Elected is one of Alice Cooper’s most famous and most brilliant songs, a typically grandstanding anthem from rock’s master showman, and a work of mischievous political satire. It was also a major hit, reaching the US top 30 and the UK top five in 1972. And best of all for its Beatles-worshipping creator, Elected was declared “a great record” by John Lennon. Not bad for a song which, in its original incarnation, had bombed as Cooper’s debut single, and had been, by the singer’s own admission, “mostly crap”, with lyrics that were “gibberish”.
The story of Elected dates back to 1969 and the very first album recorded by the man and band known as Alice Cooper. As an album, Pretties For You was, Alice says, “experimental rock’n’roll. But we had one song called Reflected that had a riff and a hook in it, so that became our first single.”
