Because kitsch can be so, so cool.
My first introduction to Alice Cooper was when he appeared at the World Wrestling Federation event WRESTLEMANIA III in the corner of wrestler Jake “The Snake” Roberts. At the time, this was sufficient to land him some major cool cred in my book. (The Snake these days is retired from the ring, but Alice is still rockin’ arena shows. Go figure.) A short time later, I rented FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES, one of the first movies I ever rented on my own (with my allowance) on this brand new device called a VCR and to this day one of my favorites in the FRIDAY series. *That* was my first introduction to Alice Cooper’s music. To this day—again—Cooper’s “The Man Behind the Mask,” the theme to the film, is one of my favorites of his songs. It’s so cheesy, and so delicious.
If you have never experienced it, or the accompanying video, indulge yourself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcO2bN2p59s). The picture quality is sadly lacking, but the blurry, grainy quality in a way only adds to its charms.
I got to see Alice Cooper in concert a couple of years ago. He put on a helluva show. Sadly he did not perform “The Man Behind the Mask.” Maybe next time.