Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper

Good to See You Again (Shout! Factory)

Lest you think the Alice Cooper Band's 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour was all misogynistic B-horror-movie filth, note that one of the show's many climaxes involves a giant tooth brush bringing a molar to orgasm. True, this is preceded by a deranged dentist mega drilling Cooper, the intervening fluoride flourish censored, but really, it was all just good, clean rock cabaret. In a commentary track to this 1974 theatrical release, Cooper is adamant that no one in rock & roll was this Dada/vaudeville, rightly taking credit for Marilyn Manson, but that hardly excuses the Help-less "plot" wrapped around this otherwise eye-popping live document. (Granted, a donkey in sneakers gives quality yuks.) Good to See You Again's play-concert-only option siphons 100 minutes down to an hour from Houston and Dallas, writhing with dismembered mannequins ("I Love the Dead"), babies on a sword ("Dead Babies"), a possibly intoxicated boa constrictor ("Sick Things"), the now infamous guillotine, and a sarcophagus (hello, Iron Maiden). "That's why Salvador Dali loved us," boasts the long underwear, knee-high leopard-skin boots and ghoulish mascara-wearing ringmaster, who admits singing was secondary to the stage show. Nevertheless, "Elected"/"I'm Eighteen" snarls, "No More Mr. Nice Guy" grinds three guitars, and "Under My Wheels" mows down Richard Nixon. (Find the concert audio on 2001's BDB reissue.) "What year was this?" asks Cooper. "1973? We should've known better." Fat chance.