Alice Cooper: Inside the Brain of the Coop

2011-09-25

Welcome to Alice Cooper’s Nightmare

Syringe-happy, makeup-heavy, “School’s Out”-singing shock rocker Alice Cooper doesn’t do anything halfheartedly. Live, fans are always met with some sort of fake blood, zombies, chickens and more gruesome fun, in the form of a theatrical opera. So, it’s no shock the Coop’s long-awaited Welcome 2 My Nightmare — the sequel to his 1975 concept record Welcome to My Nightmare — landed at an impressive No. 22 on the Billboard 200 this month and No. 11 on the Rock Albums chart.

Cooper’s latest endeavor is joining Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Sebastian Bach, Lemmy Kilmister and Rob Halford on a special Ronnie James Dio tribute album. Dio passed away from stomach cancer in May of last year.

What’s it like inside the Coop’s twisted brain? In the following quotes, the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee talks about his life as a haunted rock star, his popular radio show and why his faith is at his core.

On the classic-sounding songs on Welcome 2 My Nightmare, as told to Billboard in 2011:

“There are certain songs where we let some of the themes from (the original) ‘Nightmare’ slip in. All of a sudden, you’ll hear the little piano part from ‘Steven’ or from ‘The Awakening.’ I wanted (the albums) to be married together. I think we even make reference to a couple of characters from the original (album).”

On hosting his own radio show, Nights With Alice Cooper, as told to Gannett in 2010:

“The Dick Clark organization came to me. Everybody was going into satellite radio, and Dick Clark said to me, ‘If you had a radio show, what would it be?’ And I said, ‘I would go back to what I remember FM radio to be: where the DJ played what he or she wanted and it wasn’t a corporate decision.’ You know, ‘These are the most popular songs by demographics for 20 to 35-year-olds’ — I hate that. That kills the whole idea of rock and roll. So, I said, ‘I’ll play bands I like and tell stories about them, because everybody I play, I’m going to know.’ So, I might play songs from the Kinks, Frank Zappa and Iggy and tell stories.”

On touring with Rob Zombie in 2010, as told to the Baltimore Sun:

“My show is entirely different. It centers around Alice the character, and Rob’s show is a media blitz on the audience. It’s almost generational. I’m classic hard rock, and Rob is more industrial, the next stage. There’s more technology in his show. I always stayed away from pyro and lasers and store-bought props. But Rob, being a director, can use all that to his favor…”

On getting killed onstage multiple times, as told to Audio Ink Radio in 2010:

“I can’t get killed one time anymore. It used to be, they’d hang Alice. Now they hang me, they cut my head off, they put a giant hypodermic needle in me, they put me in a box with giant spikes, and Alice just keeps coming back.”

On his faith and spirituality, as told to the Gannett LSJ in 2010:

“I think sometimes people have the idea Christianity is what they see on television. Real Christianity is based on a one-on-one relationship between you and Christ, and your lifestyle is what really reflects that. I try to make that my lifestyle, with my wife and kids. You’re not going to catch Alice at the strip club. You’re never going to catch Alice cheating on his wife. I’ve been married 34 years and never cheated on my wife. And it’s not that I’m that great of a saint; it’s the fact I try to live the lifestyle that I think He would want me to live. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t be an artist, or an actor, or a musician or singer.”

Author
Recent Posts

Cat Badra

Meet the expert - Cat Badra is a music writer for Audio Ink Radio and a range of other music, sports and lifestyle publications. She's a graduate of Michigan State University with a master's degree in theater and speech. Contact her at cat@audioinkradio.com.