Alice Cooper reveals a few secrets in his new documentary
April 30, 2014
By Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press Pop Music Writer
http://www.freep.com/article/20140430/E ... ry-detroit
Vince Furnier is the Detroit native who grew up the son of a preacher and got hooked on golf. Alice Cooper is the L.A.-groomed horror-rock pioneer who scared parents in the ’70s and got himself addicted to beer and cocaine.
That’s the Jeckyl-and-Hyde theme coursing through the freewheeling new “Super Duper Alice Cooper,” the authorized documentary premiering nationwide this week, including Friday at Cinema Detroit. (Be sure to call ahead — some screenings are already sold out.)
The film traces the story of Cooper from his early Detroit childhood and the Furnier family’s move to Arizona, on through his band’s game-changing emergence in the early 1970s, when Cooper brought a gory, theatrical flair to post-hippie rock.
“Super Duper” was the brainchild of the Toronto-based filmmaking team Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen (here with Reginald Harkema), who have made a cottage industry out of hard rock docs including “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage” and “Iron Maiden: Flight 666.”
“They came in and said if we’re going to do an Alice Cooper documentary, it’s got to be different from other documentaries,” said Cooper, 66. “It needs to be as theatrical as Alice Cooper himself, and not just a bunch of talking heads.”
Cooper, a Phoenix resident still quick to veer into Detroit Tigers talk if he spies the chance, spoke with the Free Press about the film and his busy 2014, including his opening slot on Mötley Crüe’s farewell tour.
QUESTION: One thing that jumps out early: The filmmakers seem to have unearthed quite a bit of archival footage.ANSWER: I think these guys really went deep — they called friends, people from back in that day, and they just found this stuff. I’d never seen some of it before. It was just cool to see those pictures of the Spiders and the Earwigs. You always want to see bands back in their high school days, see how nerdy they were. (Laughs)
I’m not one of those guys who lives in the past. I don’t collect my own stuff. So I’m watching the documentary and getting inspired for ideas going forward, even though I appreciate it and how it all happened.
Q: What was your main involvement in the film?
A: I did 30 hours of interviews. I sat down and talked for five hours at a time, six different sessions. I got so sick of just talking about me, but when you’re talking you do remember things, the funny stories.
They wanted to make it in chronological order of how it all happened. I think somehow I found myself liking the more uncomfortable parts. There were points there where I said, “We need to be brutally honest about the breakup of the band. When you’re interviewing Neil (Smith) and Dennis (Dunaway), we can’t edit that. If it’s saying something we don’t agree with, it’s got to be in there.” We had different points of views on why we broke up, what we were thinking, what they were thinking.
Q: This will probably last as the defining film document of your career. What else did you feel a duty to be candid about?
A: I was in the great cocaine blizzard of Los Angeles. I had never copped to that before. I said we can’t ignore that I had a bout with that for about six months. In L.A. at that time (the 1970s), I didn’t know one person who wasn’t doing that. It was like a blizzard, and like the good addicted character that I am …
But alcohol was the one that really caused the damage. I was the most functional alcoholic in the world — I drank beer every day, never missed a concert, never missed a move, never slurred a word. I was never that kind of alcoholic. When it did finally get to me, it really did throw me out. I was throwing up blood. It hit me like a ton of bricks.
Q: I thought the film sort of breezed through the band’s Detroit chapter. (Cooper’s group relocated here from L.A. in 1970, and has long credited the Detroit rock scene for being a career catalyst.)
A: When we did those interviews, that’s probably what I gave the most time to. … We gave full credit that L.A. hated us, New York put up with us on a hip level, but Detroit loved us. We felt at home in Detroit, and when we got there, we said, “We belong here.” You’ve got Iggy (Pop), the MC5, Ted Nugent, all these eccentric rock stars. And we were the missing finger in that glove.
I’ve been living in Phoenix for 55 years now, and even to this day, when people ask where I’m from, I say Detroit.
Q: On to other business: The Mötley Crüe tour will make for a busy summer this year.
A: I’ve known these guys for 35 years, and we’ve never done a tour together. Every single guy in the band is a friend. When they asked for a guest on this (retirement) tour, I said: Yes!
Rock is so anemic right now — I keep telling everybody if you have an accordion or banjo in your band, you’re not rock. That’s the Detroit in me. I’m happy to be on a double bill like this that is certainly going to be kicking the audience’s butt each night.
I’m saying it right out loud. I got in so much trouble for (talking bad about) Mumford & Sons. They’re great at what they do, but it’s not rock ’n’ roll. I said, it’s great, it’s catchy as hell. And same as the Lumineers. But if that’s rock ’n’ roll …
Q: And I understand you’re working on a unique collection of cover songs.
A: I’ve never done a covers album. (Producer) Bob Ezrin said, “You’re a really good singer, not just a rock singer. I’d love to hear you do other people’s stuff, and let’s Cooper-ize it.”
I wanted to go back to the Hollywood Vampires (circle of musician friends). Our dead drunk friends — let’s eulogize those guys. All the guys we drank with, we’ve tipped our hat to. These are the Hollywood Vampires. There were nine guys in the actual club, but guys would come through town and be part of it.
So there will be like a Harry Nilsson song. How does a hard rock band do a Harry Nilsson song? You’ll see! Every one of those guys would have gotten it — the Small Faces, John Lennon.
