Super Duper Alice Cooper
2014 documentary on the life
of shock rocker Alice Cooper
directed by Reginald Harkema,
Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn
Hotdocs screening in Toronto
by Live Music Head
In each of us,
there is a war between good and evil.
Hello! Hooray!
Let this Doc Opera begin,
I’ve been ready.
Narrated by the same voice
as that of one of the greatest rock vocalists of the 1970s,
the new documentary based on his life;
the life of the legendary Godfather of Shock Rock,
was screened this week
at the Hotdocs international film festival in Toronto,
a Canadian city he's had a life-long relationship with.
Vincent Damon Furnier was born an American
on February 4, 1948
in that great rock and roll Michigan city called Detroit,
about a five-hour's drive from Toronto.
His father was a preacher.
His grandfather too.
So the belief in the power of God
was instilled in skinny Vinny at a very young age.
But like most young people,
Furnier couldn’t wait to get far, far away,
from his church-going hometown
as soon as he was old enough.
Upon discovering rock and roll,
he found his way out,
indeed.
Alice Cooper was born from a Ouija board,
and Vincent Furnier was left behind for oh,
I dunno,
about two decades.
Two decades where life was all about rock and roll,
sex,
and drugs.
There simply was no time for church.
My earliest memory of Alice Cooper
was hearing about how he hung himself on stage
from my older brother
who was old enough to see him in concert back in the 70s,
when I was not.
And that he got his head cut off in a guillotine too.
Cooper drew from horror movies he had seen
and vaudeville
to become the pioneer of grand theatrical rock shows,
and concept albums,
the covers of which were often seen
propped up against the record player
in my family home.
And then there were the photos.
Photos of him posing with a boa constrictor,
shirtless.
As a teen who had not yet had sex,
I was fascinated by these photos of him shirtless
because they showed a scar running down from his navel,
down inside that part of his pants
that also peeked my curiosity.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned
he got that scar as a kid,
from a bout with appendicitis/peritonitis
that nearly killed him.
All I wanted to do was run my tongue along it.
Because All the Young Girls Love Alice!
Elton John too,
who was in the audience that night
at that Hollywood Bowl concert,
trying to catch a pair of them panties
that rained down from a helicopter
upon the Alice Cooper crowd.
You see,
once Frank Zappa, The GTOs, and Shep Gordon
got hold of Alice Cooper in the city of Los Angeles,
they turned the band into a household name
that saw all the little pretties wanting to lose their virginity
to School's Out,
with boys who wore eye makeup just like them.
And this scared the bejesus out of every parent across the land.
Made some boyfriends jealous too.
The GTOs dressed the band to look like demented Barbie dolls.
Zappa produced their first record
and had them open up for The Mothers of Invention.
And Gordon became their manager.
The manager who made sure they topped
every outrageous thing they did.
The same manager who wore the t-shirt that said:
"No head, no back stage pass".
It was also Gordon who got them that gig
at the now-legendary 1969 Varsity Stadium show in Toronto
known as the Rock and Roll Revival.
This became the show where Cooper truly alienated
not only every parent across the land,
but any trippy hippy that may still have been
floating through his audience since ‘67.
By killing a chicken.
But it wasn’t him that killed it.
It was killed by assholes in the audience.
Where are they now I wonder?
Myself, I like to think that Cooper never would have
tossed that bird from the stage
had he realized it wouldn’t fly away.
For I'm a rock and roll hippy chick vegetarian
who loves Alice Cooper.
And what allegedly transpired in the audience
after he threw it
is one of the most despicable rock and roll stories
I have ever heard.
And not in the least bit funny to me.
I prefer seeing him cut the heads off plastic babies.
Billion Dollar Babies!
My favourite album,
followed by Love It To Death,
notably because of the drumming.
Neal Smith’s drumming on these two albums
is some of the best I’ve ever heard.
Albums that were produced by Toronto-born Bob Ezrin.
Super Duper Alice Cooper is great at documenting
what life was like for the great rock icon and his band
during the making of these albums;
the crazy tours that were designed to sell them,
and the drinking and drug-taking that made it all possible.
It’s quite simply a must-see for any fan of rock and roll,
despite how well you may know the story.
 |
| LMH with Reginald Harkema (director, Super Duper Alice Cooper) |
And speaking of Elton John,
his song writing partner,
the great Bernie Taupin
hung out with Coop in his pool house
after he returned from alcohol-detox.
They wrote songs together
about Coop’s stint in the sanitarium.
But although Cooper got off drinking,
there was always cocaine.
A necessary substance if he was to keep up
with the likes of The Ramones,
and The Sex Pistols.
Or so he thought.
Bernie left the pool house.
And a riot erupted at CNE Stadium in Toronto.
Welcome to his Nightmare.
Vince’s mother and father heard the call from Phoenix.
So did his God from above,
the Lord,
Jesus Christ.
Help!
Cooper went down for the next several years,
staying off the road, and far away from partying.
who came to the conclusion that
the Salvador Dali-inspired character he created
to allow him to express the dark side we all have,
was killing him.
And Vince wanted to live.
Unless he wanted to end up like Jim, Janis and Jimi,
Alice Cooper was no longer allowed to live in his world.
And that was fine with Alice.
He didn’t care to live in Vince’s house anyway.
He didn’t want to be married.
And he didn’t want to be a father.
He preferred the stage.
And so Alice Cooper returned to the stage,
the Joe Louis Arena stage in Detroit to be exact,
where he received thunderous applause from his fans.
It was broadcast live on MTV.
Re-claiming the wife and child he temporarily lost along the way,
Vincent Damon Furnier took up golf,
and is born again.
The trailer for Super Duper Alice Cooper...
The official website for Alice Cooper...
http://www.alicecooper.com/
Hotdocs
Canadian International Documentary Film Festival...
http://www.hotdocs.ca/
