Killer

Product Information

Melody Maker 1st week July 1972 talks about the band being in the mansion in Conn. Evonne is current snake. It mentions the Wembley show as being that week and the 15th July issue has a review/article about it. Boston Globe listing April 28th states 'Sold Out' which could explain why I can't find any local adverts.] Billboard 22 April lists Todd Rungren opening this show along with other Alice Cooper shows we know he didn't play. The dates and venues are also not exactly correct. [Review in Boston Herald May 2nd]- 'Be My Lover' still at #49. 'Killer' at #45. May 28th 1972 Orlando, FL, Tangerine Bowl (w/ Todd Rundgren)[Date on Itinerary and Billboard] - Show was postponed until the following day (29th) according to news report. Preview in the Central Florida Future May 26th. Dec 9th 1971 Radio listings suggest Alice Cooper were featured on WIBA-FM 'Radio Free Madison' from Madison, WI today although whether this was an interview or not is unknown. Early 1972 Edgewater Park, Cleveland, OH - Article in the Daily Kent Slater on January 12th mentions a benefit show for the Kent Gay Liberation Front is "planned for next month" so that could be this listing, although there doesn't appear to be any more mentions of the event/connection.

John Sinclair was at this show. It was his first public appearance since his release from jail for possession of pot, which many younger Detroiter's saw as Sinclair being targeted because of his political activism, so it was a big deal in Detroit. We were brought out on stage and waited while Sinclair spoke to the welcoming crowd." - Dennis Dunaway.Ezrin:"Desperado" opened up a whole new world for me in terms of my conception of what Alice Cooper was and could be.This was different. This was deep, really looking inside oneself and also playing a little bit with the dark side of the personality. Cooper:Bob never let us do filler. He said "If we put this on the album, it's got to be as good as what we think the single is." So that was the beginning of us really learning how to write for radio and at the same time not lose Alice Cooper. 'Everybody said they couldn't play' Alice Cooper’s concert in Miami on May 27, 1972, adds even more unreleased music to the collection. The show was recorded a few weeks before the band entered the studio to record School’s Out. The live performance features standout versions of “Halo Of Flies,” “School’s Out,” and “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” a song that gives Cooper a chance to show off his impressive harmonica skills. Billboard lists this as Hampton, Virginia as does Rolling Stone Show Itinery - there is an eye witness who recalls a show with Alice Cooper and Blue Oyster Cult but places it in July/August 1972 (HRtHull). Jan 11th 1972 The Orpheum Theater, Boston (w/ White Witch) - Listing in Boston Globe Jan 7th AND Jan 9th confirms as well as a Boston Globe review on Jan 12th that mentions Alice Cooper and White Witch but no Blue Oyster Cult, who have been listed as playing this show in the past. [Boston Globe January 23rd has an interview done before the show.]

April 29th 1972 Providence, Rhode Island, Brown College (w/ Blue Oyster Cult) - NOT an Alice Cooper show. This was a Blue Oyster Cult show with Ike and Tina Turner as per listing in the Brown Daily Herald, the University student newspaper. There is also a news report mentioning the same bill. Interestingly according to the Brown archives Alice Cooper were under consideration to play the 1974 Spring Weekend show but of course that wasn't going to happen.). An early working version for what ended up as 'Desperado' was 'Desert Nights' which had lyrics by Dennis. On the final version Alice's vocals are purposely imitating the style of his old drinking buddy Jim Morrison from 'The Doors' who had died in July 1971 just before the band started working on 'Killer'. In an interview for NPR Radio Alice states that the song itself is not about Morrison, but is in fact based on the character of 'Lee' in 'The Magnificent Seven', played by actor Robert Vaughan. May 9th 1972 Swannanoa, North Carolina, Warren Wilson College - Was this a BOC only show? Lots of confusion over the NC show.) - Likely a BOC only show if it happened at all which is doubtful. )May 9th-10th 1972 Rosyln, NY, My Fathers Place - Suggestion of Alice Cooper and Todd Rundgren playing. There is an advert for Todd Rungren only on this date so unlikely Alice played the same show.) Killer" is Alice Cooper and his band's artistic peak. There were many promises made with "Love it to Death", the group's previous lp. It included the great "Eighteen" and the delightfully bizarre "Ballad of Dwight Frye".