One of Rock's most entertaining people on and off the stage celebrates a birthday today. Vincent Damon Furnier was born in Detroit on February 4th in 1948. His family relocated to Phoenix when the soon-to-become Alice Cooper was in his late teens. He first performed in a high school talent show in a band he put together with other members of the cross country running team to do spoof covers of Beatles songs. Winning top prize inspired them to get real instruments and learn to play. Formed in his Junior year, The Spiders developed a solid regional following and released a couple of singles. After graduating, they began touring more widely, changed the group's name to Nazz and moved to LA. Learning that Todd Rundgren was using that name for his own band, Furnier's group came up with Alice Cooper as their new name. Their manager, Shep Gordon, himself one of the most creative and entertaining people in the business, decided one of the band members needed to be Alice Cooper, and picked Vincent. Determined to make a greater impact and be more memorable than the large pack of bands vying for attention in SoCal at the time, Alice and Gordon decided that adding theatrical elements to the band's performances and developing Cooper's character into one parents would find objectionable would make the group irresistible to young Rock fans was the way to go. Was it ever! Happy birthday Alice!
Other Rockers of note born on Feb. 4 include Animals drummer John Steel (1941), Muscle Shoals session greats keyboard player Barry Beckett and guitarist Jimmy Johnson (1943), Atlanta Rhythm Section's Roy Yeager (1949), Phil Ehart of Kansas (1950), and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley (1952).
Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on February 4 include...
1966 Bob Dylan opens his first electric tour in Louisville, KY.
South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond writes Attorney General John Mitchell urging John Lennon get deported.
1973 Genesis opens its first UK headline tour.
1974 John Lennon and Yoko Ono split-up but later reconcile.
1977 Fleetwood Mac releases Rumours.
1984 Police open the Synchronicity tour in Syracuse, NY.
1984 Stevie Ray Vaughan opens his Couldn't Stand The Weather tour in Nashville.
1992 Alice In Chains releases SAP.
1998 Hand written lyrics to Jim Morrison’s Celebration of the Lizard bring $40,250 at auction. A pair of Janis Joplin’s bell bottoms go for $10,350.
2001 Jimmy Buffett is ejected from a New York Knicks game for mouthing off at a referee.
2009 Robert Plant says there can be no Led Zeppelin without John Bonham in announcing that he, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones won't tour using the name.
2016 Van Morrison is knighted in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
2016 Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire dies at 74.
2017 Black Sabbath close reunion tour with concert in Birmingham, UK...
