Alice Cooper Group: The Rocket Fuel Comes to Germany Cover Feature (1972)

Alice Cooper Group’s The Rocket Fuel Comes to Germany, a cover and two-page feature in Bravo Magazine, October 18, 1972.

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WHO'S TREMBLING WITH ME?

Do cold shivers run down your spine when Alice caresses her favorite snake, "Yvonne"? Do you tremble all over when showman Alice dangles from the gallows? Anyone with such bad nerves should definitely not attend the Alice Cooper show. Everyone else can safely note down: Scary Alice is on November 15 at the Circus Krone in Munich, on November 22, at the Gruga Hall in Essen on November 23, at the Musikhalle in Hamburg, on November 24, at the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, and on November 25, at the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt. BRAVO correspondent Frances Schoenberger tested Alice Cooper's resounding grusical for you—already in Canada

He looks as if he had just stepped out of a coffin: chalk-white powder on his emaciated face, shaggy hair, skin-tight black trousers, short bodice, multi-colored boots.

It gives me the creeps. Thank God, ghosts don't drink beer. Alice does. Ghosts can't talk either: Alice speaks: "Come, have a drink," he greets me, holding a bottle of beer in front of my nose. "I'm a little nervous. This is my last show in North America before I go on a European tour. I hope everything goes well."

Actually, beneath his horror mask, Alice is a completely normal guy—and clever. With his rock shock show, he showed up at exactly the right time. People like to be scared, whether in the hall or in the ghost train at the fair," he grins. Yes, Alice Cooper knows what women want. And men

The terrifying man has been in the music business for seven years. He started with the blues. But nobody wanted to know anything about him. Now people buy his records. Now they're being gilded. He's already received two trophies for "Killer" and "School's Out."

BRAVO correspondent Frances Schoenberger spoke with Alice Cooper before his concert in Toronto and came to the conclusion that the "Rock Devil" is a human being just like everyone else

I evoke reactions in the audience. Most people hate me. Recently, a spectator shouted at me, 'Get down, you criminal. I'll kill you.' The police then took him away," says Alice. "People can let off steam at my show, release their aggression. It's no different for me and my boys. We all live together in a big house. A fight is bound to happen every now and then. We do that on stage; in our show, we also let off steam. At home, we're one and the same."

30,000 spectators who had been waiting for Alice and his

A band is waiting, rhythmically shouting: "We want Alice, we want Alice." It's time for him to go on stage. Alice Cooper's manager advises me to watch the show from a safe, distant spot. He fears the angry crowd; he knows the Cooper cauldron is about to boil over.

The show begins: Alice eats rose petals, runs his sword through the hair of a photographer, who flees in terror. Alice caresses her snake "Yvonne." Spectators turn pale; the monster is there.

Next scene: street fight. The group fights. It seems amazingly real

Neil, the super-tall drummer, jumps somewhat awkwardly over his shooting gallery and falls. That wasn't planned. Alice yells at him: "There you go, you rat." Neil then angrily hits him. Alice bleeds. The audience jeers. Everyone gets their money's worth. Then Dennis, the lead guitarist, pounces on poor Alice. He smashes a bottle on his head, which shatters into a thousand pieces. But Alice has taken precautions: he's wearing a stiff top hat.

The crowd goes wild, acting like crazy. They break through the fences in front of the stage. Alice Cooper has turned things up a notch; they need to let off steam. The press people in the front row disappear. The police have their hands full

End of the performance: Alice Cooper throws his band's colorful poster into the audience, even tears one up, and then speaks calmly into the microphone: "You're crazier than we are. And that's why I like you so much."

Minutes later, the devil himself is sitting unharmed in his limousine. In his hotel room, he then sips a beer contentedly and watches the television program. Even the rock devil's world is a perfect world...

Text: Frances Schoenberger/Photos: Dagmar

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