On Tour with Bob Gruen

Alice Cooper Retrospective

I first photographed Alice Cooper in 1971 when he played at the legendary Fillmore East in New York City. It was one of the most theatrical shows I have ever seen. Alice goes a lot further than just standing and singing into a microphone; he acts out each song with simple but effective props. During the show he was strapped in a straightjacket, tries to break out, and ends the show in an electric chair. In later shows the electric chair was replaced by Alice getting hanged by the neck from a gallows. Later came a guillotine, which remains part of his act today. Alice has said that his show is about being the bad guy punished for his evil deeds, like a real life horror movie with a rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack.

By 1973 I was working more with Alice, who up to that point had several top 10 hits and was becoming a well-known act. The band had rented a mansion in Connecticut and I photographed them there. One of my favorite pictures is Alice looking very comfortable wearing a jacket with stuffed white rats running up the front and on the sleeves. On another occasion Alice came to my studio with the great radio DJ Wolfman Jack to make a Christmas picture with Alice as Santa Claus and Wolfman Jack sitting on his lap like a little kid.

Salvador Dali felt a kinship with Alice Cooper due to the surrealistic aspect of the rocker’s show. When Dali made the world’s first moving hologram, he chose Alice as his model. The picture I took shows Dali holding the brain of the rock star with a chocolate éclair in the middle and ants running around it. Dali arranged for Alice to wear $2.5 million worth of diamonds so they would sparkle in the hologram. Also in ‘73, Alice embarked on the Billion Dollar Babies tour, one of the biggest tours of its time. One of my photos shows Alice holding a baby doll spiked on a sword over the audience, which is strange, but not as weird as the audience reaching out to touch it! To promote their Muscle of Love album, the band dressed up as sailors on leave and looking to party.

Alice is the ultimate professional and over the years his performances have only gotten better. In 1989 he hosted an MTV Halloween show and one of his guests was Iggy Pop.When Alice presented Iggy with a bucket of peanut butter as his trick or treat prize, Iggy took a handful and smeared it on his face. Alice still tours today and I was happy to see him in New York in August – he was as much fun as ever

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01 – Alice at Filmore East - NYC - 1971		02 – Alice always puts on his own makeup -USA - 1975
03 – Early portrait session, NYC - 1972		04 – Alice in the guillotine - Detroit -1973
05 – Alice & Wolfman Jack - NYC - 1973		06 – Alice Cooper in Rat Jacket- Greenwich Connecticut - 1973
07 – Alice with Baby on Sword - Spectrum, Philadelphia - 1973		08 – Alice Cooper Group as Sailors - Los Angeles - 1973
09 – Alice & Salvador Dali - NYC - 1973		10 – Alice Cooper -NYC - 1975
11 – Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper - MTV -NYC - 1989		12 – Alice Cooper- Beacon Theatre -NYC - 2013