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1[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alicecooper.jpg]]
2
3-> '''Judge:''' Alice Cooper, you have been accused of mass mental cruelty. How do you plead?\
4'''Alice:''' Guilty!
5-->-- '''The intro''' of "Lock Me Up" from ''Raise Your Fist And Yell''
6
7A heavy metal/hard rock artist from UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, Michigan, Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948) was originally the frontman of a band called Alice Cooper. He has also used it as his stage name from the start. Every Alice Cooper album credits vocals (and sometimes harmonica) to Alice Cooper. He has since legally changed his name to this. The split was entirely amicable, probably because Furnier [[NiceGuy pays royalties to his former bandmates for the right to use the name.]]
8
9Cooper's career started in 1964, when the band was named The Earwigs, then The Spiders, and later The Nazz. In 1969, they renamed themselves Alice Cooper and released their debut album, ''Pretties for You'' on Music/FrankZappa's Straight Records label. Their first major breakthrough was in 1971 with the release of the song "I'm Eighteen" on the album ''Love it to Death''. The song was followed up with what is considered Cooper's SignatureSong, "School's Out" in 1972. In 1973, they released their most commercially successful album, ''Billion Dollar Babies'', which reached #1 in both the US and UK. Their next album, ''Muscle of Love'', was less successful, but still reached #10 on the ''Billboard Pop Albums'' chart. This was the last album recorded by the original Alice Cooper band. [[note]]The surviving members of the band, (guitarist Glen Buxton passed away in 1997), have performed live with Alice at various concerts. They performed at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction as all five members were inducted.) They have also played on some solo albums, including 2021's ''Detroit Stories''.[[/note]] Furnier continued with a solo career (still as Alice Cooper) and released ''Welcome to My Nightmare''.
10
11Cooper's career spans 45 years with 28 studio albums, and is often cited as one of the most influential performers in the hard rock genre. Music/BobDylan even commented in a 1978 interview that he thought "Alice Cooper is an overlooked songwriter". Cooper's stage shows are known for their shock value and vaudevillian influences, of which [[Creator/MarxBrothers Groucho Marx]] and [[Creator/MaeWest Mae West]] were both fans. Starting in 2004, he began hosting a Detroit-based radio show, ''Nights with Alice Cooper''.
12
13His 2021 album, ''Detroit Stories'' debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales charts, and was top 10 on several other charts.
14
15----
16!!Discography:
17
18[[AC:As the band "Alice Cooper"]]
19* ''Pretties for You'' (1969)
20* ''Easy Action'' (1970)
21* ''Music/LoveItToDeath'' (1971)
22* ''Killer'' (1971)
23* ''School's Out'' (1972)
24* ''Billion Dollar Babies'' (1973)
25* ''Muscle of Love'' (1973)
26
27[[AC:As a solo artist]]
28
29* ''Welcome to My Nightmare'' (1975)
30* ''Alice Cooper Goes to Hell'' (1976)
31* ''Lace and Whiskey'' (1977)
32* ''The Alice Cooper Show'' (1977, live at Las Vegas' Aladdin's Castle)
33* ''Music/FromTheInside'' (1978)
34* ''Flush the Fashion'' (1980)
35* ''Special Forces'' (1981)
36* ''Zipper Catches Skin'' (1982)
37* ''[=DaDa=]'' (1983)
38* ''Constrictor'' (1986)
39* ''Raise Your Fist and Yell'' (1987)
40* ''Trash'' (1989)
41* ''Hey Stoopid'' (1991)
42* ''The Last Temptation'' (1994)
43* ''Brutal Planet'' (2000)
44* ''Dragontown'' (2001)
45* ''The Eyes of Alice Cooper'' (2003)
46* ''Dirty Diamonds'' (2005)
47* ''Along Came a Spider'' (2008)
48* ''Welcome 2 My Nightmare'' (2011)
49* ''Paranormal'' (2017)
50* ''Detroit Stories'' (2021)
51----
52!!This singer's works provide examples of:
53* AlbumTitleDrop: ''Love It to Death'' is named for the lyric, "I guess I love it/Love it to death" in the song "Long Way To Go."
54* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "The Congregation", on ''Welcome 2 My Nightmare'' has the standard mocking of certain professions:
55-->"And here in the fiery pit of boiling death, the lawyers, pimps, and mimes."
56* AttentionWhore: "Headlines" is from the perspective of one, detailing various crazy things he does to make the front page.
57* BadassBookworm: The man himself, as shown in ''Film/WaynesWorld'', where he displays extensive knowledge about Native Americans.
58* BalladOfX: "Ballad of Dwight Fry", from ''Love It to Death''.
59* {{Bowdlerise}}: Due to MoralGuardians thinking the title might be seen as a reference to menstruation, the title of "Only Women Bleed" was censored to "Only Women" when it was released as a single.
60* BreakTheCutie:
61** From the DarkerAndEdgier ''Brutal Planet'' and ''Dragontown'' albums, we have "Take It Like a Woman" and "Every Woman Has a Name", respectively. While we're at it, they both also contain something of a DownerEnding and BrokenBird.
62** "Only Women Bleed"
63* BrieferThanTheyThink: The original band's heyday lasted barely four years, with their first hit single "I'm Eighteen" being released in November 1970 and their final concert taking place in April 1974. In particular, what are considered to be their four best albums were released in a span of just twenty-four months: ''Love It to Death'' in March 1971, ''Billion Dollar Babies'' in February 1973. By comparison, Alice's hair metal period alone spanned five years.
64* TheCameo:
65** Cooper had a scene in ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', during which he sings "[[Music/TheBeatles Because]]".
66** He also played a hotel piano player in ''Film/{{Sextette}}'', Creator/MaeWest's notoriously dreadful final film. [[Music/TheWho Keith Moon]] and Music/RingoStarr made similar appearances; according to Alice, all three of them only did it so they could say they'd been in a film with Mae West.
67** He also showed up in ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'' as a young Freddy's stepdad.
68** Plays a bartender in ''Film/{{Suck}}'', a Canadian-made rock and roll vampire road movie.
69** Plays a crazy homeless person in ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'', who kills a man with a broken bicycle.
70** AsHimself in the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk and The Garbage Strike", when Monk, tormented by the smell of garbage piling up in San Francisco, gives a summation in which he theorizes that Cooper murdered the VictimOfTheWeek due to jealousy over a particular type of chair that the victim owned.
71* CarFu: "Under My Wheels" is about a man murdering his wife by running her over.
72* ChairReveal: The music video "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" ends with the son telling his hidden father that he didn't understand the film he went to see (''Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives''). The dad's chair spins around, revealing that he was actually Alice Cooper all along, and he offers to explain it to him.
73** That also happens at the end of the concert film, "Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper", with Alice being revealed as the therapist the director was telling his troubles to.
74* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: In "The Congregation", the defrocked priests and telemarketers are kept in Hell's "eternal mariachi room".
75* CosyCatastrophe: The song "Last Man On Earth" is about a guy who wakes up one morning to find that he's, well, the last man on earth. And instead of being depressed about it, he proceeds to sing about why it's awesome.
76* DarkerAndEdgier:
77** His albums "Brutal Planet" and "Dragontown."
78** "When Hell Comes Home" is this compared to the rest of ''Welcome 2 My Nightmare''.
79* DealWithTheDevil: The plot of ''The Last Temptation''. He also tries to get Kermit to do this in his guest appearance on ''Series/TheMuppetShow''. While Kermit is hesitant to sign the contract, [[TooDumbToLive Gonzo is more than willing to do so]].
80* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Cooper is a devout Christian, despite his songs being full of dark and scary subject matter.
81* DressedLikeADominatrix: In concert ''Go To Hell'' is often accompanied by a dancing, whip-wielding woman in black leather and lingerie. Typically she attempts to dominate Alice, who is TooKinkyToTorture and ends up whipping her into submission.
82* DoNotCallMePaul: His name is Alice, ''not'' Vincent. However he has said his parents continued to call him Vince.
83* {{Eagleland}}: Type 2, referenced in "Lost In America"
84-->I can't go to school cos I ain't got a gun\
85I ain't got a gun cos I ain't got a job\
86I ain't got job cos I can't go to school\
87So I'm lookin for a girl with a gun and a job\
88And a house, with cable!\
89Don't you know where you are?
90* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The band's first two albums, Pretties for You and Easy Action, were very psychedelic-sounding, influenced by Frank Zappa and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. Alice hadn't developed his vocal style yet, either, and the albums rely mainly on instrumentals and WordSaladLyrics.
91* EpicRocking: "Halo of Flies". According to Alice himself, the song was written to prove that the band could perform long progressive suites
92* FacialMarkings: He's well-known for his creepy clown-like stage makeup, predating other makeup-wearing rock bands like {{Music/KISS}} and Music/MarilynManson.
93* FingerSnappingStreetGang: The song "Gutter Cat vs. the Jets" on the album ''School's Out'' contains references to finger-snapping and gang fights, among other references to ''Theatre/WestSideStory''; moreover, the song includes writing credits for Music/LeonardBernstein and Music/StephenSondheim.
94* FreeHandedPerformer: He is known for his stage presence as a singer. He did play the guitar early in his career (as a member of Alice Cooper, the band) but he has stuck to vocals, and some harmonica, saying: "I've always totally surrounded myself with really accomplished guitarists, there was no reason for me to play."
95* FreudianExcuse: Defied in "Wicked Young Man", where the narrator explains that movies, music and video games didn't corrupt him and being evil is just his nature.
96* GenderBlenderName: His name was originally Vincent Furnier until he legally changed it in 1973 to the feminine name Alice Cooper. He once described a trip to the bank where he was asked his name and gave "Alice Cooper." The teller said "I have about six Alice Coopers here, which one are you?" His response? "I'm the one whose account says ''mister'' Alice Cooper."
97* GrowlingGut: "Feed My Frankenstein" opens with one, presumably from the monster.
98--> "Yes, yes, I know you're hungry. Oh! And [[IAmAHumanitarian here comes dinner]]!"
99* HairMetal: Went in this direction from 1986 to 1991 with "Constrictor", "Raise Your Fist and Yell", "Trash" and "Hey Stoopid"
100* HellBentForLeather: While Alice had worn leather before he took it to new heights when returned to the music industry in 1986 wearing a studded leather jacket with a leather shirt, leather gloves, leather pants and leather boots.
101* HospitalHottie: "Nurse Rosetta", from the point of view of the priest fantasizing about her.
102* HotAsHell:
103** The song "You're My Temptation" is about the narrator trying to resist a seductive female trying to tempt him into Hell.
104** Done more aggressively in "I'll Bite Your Face Off" and "What Baby Wants".
105* HumanPopsicle: "Refrigerator Heaven", wherein the POV character gets frozen until they find a cure for cancer.
106-->I'm freezing, I'm frozen, I'm icicle blue\
107So-o-o cold!
108* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: The song "Feed My Frankenstein" jam-packed with euphemisms for genitalia and various sex acts.
109* IconicItem: The straitjacket Alice escapes from at every concert.
110* ILoveTheDead:
111** The TropeNamer.
112** Also the subject of "Cold Ethyl."
113* IntercourseWithYou: Many songs, perhaps most blatantly "I'm Your Gun". There's also "Feed My Frankenstein", which includes the line "Let me drink the wine from your fur tea cup."
114* JizzedInMyPants: Suggested in "Nurse Rozetta", a song about [[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny a priest fantasizing]] about [[HospitalHottie a nurse]].
115* KidsRock: Several repetitions of the chorus in "School's Out" features kids singing along.
116** "Department of Youth" from ''Welcome to My Nightmare''.
117* LastNoteNightmare: "Wind-Up Toy" (''"You have to go now, it's bedtime"'') and the white noise freakout at the end of the album ''Killer'', which represents Alice being [[spoiler:killed in the electric chair, which is also featured in the stage show.]]
118* Letters2Numbers: Used in the title for the album ''Welcome 2 My Nightmare''.
119* LyricalDissonance:
120** "Millie and Billie" from ''From The Inside'' sounds like a corny pop duet, but the lyrics are about the two characters [[LoveMakesYouCrazy murdering each other's partners so they can be together.]]
121** "The Man Behind The Mask," written for ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives,'' is the most cheery, uplifting song you'll ever hear about a deformed guy in a hockey mask who murders teenagers, though the original demo version of the song (which eventually became "Trick Bag") is more suitably dark.
122* MadwomanInTheAttic: "Former Lee Warmer" is sung from the perspective of a man who keeps his mute and apparently insane brother locked up in his attic.
123* MeaningfulName: He chose from a book which listed of the most calm, inoffensive first and last names - number one on each were Alice and Cooper.
124* MoodWhiplash:
125** Since his albums frequently combine satire, more light-hearted humor, and both comically and genuinely dark themes, this is frequent. A good example is "When Hell Comes Home" from ''Welcome 2 My Nightmare''--a heavy, creepy, completely serious song in which the narrator plans to kill his abusive father sandwiched between a love song to a corpse and a song featuring Ke$ha portraying the devil.
126** Just about any of his "serious" ballads ("Only Women Bleed", "I Never Cry", etc.) are musically and often lyrically quite different from the rest of the album that they appear on.
127** VERY common lyrically on the DarkerAndEdgier ''Brutal Planet'' and ''Dragontown'' albums, as they focus on "real-world" issues far more than usual, alternating between dark but somewhat humorous satire and pure, well, brutality.
128** "Man of the Year" from ''The Eyes of Alice Cooper''. The narrator spends the entire song talking about how great he is, then in the bridge suddenly reveals that despite this, he's incredibly lonely and depressed and then ''proceeds to kill himself.'' For the final verse he reverts to talking about how great the funeral was and how he bets God can't wait to meet him. PlayedForLaughs, obviously.
129* MonsterClown: "Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me" is about ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - how if the singer should fall asleep he'll get eaten by monster clowns
130* MoralGuardians: "Sex, Death and Money" depicts a hypocritical moral guardian who goes to all the filthy, depraved shows and then complains about them.
131-->I was so offended as I sat for three hours\
132It was mental cruelty, I was so shocked\
133Just a little more flesh just a little more blood\
134A little closer to the edge a little deeper in the mud\
135I'll never be the same
136* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: "Cold Ethyl", where the titular Ethyl is a corpse kept in a large refrigerator, and involves [[ILoveTheDead "Making love by the refrigerator light"]].
137* MurderBallad: "Billie and Millie", a duet about a couple murdering Millie's husband Donald to cover their extra-marital affair.
138* NeverSleepAgain: "Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me", which was inspired by the line from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E10LisasFirstWord Lisa's First Word]]".
139* NewMediaAreEvil: Averted, the narrator of "Wicked Young Man" explicitly says his actions have nothing to do with any games or music he likes, [[TeensAreMonsters the kid is just a sociopath]] plain and simple.
140* NewSoundAlbum:
141** The {{New Wave|Music}} album ''Flush the Fashion''
142** Alice seems to love this trope. The original Alice Cooper band was mainly straightforward hard rock, but when Alice went solo he adopted a more sophisticated sound that included strings, horns, disco influences, a love ballad as well as keeping the hard rock edge which ultimately made an album more friendly for the masses. Alice kept this style until the aforementioned {{New Wave|Music}} ''Flush the Fashion'' before jumping into a more modern 80s sound a few years later which got progressively commercial sounding, culminating in the glam rock album Trash. After two more albums in roughly the same style he switched to heavy, detuned Industrial Metal for two albums, then came full circle and went back to straight forward rock. The Alice Cooper band also did this, with their first two albums featuring long psychedelic influenced songs before Bob Ezrin came onboard and got them [[GrowingTheBeard writing the shorter hard rock tunes they became famous for.]]
143* ObligatoryBondageSong:
144** "Poison" mentions "Black lace on sweat" and says, "I wanna hurt you just to hear you screamin' my name."
145** "Bed of nails" is all about IntercourseWithYou with lyrics like, "Baby when you scratch / You know I'm gonna bite."
146%%** "Little By Little" and "Dangerous Tonight".
147* OddFriendship: He befriended Groucho Marx of all people. Whilst they took it in different directions both men had vaudeville leanings that the other appreciated.
148** He was also very close friends with Glen Campbell.
149* OffWithHisHead: The oldest and most frequent method of Alice being executed at the climax of his concerts. He also did it in his appearance on ''Series/TheGongShow''.
150* OneWordTitle: Some albums and songs:
151** Albums:
152*** ''Killer''
153** Songs:
154*** ''Poison''
155*** ''Dragontown'': Also a {{Portmantitle}} of "Dragon" + "Town".
156* PieInTheFace: On one of Creator/VH1's countdown lists of the craziest concert moments, a fan hits him in the face with a cream pie while he's crouched down on the stage during a dramatic moment. He just rolls with it, wiping the filling off his face and licking his finger. In the accompanying interview he says that afterwards it occurred to him that it wasn't a smart thing to do, since he didn't know what the pie might be laced with. It turned out all right though.
157* PowerBallad: "How You Gonna See Me Now", "Hell Is Living Without You", "Only My Heart Talkin", "Burning Our Bed", "Die For You", and "Might As Well Be On Mars"
158* PreachersKid: No, really. He puts on a diabolic air but is actually devout.
159* SanitySlippageSong: Many of his songs. "Steven" is one examples. "From the Inside" is a whole album of insanity songs.
160* ScavengedPunk: His stage costume for the Brutal Planet tour, which had a mix of biker gear, chainmail and leather to fit with the dystopian theme of the album.
161* ReligiousHorror: Multiple:
162** The concept albums:
163*** ''Go to Hell''
164*** ''The Last Temptation''
165** Songs:
166*** ''Brutal Planet''
167*** ''Dragontown''.
168* RoyalRapier: Wields one (which belonged to Creator/ErrolFlynn) during concerts. It usually has money skewered on it during "Billion Dollar Babies" and is occasionally used to decapitate a baby at the end of the song.
169* SelfDeprecation: The commercial break outros for ''Nights with Alice Cooper'' crack a lot of jokes at Alice's expense. "You're listening to a man whose first album was called a tragic waste of plastic..."
170* SesameStreetCred: Guest starred on ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' (an obvious TakeThatCritics, where he was an agent for the devil in the storyline, though not a very competent one).
171* SharpDressedMan: Alice often wears suits on stage, most commonly a white tuxedo for "School's Out."
172* ShockRock: The TropeCodifier.
173* ShoutOut: "Desperado" was written for [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]].
174* SelfDemonstratingSong: "School's Out"
175-->Well, we've got no class
176-->And we've got no principles
177-->And we've got no innocence
178-->We can't even think of a word that [[PainfulRhyme rhymes]]!
179* SpecialGuest: in ''Film/WaynesWorld''.
180* TheSpook: "Triggerman" (from ''Dragontown'') is about a such character.
181-->I ain't got a name I don't gotta face\
182No fingerprints or DNA\
183I ain't got no eyes\
184I don't got a tongue\
185But I know what's going on\
186I'm deaf and dumb\
187I'm pure non-entity\
188Don't even look for me\
189I watch you when you sleep
190* StalkerWithACrush: "This Maniac's in Love With You!" is about a stalker talking about his crush to a psychologist, who gives the verdict that there is "nothing more than I can do."
191* TalkyBookends: The music video for "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)", which starts with a son borrowing a car from his dad to go to see ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives'' (it's a VideoFullOfFilmClips), and it ends with the son talking to his dad again.
192* TeensAreMonsters :"Well we got no class/And we got no principles/We ain't got no innocence," according to "School's Out." ItMakesSenseInContext if you've seen ''Film/RockAndRollHighSchool'', where this is played at the end; the teens in question are the heroes.
193** Cooper has a few songs based around this. "I'm Eighteen", "Department Of Youth", "Wicked Young Man" and "Teenage Frankenstein" are a few other examples.
194* TheyKilledKennyAgain: Alice typically dies at the end of every show. On the Theater of Death tour, he died four times.
195* TransformationSequence: While Alice usually comes onstage already in-character, in a few tours he started the show as Alice Cooper (the performer) and partway through became the evil Alice Cooper (the character) in a transformation sequence, which usually involved the melodies from "Steven" being played while a nurse or doctor forcibly applied his greasepaint.
196* UsedToBeASweetKid: From "No More Mr. Nice Guy" - "I used to be such a sweet sweet thing till they got a hold of me..."
197* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)", which uses the clips from ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives''.
198* AWildRapperAppears: Music/{{Xzibit}} raps a verse in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJV8TbyoKpY "Stand"]]
199* YouAreNumberSix: Featured in the song "Clones" ("6 is having problems adjusting to his clone status...").

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