Editing Alice Cooper (section)

====The Spiders and Nazz====
In 1964, 16-year-old Furnier was eager to participate in Cortez High School's annual [[Letterman (sports)|Letterman's]] talent show, so he gathered four fellow [[Cross country running|cross country]] teammates to form a group for the show: [[Glen Buxton]], [[Dennis Dunaway]], John Tatum, and John Speer.<ref group=fn>Cooper describes in detail in his first autobiography, ''Me, Alice'' (1976), how he was tasked with organizing an act for the show.</ref> They named themselves the Earwigs.<ref name="Harkema">''[[Super Duper Alice Cooper]]'' (2014). Dir. [[Reginald Harkema]], [[Scot McFadyen]], and [[Sam Dunn]]. [[Banger Films]] in association with [[Eagle Rock Entertainment]], [[Crave (TV network)|The Movie Network]], and [[Movie Central]]. 2014 – documentary</ref> They dressed up in costumes and wigs to resemble [[the Beatles]], and performed several parodies of Beatles songs, with the lyrics modified to refer to the track team: in their rendition of "[[Please Please Me (song)|Please Please Me]]", for example, the line "Last night I said these words to my girl" was replaced with "Last night I ran four laps for my coach".<ref>{{cite news |title=Alice Cooper bandmates reflect on their historic past |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/06/06/alice-cooper-band-interviews-history/28625657/ |newspaper=[[The Arizona Republic]] |first=Ed |last=Masley |date=June 6, 2015}}</ref> Of the group, only Buxton knew how to play an instrument—the guitar—so Buxton played guitar while the rest mimed on their instruments.<ref name="Harkema"/><ref name="rock lifestyle">{{cite news |title=Rock lifestyle caught up with Cooper guitarist Glen Buxton |url=http://archive.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/20110308alice-cooper-glen-buxton.html |newspaper=The Arizona Republic |date=October 1999 |first=Larry |last=Rodgers |access-date=August 15, 2017 }}</ref> The group got an overwhelming response from the audience and won the talent show. As a result of their positive experience, the group decided to try to turn into a real band. They acquired musical instruments from a local [[Pawnbroker|pawn shop]], and proceeded to learn how to play them, with Buxton doing most of the teaching, as well as much of the early songwriting.<ref name="rock lifestyle" /> They soon renamed themselves [[The Spiders (American rock band)|the Spiders]], featuring Furnier on lead vocals, Buxton on lead guitar, Tatum on rhythm guitar, Dunaway on bass guitar, and Speer on drums.<ref name="Harkema"/>

In 1966, the Spiders graduated from Cortez High School, and after [[North High School (Phoenix, Arizona)|North High School]] football player [[Michael Bruce (musician)|Michael Bruce]] replaced John Tatum on rhythm guitar, the band released their second single, "Don't Blow Your Mind", an original composition which became a local {{Numero|1}} hit, backed by "No Price Tag".<ref name="Harkema"/>

By 1967, the band had begun to make regular road trips to Los Angeles to play shows.<ref name="Harkema"/> They soon renamed themselves Nazz and released the single "Wonder Who's Lovin' Her Now", backed with future Alice Cooper track "Lay Down and Die, Goodbye". Around this time, drummer John Speer was replaced by [[Neal Smith (drummer)|Neal Smith]]. By the end of the year, the band relocated to Los Angeles.<ref name="Harkema"/>