BANNED AID

Rocker Alice Cooper tells CASEY COOPER-FISKE how attempts to censor his band helped fuel their success

- CASEY COOPER-FISKE

FEATURING snakes, gallows, guillotines and electric chairs, the Alice Cooper band were one of the most shocking groups of the 1970s, backing up their glam theatrics with classic hard rock singles such as School's Out and Elected.

Now, more than 50 years after the release of their last album, Muscle Of Love (1973), the band fronted by Alice Cooper, who later embarked on a solo career, are back with a new album The Revenge Of Alice Cooper.

The record picks up where they left off, with singles Black Mamba and Wild Ones featuring a sound straight out of the '70s.

Something else that will feel familiar to the band is the current controversy engulfing the music industry, with MPs trying to ban groups such as Kneecap and Bob Vylan.

Along with their outrageous stage act, songs with as Dead Babies, Raped And Freezin' and I Love The Dead attracted the attention of Labour MP Leo Abse in the 1970s, who tried to stop the group playing the UK.