DESERT ISLAND DISCS REVISITED: AMERICAN SINGERS - ALICE COOPER (320kbs-m4a/99mb/43mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 8th August 2024
American rock musician Alice Cooper is castaway by Kirsty Young.
As a teenager he says it was British music that he tuned in to - listening to The Beatles, The Yardbirds and The Who.
He realised that while rock music had many heroes, there were few villains - that was the territory he marked out for himself. He developed his trademark look - blackened eyes, straggly hair and glamorous clothes - and set about designing live shows that were gleefully gory and macabre.
While critics have described him as 'the world's most beloved heavy metal entertainer', it took him a while to untangle himself from his creation.
"For a long time I honestly didn't know where I began and Alice ended. My friends at the time were Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and I was trying to keep up with them. And I realised when they all died that you didn't have to be your character off stage."
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Work Song
BOOK CHOICE: Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
LUXURY CHOICE: An indoor golf driving range
Producer: Leanne Buckle
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2010.
The Yardbirds - Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
The Beach Boys - I Get Around
The Who - I'm A Boy
Laura Nyro - Timer
King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man (incl. Mirrors)
Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Work Song
Bob Dylan - Ballad Of A Thin Man
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