The astonishing run of albums unleashed upon an unsuspecting public
within the span of five years created the legend of Alice Cooper that
lives on to this day. But we're talking about the original Alice Cooper
group here, a band called that with a lead singer also going by that
name. In other words, the legend was built by Vincent "Alice Cooper"
Furnier, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway and "platinum god"
Neal Smith. It is all of them working together - along with producer Bob
Ezrin - that created the mystique of songs like "I'm Eighteen," "Is It
My Body," "Desperado," "Under My Wheels," "Be My Lover," "Elected" and
"No More Mr. Nice Guy." And it is all of them working together - along
with crack management in Shep Gordon and Joe Greenberg-that created the
shock rock buzz that kept the newspapers full of indignation about this
band set out to destroy human civilization. Easy Action: The Original
Alice Cooper Group tells the story in meticulous chronological detail,
from the band's early days in Phoenix as The Spiders, through being
broke on the Sunset Strip, followed by a career-reviving relocation to a
notorious party house on the outskirts of Pontiac, Michigan.
Corroborating the improbable sequence of events is a plethora of stories
from the band themselves, who explain how the original Alice Cooper
group went from politely ignored pariahs in Los Angeles to international
Public Enemies No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Listen to the guys and their
good-natured explanations behind the mayhem, and it soon becomes
apparent that the ghoulish makeup around the singer's eyes and the boa
constrictor around his neck - not to mention the head-choppings, the
hangings and the hard rock - were all served up in good fun. Now it's
time for you, dear reader, to join in the fun and see why Alice Cooper
was, for a golden moment in time fully 50 years ago now, the most feared
and revered act in all of rock 'n' roll.
