Alice Cooper: Beer and Loafing

On the Up Escalator in Denver, 1972

In February 1972, the last semester of my senior year at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Alice Cooper came to Denver to freak out the squares and thrill the teens. It was easy to do, since no one had seen a shock rock extravaganza like the one the Alice Cooper Band: Glen Buxton on guitar, Mike Bruce on guitar and keyboards, Dennis Dunaway on bass, and Neal Smith on drums--had brought to the stage. Behind the scenes, Shep Gordon introduced the notion of rock band manager as sixth man, making sure everything: sound, lights, staging, imagery, label support, from production to promotion, was working on all cylinders. I had moved from the (defunct) Boulder Express, to Boulder magazine, to the independent student-run Colorado Daily, where my buddy and sometimes roommate Sam Maddox had invited me to come over and help him overhaul the Friday entertainment section. When Alice Cooper came to Denver, Warner Bros. Records rolled out the red carpet for the press: an informal Saturday hangout…