"bood of eviscerated rat"

Cool - a new word and a new body part.

Wasn't this guy vaguely Satanic or something? If not Satanic per se (as other hard rock bands were overtly), he was definitely macabre, anti-social, and into shocking the straights.

He was also one of the most hardcore alcoholics around back then. He did an interview with People Magazine and said how much he drank daily. I can't remember the specifics, but I remember it was by the "case." Apparantly, he has been sober for a number of years now.

Isn't he the guy last year that said "Anybody that looks to a rock star for political guidance is an idiot"? It was a comment on the Kerry rock concerts with Bruce Springsteen and his cast of idiots.

Quite a few hard rockers that are either Christians or Republicans or both. Probably has to do with going against the flow. Seems like 90% of the business is so far left that you'd have to go to the right to really be a rebel agains the system.

It's really funny how the so-called "serious" artists are so shallow when it comes to the real world, but folks like Alice Cooper, and Ted Nugent, and Marilyn Manson(!) actually have informed opinions about a lot of the stuff the "real" artists just regurgitate.

So to speak.

Ace , you're WAY behind the curve on Alice Cooper. For example, he was the only rock musician to publicly support Nixon, so he's been a Republican (or a "fellow traveler", anyway) for more than thirty years.

Remember when Garth Brooks got all kinds of press for taking on the issue of abused women with The Thunder Rolls?

He was WAY behind Alice Cooper. Check out the lyrics to Only Women Bleed.

Wasn't this guy vaguely Satanic or something? If not Satanic per se (as other hard rock bands were overtly), he was definitely macabre, anti-social, and into shocking the straights.

BTW, Ace:

You're not WORTHY! You're not WORTHY!

Alice was never a Satanist, his gimick was just being "scary looking."

The choruses (chorusii?) of his more well-known songs usually have suggestive titles... "Dead Babies" and "Only Women Bleed" come to mind, but but those songs are about child abuse and abused women, respectively. AGAINST those subjects, I should add.

Alice is rather brilliant in the way he can get the "straights" to knee-jerk about music censorship only to make them look ridiculous when the actual lyrics of his songs are read on the Senate floor. That actually happened.

It's too bad A.C. wasn't primed to take on the know-it-all interviewer. Even something merely suggestive, like this, would have put him in his place: "How is it that you're privy to such state secrets? It's rare to be able to find conclusive proof of anything along these lines, whether in favor or against. Nor is it even necessary for Saddam to be proven to have been involved in that particular act of terrorism. He was overdue for destruction for having made an attempt on the life of the elder George Bush. We can't go on letting people get away with such acts without encouraging them to attempt more destructive ones. Saddam Hussein will stand for another decade as an example of the fate of those who threaten the United States. In another decade, we'll have to make another example of some other enemy. And so it goes. Your preoccupation with 9/11, per se, is a red herring, Mr. Interviewer."

Alice is rather brilliant in the way he can get the "straights" to knee-jerk about music censorship only to make them look ridiculous when the actual lyrics of his songs are read on the Senate floor. That actually happened.

Gordon:

Yup, Dead Babies was a diatribe against child abuse.

Aerosmith did the same thing with Janie's Got A Gun, which gets my vote for one of their five best songs.

Can't figure out why people think these guys are mindless, or that they aren't concerned about the same things as the rest of us.

Billion Dollar Babies. Terrific album.

Alice rocks my world.

folks like Alice Cooper, and Ted Nugent, and Marilyn Manson(!) actually have informed opinions about a lot of the stuff the "real" artists just regurgitate.

I have to confess, I like alot of Manson's music so maybe I'm biased, but I've read several interviews of him and even parts of his book; each time I've been impressed with the dude. He's weird, but in a D&D dork sort of way. He knows his schtick sold records, made him a household name, but for a rock star, he is remarkably grounded and intelligent.

I think there was a bit more sinister stuff about Alice in the early days than some people are letting on. Yes, at this point in his life he'd say all the macabre stuff is just part of the show, and that's true, but in the early days it was another story. For one thing, he'd claim, apparently seriously, that a spirit told him during a Ouija board session that he was the reincarnation of a witch named "Alice Cooper"and so he took that name after that.

Was that claim part of the show? Perhaps. The difference is back then he wouldn't have said so, and a lot of people really did believe it was true, and that gave Alice an occult mystique. (These days if he ever said something like that it would be in the context of a show and offstage he'd dismiss it as harmless roleplaying.)

Don't get me wrong. I personally have never been offended by Alice Cooper and in fact was a fan for a long time (though I haven't heard anything new in many years). I'm just pointing out that it's not quite accurate to say his current stance about the show being separate and pure entertainment was not always his position.

And, yeah, what's up with the song "Eighteen"? That's one I never understood either. It's an OK song, not horrible, but a lot of people thought it was just fantastic for some reason.

I also don't get "Only Women Bleed". Again, an OK song, and the message is an admiral attempt to take a stand. But it's hardly a controversial stand (who is standing up for wife-beating?) and I don't get the "only women" thing. Non-women bleed; I've seen it. This might sound stupid, but to me that kind of ruins the song for me.

If he were making an untrue claim that was exaggeration to make a point, then I could buy into that. But what big point is being made by claiming only women bleed? I don't get it. To me it seems like it was an attempt to give the song a dramatic flair that falls flat.

If I were spearheading a breast-cancer fundraiser and came out with this big, flashy "only women get cancer" campaign, it would rightly be dismissed as stupid. Claiming it was an socially enlightened, artistic attempt to draw attention to a serious problem wouldn't make it any less stupid.

And he's a good golfer, too.

Alice Cooper: Rennaissance Man

Remeber when he did the ads for Callaway drivers? Multi-talented

"No more Mister Nice Guy" is a pretrty fuuny song as well.

"I also don't get "Only Women Bleed""

I always thought it was about menstration...

Today's trivia: Alice Cooper attended Bob Jones University.

Master of None:

So did I, and it kind of makes sense in context with other lyrics dealing with conception and bearing children.

Let's just say Alice Cooper's theatrical approach to death on stage (guillotines, electric chairs, a burning at the stake) had a certain influence on me. I've always been a fan of his work, I'd have to say "Welcome to My Nightmare" was the single best track.

As for Marilyn Manson, I can forgive him for banging Dita von Teese (God, I want her) for two reasons. One, he makes great music. Second, one line from his autobiography "Long Hard Road Out Of Hell".

"If every cigarette takes seven minutes off your life, ever game of Dungeons and Dragons delays the loss of your virginity by seven hours." I did the math, I think he's right.

And he plays too.

Reminds me of this interview with the lead singer of Iced Earth (Jon Schaffer) with a Canadian journalist:

http://www.bravewords.com/news.html?id=14029

Here's a sample...

BW&BK: "This next question is controversial so I'm letting you know before we proceed. Some political analysts have articulated the view that what happened on September 11 was justified due to America's presence in the Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia. Some political analysts view it as retaliation for what the US has done in the Middle East in the past. As a Canadian, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say about this view that's been put forth by analysts."

JS: "No, it wasn't justified. Not at all. And anybody who says so needs to have their fuckin' head examined."

BW&BK: "Do you think 9/11 will be viewed as the first event in the US empire's decline and fall?"

JS: "No. This is not an empire, first of all. If the United States was an empire, your country would be our 51st state."

BW&BK: "I understand."

What gets me about that interview is how the contention, not the proven beyond a doubt fact, that Iraq did not assist Al Qaeda in planning 9-11 has somehow transformed into a blanket wall of separation between Iraq and Al Qaeda. It is a sort of mini-truth that has, in the minds of lefties, turned into a bigger-lie. Saddam helped terrorists and even had contacts with Al Qaeda.

You guys are pussies. 'Eighteen' rocks. Great discussion of the halfway world at that age.

Uhm, maybe I'm not nuanced enough but "I love the dead before they're cold, their bluing flesh for me to hold." from possibly "Cold Ethyl" was certainly not taken by its teenage audience of the time (of which I was one) as the statements of a Republican. Or if so, maybe a necrophiliac Republican. It was cool and sick and inspired un-nuanced teenagers to spray paint pentagrams on churchs.

I think Alice has aged into his conservatism, though I won't say he didn't have some conservative leanings then.

Bonus: He's a Christian?

No he's not! No Christian would sing about degeneration or evil in the way he does. Perhaps he even thinks he is (there are a lot of people like that), but if he were a real Christian he'd sing about Christ and have a positive message not a negative message. And if it meant the end of him as an artist, than so be it.

But hopefully, he's on the path and I shall pray for him.

From the most excellent 'Billion Dollar Babies': "We go dancing nightly in the attic while the moon is rising in the sky. If I'm too rough, tell me, I'm so scared your little head will come off in my hands!". Very cool in that it is a duet with Donovan.

However, again, to the teenagers of the time, this was not a song about respecting and loving innocent children.

Quit getting excited that an old man turns out to be Conservative. Things change.

One cool thing about Cooper and marilyn manson is that both seem to get the joke. Manson ripped off a lot of is theatricality from Cooper, but neither takes themselves all that seriously. Much different from self-important lefty bands like Rage Against the Machine or System of a Down-both of whom stink like a bucket of burning dogshit, know-nothing politics aside. You can write meaningful songs that say something without being an irritating bore.

Ted Nugent is a great neighbor.

Dave Mustane is very sharp too. No idea about his politics, but he absolutely cleaned up on some VH1 celebrity jeopardy show.

Ha - (a) my apologies, it's Mustaine, and (b) my BornAgainDar was right.

Dave Mustane is very sharp too. No idea about his politics, but he absolutely cleaned up on some VH1 celebrity jeopardy show.
I don't know his politics, but I know that he wouldn't do a concert in Greece because one of the other bands was anti-Christian.

72 Virgins: Lighten up, I AM A CHRISTIAN, that doesn't make me perfect like you, but Cooper seems like he probably is a Christian to me, even if he's not holy enough for you. Spend more time looking at the plank in your own eye and less time examing the speck in your brother's eye.

sorry, but Navarro's a big wuss...

But Navarro IS banging Carmen Electra and we're not.

Gene Simmons from Kiss is also very smart. He's a former schoolteacher.

Yes, Alice Cooper is a Christian. He is very good pals with Pat Boone. They're big golfing buddies.

Actually, Alice Cooper attends a church in Hawaii (not sure if he lives there part time or all the time), and a friend of mine spent some time there as a missionary helping out. Turns out that he's not only a prominent member of the church, but he even leads a bible study out of his home when he's there.

Things you never knew, eh?

Mike, I got the goods on Dave Mustaine. He's a Bush supporter. Eh, the President, not the band.