In 1970, record producer Bob Ezrin was sent to Max’s Kansas City in New York to turn down a rock band called Alice Cooper. After hearing the band, Mr. Ezrin decided instead to work with them on their next album.

Within months, Alice Cooper recorded and released “Eighteen.” The hard-rock single about teenage uncertainty and self-doubt was Alice Cooper’s first hit, reaching #21 on Billboard’s pop chart. The band would go on to pioneer theatrical shock rock.

Find more background on Alice Cooper and check out classic photos from his early days in rock-n-roll here.

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