Fred Wilson posts today on the absurdity that is the fact that Alice Cooper is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I couldn’t agree more.
Fred praised four of Alice’s records from the early 1970’s : Love It To Death, Killer, School’s Out, and Billion Dollar Babies. I owned them all too and agree that they are all excellent records. I’d add his next record Muscle of Love to the excellent list as well.
If there’s a better rock anthem than I’m Eighteen, I’ve never heard it. Cassidy knows School’s Out, via the A-Teens’ cover. Like Fred, in many ways these albums are like soundtracks to my early teenage years.
I’ve only seen Alice live one time- around 1976 during his “Goes to Hell” tour. It was a pretty amazing show. If he plays Houston again, I will be there.
My irritation at the fact that Alice is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was summed up nicely by Bob Lefsetz in a similar post:
First this:
It is absolutely positively CRIMINAL that Alice Cooper is not in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. While Robbie Robertson and other exalted insiders have left the boards, are sitting behind a desk instead of standing in front of a microphone, Alice Cooper is out KILLING night after night and those in power, with their multi-thousand dollar suits and private jets, are IGNORING HIM!
and then the knock out punch:
What kind of crazy [screwed] up world do we live in where “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is revered as a generational breakthrough but “Eighteen” is ignored. [T]he Nirvana song has got a great riff, but its words don’t COMPETE with those of the Alice Cooper anthem.
Amen, brother.
The fact that Alice Cooper isn’t in the hall is a travesty.
