Strange things have been happening this week, and I’m not talking about the election. On November 1st Amazon.com posted a page for the forthcoming ‘Detroit Stories’ album (vinyl and CD) which included an album cover illustration. It also appeared to confirm they are aiming for a February release date, as mentioned by Alice in the recent AirB&B Halloween webcast. February 26th to be precise, although of course this could still change. The cover image featured the album title and the Alice splatter logo over a industrial scene, clouds filling the top half of the cover outlining the spider eye make up.
The following day the page was gone.
And in the last hour or so the official Alice facebook page has posted a short 15 second, silent video of clouds or smoke. Could this the start of the ‘Detroit Stories’ promotional campaign? Don’t forget the cool cryptic videos earMusic posted before ‘Paranormal’ was released. Could they be planning something similar for the new album?
Update: Today (sunday) they’ve just posted another cryptic silent clip, this time with the buildings in front of the clouds.
Dennis Dunaway is featured on ‘American Blues Scene‘ promoting last weeks ‘Love Potion #9’ single and his appearance tomorrow evening in a webcast talking about his career and book. More details about the webcast can be found here.
Alice has turned up on a new single by ‘Splash n’ Boots’, a childrens record by Canadians Nick Adams and Taes Leavitt. You can here the song ‘Heart Parade’ now on Spotify.
Alice has released a short "fact video" on ‘Elected’ which you can check out here.
NME have announced that Alice will take part in a forthcoming ‘Reunion’ video with the cast of ‘Waynes World’. No date is set for the event but previous reunions for the casts of ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘lord of the Rings’ have been popular. ‘Nights With Alice Cooper’ posted that Alice would be there.
Just in time for Halloween Alice has launched a new horror themed card game. From the press release:
“This is 2020, which means all things are upside down and backwards. You’re going to be staying home a lot, so why not play HorrorBox. It’s something totally new, fun for everyone. I helped write a lot of the stuff in it. You will become The Addams Family, if that’s a goal in your life.” -Alice Cooper
Just in time for Halloween, the Godfather of Shock Rock himself, Alice Cooper, has partnered with FITZ Games to launch ‘HorrorBox’, a first-of-its-kind, haunted comedy card game with a focus on all things horror. Co-written by a team of horror fanatics, with help from Alice himself, the game prompts players to select from question cards like “Pennywise tricked me by…..” and “The tenth circle of hell is for….” Entertaining answer cards such as “Setting up my haunted house as an Airbnb” provide countless pairings for endless laughter. To kick things up a notch, dare cards are sprinkled into the question cards, cueing players to “drink something that looks like blood” or “knock on your neighbors door and say you’re next.”
Alice has even posted a video launching the game which you can see here.
There’s a base game box available, and various expansion packs, or you can get everything in one big package. So far it seems this is only on sale in the US. but it’s likely somewhere over here will stock it soon and save us the likely horrific postage charges.
Also announced this week is a new talent show, with a difference. Alice will be one of the judges on this new talent show which will involve real musicians playing their own original songs! What a concept! The new show will be called ‘No Cover’ and Alice will judge along with Lzzy Hale and Gavin Rossdale (Bush). The show is being launched by ‘Hit Parader’ magazine and Sumerian Records (Nita’s record company) and will be filmed at the legendary Troubador club in West Hollywood in December (covid permitting). No info about when or where we’ll be able to watch it yet though. If you have a band you can apply to the show now via their website here.
““I can’t wait for No Cover,” says Alice Cooper. “To me, a band really isn’t a band unless they are writing their own material, and if you know anything about me you know that I have a very high standard for not only the songs but also the performance. I’m looking for the band who has it all – the one who can not only write it and play it, but perform it and make me BELIEVE it.”
Alice’s Rock’n’Roll Fantasy Camp interview on November 28th will be gatecrashed by none other than Shep Gordon. Get these too together and you never know what will come up. Tickets are still available at Universe.com.
The last Record Store Day of 2020 has been and gone, and the long awaited ‘Live From The Apollo Theatre Glasgow, Feb 19, 1982’ live album is finally out (along with yet another version of ‘Dirty Diamonds). Sadly they haven’t put much effort into the sleeve, no gatefold with photos etc, but it’s still a terrific recording of a legendary show. A bit of advice: if you missed getting a copy at the weekend make sure you do a google search before paying inflated prices on eBay, as last time I looked there will still online stores with copies for normal price.
Alice’s appearance on AirB&B’s ‘Spooky time’ last week was actually a lot of fun, at least for the kids who joined in! Alice was in costume and make up as was Sheryl who popped in a few times as well. You can still watch the broadcast on YouTube.
And speaking of Sheryl Cooper, she was Ryan Roxie’s guest for ‘In The Trenches’ this week and this is one you don’t want to miss. Lots of chat about the 1975 tour, meeting Alice and falling for him, and daughter Calico dropped in as well. Definitely check this one out on YouTube. If you are waiting for Ryan’s interview with Michael Bruce which was announced a few weeks ago, it’s been delayed, but is still coming up. Keep an eye on Ryan’s social media channels for news of a new date.
And as I mentioned Calico, there’s a new interview with her in ‘French Fries’ magazine that you can read here. Calico, Chuck and Beasto Blanco will be on the haunted ship ‘Queen Mary’ on Halloween night for a ‘virtual haunt and music fest’ including a special performance by Beasto. Calico let slip on the ‘Trenches’ podcast that they’ll be playing a Motorhead cover, but with her singing it not Chuck! Should be interesting. You can get all the info about this special event and buy tickets to join in here.
Yahoo still seem to be getting content out of their interview with Alice from a couple of months ago. They’ve just put up an article with Alice talking about ‘The Muppet Show’ which you can check out here.
On October 30th there will be a special Halloween release of “Love Potion No. 9” by Fiona Silver which is of interest to us because it features Dennis Dunaway! The songs currently being played on Song being played on Sirius XM, WRAT New Jersey, CFMU Hamilton, Ontario, WJCU Cleveland, and more. No link for the video yet but it should appear on Fiona’s YouTube channel here.
Update: and now you can see it below
Also on October 30th – Signed copies of Blue Coupe’s ‘Eleven Even’ re-release will be available at participating independent record stores across the US with the option of hosting virtual in-store meet and greets with Blue Coupe. I originally announced that this was happening on Record Store day but I was mistaken, so check you local store tomorrow!
The ‘Daughters of Noise’ have released a new version of ‘Clones (We’re All)’ which isn’t half bad. Check it out here.
Alice Cooper has released a new “campaign” video for the classic track, “Elected.” The new video features call-backs to the original 1972 music video, in which Alice Cooper first announced his “candidacy” and the formation of the ‘Wild Party’. There’s also a range of ‘Elected 2020’ merchandise available now.
In addition to Alice’s Fantasy Camp chat the legendary Shep Gordon is also holding a ‘Rock’n’Roll Fantasy Camp Masterclass’ on October 20th with a portion of the proceeds going to the ‘Maui Food Bank’. There’s only 25 places available to join in live, which have sold out, but you can still join the live stream for this special event and you can get tickets now here.
Alice has teamed up with Airbnb to offer a chance to spend a (virtual
) hour with Alice on October 21st and listen to him tell a spooky Halloween story. The event will last an hour with up to 10 families able to listen in to Alice reading the story in full costume. All money raised will go to ‘North Star Reach’, a camp that provides experiences for children with health challenges.
“Love a good scare?” says Cooper. “Me too. With Halloween all but cancelled, we’ll have to take our penchant for terror to the scariest place I know — the Internet. Join me for a spooky story session to celebrate the season. We’ll read about spiders and spirits, goblins and ghosts and monsters and mutants — all of my favorite things, really. And we’ll do it in full costume. It’ll be a scary good time. (And suitable for children ages 6+ with an appetite for fright.)”
“Let’s suit up and make this a spooky story time to remember.”
Tickets go on sale today and you can get more info here.
Alice will also be taking part in an online Q&A for the KLOS and the ‘Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp’ on November 1st. 25 rich people will be able to interact with Alice live during the interview but anyone can get a ticket to watch live. All the details are over at Universe.com.
Dennis Dunaway can be spotted around 25 minutes into this John Lennon tribute video marking his 80th birthday.
Dennis will also be taking part in a virtual chat with ‘Louder Than Words’ on November 8th which is open to fans to take part. This is a ticketed event and you can get tickets now via Eventbrite.
Beasto Blanco are taking part in another live streaming event. They will be playing as part of the ‘Virtual Haunt and Music Fest’ via ‘The Dark Zone’. This is a cool four day event that takes you aboard a virtual haunted ship and you can find all the details here.
The latest episodes of Ryan Roxie’s ‘In The Trenches’ podcasts have featured Joe Satriani and Desmond Child, and if you missed them you can catch up here.
Finally, you may have seen on the facebook page that Sickthing Paul Forsyth is trying to raise money to help a friend get a much needed new wheelchair, and to that end he is offering the very last unworn ‘Nation of Ovine’ t-shirt (size XL) via ebay. This is the last "sheep shirt" in this design ever, and all money raised will go towards a good cause. There’s just three days to go so check out the auction here, and the just giving page here for the full story.
It’s still pretty quite, but there is a little news to cover before it’s too out of date.
Alice has launched his own brand of hot sauce in the US via ‘United Sauces‘. There are three strengths – mild, medium and hot – and they go by the names ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ (mild), ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’ (medium) and ‘Poison’ (hot). You can also buy a three pack with one of each but unfortunately they want a $36 to ship outside the USA, more then the cost of the sauce!! Is it even legal to ship hit sauce internationally? A shame as they look cool.
You know it’s close to Halloween when you can download your own official Alice Cooper pumpkin stencil. Check it out at AC.com. You have to fill out the AC mailing list form, but you should be on that already.
Cherry Red in the UK are reissuing the old Billion Dollar Babies ‘Battle Axe’ triple CD and apparently it’s semi-legitimate this time. From a quick look it seems to be exactly the same content as before (album, demos and live discs) but with new packaging so if you missed it the first time now’s your chance. It’s out November 27th and you can pre-order now.
Ryan Roxie’s guest on ‘In The Trenches’ tomorrow is none other then Joe Satriani! Check it out from 5pm UK time tomorrow here.
Alice tribute act ‘Billion Dollar Alice’ are hoping to go ahead with a Halloween party on October 30th at Stone Prior Covern, Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. Support comes from Damned tribute ‘Smash It Up’ and other acts and you can get more info at sonicrocksolstice.com. The club will have limited capacity due to social distancing measures, and it will entry by ticket only so get one in advance.
It’s been extremely quiet in Cooperland the last couple of weeks. Almost no news has come through, so I’m just going to cover the few things tha have to keep up today.
Alice listed his 20 top horror movies (again) for ‘Far Out’ magazine which you can see here.
Calico Cooper was on the ‘Chuck Shute Podcast’ and spent over an hour chatting away from her clothes closet. Well worth listing to here.
The ‘Six String Salute‘ benefit livestream with Tommy, Nita and Ryan was a little disappointing as they just showed (around 4 minutes in) the video of them playing their solos from ‘Black Widow’ which was online weeks ago. However you did get to see Damon Johnson and his band play a few songs which you can check out around 22 minutes into the show.
Speaking of Damon, he’s getting together with Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest to make a livestream tribute to his favourite band Thin Lizzy. It airs live on Friday (25th) at 7pm central time but you can listen any time after that. Tickets are available from Veeps for $10.
Ryan Roxie’s ‘In The Trenches’ podcast last week featured Sickthings Kai Ross-Best, Bill Crowe and Me! You can subject yourself to that here. He followed that up with an interview with Alice’s personal assistant Kyler Clark which you can check out here.
Lined up for future shows are guitar god Joe Satriani and Trash songwriter Desmond Child and Ryan is offering YOU the chance to join them on air to chat and ask your questions! It’s called the ‘In The Trenches Special Sauce’ and he’s the details from Ryan:
"We really hope you are enjoying the In-The-Trenches Podcast with Ryan Roxie. In all of our almost 50 episodes so far, we have brought to you many full-length insider interviews with today’s hardest working rock musicians and entertainers.
Now, we are ready to take In-The-Trenches to the next level, and we want YOU involved. We are planning a number of once-in-a-lifetime episode SPECIALS, interviewing some of the major names in rock n’ roll, and we want YOU TO BE IN THE SHOW. Here’s how it works:
In each SPECIAL episode we have a maximum of 3 ONSTAGE passes available, where you will be inside our virtual studio, ask our special guest your question face to face, and will be immortalized in direct conversation with them forever, for the world to see. So take a look at the names of our next special guests and recording times, and get your VIP ONSTAGE PASS now!
But there’s more good news! We are also inviting exactly 4 lucky souls to a private aftershow ‘fireside chat’ with Ryan Roxie and our special guest of the week. By securing your BACKSTAGE PASS now, you will hang out for 20 minutes after the show and make lifelong memories.”
You can sign up for you special pass now, if you’re quick, at RyanRoxie.com.
Lastly, check out this cool piano version of ‘Only Women Bleed’ by Daydreamer.
Alice’s appearance on the ‘Forbidden Planet 42’ livestream event last week can be seen now on YouTube. In it Alice remembers the signing session for ‘The Last Temptation’ with Neil Gaiman and seems to suggest he’s been talking to Gaiman about working together again! Amusingly he recalls the signing as like an early comic convention… I was there.. Few people knew it was happening (pre-internet it was only really advertised in store) and around 50 people really don’t make a convention!
The Disney Channel have revealed Alice will be back this October reprising his role as ‘Alistair Coop De Ville’ in a new episode of ‘Mickey Mouse Mixed Up Adventures’ airing in the US on October 2nd. The episode is called ‘The Mystery Of Hot Dog Lake’.
Hard Rock 80 has a new, long interview with Ryan Roxie, but it’s in French. You can use google to translate it here.
Ryan’s latest ‘In The Trenches’ interviews are up now featuring Orianthi, and Mike Fasano (Gilby Clark/Warrant). Next Tuesday it’s the turn of Chip Z’Nuff from Enuff Z’Nuff.
Calico Cooper is interviewed on ‘Talking Metal’ which you can watch here. As always Calico is a great interviewee and this is another one well worth watching.
Tommy Henriksen has posted a new AC/DC cover with Team SoloDallas. This time it’s ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ‘Back In Black’.
Scream Factory will be releasing a huge box set of ‘Friday 13th’ movies on October 13th with a ton of bonus stuff. On the list are new exclusive interviews with Alice and the ‘He’s Back’ video.
It’s been a pretty quiet couple of weeks in Cooperland but in the last couple of days things have started to happen again.
Firstly the official Alice Cooper social media has put out the following statement in regards to a insert included in some German copies of the new ‘Don’t Give Up’ single. It goes as follows:
"A special news flash for everyone…. It has come to our attention that the German-released “Don’t Give Up” on vinyl by Alice Cooper had an unauthorized inserted message. Neither Alice, his management, nor the record label had any knowledge that the German distributor inserted an anti-covid statement using offensive language into the new vinyl release. Alice apologizes if you were offended as this does not reflect the personal lifestyle nor verbal language of Mr. Cooper [End Transmission]"
Speaking of ‘Don’t Give Up’ the single is currently #1 on the official UK vinyl single chart!
Don’t forget Alice is due to appear on the Forbidden Planet 42 online event this Saturday. You should be able to watch it live here.
Alice has released a promotional video for the special chocolate milk bottles now on sale around the Arizona area. Danzeisen Dairy now have presumably empty bottles on sale via their website for those outside the area. $10 from each sale will go to Alice’s Solid Rock Teen Center.
He’s also been talking to AZCentral about the milk project and confirmed that the Christmas Pudding show will go ahead this year in some form, although it’s unlikely to be the normal live show. This years ‘Proof is in the Pudding’ young band competition has also been postponed until February.
Ryan Roxie’s guest on ‘In The Trenches’ this week was ex-Cooper guitarist Orianthi talking about her time with Alice. You can check that out here. Next up is Warrant and Dad’s Porno Mag drummer Mike Fasano.
Nita Strauss was at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday playing to an empty stadium during to mark L.A. Rams ‘first scrimmage’ at the new stadium. She played a bit of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ to become the first musician to ever play in the new complex. You can see footage Nita posted via Blabbermouth.
On August 20th Shep Gordon took part in a ‘Pollstar Live Session’ which you can watch now on YouTube.
Damon Johnson was on the ‘Talking Metal’ podcast talking about his solo career and working with Alice. You can listen to that one here.
Chuck and Calico of Beasto Blanco appeared on ‘Coffee Talk with Stefan Adika’ promoting tonight’s ‘Freak Stream.’ You can watch the interview here starting at around 15 minutes. It’s not to late to grab your ‘Freak Stream’ tickets for tonight’s show here.
Alice alumni Kip Winger was Ryan Roxie’s guest on ‘In The Trenches’ this week for an entertaining chat about Kip’s career. Well worth checking out here. Next Tuesday Ryan’s guest will be Slash bassist Todd Kerns.
Alice appeared on the ‘Life Of Brian… Mannix that is’ podcast this week which you can check out here. He talks about ‘Detroit Stories’ and ‘Don’t Give Up’ which as of yesterday is out as a cool 7" picture disc.
Alice will also be making an appearance on the ‘Forbidden Planet 42’ online event celebrating 42 years of the legendary London comic store. The event features a who’s who of the comic and fantasy industry including Neil Gaiman (who worked on ‘The Last Temptation’), Michael Moorcock, Kevin Smith, Simon Pegg, Chris Claremont and many, many more. You’ll be able to watch the show here.
The Alice Cooper guitar trio, Ryan, Tommy and Nita, along with ex-Cooper Damon Johnson and many others, will be taking part in an online benefit show called ‘Six String Salute‘ for the ‘Crew Nation Relief Fund’ on September 17th. The event will be streamed live on Live Nation’s YouTube channel and ‘Live From Home‘ site.
The Mondance Jam festival, which Alice was due to play this year, has been rescheduled for July 22nd-24th next year and Alice is among the acts confirmed to appear. All tickets for this years festival will be valid for the new dates.
Beasto Blanco and the ‘Monsters Of Rock Cruise’ have teamed up to present ‘Freak Stream’, a pay per view event on August 15th featuring the band performing live. Tickets are just $10 in advance ($15 on the night) and are available now here. Once you have your ticket you will have access to the stream for a few days so plenty of time to check it out regardless of any time difference where you are.
Alice was on ‘Little Steven’s Roadshow’ last night talking ‘Detroit Stories’ with Little Steven and co-host Drew Carey. You can check it out on YouTube beginning about an hour into the show.
Lzzy Hale has reposted her interview Alice from a couple of months ago as part of her ‘Raise Your Horns’ livestream series which you can check out here.
Another lockdown interview I may have missed at the time is with Radio Freccia back in June and you can see that one here.
Nita Strauss can be seen performing Iron Maiden’s ‘Aces High’ as part of a new lockdown band called ‘The Wheelblocks’ with Chris Jerico (Fozzy), Phil Demmel (Vio-lence/Machinehead), Johnny Christ (Avenged Sevenfold) and Nita’s boyfriend Josh Villalta on drums. Check it out here.
