Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group

A hair-raising backstage memoir of the Alice Cooper Group, from the bassist and co-songwriter, co-written by the journalist who first covered the band for Rolling Stone, with an all new introduction by Alice Cooper.

"Before the world heard of KISS, the New York Dolls, Marilyn Manson, or Ozzy Osbourne, there was Alice Cooper, the original shock-rock band." -Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

As teenagers in Phoenix, Dennis Dunaway, bassist and co-songwriter for the Alice Cooper group, and lead singer Vince Furnier (who would later change his name to Alice Cooper) formed a hard-knuckles band that played prisons, cowboy bars, and teens clubs. Their wild, impossible journey took them from Hollywood to the ferocious Detroit music scene, and along the way they discovered the utterly original performance style and look that would make them the stuff of legend.

Speaking out for the first time about his adventures in the Alice Cooper group, Dunaway reveals a band that was obsessed with topping themselves, with their increasingly outlandish shows and ever-blackening reputation. Dunaway takes readers into back rooms, behind brainstorming sessions, and into the most exclusive parties of the 1970s, revealing the talent, drama, and characters that drove two teenagers to create what would become America's highest-grossing act.

From struggling for recognition to topping the charts with a string of hits including "I'm Eighteen," "School's Out," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy," the Alice Cooper group was entertaining, outrageous, and one of a kind.
Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! is a riveting account of the band's creation in the '60s, their strange glory in the '70s, and the legendary characters they met along the way.


About the Author

DENNIS DUNAWAY was the bass player, songwriter, and theatrical conceptionalist of Alice Cooper and was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

CHRIS HODENFIELD has written for Rolling Stone magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Playboy, among other publications. He is presently writing fiction.

Dunaway and Hodenfield are the coauthors of Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! My Adventures in The Alice Cooper Group.