Interview: Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is happy to talk about who he really is, not only on the phone.

“I’m Alice. I’m the master of madness, the sultan of surprise,” he sings on “I’m Alice,” the lead track on his new album “Road.” On track two, “Welcome to the Show,’ he adds “I play the creature ‘cause I know how. My lips are red, my eyes are black. I’m as scary as a heart attack.”

On “I’m Alice,” Cooper maintains that he was created by the audience. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Alice Cooper came into being in the late ‘60s when Vincent Furnier took the name of the band he was fronting and transformed into the “shock rocker” who brought theatrics into the world of rock’ n’ roll.

“I always thought that the lyrics should be the script for the show,” Cooper said. “In other words, if I say ‘Welcome to My Nightmare’ in the song, I don't just say that, I give you the nightmare. Nobody was doing that. I couldn’t understand why other bands didn't do that. So I created this Alice Cooper character to be rock’s villain, rather than rock’s hero.”

The Alice Cooper Band, which released a couple of largely ignored albums in the late 1960s, broke through out of Detroit in early ‘60s, helping earn Detroit part of its musical identity. In 2021, Cooper paid tribute to the city on his previous album “Detroit Stories,” his first No. 1 album.

“Detroit was the hard rock capital of America,” Cooper said. “I was born in Detroit. And you know, we came out of Phoenix, Arizona, went to L.A. and we did not fit in L.A. at all. And we did not fit in San Francisco. And we didn't fit in New York. We didn't fit.

“We went to Detroit. And there was Iggy and the Stooges, the MC5, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, Bob Seger, Suzi Quatro. Every band was a hard rock band. And we fit right in. We were just sort of like the missing link in that whole bunch,” he said. “If you didn't play hard rock there, and not just play it, but play it with an attitude. you were never gonna last.”

Teaming up with producer Bob Erzin, Cooper landed his first hit “I’m Eighteen” in 1970 and piled up a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career thereafter, riding a string of ‘70s and ‘80s hits and on his theatrical live shows that always finds him getting guillotined.

“Road,” which was recorded live in the studio with “the best band I’ve ever had” is perfectly timed, coming out as he’s in the middle of what will be essentially a year on the road.

“We did 25 cities in the States with the new Alice Cooper show, then almost 30 shows in Europe with the (Hollywood) Vampires,” he said, mentioning the supergroup with which he also records and tours. “And now we’re back to our shows. We don't finish till November.”

That sounds like a lot of work for a guy who’s lived the rock life for five decades. But Cooper said the opposite is true.

“I really think that's what keeps me in great shape is doing the shows,” he said. “I have never felt better in my life. I'm 75 now, and I feel unbelievable if you'd asked me how old I was. I'd probably say 35.”

And he said doing the shows never, ever gets old.

“It's always fun. Because every tour that goes out is an entirely new idea,” Cooper said. “But at the same time people expect to see a certain amount of spectacle with Alice Cooper, they know it's not just going to be a bunch of guys staring at their shoes playing music….

“Now, the interesting thing is this. If we have a seven-hour rehearsal, six hours is on the music. Because if you don't have the music, if you're not a great band, then you can't do theatrics,” he said. “Because then, people will just remember the theatrics, they won't remember the fact that wow, the band is really good. That's really the focal point is how good is the music and then you put the icing on the cake.”

The new songs “I’m Alice,” “Welcome to the Show” and “White Line Frankenstein” might make it into Cooper’s set this fall. But they very well might not.

“I think the audience would pretty much kill us if we didn’t do “School’s Out’ or whatever,” Cooper said. “In fact, the hardest part of putting a show together is the set list. The band knows all the songs. But then you realize that there's about 15 songs that you have to do. Over the years, it's 30 albums, but there's 15 songs that the audience would feel cheated if you didn't do those songs

“So I gladly do ‘Eighteen’ and ‘School’s Out,’ ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ ‘Poison,’ all those songs,” he said. “Now, I've got to put two songs in from the new album. I have to figure a place to slot those in. That means I've got to sacrifice a song or two.”

Cooper was talking from a Boston hotel room early in the morning. He had important business to attend to a couple hours later – a round of golf.

“I was in Europe for two months, playing with the Vampires, and I normally play six days a week. I play every morning,” he said. “When I was in Europe, I think I played four times. But I wouldn't want to play me if I were you right now.

“I’ve been a four-handicap for about 20 years,” Cooper said. “I'm gonna be a four handicap for the rest of my life probably. I was surprised when I did go out and play after not playing for three weeks. Three or four birdies. I think it's just muscle memory than anything else.”

Golf has long been one of Cooper’s great passions. His 2008 autobiography is titled “Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock ‘n’ Roller’s Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict.” And, as his handicap verifies, he’s quite accomplished at the game.

“I got the best compliment in my life,” he said. “They were interviewing Tiger Woods, and they were going through all the celebrities (who golf). He was laughing. Then they said ‘Alice Cooper’ and he said ‘I would not give Alice Cooper two (strokes) a side.’ I went ‘Oh, wow.’ Come on. you know, he can be blindfolded and beat me if he gave me two a side. But that was a nice compliment.”

So given the title of the book, the daily regimen of golf, then music, is there some kind of connection between rock ‘n’ roll and golf?

“No, there's absolutely zero connection except for this. In the morning. I go out and I play golf. I don't even think about Alice Cooper. It doesn't even cross my mind,” he said. “When I'm on stage. I never ever think about golf. So the character that I play, Alice Cooper, probably hates golf, you know. But since it's me during the day and Alice at night, they never meet, to be honest with you.”

That’s probably a good thing. He wouldn’t want to be Alice 24/7.

“There was a time when I thought I had to do that, and believe me (I did it) back when I was drinking and taking drugs and doing things like that,” Cooper said. “I stopped that 40 years ago, But there was a gray area there for a long time where I just went.’ I don't know who I am right now. Am I supposed to be him? Am I supposed to be me?’ As soon as I got sober, I totally separated the two and realized that Alice is a character that doesn't want to live the way I live. And I realized that I don't want to live his life. So he only really lives on stage.”

Again, that’s probably a good thing.

“Yeah, yeah, I mean, he doesn't want to live on this planet,” Cooper said. “I can't imagine Alice Cooper going grocery shopping, you know?”

Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper: Freaks on Parade 2023 Tour comes to the  Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre on Saturday. Tickets start at under $20 before fees and are available here.