BBC Radio 4 Extra – Desert Island Discs Revisited, American Singers, Alice Cooper

From Bob Dylan to The Who. Rock singer Alice Cooper makes his castaway music choices.

As a teenager he says it was British music that he tuned in to – listening to The Beatles, The Yardbirds and The Who. He realized 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 realized when they all died that you didn’t have to be your character off stage.”

DISC ONE: The Yardbirds – Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
DISC TWO: The Beach Boys – I Get Around
DISC THREE: The Who – I’m a Boy
DISC FOUR: Laura Nyro – Timer
DISC FIVE: King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man (incl. Mirrors)
DISC SIX: Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing
DISC SEVEN: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – Work Song
DISC EIGHT: Bob Dylan – Ballad of a Thin Man

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.

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