There have been any number of well-defined movements in rock, but seldom are they as easy to source as the theatrics that Alice Cooper brought to the ring. A master of bigger-than--erm--death theatrics, Cooper brought a twisted sense of his own twisted psyche to the fore of what would become the rock spectacle. He made audiences expect more, much more, of their artists.
Born Vincent Furnier in Detroit on February 4th, 1948, Alice (as he legally became in 1974) made later-day incarnations like Marilyn Manson possible, even if Marilyn isn't paying the royalties he should. Throughout his career, Alice's own psychological standing was always as much of an issue as his music, as he willingly delved into areas that scared the crap out of the rest of the world. In short, he helped make rock music dangerous for yet another generation, and part of what's lame about rock today is that no one can top what he did. Alice Cooper became infamous for, among other things, hanging and beheading himself in concert. That his father is an ordained minister makes all of this "acting out" even more intriguing. Such duality may have been responsible for thrusting the outrageous performer into the depths of alcoholism in the late '70s. And while his string of records from earlier in that decade are essential, it seems that Alice started to believe his own show, becoming a heavy metal parody of his former self by the late '80s. In the grand scheme of things, however, he managed to upset almost everyone--even as he was selling millions of records--which is no small feat, and should always be respected.
Alice continues to record and tour, now reaching the point when career retrospective boxed sets are being considered, and he has as many "greatest-hits" records as actual releases. His fans await a time when he rises above his own schlock, but he seems fairly comfortable there.
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