Twenty years ago, it was completely unimaginable that there would ever be such a thing as an Alice Cooper Celebrity Golf Tournament.
The name Alice Cooper is associated with a lot of things, and none of them is golf. Shock rock, yes. Eye makeup and top hats, yes. Blood, guillotines, straightjackets, monsters and nightmares – yeses all around.
But not golf. And certainly not dance academies, nonprofit youth organizations, restaurants and Christian teen activity centers – all of which Alice Cooper now operates.
To say that Cooper has changed over the years is a bit of an understatement. The “father of shock rock” is now a churchgoing, Bush-supporting father of three.
But that’s not to say there’s no more Mr. Mean Guy. In fact, Cooper is in the midst of a world tour in support of his 2005 album, Dirty Diamonds, and he’s bringing all of his toys with him, including the beloved guillotine. From vampires to blood to a skit of Paris Hilton getting murdered by her little Chihuahua, Cooper’s stage show is as scary and hilarious as ever. Fly Magazine spent a few minutes with the daddy of darkness to talk about what life is like behind the makeup.

Fly Magazine: So, you’re coming through Reading a couple days before Halloween.
Alice Cooper: How appropriate! Do the Amish celebrate Halloween?

FM: Not that I’m aware of.
AC: I think that would be great if we all were dressed as Amish.

FM: From the show reviews I’ve been reading, that would fit right  in. It sounds like you’re bringing the whole operation, the guillotines, the straightjackets …
AC: Oh, yeah, yeah. It’s a full-out Alice Cooper show. I get so much mail saying what people want to see and what they want to hear, and I really adhere to what the audiences wants. That’s the first rule of show biz – give them what they want. They’re the paying customers. So if you want to see a guillotine, absolutely. If you want to see the straightjacket, you got it. If you want us to dress like the Amish, of course!

FM: If you want to see Paris Hilton get eaten by a dog, you got it!
AC: That’s the number one request. Who doesn’t want that? [laughs]

FM: Between the radio show and the tours and the restaurant, how do you stay this active? Is it all the golfing? [laughs]
AC: I’ll tell you what. I am a very active person. I don’t have a lot of downtime, which is OK with me. I get up every morning and play 18 holes. I’m done by about 10 o’clock. I’ve got my radio show to do, and then I’ve got 17,000 other things going on. I’m writing a new album right now, I’m getting ready for the show – it’s just a lot of stuff.
I think that I probably get into a lot of projects because I fear boredom more than anything else. I’m not one of those guys that’s looking for peace and quiet. For me to be sitting here talking to you in my living room with the TV on is as relaxed as I’m going to be today. But that’s fine with me. I’m not one of those guys that stresses out at all, and that’s probably why I’m in such good shape.

FM: Did you ever think that 40 years into your career you’d be sitting somewhere talking about your current tour?
AC: I figured that I’d be sitting around reminiscing and talking to some book agent about my memoirs. I had no idea that I wouldn’t just be in a band now, but I’m writing a book, doing a radio show, I’m the president of a non-profit organization for kids, run a restaurant and a dance academy. And I still find time  to sit around and go, “OK, I’m a little bored today! Nothing’s going on!” [laughs]
    
FM: I’ve noticed in interviews that you talk about Alice Cooper the musician in the third person, like it’s a character.
AC: Oh, yeah. I’m not Alice Cooper right now. I write songs for Alice, I write shows for him, I do all this stuff. When I play Alice, I think Alice has to have the right material. I have people all the time sending me songs. “Here, this song’s perfect for Alice!” And I’ll listen to it, and I go, “Alice wouldn’t sing that! Alice would never say that!” Because I’m the only one in the world who knows where Alice’s boundaries are.

FM: It’s interesting that there’s such a separation for you.
AC: Well, there was a time when there wasn’t such a  separation. There was a time when alcohol kind of blurred who I was and who Alice was. And that was not just a confusing time, but a pretty destructive time. To get past 27 years old when you’re trying to be a rock star 24 hours a day – it’s amazing that you even get to 27 years old.
You know, I was hanging around with Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix and those guys, and I noticed that Jim was always trying to be Jim. Jim had stayed pretty loaded all the time. And Keith Moon was always trying to be Keith Moon. You couldn’t spend a day with Keith. You think I’m energetic? That guy was like the poster-boy for Ritalin! The greatest drummer in the world, but I mean, he was just in another world when it came to being psychotic. Very funny guy and a nice guy and a wonderful guy, but you couldn’t stay with him. You had to, like, take a break from him.

FM: So thank God that you were able to put a distance between you and Alice. I mean, you’ve been sober for what, 25 years now?
AC: Yeah, that was a very, very good move on my part, only because of the fact that then I really could say, “Wow, I can’t wait to play Alice tonight! That’s going to be fun! And as soon as the audience is gone and the makeup is gone, well, I won’t see Alice again for 24 hours!” And what a great thing, that you don’t have to be that guy all the time!

FM: Is it strange for you to step in and out of that persona?
AC: No. I treat it like a part. I think it’s the same way that probably Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lecter, and then he goes home and goes to the beach and throws the Frisbee with his kids. They have a barbecue, and then the next morning he’s back in Hannibal Lecter makeup.

FM: Eating somebody’s face!
AC: Right! And he’s this horrific character. And I would imagine that when he is playing Hannibal, he is Hannibal. He probably talks like that, he probably moves like that, he’s probably very deliberate and arrogant. But as soon as it’s time to go home, I’m sure that he can turn it off.

FM: How important is having a sense of humor to doing what you’re doing?
AC: Beyond important. It’s maybe your best weapon.

FM: Because it’s what separates you from a Marilyn Manson …
AC: I think so. You can’t just have horror for horror’s sake. I mean, Freddy Krueger was like a stand-up comedian. Every time he would kill somebody he would say something really funny.

FM: I think the humor is what keeps the Alice Cooper on stage from being a contradiction to the real Alice Cooper, who’s opening up a Christian teen activity center …
AC: Well, yeah. Alice would never think about opening a Christian center. That would not be in his vocabulary at all. In fact, if you put golf clubs on his stage, he would think they were weapons.
I’ve seen certain bands go onstage, and they get real intense, and you’re sitting there waiting for the punchline that never comes! Whereas Alice might slit your throat, you can be pretty sure that he’s going to slip on a banana peel somewhere.

FM: I read that you started your radio show mostly because you’d tried everything else there is to try. That being said, what do you picture the rest of your career being like?
AC: Well, there’s still a lot of things to do. Oh, there’s a million things. Every time I get ready to do an album I have too many ideas for that album. You’re never going to run out of ideas unless you just totally close down your imagination. I mean, come on, every day the newspaper and TV is full of fuel for satire in rock and roll.
So what show are you coming to?

FM: The 28th in Reading.
AC: That’s dangerously close to Halloween. So I expect the audience to be in full Halloween costume. Just tell the first 10 rows: Don’t wear your best clothes. Because the show does have a tendency to reach out, if you know what I mean!