Alice Cooper

 

 

 

My first encounter with Alice Cooper came when I was an Alter boy at Bitburg Air Force Base church of all places. Yes I was an Alter Boy and really enjoyed it, no vulgar pun intended. Anyhow the Church was having a bizarre and was selling various donated Items. After the bizarre was over the Chaplin gathered the boy’s and said we could take anything that didn’t sell. So we swigged down the wine hidden behind our backs and ran off to check it out. Some of the boys were more seasoned than me in music and right off noticed this box of 45 records. (For you kids who don’t know about vinyl.)  The guy’s were going nuts and I dove into all the communal commotion. Turns out there were several copies of all kinds of musical artists, like that dude Pink Floyd-Deep Purple-The Beatles-Elvis-Engel Bert Humperdink, David Cassidy, J.C. Superstar, Tom Jones, Steppenwolf and some weird chick by the name of Alice Cooper, that I never heard of before. One of the boys just snagged it out of my hand but there was another copy in Pandora’s Box of card board. So it must be worth something since that kid took it from me. So I brought home about 30 various 45 discs. It certainly seemed like an act of GOD. I was the last to leave the room and I remember the Chaplin staring a hole in the back of my head. He looked like John Wayne and spoke with a Boston accent. “Michael…Are you headed home?”

 

“HUH?” The 45 turned out to be 18; I was only 10 but it became part of my treasured collection. Little did I know certain paths that would cross in the future?  

 

The next encounter came years later after I had moved to Phoenix as a teen. I had been struggling to play guitar for years. I didn’t have any natural ability to play an instrument like my sisters. But once I met Bob Mckelvie who launched my Rock Guitar playing & career interest; I soon began to gobble up lots of things I was out of touch with. Now I was playing 18 in my Garage Band. I remember my Mom’s eyes crossing when I hung the mock hanging poster of Alice on my wall. To tell you the truth, I was just as scared as her of him. You see the 45 never had a sleeve and now I had lots of pictures to scare my Mom with. But she liked a lot of their music especially Desperado and later A.C.’s ONLY WOMEN BLEED.

I use to put on the head phones and go into the REAL BIZARRE! Halo of Fly’s- Caught in Dream-Sick Things. Yes Alice Cooper and Stephen King were two of my main influences as a young teen. If you want to know my nightmares with A.C. get yourself the BOX SET –The LIFE & CRIMES of Alice Cooper.

 

As I went on to develop my own Rock career I eventually crossed paths with Glen Buxton. He had formed a band with our ex-Drummer but still friends Clay Harper. I was so excited getting my copy of Killer autographed. Later we jammed in Tim’s house and he eventually wound up rooming at the Hoyt Hotel. Tim has a lot of good things and bad things to say about Glen. Good or bad we learned to really love the man and his various character traits. He had a big heart and we were saddened and shocked by his passing. We gathered around him like campfire kids to hear his stories of Jim Morrison, John Lennon and (Sid Barrett from Pink Floyd.) Yes I brushed elbows with a star, one of my teenage Idols.

 

Time went on and I was in and out of several bands. Tim & I stuck together through out the years. Somewhere along the way we got lined up with The Michael Bruce Band. We opened for them at some club in Scottsdale. It was sweet because we were playing on his P.A. system with his sound engineer. Needless to say that made us sound El Primo! I was honored and slightly shocked when Michael Bruce came up to me and shook my hand stage left saying… “You guy’s sounded better than the record.” I wish I could have spent more time with him and let him know how much I was influenced by his song writing capabilities, producing and arranging. He really was the unsung Hero in that band. Any A.C. fan knows that M.B. was Alice’s Billion Dollar Baby…

 

 

 

 Glen Buxton       Michael Bruce          Alice Cooper

 

Dennis Dunaway     Neil Smith

 

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I don't have one particular type of music that I would say is a favourite. My huge collection of CD's, tapes and vinyl probably has something for everyone, so vast and varied are my tastes.
Thanks for sharing these stories, they are genuinely interesting and an insight into the enigma that is Micheal Flynn

Thanks for being brave and making a comment Jilly. My tastes are vast as well. My collection goes full spectrum from serious orchestra classics to avantgarde independant artists like myself. I have a country collection-blues and jazz collection and of course my first love which is Rock and Roll. My writing and creating ability have been varied as well. It's taken a lifetime of experimentation and collecting. Thanks for considering me an enigma. Life would be boring if we didn't have a puzzle to pass through eternity with. I'm pleased to hear that your a music lover. When we corner ourselves into just one vein we may find a clogged artery drying up the ole grey matter.

Hi...I just came across your site when trying to find some myspace music video codes to put in the Glen Buxton page I'm making. You should come on over to see it. www.myspace.com/glenbuxtonofficial
I'm Glen's sister.