The Spiders were an American garage rock band in Phoenix, Arizona founded as The Earwigs in the spring of 1964, becoming
Spiders in 1965, moving to LA and becoming
The Nazz in 1967 and
Alice Cooper in 1968.
The Earwigs consisted of
Vincent Furnier (later known as
Alice Cooper) on vocals,
Dennis Dunaway on bass, and
Glen Buxton on guitar. In the fall of 1965,
John Tatum on rhythm guitar and
John Speer on drums joined the group which was renamed
Spiders.
Michael Bruce replaced Tatum on guitar in 1966. The band relocated to Los Angeles in March 1967, changed their name to
The Nazz in April. Fellow Phoenix musician and friend
Neal Smith moved in with the band in September 1967 and replaced Speer as drummer latter that fall. By March of 1968 the band changed their name again, becoming
Alice Cooper to prevent confusion with
Todd Rundgren's group
Nazz.