📰 Alice Shock – News: Mar. 1973

Sub‑Heading

A dramatic Melody Maker front‑page report detailing the turmoil surrounding Alice Cooper’s massive 60‑date U.S. tour and the health crisis affecting guitarist Glen Buxton.

Melody Maker’s cover story reveals last‑minute chaos in the Alice Cooper camp as the band prepares for the largest rock tour ever attempted — with Glen Buxton still recovering in hospital.

📰 Key Highlights

• Front‑page cover story in Melody Maker, March 3, 1973

• Reports on the band’s 60‑date U.S. tour — the largest rock tour to date

• Glen Buxton recovering from a serious stomach ailment

• Temporary replacement guitarist Mick Mashbir hired

• Tour includes 90 concerts in 90 days across 30 major U.S. cities

• Stage show features windmill set, revolving drum riser, guillotine, and theatrical props

• New single “Hello Hurray” and new album Billion Dollar Babies set for release

📰 Overview

In early 1973, Alice Cooper stood at the height of their shock‑rock fame, preparing to launch the most ambitious tour ever attempted by a rock band. Melody Maker’s front‑page headline — “Alice Shock” — captures the tension, spectacle, and logistical scale surrounding the group as they prepared to conquer America with a 60‑date tour, a new album, and a stage show of unprecedented theatricality.

📰 Source Details

Publication / Venue: Melody Maker

Date: March 3, 1973

Issue / Format: Front‑page news feature

Provenance Notes: Sourced from original print scan.

📰 The Story

The article opens with the revelation that “drama surrounded the Alice Cooper camp” as the band prepared for their gigantic U.S. tour. Lead guitarist Glen Buxton, a founding member and key part of the group’s sound, was still recovering from a serious stomach ailment that had kept him in hospital since before Christmas. His uncertain condition forced the band to hire Mick Mashbir, a close friend from Phoenix, as a temporary replacement.

The scale of the tour is described as unprecedented: 90 concerts in 90 days, spanning 30 major cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. The band had been studying the “extraordinary route” for days, preparing for the physical and logistical demands of such an undertaking.

Their elaborate stage show — already en route to America — included a windmill set, a revolving drum riser, a guillotine, and a range of theatrical props that defined the Alice Cooper experience. The article emphasises the group’s popularity, noting they had played to more than 400,000 fans in the previous six months.

The piece also highlights the band’s new single “Hello Hurray” and the imminent release of Billion Dollar Babies, which would become one of their most successful and iconic albums. The front‑page placement underscores the cultural moment: Alice Cooper were not just a band, but a phenomenon reshaping the boundaries of rock performance.

📰 Visual Archive

Front page of Melody Maker, March 3, 1973, featuring the headline “Alice Shock” and reporting on the band’s massive U.S. tour and Glen Buxton’s health crisis.

📰 Related Material

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📰 Closing Notes

“Alice Shock” captures the tension and spectacle of Alice Cooper at their commercial peak — a band balancing theatrical ambition, logistical extremes, and real‑world vulnerability on the eve of their most daring tour.

#AliceCooper #AliceShock #MelodyMaker1973 #BillionDollarBabies #ShockRock

📰 Sources

• Melody Maker, March 3, 1973

• Contemporary Alice Cooper tour documentation

• Secondary commentary on the Billion Dollar Babies era

📝 Copyright Notice

All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.

DRAMA surrounded the Alice Cooper camp this week on the eve of the band's gigantic 60-date tour of America-the largest tour ever undertaken by a rock band.

Reason was that lead guitarist Glen Buxton. was still not fully recovered from a serious stomach ailment. Buxton has spent several weeks in hospital since falling ill just before Christmas.

So the Cooper band have had to hire guitarist Mick Mashbir, a close friend of the band, from Phoenix, Arizona.

For the last few days Mashbir has been studying Buxton's role in what must be the most extraordinary show to ever take the road. The tour - provisionally 60 dates in 90 days-kicks off in Rochester, NY, on March 5, and ends at Madi-son Square Garden, New York City, on June 3.

A troop of clowns, and other "bizarre " figures will take to the road with Alice. Including road managers, aids, and the group, the road party comes to more than 40 people.

Alice has hit 13 in the MM chart with his new single "Hello Hurray," and the new album Billion Dollar Babies" is set for release next week.