The Spiders graduated from high school in 1966 and
Vince Furnier (soon to be Alice Cooper) says he knew the
band needed a gimmick and a new name (we now call it a
“brand”) to succeed.
The origin of the Alice Cooper name includes stories of
Ouija boards, past lives and the television show Mayberry
R.F.D. Cooper says the name actually came out of thin air,
when the band realized that the concept of a male playing the
role of an androgynous witch in tattered women’s clothing and wearing make-up would cause
social controversy and grab headlines. “If the parents hate it, the kids will love it,” became a typical
Alice Cooper formula. The name change and resulting brand was one of his most important and
brilliant career moves, Cooper admits.
So was his ability to connect to an audience,
tap into a universal emotion and bring it to life
on stage and in his songwriting.
His signature “prop” is a boa constrictor, incorporated into his show by accident. This is the
same way we speakers hear ourselves say something that gets a great response, and then we build
it into the next program and then every program,
sometimes evolving it into signature story status.
Cooper was backstage at a show when a groupie came in with a small boa constrictor wrapped
around her arm. “It scared me—I jumped,” Cooper remembers. “Then I thought if I reacted that
way to a snake, other people will, too. Alice Cooper should have a 15-foot boa constrictor on
stage. It could be pure shock value—and people
are going to hate it!”
His songwriting, too, went for the universal
connection. The band’s first hit was “I’m Eighteen,” but the band wasn’t satisfied with it as a
“signature” song. The Stones had “Satisfaction.”
“My Generation” was the Who’s anthem. Alice
Cooper lacked a definitive signature tune, and
they set out to get one.
The band members started with a question: What are
the two happiest moments in a young person’s life? Their
answer: Christmas morning and the last day of school.
Cooper explains their creative thought process: “I
thought back to my own school days, watching the clock.
Three minutes left before three months of summer vacation.
I remembered that anticipation as the seconds ticked down.
If only we could write a song capturing those final climactic
three minutes of the last day of school.”
They did. And it was an immediate hit, with the single
going straight into the American top 10 as soon as it was
released. It nailed the experience, that elated feeling of
freedom, and kids everywhere “got it.” (Mine still do!)
ture story. They both have the power to connect, communicate and catapult our careers when done well.
Alice Cooper just turned 60 and is in the middle of a world
tour as you read this. You can bet he’ll be playing golf every
day on tour, as well. He says he plans to play golf until he
“drops dead on the back nine.” This is an interesting juxtaposi-
tion, because Cooper credits golf with saving his life—replac-
ing an alcohol addiction with a golf addiction.
He says golf also opened doors and gave him
credibility. In fact, Cooper is a member of the
Friars Club in Los Angeles, the only rocker ever
to be invited. “At first, I couldn’t figure out how
I got in and became accepted by guys like Bob
Hope and Jerry Lewis. Heavy hitters a la Jack
Benny, George Burns, Frank Sinatra, Dean Mar-
tin, all hanging out with Alice Cooper,” he says.
It was the golf. Cooper got his clue when he was
invited to Steve Allen’s birthday party—he and 200
of the biggest comedians in the world wearing tux-
edoes. (Cooper, true to his brand, wore black leath-
er.) Cooper was in a room with Bob Hope, Jackie
Gleason and then-President Gerald Ford.
“You know, Alice, I’m pushing the ball right,”
Hope said.
“Well, relax your right hand. You’re just not
releasing,” Cooper casually commented. Cooper
says he will cherish those days because “nobody
ever questioned the fact that I was there.”
Golf and rock ‘n’ roll are two things amazingly related in Cooper’s life, and he says he wants
to do them forever. Just like many speakers who
say they plan to be making presentations when
they’re 100. (Maybe you’re one of them?)
“I’m what you call an ‘all-in’ guy. I have that
addictive personality. It’s all or nothing. I invented a brand of theatrical rock that has never died
and that I refuse to radically alter. I’ll keep tour-
ing, recording, writing songs until I can’t do it anymore.”
Double eagles, holes-in-one and No. 1 hits. Cooper says
they’re all reasons to keep on swinging the golf club. “I’m
never gonna shake this golf-junkie jones in my soul, and neither should you. Keep on rockin’,” he said.
Those are the last words in his book, and I realize now
that he was talking about golf. But maybe not.
Cooper
credits golf
with saving
his life—
replacing
an alcohol
addiction
with a golf
addiction.
Terri Langhans, CSP, is outgoing chair of the Editorial
Advisory Board, which means this is her last issue at
the helm of Speaker magazine. Sniffle. She’ll stay busy
being COE (Chief of Everything) at Blah Blah Blah
and speaking to people who want their marketing to
stand out and their lives to be less ordinary. Contact her at www. BlahBlahBlah.us or www.MaverickMarketing.com.
