spawned just that with the catchy single “I’m Eighteen.”

The band went on to have more success with hits like “School’s Out” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy.”

After a decade of performing as part of a band, Cooper emerged in 1975 as a solo artist and released the album Welcome to My Nightmare. The album turned out to be a huge success. As Cooper’s success grew, so did his need for alcohol and drugs. He returned to the spotlight in 1978 after a stint in a sanitarium.

With a career that spans nearly 50 years, Cooper said he believes that what rock needs to experience a strong resurgence is new artists who understand both the business and entertainment sides of the industry.

“There's a certain amount of rebellion in rock ‘n’ roll,” he said. “That's when you're going to see a resurgence of that. Every generation reacts to the last generation. So I think that we have such a boring bunch of rock stars. I go through all these magazines and I look at all these bands and they all look like they all just walked out of the mall.

“And I go, ‘Well, where are the bands with the personality?’”

Cooper feels like the rise of technology has created a barrier for good bands to make it in the business.

“My son’s got a band, and if we were in the ‘70s they would have had five albums out by now,” he said. “ I mean they sound like Linkin Park, really good stuff, and I know two or three other bands like that, but there are no record companies anymore.

“When we came out on Warner Brothers they wanted 20 albums from us, and so they were willing to spend a lot of money on Alice Cooper the band,” he continued. “Now, there’s very few record companies out and they're certainly not willing to spend a million dollars on young bands.”

Reflecting on his early career, the 71-year-old rock star still can’t believe some of the famous friends he’s maintained along the way. From the Beatles to Queen, Cooper said it’s an honor to have witnessed multiple generations of rock.

Though he released an EP in September, the rocker said he has plans to put out more new music in the future.

“You know when you come to see Alice you’re going to get a show,” he said. “They’re going to get the highest energy show. And some might think ‘Oh, he’s 71,so he’s slowed down.’ Nope! Alice has sped it up. There’s more energy in the show than there was in 1976.”

 

SUPER COOPER

■ Cooper’s discography consist of 27 studio albums, 48 singles, 11 live albums, 21 compilation albums, 12 video releases, and an audiobook.

■ Six of his studio albums have achieved platinum status (selling more than 1 million copies)  in the United States and three more have achieved gold status (selling more than 500,000 copies).

■ Over his career, Cooper has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. 

■ In 2011 the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

■ In 2003, Cooper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

First Published November 23, 2019, 2:30 p.m.

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Alice Cooper performs during the third annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, Tuesday, April 20, 2011, in Los Angeles.  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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