If ever there was a real-life "animated" rock star who would be perfect for The Simpsons it's Alice Cooper.
But, while many of his peers and colleagues have made appearances on the animated FOX show, he tells Grammy.com he's never been asked, and if he were, he's in.
"When The Simpsons came out, they were totally unique. It was really, really funny. I really admired what they were doing.
“I showed up on Family Guy. They used my music a lot. I thought Family Guy was probably more pointed, but I couldn’t say [it was] more clever. They were both really very clever.”
Cooper has also made appearances on Amy Poehler’s animated series Duncanville, and, way back in 1978, The Muppet Show, which he says was his "favorite thing in the world... I loved the show — it was a very funny show, very clever. I asked them, ‘Who’s done the show recently?’ They said, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price, and I went, ‘I’m in!’ If those guys can do The Muppets … I haven’t earned the pedigree that those guys have, so I will definitely do it...
"That ended up being the reference point to an entire generation, me doing The Muppet Show. It’s amazing, to this day people go, ‘I discovered you on The Muppet Show, and after that I went and got all your albums.’”
Cooper starts a U.S. tour tomorrow in Philadelphia, opening for My Chemical Romance, followed by his own headlining shows, with a stop at Rocklahoma in Pryor, Oklahoma on August 29th.
Among the musicians who appeared on The Simpsons are:
- Ringo Starr
- Michael Jackson
- Aerosmith
- Sting
- David Crosby
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- James Taylor
- George Harrison
- Ramones
- Paul & Linda McCartney
- Peter Frampton
- U2
- The Moody Blues
- Elton John
- Clarence Clemons
- Bachman-Turner Overdrive
- The Who
- R.E.M.
- Elvis Costello
- Lenny Kravitz
- Mick Jagger
- Keith Richards
- Tom Petty
- David Byrne
- Los Lobos
- Metallica
- Ted Nugent
- Max Weinberg
- Rob Halford
- Sammy Hagar
- Donald Fagen
- Bob Seger