'Welcome To My Nightmare: Fifty Years Of Alice Cooper' by Martin Popoff was released on July 20th 2018. Popoff is a well known and experienced rock journalist and does a good job in covering Alice Cooper history from the collage days right through to 2018. A limited edition (500 copies) hardback version was available through publisher WymerUK's own website.
The promotional text runs as follows:
'Popoff's easy to read book utilises his celebrated timeline with quotes methodology, allowing for drop-ins on all aspects of Alice's busy life. The author has made use of his extensive archive of interviews with Alice and the band as well as producers, designers and even The Amazing Randi, world-renowned magician and inventor of Alice's legendary guillotine prop. 'Welcome to My Nightmare' is an immense addition to Alice Cooper scholarship. Alice Cooper was one of the biggest concert draws in the seventies with a string of gold and platinum albums to his name. Hits include "I'm Eighteen," "Be My Lover," "Under My Wheels," "School's Out," "Elected," & "Billion Dollar Babies". Alice continued to shake pop consciousness with 'Welcome to My Nightmare' and a string of hit ballads. He appeared regularly on TV and talk shows. Following a debilitating drug and alcohol addiction and subsequent notorious dark period in the early eighties which is addressed in the book, Alice returned to gold and platinum status with albums like Trash and Hey Stoopid, featuring smash singles "Poison" and "Feed My Frankenstein." He's never stopped touring and being a multi-media whirlwind since-Alice, with his pioneering use of facepaint, remains one of the most famous faces in America. Shockingly, there has not been a comprehensive Alice Cooper book since the eighties. The key here is the rich content Popoff brings to the project. 'Welcome to My Nightmare' is sure to impress the Alice expert and novice alike, with new revelations and interviews turning up page after page.'
The heavy A4 sized deluxe edition hardback book comes in a black presentation box and includes four card photo prints, three taken at Milton Keynes in 2006 and one on the Special Forces tour at Hammersmith. The 240 page book itself runs through Alice Cooper history via important dates and quotes from various people that were involved in the events covered, including the original band and other musicians, producers, backstage crew, and friends. As with most books about Alice Cooper around 2/3rds of the text concentrates on the 1970s, with the last 100 or so pages covering the following 40 years, but at least they are mentioned! It's all very nicely present with lots of photos and images illustrating the text.
The publishers kindly sent me some sample pages which you can check out below:
