Why was this story published in late August? Early June would have been more compelling, such carelessness..
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School's Out Forever
Who knew? Alice Cooper actually had a great time in high school
"Sure, I loved the time off because basically the band was going to practice all summer and go on tour. At the same time, I did not loathe high school at all. In fact, I might have been the only one there who was really enjoying it."
But Cooper profited off those who weren't enjoying it — or at least couldn't wait for the term to end.
PHOTO BY DALE MANNING
Alice Cooper
The song's anthemic qualities made it an instant radio staple that resonated with youth everywhere.
The record sales quickly catapulted Cooper's band (which a year earlier had a lesser hit with another anthem, "I'm Eighteen") from smaller venues to stadiums and arenas, with a heavy dose of TV appearances tossed in.
This also afforded the group a chance to expand its already "notorious" stage show into a multilevel affair with guillotines, pyrotechnics and numerous special effects and costumes. For "School's Out," giant, confetti-filled weather balloons were launched from the stage.
Cooper often changes the song's lyrics in concert, and its end now typically mixes right into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2": "We don't need no education/We don't need no thought control/No dark sarcasm in our classroom/Teachers leave them kids alone."
Both songs feature kids singing and anti-school rhetoric and were produced by Bob Ezrin, although Cooper takes credit for Pink Floyd borrowing those attributes from him.
"Pink Floyd liked it so much they decided to put the kids on 'The Wall' also," he says. "The two songs fit together like a glove."
Now 40 years after its initial release, no Alice Cooper concert is complete without "School's Out," nor is the last day of school. The song remains a rite of passage for many, and should be for generations to come.
"It was the only song out of [my] 14 hit records that I was absolutely sure of," Cooper says. "It was the one song I would have bet the whole farm on."
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