"Alice Cooper's Anonymous" early 80's fanzine

[Si]

I thought I had given Si permission to do something along the lines people are asking for.

It#s in the process of being done, but must admit I took a break after a couple of issues and haven`t got around to continuing. Fining the right pictures was a real chore.

[juancoop]

> (unless your desperate to read about the day I first met Alice, or something).

Well if you dont mind maybe you can share your experience here... I'd like to know!
Would you?

[Robbie]

Street Schizo wrote "copy of the Encyclopedia Of Rock in 84 and that's when I found out about ZCS and DaDa"

In the current climate of feverish excitement about the new album it seems incredible that in 1982 I wandered into a record store (while passing the time waiting for a train)and when idly leafing through the still dominant racks of vinyl I found "Zipper Catches Skin". I hadn't read about it, seen any advertisements or anything despite regularly reading the music press, visiting record shops etc. I was a huge fan too collecting each release, subscribing to Andys fanzine so I was always on the lookout for any news, scraps of information etc.It seemed as if Alice was at best an irrelevance or at worst a washed up "has been" trading on former glories as far as the music press in this country saw him. What a difference thirty years makes and it just makes Alice Cooper's achievements / career even more outstanding in my opinion.

[A_MichaelUK]

>Well if you dont mind maybe you can share your experience here... I'd like to know!
Would you?

It would take up several pages.

[cherrypie]

I'd like to see it too Andy. Don't mind how many pages it is

[Owepar]

To add my voice to the masses, I'd like to see em online too!

The music video for "Hey Stoopid" is what turned me into a fan as a teenager, cuz it was really odd and in heavy rotation on MTV for about a month before abruptly vanishing into oblivion. From that point on, I tried finding everything I could on Alice... which was so difficult at that juncture in his career that every minuscule find was like striking gold. Seems like 50, but it was only 7 years later when I got the Internet, found the old Sick Things mailing list and a bunch of sites like the ephemera archive. I wouldn't say that my affection for the Coop has waned, but I would say that in the digital age I'm not so avid a fan because the finds no longer feel as special as they once did -- I now know more about the man and his music than I once dreamt was possible.

The point of this is that the fanzine came at a period when Alice was just as much out of the limelight as when I began scouring for info, so I'm certain it meant the world to the fans who were lucky enough to discover it. Whether it's on this site, the echive or somewhere else, I absolutely believe the 'zine should be preserved and made digitally available, warts and all, for both nostalgia (for those who subscribed) and historical context (for those who didn't). Sorta weird how the younger generations will never be able to recall a time when you couldn't find the answer to any conceivable question in three seconds.

[A_MichaelUK]

>I'd like to see em online too!

You might change your mind if you actually did.

> From that point on, I tried finding everything I could on Alice... which was so difficult at that juncture in his career that every minuscule find was like striking gold.

Really? He got a lot of press in 1991 and there was also the release of "Prime Cuts".

>The point of this is that the fanzine came at a period when Alice was just as much out of the limelight as when I began scouring for info,

Yes, that's correct. That was exactly why I started it. Some people may have forgotten (or just don't realise) how it was back then and how there was a need for it.

[Owepar]

Prime Cuts was about the ONLY major new thing I could find at that time. Hit Parader or Circus ran a b/w Wayne's World spread and Metal Edge almost always had a throw-away one-liner in their Rockin Roundup q&a, but interviews and other press were extremely sparse post- "Trash." I checked all the music mags each month and was almost always disappointed. I was so excited when I first heard about "The Last Temptation" (on MTV, where I caught the music video for "Lost in America" on what I suspect was its only airing, months before the album was released) and found precisely three articles on the subject (one of which was an interview where Alice spoke more about the boxed set that'd take another 5 years to be released). He unquestionably got more exposure in the '90s than early '80s... but that's really not saying much. Late '80s were far more fruitful (as I discovered from back-issues in music shops and used book stores).

[A_MichaelUK]

>I checked all the music mags each month and was almost always disappointed.

There was the mainstream medis as well.

>I was so excited when I first heard about "The Last Temptation" (on MTV, where I caught the music video for "Lost in America" on what I suspect was its only airing

I think it was shown several times, actually.

> months before the album was released)

It was apprximately two, I think.

>He unquestionably got more exposure in the '90s than early '80s...

>Late '80s were far more fruitful (as I discovered from back-issues in music shops and used book stores).

I don't know how true that is, although there could have been a regional variation.

[Gunner]

Yes, that's correct. That was exactly why I started it. Some people may have forgotten (or just don't realise) how it was back then and how there was a need for it.

Oh, there was a need for it alright; Cooper did relatively little in the UK throughout the 70s - I think (without checking) 5 British gigs for the entire 70s decade at his/their very peak. After 1976 you could almost forget he existed - you couldn't even get posters and/or t-shirts. It was SO bad that when he was on the Muppet Show it became a MAJOR event for me and I even cut out the newspaper cartoon advert and stuck it on my wall!

Andy's fanzine was a God-send and I still have everyone - thanks Andy, you became a kind of pen-friend then but I don't think you recall.

[A_MichaelUK]

>thanks Andy,

No problem at all. The whole story of it deserves its own book.

>you became a kind of pen-friend then but I don't think you recall.

There is a vague recollection.

[guilty65]

I concur... I too, am a huge fan of Andys writing. I have somehow come across the fanzine writings and I re-read them all the time, especially the Nightmare returns era. The man is a Machine when it comes to all things Coop, and so is this site. Tipping my hat to Andy and Si. Ok..Ok.. I have blown enough smoke, But its sincere smoke.

[A_MichaelUK]

>I have blown enough smoke, But its sincere smoke.

Obviously, you're after something.

[Gunner]

There is a vague recollection.

I particularly recall one on headed blue notepaper from the Britannia Hotel (I think maybe Manchester) whilst you were on the Nightmare Returns tour. You always sent a covering letter with the fanzine - it was great stuff.

[A_MichaelUK]

>I particularly recall one on headed blue notepaper from the Britannia Hotel (I think maybe Manchester)

Very likely and impressive recollection.

[guilty65]

>I have blown enough smoke, But its sincere smoke.

Obviously, you're after something.

HAHAHA Nope just handing out a compliment. At least you're on your toes..

[steven_crayn]

Apologies if I missed it being announced (maybe it wasnt?) but Si did put Andy Michael's Fanzine from the 1980s online.

If you haven't read it before it's well worth it.

There are 2 sections on each Issue, the Editorial and the Issue #

http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/content.p ... s/aca.html

[A_MichaelUK]

>If you haven't read it before it's well worth it.

While that's very kind, people would be better off reading the essays that were written for "The Life And Crimes Of Alice Cooper", the re - issue in 2001 of "Billion Dollar Babies" and the re - issue of "Welcome To My Nightmare".

[James1981]

Nice one, I'm gonna save these for when I'm next at work. Help pass the time.

[steven_crayn]

those essays Andy mentioned are must read also but I particularly like the Editorials on the fanzines which give a snapshot of what it was like in the 1890s. Where have all those years gone!