At 10am today, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame officially inducted The Alice Cooper Band as part of their 2011 Induction Ceremony. Eligible since 1994, Alice Cooper along with acts such as Kiss, Journey and Rush was snubbed by the committee which pissed fans off for years. How can such groundbreaking and original bands who paved the way for popular music as we know it today be totally ignored for their contributions? Well today is sweet victory as Alice Cooper has been finally recognized as not just a man but a band that are pioneers and visionaries in Rock & Roll music.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame website had this to say about Alice Cooper:
Before there was Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson or KISS, there was Alice Cooper, the original self-proclaimed “rock villain.” Born Vincent Furnier, Cooper and his mighty band of the same name – lead guitarist Glen Buxton, rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, bass player Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith – pioneered the dark spectacle of heavy metal with their huge blues-rock sound and extravagant stage show. Drawing from horror movies and vaudeville, Cooper brought a new level of visual theatrics to arenas with guillotines, electric chairs, boa constrictors and fake blood; their 1973 tour broke box office records previously held by the Rolling Stones, and raised the bar for major rock tours. What made it stick were some of the catchiest, most reckless hard-rock songs of all time: “Eighteen,” “School’s Out,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Along with the New York Dolls and David Bowie, Alice Cooper was a starting point for the glam rock of the 1970s; it’s impossible to imagine the hair metal of the 1980s without them. You can hear and see the band’s influence in bands from the Sex Pistols to Guns n’ Roses. The original lineup split in the mid-Seventies, and singer Cooper would continue on with an evolving lineup; in the meantime, the pure shock value of America’s first shock rockers has faded, but their legacy is safe.
Congrats to the classic Alice Cooper Band for finally getting the respect and recognition from the general public. Even if they hadn’t been inducted, we as fans will always know the influence and inspiration that Alice Cooper has had over the years but we also know that it feels good to have that public respect. Heads off to Alice Cooper!
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