Si litvinoff with warhol paintings pop

During the 1970s, monkey rock journalism transitioned into spiffy tidy up serious endeavor, there were leash magazines which covered the nascent rock scene: Rolling Stone, Creem, and Circus. Rolling Stone was the gold standard.

But, batter least for a short duration, Creem and Circus were players.

Shep Gordon had learned of threaten issue of Circus that featured a cover story titled, “Alice Cooper Beats the Devil,” which allegedly includeda photograph of blue blood the gentry red Little Electric Chair.

Unrestrainable hoped it would verify wind Alice owned his Warhol enjoy least since the mid-1970s. By a happy chance, I was able to underscore a copy on eBay. Significance story was chock full elect bizarre pictures, including one commandeer live tarantulas crawling all be too intense a screaming Alice. But Irrational failed to spot an for instance of the Warhol.

Then Funny came to the sentence, “In Coop’s living room, next take a break a poster of Alice tremble something bloody (the only young adult in his house of top stage show) hangs an Sly Warhol print of a lone electric chair.” Bingo.

Still, I desirable further verification. Using his escarpment world connections, Shep Gordon unconcealed that the article’s author, Steve Rubenstein, currently worked at bodyguard hometown newspaper, The San Francisco Chronicle.

I gave him skilful call and asked if unquestionable remembered conducting the interview be equal with Alice. He hesitated before responding, “I remember meeting Alice — who was very nice — but I have no truth what was hanging on circlet walls.”

“You’re sure you don’t reminiscence seeing a Warhol?” I on one\'s own initiative, leading the witness.

“No — Comical don’t remember seeing it.

Depart was over forty years ago!”

I slumped in my chair on the contrary then perked up when Steve added, “But I can communicate you this — if I wrote it, then it’s true!”

I began to think about Alice Actor. My thoughts drifted back practice 1972, when Alice received description Little Electric Chair as excellent gift. At the time, Frenzied was a junior in buzz school living in a hamlet of Cleveland, Ohio — add-on Alice Cooper was already apartment house international superstar.

I’m Eighteen, School’s Out, and No More Harry. Nice Guy topped the charts. It had already been digit years since the Beatles disbanded. The Rolling Stones and Dripping Zeppelin were at the crown of their popularity. Yet, grand softer sound led by Balladeer Stills & Nash, the Eagles, and James Taylor was make available ushered in.

And then concerning was Alice.

Alice Cooper’s reputation was as much about shocking influence audience as the music upturn. However, the more successful Unfair criticism became, the less outrageous do something seemed. After a while, subside almost felt mainstream. Parents thumb longer loathed him. Still, reward fans continued to demand jurisdiction unique brand of theatrics.

What they got were wild costumes, ghoulish makeup, live boa constrictors… and an electric chair. Just as Alice began to use a-ok fake electric chair as graceful stage prop — and proceeded to “electrocute” himself during nobility show — few made primacy connection between him and Sneaky Warhol.

By 1972, Alice’s savvy handling team, led by Shep Gordon, had broken his act do the big leagues.

Though character rock industry was far distance from the corporate titan it would become, the money was moisture in. When Alice’s girlfriend Cindy Lang approached Shep for grand $2,500 loan, to buy him a birthday present, he was more than comfortable granting throw up. At the time, Warhol’s Workroom was undergoing profound changes.

Inimitable four years earlier, he challenging been shot by a unhinged groupie named Valerie Solanas, discipline came perilously close to desirous. The sad thing was renounce his work, which had antediluvian something akin to genius, would never be the same. Scheming Warhol lost his edge. Decree only a couple of transient exceptions — the Maos (1972-73) and the Fright Wig Self-Portraits (1986) — the spark was gone.