My friends at the Banger Films have just wrapped up this Alice Cooper documentary they've been working on. I've yet to see the final version, but saw a few unedited versions about 7 months ago. Looks pretty amazing. 

Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this April.  

"We're gonna do something really big , now , like THEE ALICE COOPER GROUP ! Alice  Cooper..."

Very anxious to see this....I like the idea of a documentary JUST about The Alice Cooper Group , but , I guess there's no separation of the two.....It seems like the surviving members of the band have a much  better relationship , today , and can tell the whole story in words....and music , too. Hope this plays  Chicago.    Some of these films don't.    John.

Still no sign of it , though , they tell me it's out.

"You know....Some people think me and my boys....are FUNNY BOYS !!! Now , is'nt that just a LITTLE  bit silly? "   

Documentary looks awesome, can't wait to see it.  I'm gonna be seeing him live this July.  Of all my favorite bands/musicians, he's one of the few I haven't seen yet.

JES , YOU'RE IN FOR A REAL TREAT. I HAVE'NT SEEN THE COOP IN ABOUT 10 YEARS (HIS LARGE SUBURBAN WHITE TRASH FOLLOWING NECESSITATES THAT HE DOES'NT PLAY IN CHICAGO , PROPER , ANYMORE , IT SEEMS.) , BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN HIM FAIL. HE'LL REEL OFF A BUNCH OF "DEEP CUTS" (IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!) AS WELL AS THE BETTER KNOWN STUFF. HE ALWAYS HAS A GREAT BAND , AND THE HUMOR AND THE HORRORGET EQUAL TIME......HIS LOVELY DAUGHTER, CALICO , USED TO DANCE AS DIFFERENT CHARACTERS (HER BRITTNEY SPEARS , COVERED IN PEPSI LOGOS , WAS ALWAYS A SHOW - STOPPER.) , MAYBE SHE STILL DOES(?). AS A SINGER , HE COULD BITCH SLAP HIS METAL "PEERS" ANY TIME OF THE DAY.  HE USED TO CLOSE WITH A COVER SONG CHOSEN AT HIS DISCRETION.  I've seen him close with "My Generation" , "Fire'' (Jimi Hendrix) and "Saturday Night's Allright For Fighting". Don't know if he still does that......BUT , BE READY FOR A LOT OF FUN.

Sweet, I'm looking forward to it. Doesn't get any better than Alice. This right here has always been one of my favorite performances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXZcJojTucg

Cool doc. I just wish it featured Michael Bruce, he wrote most of Alice's early classics. I'd love to hear his thoughts on Alice taking the band name and ditching the original lineup. 

Michael's not in it , at all? I know an ex - member of his band , and , well , let's just day Bruce did some things he should'nt have to someone who helped him.....I don't know why he would'nt seize the opportunity to be outspoken , unless he's in hiding or in jail. He tears Alice a new one in his book , "No More Mr. Nice Guy" , tho' , of course , they made peace and the surviving ACG members have done several reunion gigs, since.

Bruce made a good point , to him , Alice Cooper was the group. But Vince Furnier had his name legally changed to Alice Cooper  and while the others were on vacation , and starting new projcts ,  together and separately (Most notably , Billion Dollar Babies , Flying Tigers and Neal Smith doing a stint with The Plasmatics.). THE IDEA WAS , THEY'D DO THEIR SOLO LPS , THEN REGROUP AT A LATER DATE.

Did'nt happen. Alice had aspirations of expanding on the theatrics that the others were getting tired of.  Alice owned the name , so , naturally , he was going to come back with a slicker version of his earlier show . This , of coure ,was a huge success . Sadly , Glen Buxton's drinking problem was so severe , he often played , unpluged , while Mick Mashbir would play his parts behind a curtain.

Alice was still in denial about his drinking , bu t, he was a pro. HE RECRUIED TO NO - NONSENSE GUITARS , Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter who'd , collectively , put in time wih Frost , Mitch Ryder and Detroit , and Lou Reed. Does'nt mean they were better than Bruce and Buxton , just more dependable.

JES , Yes, that's Cooper in all his glory. I lovethe comic book ads behind them , too. THE BAND WAS FIRING ON ALL EIGHT CYLINDERS. There's a great clipof "Public Animal #9" , for the same show , with a very "Velvets" intro and trippy multicolored graphics....

Dennis Dunaway is featured prominently in the doc and there's a little bit of Neal Smith, but no one else for the original lineup. Unless I missed it. You only hear the interviewees voices, you never see their faces, which I think was a good idea on the film maker's part.

The most interesting part of the doc is Alice coming clean about quitting alcohol but then developing a heavy cocaine addiction. Something he had long denied until now. 

The Pygmies,

   ALICE DID'NT GO PUBLIC WITH HIS DRUG HABIT , BUT THERE'S ENOUGH FOOTAGE FROM THE "SPECIAL FORCES" DAYS , HIS FACE LOOKS RAVAGED BY SPEED.  excuse the large caps....

He did deny his having had problems with crack cocaine and other drugs for a long time , but , he went  into detail about it in his "Behind The Music"segment , which had to be at least 15 years ago(?). It was a carefully guarded secret , but , then again , so was Alice , by the early 80's. The surviving members of The Alice Cooper Group were all shown on that program , and , with the exception of Bruce , they looked great , and still do. It sounds like the director was motivated by The Sex Pistols' film , "The Filth and The Fury" to not showthe interviewees' faces. I'll take your word for it that it's a good move , though I'd liek to see them.

OKAY ! ANYONE IN CHICAGO - "SUPER DUPER ALICE COOPER" IS BEING SHOWN AT DELILAH'S , 2771 N. LINCOLN (But , if you're reading this , and live in CHICAGO , YOU KNOW WHERE DELILAH'S IS.), Next Tuesday , 7:00.     It may be our only chance to see this film in a rust bucket ghost town like this. It should have already played here , in a real theater , but , we may have to settle for TV monitors. I've heard nothing about a DVD release , either....... Alice does'nt lay Chicago , anymore , maybe his movie will play in the suburbs.

I MEANT , Alice does'nt PLAY Chicago , THOUGH I HOPE HE WILL, some day. WE CAN'T ALL GET OUT TO SUBURBS WE'VE SCARCELY HEARD OF. Last time he played here was at Navy Pier Bandshell , probably 10 or 12 years ago.......HE KILLED IT , BUT THE COMPARATIVELY SMALL VENUE WAS'NT EVEN FULL.

   ALSO ,  Alice and Michael HAD A BEEF FOR SOME TIME. THEY DID MAKE PEACE , AND PLAY SOME REUNION GIGS AND GO INTO THE STUDIO AGAIN , but , maybe they're on the outs again(?) , and one party refused to be associated with teh other. Just speculating......

Not sure if the Filth and the Furry was an inspiration for not showing the faces, good question or guess I should say. I know the director told me that EVERY documentary has talking heads and they wanted to do something different, make it more theatrical, like live Alice performances. 

As far as only getting Dunaway to appear (audio appearance), I think that was the only their option. Getting everybody on board is about like trying to reunite the band and I think when you're dealing with somebody of Alice Cooper's stature, ultimately he is going to be calling the shots. 

The Toronto screening, Alice came in and watched the film with us and he and the film crew did a Q&A at the end. From what I gathered—now that he is 100% sober/clean, I feel he almost wants people to know of his addiction problems, maybe as a warning to others type of story or whatever…. I got the chance to meet him twice throughout this process. He seems like a genuinely friendly and caring guy.

Yeah , I think he is , too. When I saw him do a signing at Tower , he stopped and talked to all the children that were there , he was beaming. Which  is really cool. He even asked a little boy , "Do you like Teletubbies?". It was adorable.

Still , I really enjoyed seeing all the surviving ACG members in the "Behind The Music " program , as well as the surviving ex - Stooges , pre - reformation(s).

Well , you can't have everything. Maybe it's better , that way. But , i'M SURE ANXIOUS TO SEE IT , EVEN IF , like the new Thunders movie , it probably won't get a DVD release...... 

Oh yeah, this is getting a dvd release. I think it's coming out this week actually. All those Banger films productions come out on DVD. I don't have any info on it yet, but I will report back here when I do. 

Oh yeah, a bit of info I guess: I think there is suppose to be a collector's edition that comes with a book, dvd, and maybe something else, I forget. I have no idea how available these will be or how much they will cost. I'll try and find out the info this weekend. 

Yeah , another friend told me it was getting a DVD release. Any info helps , thanks. I'm still planning to go see it , tommorrow at Delilah's (On TV monitors.).