Alice Cooper - Any Fans?

spectrefate wrote:

I saw that, DC. Good job on it. You have alot of good info.



A friend of mine made me 5 DVDs worth of Alice stuff. I'm watching the '75 Nightmare TV Special right now. Bad ass!

Wow, I have to check that out sometime. Does it have anything from the "Special Forces" tour on it?

And thank you for the comment.

All the stuff he gave me came from VHS tapes. The latest stuff is from the From The Inside tour. The Strange Case of Alice Cooper.

I'd kill to see that concert again, I can't seem to find my tape of it, I remember it being pretty good though.

Asahme nothing from beyond that though. "Special Forces" is one of my favorite albums of his. Weird I know, but that album is REALLY good. After all, who do we think we are?

OK, here goes the Michael Bruce story...

In November of 1995, ACE FREHLEY and PETER CRISS were doing solo tours together and played in Raleigh, NC at a place called Player's Nightclub (now defunct). I was one of those kids that grew up on 70's KISS and they were my favorite band ever. Those of you like me know what I'm talkin' about. I still have my kid's "Destroyer" t-shirt that my mom bought me in 1978. I wore it in my 2nd AND 3rd grade school photos ('78 & '79)...lol I took the shirt out the other day and thought to myself, "I can't believe I have saved this shirt for 30 years."

Well, some friends of mine (also KISS diehards) and I met up at this show to see ACE and PETER in an up close and personal club setting. Well, after ACE & PETER both played solo sets, they came back on stage at the end and collaborated on a couple of classic KISS songs together. For the last song, though, ACE began to talk about KISS' beginnings and how a certain individual had made such an impression on his guitar playing before KISS became a reality. He called this man a hero of his, someone he looked up to. Unbeknownst to my friends and I, ACE then announced this man as none other than Michael Bruce of the original ALICE COOPER group and called him out on stage!! The whole night, without our knowledge, Michael Bruce was backstage waiting to come out and jam the encore with ACE & PETER!! My buddies and I were freaking out!! As much as we were huge 70's KISS fans, we were just as much fans of that original ALICE COOPER group.

After the encore was over, Michael jumped off stage and my buddies and I bum-rushed him. Since we didn't know he was going to be there, we were getting him to sign doctor appointment cards, business cards, etc. He was the coolest guy. As he was signing we would periodically go into ad lib renditions of our favorite songs like a bunch of groupies or something...lol

"You're so very picturesque, you're so very cold..."

"We had a drink or two, well, maybe three
And then suddenly, she starts telling me her life story..."

"We still got a long way to go..."

"I know a shoe salesman, he's an acquaintance of mine..."

"Yeah, you run around with all that hair
they just don't like those rags you wear..."

"Time is free as a jailbird, at least that's what I've heard..."

"I got a muscle of love..."

"Now I don't think Miss Axelrod was much impressed..."

"See my lonely life unfold, I see it every day..."

Anyway, Michael just kept talking with us and hanging out. He told us that he was playing 2 shows the following weekend. One was at Greenville, NC's legendary rock club "The Attic" (also now defunct). The other was at "The Caboose" in Garner, NC (also defunct). So we promised him we'd be at those shows.

That following Friday night we were in Greenville. Before going to the club, we were at CD Alley (local used CD/LP store in G'ville that's also now defunct). While browsing used records and CDs, Michael came walking in the store to our surprise. My buddies and I had brought our entire discographies of the original 7 studio records/CDs to get autographed, as well as the BILLION DOLLAR BABIES (post-Cooper group '77 album). We went to the car and dug 'em out. Michael signed, and signed some more. He was so gracious about it and never seemed to be bothered by some "fanatical fans." He told us he'd see us later at the show.

During Michael's set, we were all up front rocking out and singing to the classic COOPER songs and stuff. Between songs, Michael's other guitar player asked us in a somewhat puzzled way, "Hey, how old are you guys??" lol We were all 25-27 at the time. Even though those songs were as old as we were, music is timeless and we were just huge fans. After the show, we hung out with Michael again and told him we'd see him the next night in Garner (just outside Raleigh).

My favorite moment as a fan happened that Saturday night at "The Caboose." Midway during Michael's set, he invited us up to do a gang-vocal rendition of "Under My Wheels." This was absolutely surreal. Here we are, 4 regular average guys that just happened to be the biggest fans of ALICE COOPER that we knew, and Michael just invited us on stage with him to share one of his songs!!!

"The telephone is ringing, you got me on the run
I'm driving in my car now, anticipating fun..."

Some more of our friends took pictures from the crowd and after the show we took photos with Michael again. He then asked us what we were doing after the show. We ended up going down the road and eating with him at the local Waffle House!! Awesome!! Michael told us that he was living at Carolina Beach at that moment and was headed back down that way. One of our friends owned a house near downtown Raleigh and invited Michael to crash there for the night. So we all ended up back at this friend's house with Michael Bruce (YES!! The man that wrote so many of those early ALICE COOPER classics). Michael ended up staying a few days in Raleigh with this friend of ours (and this friend actually ended up doing some construction work at Michael's place down at the beach). It was the most unreal time just sitting there hanging out with THE MAN himself. We racked Michael's brain about the early ALICE COOPER days and about each of the members and whatnot. His recollections of Alice, Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway and Glen Buxton were amazing! It was like an interview session that never ended...lol Again, Michael was the coolest and never seemed to get tired of our digging for answers about his former band's "glory days" of the early 70's.

Well, life eventually got back to normal for us. Michael lived only a short time longer at Carolina Beach before moving away. But for that brief time in late '95 I got to live out a storybook dream with one of my musical heroes, as did my friends. I would be saddened to hear just 2 short years later that Glen Buxton would die (October 19, 1997). There was a great writeup in the local Iowa paper where Buxton lived his last days at. I was glad to read that Glen became a Christian and attended a local church there. Some statements from local church members stated that Glen was a well-loved man who enjoyed learning about the Bible. A far cry from his wild, rebellious days of the early 70's. Buxton died at the young age of 49 and his gravestone is a replica of the classic "School's Out" album cover, complete with the opening lick of the song written out in musical notes.

I've enjoyed everything that ALICE COOPER ever put out, but nothing will top that original group era of 1969-1974. That group basically influenced every genre of Rock and Metal that followed. I even had a video interview where Peter Gabriel said that ALICE COOPER influenced his stage theatrics/costumes in the early days of GENESIS. It's cool to hear Metal's biggest names give props to that original ALICE COOPER group. From TWISTED SISTER to LIZZY BORDEN to GUNS N' ROSES to KISS to GENESIS to the SCORPIONS (whose lyrics to "Speedy's Coming" name drops ALICE COOPER).

Anyway, enough rambling already. That's my story. One of my buddies that was with me during that Michael Bruce experience works in the industry in different capacities and has met many big time stars over the years. And yet still, he ranks that Michael Bruce experience as among the top few fan moments of his own life.

Can I get the Cliff Notes to that?

No, that's awesome, George. A buddy of mine met him. MB is pretty freakin' awesome.

Thanks spectrefate...Yeah, it was a bit of a long read, no? lol

Here's the article on Glen Buxton that I mentioned earlier...


THE MESSENGER
FORT DODGE, IOWA
SATURDAY OCTOBER 25, 1997

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alice Cooper guitarist buried in Clarion
By BILL SHEA
Messenger staff writer
CLARION-Glen E. Buxton, the former lead guitarist for the band Alice Cooper, was remembered as a talented musician as well as a good friend and neighbor during funeral services Friday in Clarion. About 175 people crammed into Willim Funeral Home on Main Street in Clarion to pay their last respects to Buxton, who was the guitar front man for Alice Cooper from the late 1960s to 1974 as the group turned out a host of hits such as "School's Out." Former Alice Cooper band members Neal Smith, Michael Bruce and Dennis Dunaway were among the mourners.

Buxton died of pneumonia on Oct. 19. He had moved to Clarion in 1990 to help a friend, John Stevenson, run a farm. Photographs and other memorabilia from Buxton's musical career were displayed in the funeral home. Among the artifacts were a black guitar and a platinum record Buxton received when the album "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits" sold one million copies.

The mourners stood and gave Buxton a final standing ovation as the battleship gray casket was wheeled into the funeral home's main room. "He was number one in our lives," said Reggie Vincent, a fellow musician who had known Buxton for 28 years.

"He was also a little different," Vincent said. "If there were ten people standing in line, you'd pick Glen out. He was different, he stood out. But that's not a bad thing. During his remarks at the funeral Vincent described Buxton as "a great guitarist and a great friend." "We loved him," he said. "We miss him."

The Rev. Pat Nemmers of Holmes Baptist Church in Holmes said that when he learned Buxton lived in town the first thing that crossed his mind was an article he read in which the guitarist was described as "the most shocking and irreverent of his time."
Nemmers said that when Buxton began attending Holmes Baptist Church he learned that the rocker was a complex, intelligent man with a good sense of humor. He added that Buxton was quite earnest in his Christianity.
"Having reached the top of the rock world, Glen found he needed a rock higher than that," Nemmers said. "There is a higher rock. Glen I'm here to tell you, found that rock. That rock is the Lord Jesus Christ." Buxton's long hair and sometimes unkempt appearance didn't create a stir among the congregation, according to Nemmers.

"He was just accepted for who he was," he said. At the conclusion of the service the strains of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" filled the funeral home as the mourners filed out.

Buxton was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery in Clarion. Although Buxton may have had an outrageous stage persona, people in Clarion who knew the guitarist recalled him as a friendly fellow who liked photography and gave a few guitar lessons to local folks. "I really liked Glen, said George Lehman, a Clarion resident who attended Holmes Baptist Church with Buxton. "I thought a lot of him," Lehman said. "He was a special friend. He really appreciated me and all his friends. Lehman said he listened to Alice Cooper music, but never dreamed he would befriend a member of the band. Barb Detmer of Clarion said kind and eccentric are the first words that come to mind as she remembers Buxton. She said she was also impressed by his eagerness to learn about the Bible and Christianity.
__________________

Original band, 1971

spectrefate wrote:

Yeah. I really don't know alot about him.

I picked these things up at a store. I don't know what they are.



If anyone knows who the "Billion Dollar Babies" are can have this box set. There aren't any chicks in the band so I don't want it.





(wow, I really have let myself go)

Wow billion dollar babies is my all time favorite from Alice. I love everything from alice cooper, I even wear a necklace from alice cooper to show of one of my all time favorite bands. If someone is interested on one of those necklace led me know, I know a store that has from alice,scorpions,whitelion,stryper,and kingdomcome

Alice Cooper is awesome.

Love Alice Cooper, both the group and the solo artist.

Favourite albums are Love It To Death, Billion Dollar Babies and an underrated little ditty I like to call Raise Your Fist And Yell