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Alice Cooper. The original monster of rock, who brought the music he made to life on stage. Make-up, blood, murders, straight-jackets, guillotines....he did it all first! Indeed, the guillotine remains the most infamous part of his show, as he's decapitated before his dismembered head is tossed around the stage like a ball.

My favourite part of the Cooper show, though, has always been the straight-jacket. Strapped into it, Alice sings 'The Ballad of Dwight Fry', rocking backwards and forwards in his restraining outfit. During the Theatre of Death tour, he was also hung in the straight-jacket! Now THAT must have been tricky to put together.

Anyhow, here are two videos of Alice (one from his alcoholic days, where he was unpredictable and dangerous on stage, and one from one of his more recent shows) performing '...Dwight Fry' in all its' insane glory. 

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Today, I'm bringing to your attention a frankly epic slice of old-school metal. A riff-roaring, multi-guitar-solo-ing beast of a track, 'Chainsaw Charlie' is easily the best thing on W.A.S.P. 's superb 'The Crimson Idol' album (1992). Lyrically, the song is about a greedy record-company owner, luring a wannabe rockstar into a life of excess and sin. It's brought to life beautifully, and is a genuine piece of incredible, powerful music. Just ignore this rather bland video, and focus on the music.

Oh, and W.A.S.P. are touring again this year. What are you waiting for?

Eddie Is Awesome

So, 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'. The ultimate freak-musical, full of crazy and disturbed lunatics and perverts. We have Frank-N-furter, the transexual mad scientist; Riff Raff and Magenta, incestuous aliens; and the accented Dr. Scott, with his high-speed wheelchair and big glasses.

But none of these hold a candle to Eddie, portrayed in the original stage play and movie by Meat Loaf. He crashes through a wall on a motorbike, sings a kick-ass rock'n'roll song, then gets his head smashed in with a hammer. And he has an awesome jacket to boot.