Alice Cooper, Ze Whiz Kidz, and Doily Bros at the Paramount Northwest, Seattle, WA, July 9-10, 1971

This flier advertises a 1971 concert by Alice Cooper (b. 1948), with Seattle performance art troupe Ze Whiz Kidz and the Doily Brothers opening with their 1950s-inspired revue, “Puttin’ Out in Dreamsville.”  

While predating the advent of Punk Rock, Ze Whiz Kidz were central to Seattle’s transition between Glam and Punk. They were founded in 1969 by David Xavier Harrigan (1948-2000), also known as Tomata du Plenty, and pictured on this poster, who was formerly a member of the San Francisco-based drag ensemble, The Cockettes. The group featured an extensive, revolving lineup, with evocative names such as Satin Sheets, Gorilla Rose, Louise Lovely, Palm Springs, Cha Cha Samoa, and Rhina Stone. Of this particular gig, Satin Sheets (Dennis Weikel, b. unknown – 2023) reminisced, “Who else would you put on the bill with Alice Cooper, except the Whiz Kidz? Alice said at the end of the show – being as outrageous as he is – he said to us, ‘You scare me!’”  

 Ze Whiz Kidz staged nearly a hundred outré music and theater performances from 1969 to the mid-1970s, and occasionally opened for Glam and Glitter kings such as Alice Cooper or the New York Dolls. Tomata moved to New York in 1972 with Gorilla Rose and performed sketch theater at CBGB and other clubs in the East Village, alongside band performances from Blondie and the Ramones. At the dawn of the Punk age, Tomata Du Plenty returned to Seattle and formed (along with Melba Toast and Rio De Janeiro) the Tupperwares, which would soon after re-form in Los Angeles as the seminal Synth-Punk band the Screamers, while Whiz Kid Satin Sheets (now Satz) formed the Lewd, making a splash on the Seattle and San Francisco punk scenes.