Steel Notes Magazine August 2014 | Page 31

Steel Notes Magazine | 31
And so .. Here the story begins !....
Alice , the son of a pastor , grew up in Detroit , Michigan , the “ Motor City ”, where cars , street violence & Rock N Roll Music were the norm . Due to a bad bout of childhood asthma , the family relocated to Phoenix , AZ , upon recommendation of his doctor , not knowing this was where his destiny would begin . In high school art class he met Dennis Dunaway , who became his best friend and they shared a love of art and Salvador Dali .
It was a great party , flowing with food , drinks and the company of other musicians such as Mark Volman of The Turtles .
The Alice Cooper Group had the most amazing stage show , from their androgynous looks to their props and theatrics , of any band I had ever seen . Onstage , Vincent Furnier as Alice , bottle of booze in hand , with his half man / half woman sexuality , was scary yet exciting at the same time .
This documentary takes you through the whole history of how the band came to be and their experiences . The main focus of this movie delves into the mind of Vincent Damon Furnier , aka Alice Cooper , and how it became a daily struggle to separate himself from the man , the artist , and the toll it took on his personal life , mental and physical health .
They were Beatle — maniacs , and when their school had a talent show they did a spoof , wearing Beatles — wigs and calling themselves The Earwigs . Dennis brought in guitar player Glen Buxton to play the contest with them . That experience led Vincent and the boys to want to learn how to actually play instruments . The band changed their name to The Spyders , performed at the Vip Club , which was a teenage dance hall , and became the house band , playing The Yardbirds , The Stones , and others . They had a number 2 record on krux during their senior year in high school and a desire to move to LA to become rockstars .
1967 , after moving to LA , they met the GTO ’ s , an all female band that lived in the basement of Frank Zappa ’ s log cabin . Hanging out with the girls , who were professional partiers , their experimentation with drugs began . Vince , who was totally straight up until then , ran into Judy Jones whom he had a crush on — an old friend from church that offered him a beer at a party . After a few beers he was so drunk , he had to be carried home .

Steel Notes Magazine | 31