The ‘Villain of Rock’ gives Panic! cred, talks make-up

Classic shock-rocka Alice Cooper did an interview with NYmag today and had some nice things to say about Panic! at the Disco, The White Stripes, and Arctic Monkeys.

(Why didn’t I post a pic of Alice Cooper? ‘Cause he’s not cute, and I’m shallow, that’s why)

When asked, “What bands have the most to learn from you?”he responded, Well, these young bands have to understand that it’s all in the songwriting. The image is great, the icing on the cake is great, but if you don’t have the songs, you’re going to be around for maybe two years. Panic! At the Disco is an interesting band because they write really interesting stuff. The White Stripes are really interesting because they’re just Detroit garage rock, but they do it with such intensity that they make me believe it. That’s hard to do. I like garage bands, tough rock-and-roll bands. Arctic Monkeys are pretty good. I just hope it goes more in that direction rather than overly produced bands that aren’t going to be around.”

A couple more quotables:

What do you think of the way young kids are dressing today? Every time I see the pants down under the butt cheeks and the side hat, I want to smack the hat off and pull the pants up, but I understand that’s to make my generation angry. I get it. Fashion should provoke a little bit. It should make certain people angry. When we first came out, I was wearing makeup, in 1968. And everybody was just terrified because they thought, “My kids are going to wear that!” The kids turned out fine. You know, our job is to do that, to provoke. I was the villain of rock.

Do you find yourself wearing less makeup as you get older? Tonight I’m wearing makeup because of this thing. Onstage I still wear makeup, but at home I never wear makeup. Marilyn Manson wears his makeup all the time. I told him, “You’re going to get tired of that. That’s going to get old after a while.” You can read the rest at NYmag.

See? Wearing guyliner is not new.