WHEN Alice Cooper was announced to play Plymouth Pavilions in all his gory glory, there could have been no city fan more ecstatic on hearing the news than the king of shock rock's number one supporter Phil Thorneycroft.

Phil, a highly-respected fifty-something Wolferstan's lawyer, prone to swapping his sharp suit for the full Alice attire and make-up at any fancy dress opportunity, was doubly delighted when he discovered that the show would be taking place on his birthday – December 2.

Needless to say he was first in the queue at the Pavilions when the box office opened and eventually ended up purchasing, or encouraging mates to buy, a total of 45 tickets – he snapped up the last six tickets for the sell-out show three weeks ago.

The entire party will be arriving, appropriately dressed, on a privately-hired bus for the occasion.

"I never thought Alice would ever come to Plymouth," says Phil. "Over the years I've travelled all over the country to see him, the closest to home being back in 1991 when he brought his Hey Stoopid 'comeback' Tour to Cornwall Coliseum."

In fact, Phil reckons he's made around 30 pilgrimages to see his idol – he still has the T shirts and ticket stubs to prove it – witnessing him live everywhere from Bournemouth, to Newcastle, and catching every UK tour bar one, due to the terminal illness of his son Declan.

Phil's love affair with Alice goes right back to the summer of 1972. He was 14 and the Thorneycroft family were holidaying in Newquay from their Chesterfield home.

"John Peel showcased School's Out on the radio and I was hooked. I quite liked Bowie and Bolan, but we'd been fed all this 'cool' music – Led Zep, Cream, Yes, Jethro Tull which didn't do much for me.

"Then Alice came along with his catchy rock tunes, fantastic theatrical productions, imaginary persona and total lack of 20 minute guitar solos.

"Everything about him appealed. Even the record covers were brilliant!"

Phil recalls in particular the School's Out sleeve, an opening desk with knickers-adorned disc inside and his all-time favourite, Killer, with the grim spectacle of Alice hanging by the neck from a rope.

"Bear in mind that I was the product of tee-total Methodist stock! I was a good boy scout and went to Sunday school. But then, Alice's dad was a pastor, as was his grand father and his father-in-law. So we had that religious back ground in common."

The very first live show Phil ever saw was Welcome To My Nightmare in 1976.

"I managed to get tickets to see him at Wembley Empire in London and took the day off school – my mum wrote a sick note!

"The original line up had split – it was a big disappointment never seeing them – but he was performing with Lou Reed's band which was amazing.

"He became a superstar with that tour, a household name, and the show was his most theatrical and polished to date, with a Clockwork Orange meets West Side Story theme. It was like going to see a real piece of over-the-top musical theatre. Even my folks who were thespians themselves understood that."

Alice's fortunes have waxed and waned over the years, depending to some extent on fads and fashions of the time, though he never stopped touring or producing albums – some 25 in all.

His latest, Along Came Spider, is an insight into the warped mind of a psychopath, but The Eyes of Alice Cooper, was arguably his most recent return to rock'n'roll greatness according to Phil who says it's his best of this decade.

"I think Alice was at his very finest between 1976 and 1980 but over the years he's created some really excellent music which has stood the test of time."

There'll be absolutely no doubt who will leading the crowd from the front at the Pavilions on December 2.