My first altered book

Since Hallowe'en, I have been immersing myself in all things Alice Cooper - looking at old drawings I did when I was 14, showing the kids vinyl (can we get a turntable, mum?), telling them how we swapped pictures at school, and also watching every Youtube video from the seventies I can find - this includes finally catching up with many events I read about but never saw, not having the internet in 1972, such as the The Chicken Incident, (contrary to rumour he didn't bite its head off and he really did think it would fly when he threw it back in to the audience), and Alice getting hanged onstage (Mum refused point blank to let me go to that concert, I cried for hours.)

Never did finish this pic - I was too afraid of getting the faces wrong and spoiling it, which is a joke really, when you look at all the stains on it, lol...


When I first saw an altered book about 6 years ago , I thought 'Aha, been there, done that' - because all those pictures of Alice I collected at school were stuck into my school hymnbook (to relieve the boredom of morning assembly). Then there was the Music Press - Melody Maker, NME, Sounds and Record Mirror (I think there was another one but it's name escapes me) Nearly every week during 1972 -1976 ish there was a review either of a concert Alice did, or a new album like Billion Dollar Babies, (I still have the banknote), and Schools Out (mine still has the paper knickers and is now signed *huge cheesy grin*,). And I cut out each and every review and stuck them into my hymnbook.

After not very long obviously, it became rather large and unwieldy, so I had to aquire another one for School Assembly purposes(I am really sorry to the poor first-year girl whose book I, er, borrowed, hope you didn't get into too much trouble).




















Half a mile of sellotape and a few years later, I had a book about 10 times fatter than it was designed to be, and it had to have it's own special box for transportation .......and I took it everywhere with me, parties, friends houses, and later on the pub. I think I was always hoping that I'd bump into him one day and be able to show it to him. The fact that he was Amercian and hardly likely to turn up in the Swan at Ruislip didn't seem to matter somehow.







Now, if only I could've found the wretched thing before Hallowe'en, I could've taken it with me and presented Alice with proof of my utter devotion for all those teenage years. But no, it got 'put away' somewhere during various house movings , and I couldn't find it in time, grrrrrrr.
EVENTUALLY I discovered it hidden in the loft, and it was with great excitement that I dragged it out from behind the box of 20 year old bank statements (WTF am I keeping them for?).

I opened the lid - and there it was in all its yellowed and faded glory. I eased it out of the box, and it promptly fell apart - selloptape does not last 35+ years. However, after some quick repairs and another mile of sellotape it can now stand up to gentle exercise, so I've been reading some of the reviews (including the spoof "Alice Cooper accidentally killed on stage when guillotine trick went wrong'), and looking at all the pictures (or what's left of them anyway) - and it is delightfully transporting me back to my little bedroom, where the walls and ceiling were completely plastered with pictures, photos, and anything else to do with Alice Cooper. Sigh.....I don't know why I wallow in nostalgia so much, but it makes me feel so...................well, tbh I'm not sure what it makes me feel, but I like it anyway :)))).............younger I suppose,lol.

So I think it's time I made another Alice book to celebrate actually meeting the guy at last - and this time it will be a lot more colourful and will possibly include the odd stamp.

Talking of Seventies videos this is a cracker....



Here's hoping that I will get to meet him again before we both drop dead - I think I'll need a suitcase next time to carry all the things I want him to sign.....