Alice Cooper has spent decades perfecting the fine art of theatrical shock rock, but his latest project takes him back to where it all began—Detroit. His EP, Breadcrumbs, serves as a raucous love letter to the Motor City’s garage rock and proto-punk roots, featuring covers of MC5, Bob Seger (before he went full heartland rock), Mitch Ryder, and more. And if you thought Detroit was just Motown and muscle cars, Cooper is here to remind you that it also birthed some of the rawest rock ‘n’ roll America’s ever seen.
“It’s all Detroit players, all Detroit songs, or songs about Detroit,” Cooper says. “We just figured we’d do a tip of the hat to my hometown. And when you get guys like Wayne Kramer (MC5), Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad), and Johnny ‘Bee’ Badanjek (Mitch Ryder’s drummer) in a room together, there’s a certain R&B thing built into it—even if it’s loud and nasty rock.”
And let’s talk about Bob Seger for a second. Before Night Moves turned him into a household name, Seger was ripping through fuzzed-out rockers that sound nothing like the yacht rock-adjacent anthems of his later years. “A lot of people don’t know that about him,” Cooper says. “Back in the '60s, Bob Seger was basically a punk rocker.” Instead of covering something obvious, Cooper chose East Side Story, one of Seger’s early rough-and-tumble tracks. “I think Bob was surprised we covered that one instead of Get Out of Denver, but I’m from the east side of Detroit—it made sense.”
Of course, the EP is just the setup for a full-length album due, which he confirms will be all original material, but still drenched in Detroit grit. “The original band is on there—the OGs, we call ‘em,” he says. “It’s pure Detroit, but we’re pushing ourselves in places we wouldn’t normally go.”
And speaking of taking unexpected turns, Cooper reflects on his other band, Hollywood Vampires (you know, the one with Johnny Depp and Joe Perry). Their latest album, Rise, saw Depp taking on a larger songwriting role. “Johnny and Tommy wrote most of it, and Joe and I decided, ‘If we get too involved, it’s just gonna sound like Alice Cooper and Aerosmith,’” he laughs. “So we held back. That’s what made it sound different.”
And for collectors? This Record Store Day’s got a special treat: Billion Dollar Babies ‘73, an unearthed relic from Alice’s golden era. But if you’re a real Alice Cooper collector, he’s got one Holy Grail for you. “Some guy showed up backstage at a VIP meet-and-greet and put down a copy of Whiplash Mascara—which is, like, THE Alice Cooper collectible. He tells me he paid $8,000 for it. I was like, ‘Man, I wish I had a box of those lying around.’”
Cooper is still on the road, proving once again that rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t have a retirement age—just louder amplifiers. “Detroit still has the same feel,” he says. “It’s hard not to sound like Detroit if you’re from Detroit.”
The Breadcrumbs EP is out now, with more Detroit rock destruction on the way.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the video below.
