A clip of Alice Cooper performing “Billion Dollar Babies” in 1979 on The Midnight Special has been posted on the old NBC show’s YouTube page.
This one features not only Elton John‘s guitarist, Davey Johnstone, but also Alice’s pet boa constrictor.
The snake in question could be Angel, who toured with Cooper between 1977 and 1979, but was killed after being bitten by a rat it was given to eat.
Alice tells us that he has a different snake for each tour, and there have been some funny incidents over the years, including one urinating on stage.
But he says the funniest was in 2004 when the one named Alice ate the heating pad in its cage, which was plugged in, prior to a show in Wallingford, Connecticut.
Alice Cooper on one of his stage snakes eating a heating pad in its cage in 2004. OC:… in a petting zoo now doing fine. :17
“We called up the vet and he says, ‘Well, unplug the plug.’ Okay. ‘Don’t try to pull it out ’cause it’ll pull his stomach out.’ So, we took him to the hospital, put him to sleep, opened him up, took the heating pad out and he’s in a petting zoo now doing fine.”
Cooper’s show went on that night as planned with a borrowed yellow anaconda filling in.