Editing Alice Cooper (section)

====Name change to Alice Cooper====
In 1968, the band learned that [[Todd Rundgren]] also had a band called [[Nazz]], which was signed to a major label,  and found themselves in need of another stage name.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Luhrssen |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phsIDgAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Classic Rock |last2=Larson |first2=Michael |date=February 24, 2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3514-8 |language=en}}</ref> Furnier also believed that the group needed a gimmick to succeed, and that other bands were not exploiting the showmanship potential of the stage.<ref name="Harkema"/> They chose the name "Alice Cooper" largely because it sounded innocuous and wholesome, in humorous contrast to the band's image and music. In his 2007 book ''Alice Cooper, Golf Monster'', Cooper stated that his look was inspired in part by films. One of the band's all-time favorite movies was ''[[What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (film)|What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?]]'' (1962) starring [[Bette Davis]]: "In the movie, Bette wears disgusting caked makeup smeared on her face and underneath her eyes, with deep, dark, black eyeliner." Another movie the band watched over and over was ''[[Barbarella (film)|Barbarella]]'' (1968): "When I saw [[Anita Pallenberg]] playing the Great Tyrant in that movie in 1968, wearing [[evening glove|long black leather gloves]] with switchblades coming out of them, I thought, 'That's what Alice should look like.' That, and a little bit of [[Emma Peel]] from ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]''."<ref name="Dmail2008">{{Cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.net/news/alice-coopers-barbarella-inspiration_1075609|title=Alice Cooper's Barbarella Inspiration|date=July 28, 2008|website=Contactmusic.com|access-date=April 7, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The classic Alice Cooper group lineup consisted of Furnier, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith.<ref name="Harkema"/> With the exception of Smith, who graduated from Camelback High School (which is referred to in the song "Alma Mater" on the band's fifth studio album ''[[School's Out (album)|School's Out]]''), all of the band members were on the Cortez High School cross-country team.<ref name="FactFiction">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PebLq32PvQ |title=Alice Cooper – Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction? |work=YouTube |date=July 18, 2018 |access-date=July 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004161326/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PebLq32PvQ |archive-date=October 4, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cooper, Buxton, and Dunaway were also art students, and their admiration for the works of [[Surrealism|surrealist]] artists such as [[Salvador Dalí]] would further inspire their future stage antics.<ref name="santabarbarasentinel">{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/santabarbarasentinel/docs/_sntnl_43_2_full/8 |title=A Gentleman's Game |newspaper=Santa Barbara Sentinel |via=[[issuu]] |date=November 8, 2013 |access-date=April 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418220500/http://issuu.com/santabarbarasentinel/docs/_sntnl_43_2_full/8 |archive-date=April 18, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

One night after an unsuccessful gig at the Cheetah club in [[Venice, Los Angeles]], where the band emptied the entire room of patrons after playing just ten minutes, they were approached and enlisted by music manager [[Shep Gordon]], who saw the band's negative impact that night as a force that could be turned in a more productive direction.<ref name="Harkema"/> Shep then arranged an audition for the band with composer and renowned record producer [[Frank Zappa]], who was looking to sign bizarre music acts to his new record label, [[Straight Records]].<ref name="Harkema"/> For the audition Zappa told them to come to his house "at 7 o'clock." The band mistakenly assumed he meant 7 o'clock in the morning. Being woken up by a band willing to play that particular brand of psychedelic rock at seven in the morning impressed Zappa enough for him to sign them to a three-album deal. Another Zappa-signed act, the all-female [[The GTOs|GTOs]], who liked to "dress the Cooper boys up like full size [[Barbie]] dolls," played a major role in developing the band's early onstage look.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/people/p-christine.php |title=Miss Christine |work=SickthingsUK |date=November 5, 1972 |access-date=April 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420085327/http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/people/p-christine.php |archive-date=April 20, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref group=fn>[[Barry Miles]]'s biography of [[Frank Zappa]] includes a vivid description of how [[the GTOs]] influenced Cooper to wear makeup and dress in drag onstage.</ref>

Cooper's debut studio album, ''[[Pretties for You]]'' (1969), was eclectic and featured an experimental presentation of their songs in a psychedelic context.

Alice Cooper's "shock rock" reputation apparently developed almost by accident at first. An unrehearsed stage routine involving Cooper, a feather pillow, and a live chicken garnered attention from the press; the band decided to capitalize on the tabloid [[sensationalism]], creating in the process a new subgenre, [[shock rock]].<ref name="Harkema"/> Cooper claims that the infamous "Chicken Incident" at the [[Toronto Rock and Roll Revival]] concert in September 1969 was an accident.<ref name="Harkema"/> A chicken somehow made its way onto the stage into the feathers of a feather pillow they would open during Cooper's performance, and not having any experience with farm animals, Cooper presumed that, because the chicken had wings, it would be able to fly.<ref name="Harkema"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.superseventies.com/ssalicecooper.html |title=Alice Cooper – In His Own Words |website=Superseventies.com |access-date=August 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117171045/http://superseventies.com/ssalicecooper.html |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> He picked it up and threw it out over the crowd, expecting it to fly away. The chicken instead plummeted into the first few rows occupied by wheelchair users, who reportedly proceeded to tear the bird to pieces.<ref group=fn>Cooper confirms this version of events in an interview in ''Alice Cooper: Prime Cuts''.</ref> The next day the incident made the front page of national newspapers, and Zappa phoned Cooper and asked if the story, which reported that he had bitten off the chicken's head and drunk its blood on stage, was true. Cooper denied the rumor, whereupon Zappa told him, "Well, whatever you do, don't tell anyone you didn't do it."<ref name="Harkema"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/marilyn2.htm |title=Marilyn Manson Kills Puppies |website=Snopes.com |date=January 11, 2010 |access-date=February 29, 2012}}</ref><ref group=fn>Five years later, the Chicken Incident would be parodied in the second verse of the [[Ray Stevens]] song "The Moonlight Special", with Cooper referred to as ''Agnes Stoopa''.</ref>

The band later claimed that this period was highly influenced by [[Pink Floyd]], especially their debut studio album ''[[The Piper at the Gates of Dawn]]'' (1967), the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member [[Syd Barrett]] (lead vocals and guitar). Glen Buxton said he could listen to Barrett's guitar for hours at a time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hellbound.ca/2011/08/alice-cooper-old-school-1964-1974/ |title=Alice Cooper – Old School 1964–1974 |first=Sean |last=Palmerston |website=Hellbound.ca |date=August 10, 2011 |access-date=February 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423003105/http://www.hellbound.ca/2011/08/alice-cooper-old-school-1964-1974/ |archive-date=April 23, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>