Cooper lives in Phoenix, where he DJ-hosts his own late, overnight FM rock segment, "Nights with Alice Cooper," on local FM station KDKB, 93.3 on the dial.
("Nights with Alice Cooper," at:
http://nightswithalicecooper.com/ ; for Cooper's god-forsaken ghoulish camera commentary, see "Alice's Videos," at:
http://nightswithalicecooper.com/Listen-To-Alice-Now-/3699069)
But, "hell's bells" (as my mom used to say), wait just a damn minute.
I say Cooper's an "alleged" notorious Satanic Devil Rocker because, if you believe his conversion story, Cooper's apparently become a allegedly devout Christian--although he avoids the term "celebrity Christian," insisting instead that "it's really easy to focus on Alice Cooper and not on Christ. I'm a rock singer. I'm nothing more than that. I'm not a philosopher. I consider myself low on the totem pole of knowledgeable Christians. So, don't look for answers from me."
("Alice Cooper Goes with God: 'Shock-Rock' Pioneer Now Dedicated to Follow Christ," from "Charisma News Service," 1 March 2002, at:
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=12960)
OK, Alice, I won't look to you for answers on the eternal good life with Jesus--and apparently neither will some skeptical, whacked-out, anti-rock-'n-roll Christians who don't seem all that eager to buy your road-to-redemption claim (although, to their charismatic chagrin, skads of young kids still seem to eager to buy your CDs. Praise the Lord and pass me my allowance).
Declares one outraged evangelical Christian Judger for Jesus, (who happens to live in and post from Jerusalem):
"I normally wouldn't do this, but I had such a strong reaction to the post on 'InJesus' about Alice Cooper being a Christian that I had to respond. I am so concerned that people, particularly today's youth and children, would be influenced by such lies that I had to try and open the eyes of anyone who would listen.
"I'm sorry, but to believe that Alice Cooper is a Christian is wishful thinking. I remember when someone told me he had become a Christian back in the late 90's and I was hopeful that it was true, but skeptical. When I read the lyrics of his latest 'Christian' CD, I knew that nothing had changed except his target audience. . . .
"If Alice Cooper had truly been born again, he would repent completely for the wicked path of destruction he has led so many down over the years. He would openly denounce the Rock and Roll music industry, and no longer condone it. If he were to continue to produce music, or radio shows, or any kind of media, he would use his fame, influence, and money to deliver people from the very evil web to which he has done so much to sew.
"He is what he has always been, an agent of the Devil. But now his mission includes convincing young Christians that they can dabble in the world -- and that listening to 'Marilyn Manson' or 'Aerosmith' is OK as long as you 'believe' in Jesus. . . .
"Alice, if by some remote chance you read this, I am warning you that you are facing eternal damnation, and if you really have any spark of the truth burning in you, then you had better submit yourself to the conviction of the Holy Spirit this very moment and throw yourself on your face in heartfelt repentance while you still have a chance. Only Jesus can cancel your 'Green Card.' May God have mercy upon you."
("Shock Rock Guru Alice Cooper a Christian?, By Neil Cooper [unrelated to Alice]," in "The Israel Report," 23 April 2006, at:
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/006/alice-cooper.htm)
_____
While I won't look to Alice for answers to questions about God, I confess that I did look to him--indeed, directly at him--in order to draw his caricature up-close and in-person.
Last year I was "cartoon covering" Arizona State University's commencement ceremony with a newspaper colleague of mine, which was being held at the open-air Sun Devil Stadium near downtown Tempe.
Cooper was a featured entertainer at the event, where he performed with his son Dash's band, "Runaway Phoenix" (and yes, they played "School's Out for Summer," to the delight of the cheering mortar-board crowd).
Before the show kicked off, I was wandering around outside the stadium, sketching up various vignettes to capture the atmospherics of it all. In the middle of drawing a couple of sheriff deputies sitting on an ATV doing nothing, I get a cell phone call from my colleague (who was inside the stadium), informing me that Cooper was about to give an audience to journalists in one of the skyboxes.
Time was running out before the ceremony began, so I darted up the ramp into the stadium, showed my press credentials to security and hopped an elevator up to the level where Cooper was hanging out with a gaggle of media.
It was a relatively small and crowded skybox. Still, I managed to get up close to Cooper--just a couple of feet away, in fact--where I chatted with him and his garishly-dressed promoter as I drew the visage of that burnin'-in-hell rock 'n roll rebel.
Cooper isn't very tall (maybe 5'8," max) and is noticeably round-shouldered. He was sporting a shaggy shock of flat-black colored hair that looked like it was the result of liberally-applied shoe polish. Despite his craggy, road-worn face, he was wearing blue jeans, a black shirt and black tennis shoes. From a distance he almost looked sort of young.
Cooper was relaxed, friendly and casual, fielding questions from the press as he munched on his devil food--a box of Red Vine licorice. I asked him if this amounted to a product endorsement on his part; he smiled and replied that he hoped that Red Vine would become a sponsor for his tour band.
So, I drew him with a Red Vine box in his hand, titled it "Alice Cooper Manuevers for a Red Vine Endorsement," and asked him to autograph it. He kindly did by scribbling, "You Rock!," along with his name. We walked out of the skybox together--he to join up with his son's band and me to head over to the press section down near field level (about 30 yards or so away from where, by the way, President Barack Obama had come to address the grads. I found myself a seat in the section set aside for the White House press corps, since none of them showed up to sit there, where I proceeded to first doodle Cooper's performance and then the President's).
So, there I was at Sun Devil Stadium with that dastardly, devilish rocker himself, Alice Cooper. I chatted with and crayola-ed him for, say, 20 minutes or so. From what I could see during that time, he had no horns, no hooves, no pitchfork, no red fig-leaf apron, no scarlet flames of Dante's Inferno dancing all around him.
But he did have a box of red licorice--and a good sense of humor.
After all, he says he's a Rocker-to-Redeemer Christian. (which reminds me of a born-again Christian lapel button I saw once: "Jesus Is My Rock and I Am On His Roll!")
Rock and roll on, Alice. That'll take a real good sense of humor--and from what I could tell, you've got a helluv one. :)
Edited 35 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2010 08:39PM by steve benson.