Alice Cooper: Classic or Dud??

saw him on 'constrictor' tour - great gig - dull album

Alice Cooper: Classic or Dud??

Alice Cooper: Classic or Dud

Are "Pretties For You" and "Easy Action" essential purchases? I'm waiting until "Welcome to my Nightmare" or the later ones. are the late 70s ones alright?

"Telephone is ringing..."

Afterwards, dud.

"No, I said 'no more Mr. Clean..."

A co-worker of a certain age want to a show last week, and apparently the guillotine was nowhere in sight. Does this mean that "Good Alice" has finally won out?

Flush the Fashion is great because Alice Cooper invented electroclash.

"From the Inside" is a favourite, Tauplin is the man!

Dennis Dunaway is without a doubt the greatest, individual sounding and [anti]-melodic bass player OF AAALLL TIIIIIME!!!!!!!!

p.s i urge anyone who rates alice cooper on the cheese rock hes been doing for the last 20-odd years to buy the alice cooper cd that you always see going for about £2.99 in record shops. its usually called Nobody Likes Me,Nobody Like Me,Snorting Anthrax or 1969 Toronto Rock N Roll Revival. its garagy trashy psycho-delia. (ignore the 'going to the river' and 'ain't that just like a woman' tracks though cos they've got nothing to do with alice cooper as far as i know. UNLESS they are Gene Vincent tracks as the Alice Cooper group played as GV's backing band at the very same festival. it WAS going to be The Doors but they didn't for some reason)

trust me it'll be the best bargain you've ever bargained on!

CLASSIC for the first four albums, including those bizarre & hard-to-find first two (which many people dislike but not me.) LESS CLASSIC but still fair-to-great for the next four. After that, mostly DUD, tho with the occasional great moment. ("Clones" aside, I've never heard Flush The Fashion myself, but lotsa people like it so I give it the benefit of the doubt.)

That's `cos it's CRAP, Alfred.

(Yes, I'm a very young person.)

Pretties For You sounds like a Beatles-cum-Zappa album but in mostly great ways. the recording quality is inconsistent, but the songs are quite solid.. the best one is "Levity Ball"..

Easy Action seers all the way through. "Lay Down And Die, Goodbye" is Alice's best song, period.

hey i nearly mentioned it
i'm 35 and grew up with "school's out ", "elected "etc but didn't buy anything of alice until "trash" - -poison is his best single,other songs like "bed of nails","house on fire" are so good - i might buy trash tour dvd but can't find it in Australia.
i'm learning "bed of nails" on piano.who wants sheet music copy ?
i'm willing to pay for alice cooper trash songbook

At the very least, "I'm Eighteen" from Love it to Death is essential.

OTM.

i'm gonna buy one of his records tomorrow or something

get Killer or Love It To Death

Well done sir! (xp)

get Killer or Love It To Death

Buy:

Love It to Death
Killer
Billion Dollar Babies

At once

Alice Cooper just played the Missouri State Fair.
Blue Oyster Cult were also on the bill. I'm almost regretting not going.

what an awesome show that would be...

...in 1975!

I can't say enough about the effect the Coop had on my teenage self...my first full-length purchase was an 8-track tape of Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits...I'll never forget how huge "Hello! Hooray!" sounded coming out of those Ford LTD speakers...

'Billion Dollar Babies' is probably the one to get (for the unheralded "Generation Landslide" alone)...but 'Welcome To My Nightmare', recorded with a completely different band, is just as good...songs like "Steven" and "The Awakening" are truly uncanny, scary in the David Lynch sense...(see the DVD of same for some welcome rubber-mask silliness)...if you were a young boy in the mid-70's, Alice had it all: rock, rebellion, horror, spy movie soundtracks...even a little Busby Berkeley thrown in for good measure!...

see also the DVD of 'Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper' for some great vintage concert footage (and some truly terrible comedy skits)...and track down a copy of 'Billion Dollar Baby', Bob Greene's account of life on the road with the Cooper group, circa 1974...if nothing else, you will be amazed that large-scale rock tours could be executed without cell phones, ATM's, computers, etc...

my wife recently met Alice Cooper's former road manager ('69-'72). He is now an insurance broker with a cowboy fetish.

you don't mean David Libert, do you?

no, some guy named Jim Scherz...?

Coop's playing here soon, and if I get this job, I can go see him free with a date.

(entirely possible that "road manager" was an exaggeration/misnomer - I didn't meet him personally or get to pump him for stories)

x-post

Libert managed the tours during the Billion Dollar Babies era, so he must have suceeded Scherz...what stories both these guys must have!...

roxymuzak, what kind of job come with a free Cooper show as a perk?

I dig the first 7 Lps plus From the Inside and Dada.

Any more votes for From The Inside & Dada coming? No?

I do have several earlier ones and love them (to somewhat varying degrees). But those two I've been hesitating about for awhile now...

'From The Inside' is patchy...has a couple of decent rockers (the title track, "For Veronica's Sake" which I swear has an uncredited Paul McCartney on backing vox) but overall suffers from too much David Foster...(Gloop-King of LA)...(by now, his power ballads were verging on the obligatory, and "How You Gonna See Me Now" is about the weakest of the lot)...

the title track was used most effectively on the tour for that album, where he began his shows by jumping out of an "open bottle" (projected on a screen) to start the show...

My mom saw a televised Alice Cooper appearance sometime in the early-mid 70's, and the result was that I wasn't allowed to listen to rock and roll for the next year or so. I still have a hazy memory of her horrified description of the concert...had to sneak over to my friend's house to listen to "School's Out" on 45 from then on.

school's out is dope too...killer's is the jam.

the orig. alice cooper's greatest hits (with the mafia type drawing of the band) is song for song one of the greatest rock albums ever. always see it used for cheap.

But no good words for Dada, then?

hell, I don't even remember that one...I basically wrote him off after 'Special Forces'...

My mom saw a televised Alice Cooper appearance sometime in the early-mid 70's, and the result was that I wasn't allowed to listen to rock and roll for the next year or so. I still have a hazy memory of her horrified description of the concert...

That was probably Midsummer Rock, a live one-off from Cincinatti in 1971. That's the show where someone throws a chicken on stage and Alice plays with it for a while then throws it back, and the audience tears it apart. Also features Iggy (and a jar of peanut butter) & the Stooges, and that famous photo of him standing on the crowd pointing forward is from there.

The show also has Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, and Traffic; an exellent 90 minutes.

I found both Pretties For You and Easy Action at a garage sale and paid $3 each for 'em. I think that's about what they're worth— kinda fun, kinda hit and miss.

cheers for steering me in the right direction, guys. cuz i was thinking 'trash' :)

just kidding

I found both Pretties For You and Easy Action at a garage sale and paid $3 each for 'em. I think that's about what they're worth

Ha!

http://www.popsike.com/php/quicksearch.php?searchtext=pretties+for+you&x=0&y=0
http://www.popsike.com/php/quicksearch.php?searchtext=easy+action&thumbs=&x=0&y=0

Sometimes I think that Love it to Death is the finest US major label rock album of the 70s. But then 'Halo of Flies' rules all.

Myopic Void OTM.

The first two are kinda lame tho'. I have them as a 70s twofer.

"Ballad Of Dwight Fry" from LITD is probably Alice's best song...would certainly find a home in any self-loathing emo fan's iPod...("see my lonely life unfold")...

The first two are kinda lame tho'. I have them as a 70s twofer

They don't possess the total vision and concept of later releases, but they do possess some heavy music. I think "Return of the Spiders," off Easy Action, is one of the original band's hardest rocking songs. It's kind of where the band found the power to leap to LITD, Killer, BDB, etc.

Another track on EA, "Lay Down and Die, Goodbye," looks to Alice's darker theater rock. In fact, the final minute or two, where the band's vocals sound like melting acid-hell, are pretty intense.

The first two are kinda lame tho'. I have them as a 70s twofer.

i am totally not listening to statements like this anymore, they've kept me away from too many good albums. so pretties/action, i am buying you.

Saw the Melvins cover "Ballad of Dwight Fry" sometime in the early nineties and it was chilling. It was the first time I heard the song.

first time i heard it was on lysol by the melvins. "poison" and the alice cooper-as-cher's mother thing in the 80s turned me way off of him, so hearing that cover kind of made me think he might not suck.

the early alice stuff is okay. pretty zappa-ish.

Something about the early Alice records makes me think of the Pretty Things album SF Sorrow and also Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

you know what's really killer? the 45 version of "don't blow your mind" by the spiders with alice cooper. gaw. damn.

actually i don't even know if it was a 45 or released at all, come to think of it, but it's still great 60s shit.

I've got a Sundazed 45 of it. And yes, it kills.

Another vote for Love It To Death!

segue from "Second Coming" into "Dwight Fry" is brilliant...(do not listen to either on shuffle)...

I take him more seriously as a golfer than as a recording artist.

Posterity will do likewise.

really? is he that good he's gonna win in the US tour...seniors?

No, but he will mock-execute Jose-Maria Olazabal with an electric chair.

Could someone with a bit more knowledge than I do help me understand exactly what else was going on in the musical world at the end of 1970 that was like Alice Cooper, either musically or in makeup/stage persona? I know Sabbath were around...but I was surprised to learn that "Eighteen" was a hit before T. Rex had settled from hippie folk into the glam stuff they were famous for and it also predated the formation of the New York Dolls as well.

Apparently Slade started having hits in 1971, but that still doesn't help me too much. I don't even know what they sounded like in 1971.

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide. I really don't know Alice Cooper's music, either. And I'm surprised I don't. He's the last person in the world it would ever occur to me to listen to or try to get into. Thanks Freedom Rock thread! :)

Alice Cooper were an inept psychedelic band from arizona til they moved to detroit in early 70 and absorbed a BIG BIG influence from the STOOGES and MC5. a.c. copped his whole shtick from iggy. check out rough contemporaries like the Flaming Groovies and Brownsville Station while you're at it

Okay I know the famous Flamin' Groovies song...I can certainly see the Stooges/MC5 connection but wouldn't have thought of it. Thanks!

Stuff for Reference:

1970 = The Stooges' Funhouse (s/t debut with "I Wanna Be Your Dog" came out the year before"), Black Sabbath, MC5's Back in the USA, Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World (followed by Hunky Dory in '71), VU's Loaded, Faces debut, Hawkwind's debut, Status Quo's Ma Kelly...

1971 = Budgie's debut, Bowie's breakthrough, Mott the Hoople's Brain Capers (with "Death May Be Your Santa Claus"), T. Rex's "Ride a White Swan" and the Electric Warrior LP, Rolling Stones'Sticky Fingers, Flamin' Groovies (check out the amazing demos of "Slow Death").

Most people hate on Pretties For You (1969) and Easy Action (1970), but while different than the 'classic' era, these are awesome albums. They definitely sound like a weird cross of Beatles, Zappa, and Stooges on the first one, def. more Stooges on Easy Action, and flight out out of this world on the album ender "Lie Down And Die, Goodbye", which is an immediate precursor to classic Hawkwind if anything.

Remove a little of the space-rock factor and add a little more horror, and you have the the two '71 albums Love It To Death and Killer. Both are excellent, but I like Killer a little bit more, mainly due to "Under My Wheels", "Halo of Flies" (THIS one!), "Yeah Yeah Yeah", and "Dead Babies"

More of a sum-of-the-parts album but '72's School's Out is good. Title track is classic, but the rest doesn't stand as well on its own. There is one amazing bass interlude with amazing street fight sound effects that make you flinch.

Alice's best album is '73's Billion Dollar Babies. It's the perfect bridge between the Broadway/guillotine era Alice and the grittier raw-rock Alice. "Elected" is Alice's best single, and is an underrated dance classic. Pretty much everything here is great. But within the band, it becomes Alice+Bob Ezrin vs. the band...

'74's Muscle Of Love is the last album with the classic band lineup and it sounds exactly like a contract breaker album. Really incidental and nothing grandiose.

Essentially the band fell apart right around this time, and Alice was preparing '75's full solo album Welcome To My Nightmare, which is up there with Billion Dollar Babies. Sure, more style and substance than the rock on the previous, but there are rocking moments, and never has anyone used Vincent Price in such a great cameo as here. Michael Jackson never came close on "Thriller", and I love "Thriller".

Anyway, that should cover the good stuff for now. There's good stuff a little later on, and you should skip ahead to get the single version of 1980's "Clones (We're All)", but otherwise enters the fan-boy realm a bit more.

^^^wouldn't change a word...

Under my Wheels has been cycling thru my brane for what seems like months now, even though I haven't had Killer since the 80s. This is such a classic, classic song.

I do have to disagree that the Coop's entire schtick was lifted whole hog from Ig. While there's clearly a significant influence, the gap between KISS and Ig (e.g.) is mighty and the only way to cross thru the valley of glam is to walk with the mighty Coop.

I'd never checked out any early Alice Cooper until Friday afternoon, when I picked up a copy of Teenage Lament 74 on a whim, took it home, played it, FREAKED OUT, set the needle back and played it again about 15 times in a row. Why have I not heard this all over the radio since I was a kid?! This is all-time top 10 solid gold nugget greatest song ever material! And apparently it's got the Pointer Sisters and Liza Minelli on backup vocals??!?

Now to check out Billion Dollar Babies, etc, obviously, but would it be pessimistic to assume that it can only possibly be downhill from that song? Even if the albums are as good as suggested by all the Alice Cooper C/D threads (of which there are many), I'v got a bad feeling it's gonna be one of those situations where you completely fall for a new band, only to realise you've stumbled onto the absolute apex...

...you haven't stumbled onto the absolute apex

you have at least 5 classic LP's awaiting you...oh, but to be able to experience them all again for the first time...

by the way: in what format did you pick up "Teenage Lament '74"?...45 RPM?

45, yeah... b/w Hard Hearted Alice.

I just downloaded Muscle of Love. No sign of Minelli.

I think "Hard-Hearted Alice" has long-time Chicago journalist Bob Greene on backing vocals...(he was allowed to be token "band member" while he documented the Muscle Of Love tour in '74)...

Supposedly he's streaming his new album on Myspace.

Bob Greene?

He's just that good!

Pretties... & Easy Action sooo classik.

I love "Easy Action" but "PFY" is not very good

wrong. it is very good. so there.

troof.

I only have Killer and Love It To Death but they are awesome

Updating my Coopalog now on CD. Hell, I don't even remember what LPs I still have down in the basement.

ohh yuh just in case anyone cares i think pretties and easy action were recently reissued as nice price type cds. which is great cause the cds were like $25 otherwise.

Sigh. I keep saying I'm gonna try to get into Alice and it just never seems to happen.

Did you ever hear Teenage Lament 74?? I can't see anyone disliking that song. It was sent by God. And Satan.

the new thing is up on his myspace...not too bad so far!

at least this first one seems more like 70s type shit instead of metal, i hear saxophones! clapping!

you mean the first song? (sorry, can't stream myspace at work.)

That first album on New West was really terrible. Is this basically the followup to that?

Thing is even Alice knows he's been a joke for decades. Remember when he had the steroid-gobblin' body-builder who was supposed to look like a commando on guitar? He's been missing for at least fifteen years. Where did he go?

Time to resurrect this fanzine review from one of the Mick Box threads:

ALICE COOPER Flush The Fashion
AC doesn’t get enough credit for his chameleonic exploits. Then again, while Bowie was ripping off the hip uptown vanguard of Lou Reed and Neu!, Alice was fixated on the tricks of Meatloaf and Croft Superstars. He had his ear to the rail at the turn of the 80’s, however, when Devo and Tubeway Army came marching into his life. He quickly assembled a supporting cast of Italian-American session men, adopted a new militant transvestite chic for the stage, and took an armful of his electro-new wave lp’s down to the lab. What we get is an inebriated but spirited hodgepodge of approximations that today he doesn’t recall recording. Alice showcases his knack for timeless throwaway rhymes that sporadically appear to lead to some notion of sense, before abandoning course into the ninny non-sequential rants of an eighty-pound blackout alcoholic. But he’s got a lot on his mind, and wastes no time railing against cyborgs, gay bars and nuclear contamination, while ruminating on the virtues of police brutality and exceeding recommended dosages of aspirin. Many topics touched on by Gary Numan himself, though Alice curiously paws at them with a washed-up drunken whimsy. In fact, the degree to which his synth pop is so off-the-mark and decidedly un-bleak, makes this lp is a bit of an anomaly. And I wouldn’t doubt if future generations judge him more reverently for this madcap stab at de-evolution than his famously snarky rock anthems to high school and fucking dead people. Clocking in at a lean 30 minutes, this tour de force of garage-damaged Casio-core is a shoe-in sensation for your next dance party. (Also recommended if you can track it down: the Paris-only TV special which features Alice lip-synching these tunes in such exotic locales as subways, alleys, and junkyards, all one-shot videos with a total production value of thirty bucks or so)

On that latter note:

'Clones (We're All)' from Paris

But perhaps even better:

'Clones (We're All)' from Pink Lady and Jeff

From comments on the latter:

barriobajaj (2 weeks ago)

Is it just me or is Alice Cooper aping Gary Neuman?

chunkino (2 weeks ago)

Why do you think the song is called "Clones."

---

Chunkino was wise.

That's a fantastic fanzine review, Gorge. Thanks for posting it.

Actually, if you could find a bunch of people writing reviews like that for a real magazine devoted to reissues in 2008, I'd buy a two year subscription.

Ha! Yeah me too!

sigh...I really miss the days when Alice tried...

on a creepy note, I recently dug up my old concert program from the Special Forces tour, and it's uncanny how much AC resembled Vera from the old Alice sit-com in those days...dingy broad!

hmmm now i wanna go buy flush the fashion

nice try:

And I wouldn’t doubt if future generations judge him more reverently for this madcap stab at de-evolution than his famously snarky rock anthems to high school and fucking dead people.

hmmm now i wanna go buy flush the fashion

That's pushing well past the boundary. Maybe 25-50 cents for used vinyl, tops.

Thing is even Alice knows he's been a joke for decades. Remember when he had the steroid-gobblin' body-builder who was supposed to look like a commando on guitar? He's been missing for at least fifteen years. Where did he go?

http://metalinquisition.blogspot.com/2008/07/kane-roberts-renaissance-man.html

Gorge has falsely accused me on another thread of "not getting" Alice Cooper. Libel!

As I said there, my good friend of ten years GAVE me the damn Mascara & Monsters CD last weekend at his baby shower. He just fucking gave me the CD okay? I have it on my iPod now but have not listened yet. Give me one fucking break.

REPORT BACK.

yes I am fucking reporting back and low and behold if there's any ILXOR who could make me play Alice Cooper it is Alex in NYC

mmm...."Desperado". Isn't it goth? Or glam? Who fucking cares what it is? I love it.

I would like to see Peter Frampton take on Alice Cooper in the ring.

"Under My Wheels" I don't know what to do. My brain is humming with glam. I can prove to you that the Brits can do it better if you give me a chance, but shit.

"She asked me why the singers name was Alice"

No please give me a break this is great stuff. And I still have it on my iPod to enjoy. Be kind to me.

Oh no this is the shit. "No More Mr. Nice Guy" now that's some mighty meaty good rock and roll that could even shame the Brits.

"Only Women Bleed" folks. Goddamnit. This fucking CD smokes. I can't even get over it. Holy shit.

I can prove to you that the Brits can do it better if you give me a chance.

David Bowie already did that. But Alice Cooper's 70s material (Well, up to and including "...Goes To Hell") was great too.

Gorge has falsely accused me on another thread of "not getting" Alice Cooper. Libel!

I take it all back!

Hahahahhaha Thank YOU!!!!!

Libcrypt did you read that you bastard?

mmm...."Desperado". Isn't it goth? Or glam?

It's Jim Morrison, isn't it?

Interviewed the man a week ago. Fun guy, showbiz pro. Told me he has no memory of writing, recording or touring behind Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin and memories of DaDa are somewhat hazy, but present because producer Roy Thomas Baker was such a taskmaster. Also told a great story about some guy (who looked like "the sheriff of any small town in middle America") coming up to him, and instead of the golf question Alice was expecting, saying to him, "DaDa. I listen to that album every day."

I'm listening through the Cooper oeuvre today (through Welcome To My Nightmare), and digging it a lot. I think they get better over that span, or least: Muscle of Love didn't do anything for me, but Goes to Hell is great: I like the horns in the mix in the later albums.

I still fly the flag for Flush the Fashion.

The sound on "Only Women Bleed" isn't very far from what Dylan seems to have been going for on Street-Legal and Slow Train Coming, esp. "Man Gave Names To All The Animals", both in the bass sound and in the rhythm of the vocals (at least in the verses of "Only Women Bleed").

Maybe its somehow obvious, Only Women Bleed to me always sounded like a half-sister of Lou Reed's Berlin.

bought copies of killers, love it to death, and easy action recently - kind of on a whim, but also in response to the ravings of a close (and very wise) friend who's been a die-hard fan for decades. weird to find that something really and truly brain-snappingly BRILLIANT has been loitering around trying to get your attention your entire goddam life. why was i not made aware at age 13, when i really needed shit like this? i mean, don't know that i like any three sequential records by any band all that much more than these.

and it's not like i'd never heard of alice cooper. i grew up with the hits, with school's out on the muppet show, with eighteen and welcome to my nightmare and even clones. have heard and dug covers by sonic youth, the melvins, and others i respect. but i never took the time to listen closely, to hang around past my initial dismissal of the cheeze factor. and i was wrong. i was so, so tragically wrong. this is some of the best oddball hard rock i've ever heard, up there with BOC (who occasioned a similar revelation a couple years back), the stooges, bowie's glam era, etc.

i'm ashamed to have ignored alice (the band) for so long, but also thrilled to have found something this rewarding just sitting there waiting to be picked up - super clean copies of all three lps cost about $12 total. dunno that it'll last, but for the moment, "halo of flies" is up there with my top 10 songs of the 70s. and "the ballad of dwight fry" isn't far behind.

while i'm at it, i do not get the lack of love for easy action. pretties for you may be a tough sell, but easy action is fantastic. love the combo of developing hard rock muscle and lingering prog-pop ambition. the songs are less immediate, but the variety and creativity make up for it.

hey, check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt_yo76AbQ4&feature=related

best part is that i've got another 4 records to go! up through school's out i mean. what i've heard of the later solo stuff i don't dig at all. but who knows? i've clearly got a lot to learn...

and maybe flush the fashion. remember thinking that was pretty hilarious in my youth.

I value everything up to DaDa... but I don't expect anyone to beyond Nightmare...

contenderizer: get thee Billion Dollar Babies next, immediately.

yeah, that's what i'm thinking - has the best ratio of stuff i already know & love

really, i want everything, but this time i think i oughtta take it slow, make it last

"this is some of the best oddball hard rock i've ever heard, up there with BOC (who occasioned a similar revelation a couple years back)"

Ive always thought the BOC and Cooper comparison was dead on in a lot of ways, the primary one being that if you only go by the shit you hear on the radio, you are doing neither band justice.

Alice > BOC

No way.

Yes way, 's all a matter of opinion

There's a weird bootleg where they do this song "Nobody Loves Me." I really like that song. I think it was recorded in 1969, there's a bunch of Pretties songs on it, and a weird slowed down take of "Don't Blow Your Mind" that is called "Freak Out Song" on the cheapo cd of it I picked up at a used store. I like Pretties for you. I love Easy Action.

That's one of those CDs that's available with about a 1000 different titles and been repackaged about 10,000 times! Idea for a thread there?

Yes way, 's all a matter of opinion

― Sonny Uplands (Tom D.), Tuesday, December 8, 2009 10:05 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Fair enough

I know people don't really rate the late 80s/early 90s stuff, but Feed My Frankenstein (off "Hey Stoopid") is a staple for me. It has Joe Satriani and Steve Vai!

Yes, I remember that track!

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/alicecooper-golf.jpg

yeah contenderizer the same exact thing happened to me in the last couple years....those early records are just...fucking stunning...like expected them to be pretty neato hard rock etc, but it's like this fucked up brilliant show tunes gone caveman death rock jive...unreal.

like expected them to be pretty neato hard rock etc, but it's like this fucked up brilliant show tunes gone caveman death rock jive...unreal.

this, exactly this. i was prepared for tweaked hard rock, for "eighteen"/"under my wheels" type shit, some hairy chested detroit proto-metal. and i was prepared for the creepy-kooky showtunes, cuz that's what solo alice is best known for. but i wasn't prepared for how well those two things go together, or the jaw-dropping prog arrangements, or the pathos & wit, or the fanatical attention to sonic detail. jeez, and though there are a couple clunkers here and there, the songwriting is so fucking great. tunes for days.

Had the exact same experience as contenderizer a few years ago- knew the Greatest Hits, never realized how brilliant the early albums were. Got turned on by someone who grew up with them in the 70s. I don't know why these records didn't make it into the "deep cuts" cannon of classic rock, like Zep or Skynrd or the AC/DC. I'm not sure I've heard anything other than "Eighteen" and "Schools Out" on generic rock radio. Deep Purple probably has more songs in that limited playlist.

Maybe it's 'cause his song writing is not as riff-oriented as other 70s juggernauts. Come to think of it, that might explain the similarly diminished profile of my other 70s hard rock obsession, Mott the Hoople. Both bands were as subtle as they were loud.

Yes but why play Mott or Alice deep cuts when we could hear "More Than A Feeling" ONE MORE TIME !

^^^ this probably explains it. Alice's voice is very raspy, which is a vital aspect of his work, but works against him in the context of 70s radio. "More than a feeling" rocks but has more angelic singing. The 70s had a boner for angelic masculine frontvoices.

Alice did pretty good despite how conservative things were at the time.

alice is hands down my biggest musical discovery of the past five years, like the last thread bump post i sorta feel ashamed i didn't Recognize the Real when i comes to alice being one of the true genius of rock, like..ever.

so anyway i'm totally down with love it to death, killers, school's out, greatest hits...but today i bought easy action with well i'll be goddamned is fucking classic too! this guy is a hero.

like this record is like every kind of rock from twee british shit to gonzo hard rock to like totally freeform atonal psych freakout

yep.

The past few years I've been slowly building my Alice collection and have a question: Do I really need anything post DaDa? I have the box set and the last disc is pretty tough to get through.

congrats on getting into the r n' r hall of fame alice.

you were one of the greats

He (they?) got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?? Wow, they're gonna have to stop putting in guys I like, or Im gonna have to stop hating it!!!

Is it just him, or does it also include the Bruce/Tipton/Dunaway lineup? I assume its just him.

Somwhere, Clemenza is weeping.

Is it just him, or does it also include the Bruce/Tipton/Dunaway lineup? I assume its just him.

― Randy Moss' dog's personal chef (Bill Magill), Thursday, December 16, 2010 8:57 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

not sure but if it's just alice that is BULLSHIT, the original band was so great

i think alice is being inducted for his stellar 80s and 90s work, so the rest of the band will probably not be invited.

not sure but if it's just alice that is BULLSHIT, the original band was so great

― in my world of Hmong ppl (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, December 16, 2010 4:22 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

Totally agreed. phenomenal band. unlike the band in the 80s with the bodybuilder guitar player.

lol tyler

plus didn't the band write most of the music? i'm not totally certain what the credits were

wikipedia sez: "On December 15 2010, it was announced Cooper and his former band would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
which is good!

guess they got back together (briefly) too in 2006: "In December 2006 the original Alice Cooper band reunited to perform six classic Alice Cooper songs at Cooper's annual charity event in Phoenix, entitled "Christmas Pudding".[66]"
sounds like a good time.

Rock and Roll justice is served.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dtu8gNmkZ8

yeah the writing credits on the first handful of albums are spread pretty evenly throughout the band

bob ezrin should probably be inducted along with them too

plus didn't the band write most of the music? i'm not totally certain what the credits were

^from what I remember reading or hearing, Michael Bruce was the main composer of the Love it to Death through Muscle of Love era. In fact, when they put out Greatest Hits in '74, there was some controversy because Alice (the guy) was worried about getting a credit on at least half the songs. If you look at the credits on those albums, Bruce is on almost every song.

When I interviewed Cooper in '08, he was eager to shout out the band.

yeah I don't have the records in front of me but Bill's recollection jibes with my own

oh look wikipedia:

Side One

1. "Caught in a Dream" (Michael Bruce) – 3:10
2. "I'm Eighteen" (Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith) – 3:00
3. "Long Way to Go" (Bruce) – 3:04
4. "Black Juju" (Dunaway) – 9:09

[edit] Side Two

1. "Is It My Body" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) – 2:39
2. "Hallowed Be My Name" (Smith) – 2:29
3. "Second Coming" (Cooper) – 3:04
4. "Ballad of Dwight Fry" (Cooper, Bruce) – 6:33
5. "Sun Arise" (Harry Butler, Rolf Harris) – 3:50

2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

Bruce pretty much pwns

xpost

Fucking awesome the band is going in. I said "Tipton" up before, obviously I meant Buxton. RIP

yeah for a minute there I was like wait there was a guy who was in both Alice Cooper AND Judas Priest?! lol

Been listening to promos of this 66-74 box set. Most of it is pretty sketchy - lots of missable demos, snippets from the studio (how many times is anyone going to listen to tracking of the kids' chorus on School's Out?), radio ads – but there's a killer disc of a 72 live show: bootleg quality sound, really sloppy, sometimes you can barely hear the voice, but it outright rocks. A brutal Halo of Flies therein.

Am going to see him at the 100 Club tomorrow - couldn't be dragged to an arena, but excited about seeing him in a place where the back wall is 25ft from the stage. And hoping that if he's promoting the box, it's going to be a set of Killer/Love It To Death rather than hair metal.

shit had no idea about that 100 club show :-(

Great garage band show last night: 75 mins, no props apart from the boa. Johnny Depp played rhythm on Eighteen and School's Out. Mercifully light on hair metal, heavy on Brit invasion covers.

1. Train Kept A Rollin'
2. Under My Wheels
3. No More Mr. Nice Guy
4. Is It My Body ?
5. Brown Sugar
6. I'll Bite Your Face Off (new song: fitted in fine with the rest of the set)
7. Muscle Of Love
8. Cold Ethyl
9. Billion Dollar Babies
10. Back In The USSR
11. Poison
12. You Really Got Me
13. I'm Eighteen
14. Schools Out
15. Elected
16. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
17. Fire

Great set list!

Is that Hendrix's "Fire" or Arthur Brown's?

Hendrix.

Ah! The Arthur Brown one would be right up his street though.

In the book Billion Dollar Baby, Alice recounts how "Stand By Your Fire" (sic) was a staple in the early days (pre-Spiders/Nazz) version of the band.

Do you have a copy of that book?

I'm seeing him on 8/15 at a small community theater in Morristown, NJ. Very jacked up!

Pretties For You still my favorite Alice Cooper album ever. I have a huge soft spot for late-60s goofy/badass psychedelic rock.

Do you have a copy of that book?

yes, my second one, actually...bought my first copy back when it came out, loaned it to a jr. high school friend and never saw it again...several years ago I found another copy rummaging through a thrift shop in upstate NY...I sure hope he plays a club gig in Boston this summer...I'm fully prepared to blows $200 on that box set this week when it comes out...

also, relative to that book, which details the Muscle of Love tour, it is absolutely AMAZING that tours of that magnitude could be organized and executed without cell phones and ATMs!

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION:

I intend to "blow" $200, and when I say that "I sure hope he plays a club gig in Boston this summer", I am referring to the Coop, not my jr. high school friend who never gave me the book back...

that book's hard to find. ive always wanted to read it.

Alice Cooper on latest Top Gear was hilares, driving a Kia around and referring to the gearbox as 'dyslexic'

He really pisses me off on his radio show, still love the 70s records and would see him at a club date, but I doubt he's coming to Mid-Missouri

What does he do on his radio show that pisses you off?

my guess:

tells kids to stay in school, votes republican, complains about Marilyn Manson

He votes republican on his show?

the magic of radio

He acts like he invented rock and roll and assumes his audience has zero knowledge of music and/or the music industry.

Full disclosure: I host a radio program on a community station so I just find his smug self-satisfaction sort of insulting.

He does drop a lot of right wing BS, too.

Unfortunate. Never heard his show. He always seemed like a relatively decent guy to me.

I don't generally sweat the political stuff.

Syndicated all over the country
http://nightswithalicecooper.com/

He always seemed like a relatively decent guy to me.

seriously have no idea what you would base this on, everything I know about him = colossal asshole.

his 70s stuff is awesome obvy

I read his book on golf (laugh all you want). He came across as a decent guy. For me he doesnt come across as an asshole, like say Lars Ulrich or Ted Nugent or even Bruce Dickinson do.

I wouldn't put him quite in that league (altho I dunno what there is to hate about Dickinson?)

He seems like a dick. Maybe he can come off the list. Ulrich and Nugent are enough to get the point across.

Codger, i mean, classic rock is full of tomfool old white guys on the far right. They're the ones who never got invited to play Jackson Browne festivals or No More Nukes. Skunk Baxter was another notorious guitarist to the far right of things. Someone in Montrose, don't remember if it was RM himself or Sammy Hagar, was a gold bug fiat money conspiracy theory kook all wound up
about the US going off the gold standard in 1971.

I don't understand how he could have created this amazing freak persona in the early 1970s and then everything he's said or done since then has been to disown that persona, trying to reassure us all that he's just a regular beer-drinking, golf-playing, prude, Bee Gees-enjoying, conservative family man. It smacks of some kind of guilt complex.

I caught part of Alice's radio show not long ago, and he went on this rant about how rock 'n' roll allows you to sing about whatever you want. OK, sure, but he underscored it by saying, "Don't listen to all those people who say, [adopts whiny voice] 'Let's write songs about flowers!'" All I could think was: who exactly is saying that, Alice?

Bobby Vinton?

Seriously, fucking Vinton has a stranglehold on popular culture right now.

everything he's said or done since then has been to disown that persona, trying to reassure us all that he's just a regular beer-drinking, golf-playing, prude

Well, I got the impression back then that he just wanted to be golf pals in Palm Springs with Bob Hope. And be on Hollywood Squares with Paul Lynde, Joanne Worley and Arte Johnson.

And he was a serious white knuckle alcholic, for a time using it as a de facto endorsement of Budweiser. There were lots of promo photos of him always with Budweiser and even one notably pic of him carrying an entire case as he walked across the runway getting off some tour plane.

Billion Dollar Baby, which I read, did communicate the image that behind the stage shtick, Vince and his bandmates were pretty square middle American guys. There wasn't any revolution on their minds. But Michael
Bruce and ol' AC together could write some catchy hard rock tunes Bob Ezrin was able to
develop on three and a half LPs, the debut on Warners, Killer, Billion Dollar Babies and a bit of Muscle of Love. Plus one classic single, "School's Out" on an album that was crap compared to the others.

The other claim to single fame is "I'm Eighteen." The first two Ezrin-produced albums are
about perfect.

would somebody cop this and tell me if it's any good or exactly what you might expect

http://www.metalmachine.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/AliceCooperW2MNFinalCover.jpg

Cooper’s widely anticipated new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, will be released September 13, 2011, by Universal Music Enterprises. Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum Welcome To My Nightmare album in 1975, the album picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind.

The original release is an all-time rock classic that spawned a worldwide theatrical tour and pioneering U.S. TV special, and certified Alice Cooper as a visionary trailblazer whose influence persists today in rock, metal, pop, punk, theatre, television, film and much more.

More than 35 years later, Alice and Ezrin have resurrected the horror and humor for a new generation.

“This is Alice’s nightmare 35 years later,” explains Alice, “Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we’re not writing for me, we’re writing for Alice. We kept the first Nightmare album very personal to us, on this one we found more humor and we were more open. This was our world and we want to present it to the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went where the lyrics took us.”

There is an array of collaborators on the new album, including original Alice Cooper members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on 3 tracks; global pop superstar Ke$ha, who affectionately calls Alice “dad”; and legendary Alice and Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter, who is part of Alice’s current touring band and featured prominently on the first Nightmare album.
Musically, the album ranges far and wide, from trashing disco to garage punk, pop balladry to a rocking number, very much in the spirit of the Rolling Stones. And then there’s the ballad “Something To Remember Me By,” described by Alice as “the prettiest song we have ever released.”

*groans* the title of this album has a faint whiff of 'naff straight-to-video low budget sequel to Hollywood blockbuster' about it. Part of me is excited (especially at the prospect of the original Alice Cooper band members on there), but mostly I'll be going into this one with caution.

especially at the prospect of the original Alice Cooper band members on there)

^my excitement at the original members is tempered by the inclusion of KeSha

Yeah, I can't deny I have similar feelings over that!

There are some great, great tunes on here, that filthy rock 'n' roll stuff he hasn't done since the early-'70s (the first half rocks), but this album really suffers from the lack of shock rock/psychodrama. It might quote "Steven" in the overture at the beginning, but there's nothing that goes in a similar direction as that song. But it's still his best album since Trash.

But it's still his best album since Trash.

ooh boy ;)

sampling on iTunes now...first track opens with some vocoder/autotune action that sounded awful but then it opens out onto...something that sounds like a left-out ballad from the last Ozzy album

it's safe to say from just a few samples that whatever underlings engineered this for Bob Ezrin have no vision at all, and that Bob Ezrin straight just doesn't give a shit what a record sounds like any more

I saw Alice a couple weeks ago at a small community theater in the town i live in. He was fantastic. he had three guitarists, including Hunter. Nobody from the original band however. It was essentially a greatest hits show, some stuff I didnt expect to hear like "Halo of Flies".

"Halo Of Flies", to me, is the crowning achievement of the original Alice Cooper band, and it's probably the best track Alice Cooper was involved in overall. Amazing track.

That song definitely rules.

i can't stop listening to this super extendo gravedigging version of "is it my body"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRHFIVJtqpc

pls post more awesome live alice cooper youtubes here

that screenshot is him stripping down from his silver hooded jumpsuit to a pink leotard and black tights

you know what's weird is i love "billion dollar babies" but have never bothered listening to any of his other albums. i probably should.

this one is from the same session apparently -- he's still wearing the leotard, but now he has a red hood and a pitchfork

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klbJQrguTV8&feature=related

bodies need rest
we all need our rest

here comes the cake!

speaking of which...
(3:45 onwards)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA3qo5L1eLE

apparently detroit was full of snakes in 1986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yZmOpafga0&feature=related

Glad this thread was revived since I keep forgetting to do it ever since I got a fantastic Alice comp last Saturday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO7-RLbpjHA&feature=fvsr

beheading a mannequin
(some good shots of pre-veneered teeth here, coincidentally)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWU7FxQIsoM

identity cris-es

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--0vdeoudq8&feature=related

bwaaaa was just gonna post the i love the dead video

the silver jumpsuits are killing me

where do i get five

xp - oops that was supposed to say crisis-es
but this is a good opportunity to note that monster dog was written and directed by claudio fragasso, the mad genius who brought us troll 2

i had a leotard/tights combo like that when i took ballet in gradeschool

it was the required uniform!

man, "Identity Crises" sounds like confused early eighties New Pop.

this one is great too
like if the lawrence welk show was for awesome people instead of old people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaOV0XkXwvM&feature=related

want these

http://midnighttosix.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8345d478953ef01310f3e6354970c-800wihttp://midnighttosix.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8345d478953ef0120a8d7a680970b-800wi

ok these are so sick. love the guitar playing/sounds on these too.

What are those two things.

uh just for clarification my "these" was referring to the youtube videos, not to arby's things which i don't know about

The silver jump suits were made by Cyndi Smith, Neal's sister and Dennis Dunaway's wife.

A skilled designer, for sure!!

Alice Cooper is hosting Never Mind The Buzzcocks on BBC2 tonight at 10PM.

"What are those two things"

Following the link back, looks like a couple of boot DVDs, from a company specialising in such things:

http://midnighttosix.typepad.com/midnight_to_six_rare_vide/2010/03/alice-cooper-caught-in-a-dream-19691972.html

http://midnighttosix.typepad.com/midnight_to_six_rare_vide/2010/03/alice-cooper-is-it-my-body-19691972-volume-2.html

Have there been any plans to release remastered editions of the early material? I have Billion Dollar Babies as a deluxe 2cd but haven't come across the earlier 70s lps remastered since the late 80s/early 90s. Or at least not legit world catalogue. Have Flacs of some Japanese remasters but would love a decent cd of Love It To Death & Killer, possibly School's Out.
I know the first 2 of those are classic anyway.
I think the Straight lps were remastered a few years ago, possibly this side of the millenium.

Not been sure when he fell off/jumped the shark. But was pleasantly surprised by Killer which I listened to earlier. had mainly been looking out for a decent version of Love It To Death up til then.

I'd say welcome to my nightmare is the last you really need. a few decent singles after that but not many.

I really like Flush The Fashion, but I've never listened to anything from in between Welcome To My Nightmare and that one. Or anything after it really apart from Trash which was massive when I was at school.

xpost OTM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjrgZPhuL9o

Now I'm seriously torn as to whether I should fall asleep to Love It To Death or Wish You Were Here tonight... gah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G-WZK4s0hbY

awesome

I may not see a better thing all week!

has anyone read "billion dollar baby," the bob greene book? it appears to be out of print

That was one of my favourite books about rock music. Such a blast. I read it from the library in the early '90s, and have never seen it since.

i see a couple of torrents of pdfs online so maybe i'll try that when i get home. chicago public library only has one copy and it's in reference (noncirculating).

haven't read the book but man do i love that song!

Dud.
― Omar, Wednesday, February 21, 2001 7:00 PM (12 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wtf

lol ilm 1.0

yeah i swear if you want corny smug opinions on classic rock bands go to any old thread on ilm

Great book. Really makes you appreciate how difficult those big tours must have been to pull off without cell phones, ATMs, etc.

Decided to bump this thread because I've been playing the shit out of his very underappreciated 1983 album DaDa a lot over the last couple of weeks or so and have been wondering to myself why this album hasn't gained the widespread acclaim it deserves in the years since it was released. I guess this album has always been something of a cult favourite within Cooper's own fanbase, but for me it's a record that definitely deserves to be seen as up there with classics such as Welcome To My Nightmare; in fact, DaDa features the same "creative" core as that record of Cooper, guitarist Dick Wagner and producer Bob Ezrin.

The circumstances surrounding the recording of DaDa are pretty well known at this point: it was the last album in Cooper's contract with Warner Brothers, who apparently weren't even expecting an album to be made (allegedly, they thought Cooper was just going to take the advance and not bother to make another record)... according to Dick Wagner (RIP), who probably had the most clearest memory of making the record, everyone involved with the record apparently knew going in that Warner Brothers weren't going to do much in terms of promoting the record, and as such took the opportunity to make something indulgent and without much care as to whether the album was going to sell or not.

The album was also made at a time when Cooper was at his worst in terms of alcohol and substance abuse; he had already been to rehab once for alcoholism, which inspired the From The Inside album. However, during the making of From The Inside, Bernie Taupin introduced Cooper to cocaine, and it was not long before Cooper fell off the wagon completely again. By the time of Zipper Catches Skin (the album preceding DaDa), Cooper was smoking crack. According to Dick Wagner, who was present during the sessions for Zipper Catches Skin, Cooper had a curtain behind his vocal mic in the studio which had a stool and crack pipe behind it, and Cooper and other members of the band would sneak behind the curtain and take hits. Because of these issues with alcohol and substance abuse, Cooper has absolutely no recollection at all of recording three albums: Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin and DaDa.

Where Flush The Fashion, Special Forces and Zipper Catches Skin are an often fun and throwaway blend of then-contemporary new wave and hard rock, DaDa is a far, far, far more serious proposition. Sure, there's no shortage of humour on the record ('I Love America' certainly being one of the most wittiest tracks that Cooper had ever written), but there's something unsettling about much of what is here, whether obviously (as on the title track, which features what sounds like a talking doll saying "dada" over thudding percussion and twinkling keyboards, before introducing a conversation between a doctor and his senile patient) or un-obviously (the way that 'No Man's Land' sounds on the surface like it's a hard rock song about a girl whisking away a guy from his job for "a bit of fun", until you listen closely to the lyrics and realise that not only was his job playing Santa in a mall for the benefit of the kids there, but also he has a multiple personality disorder).

'Former Lee Warmer' and 'Scarlet and Sheba' are both, to me, absolutely Cooper classics, both of which could have fit in snugly on 1975's Welcome To My Nightmare and I wouldn't have batted an eyelid, 'Scarlet and Sheba' especially could have gone onto become a Cooper live favourite, but sadly has never been performed live (in fact, none of the album has)... and certainly there's some great production details here, especially in 'I Love America' with its gunshot noises during the "car sale" spiel and the cavalry noises during the middle section ("here they come!"..."there they go!")

DaDa is also home to one of Cooper's more autobiographical moments in the closing track, 'Pass The Gun Around', in which he directly addresses his drinking problem. In this song, he likens a bottle of vodka to a gun: "pass the gun around/give everyone a shot". Lyrics such as "I wake up watching cartoons, the television's on/there's a couple of party balloons and all my money's gone/she was just a reason to unwind/and actually the last thing I could find" and "I've had so many blackout nights before/I don't think I can take this anymore" definitely display an unhappy mind. The song, predictably, ends with a gunshot (which sounds immense on headphones) and a talking doll saying "dada" as in the opening track, utilising the same "cyclical" device that Ezrin used on Pink Floyd's The Wall. However, this is also quite fitting, as, in a sense it is the sound of Cooper "killing off" this particular era, before cleaning up his act for good and going onto greater commercial success with his subsequent flirtation with pop-metal. I do find it an incredible shame that Cooper never again made a record quite like this, although perhaps this has contributed to DaDa pretty much standing alone in his catalogue.

Also, in some ways it's a shame that Cooper himself doesn't remember a single thing about writing or recording this album, but perhaps that also works in the record's favour. The fact that he is unable to discuss the album from any angle has given the album a sense of mystery which to me (and perhaps others) is quite alluring. I don't think even Bob Ezrin has spoken about this album much, but given that he was a notorious substance abuser at the time, he probably doesn't recall much about the making of the record either.

And the cover artwork is probably the best artwork that has ever graced an Alice Cooper album... seriously!

For those that haven't heard this record and love Cooper's work from 1971-1975, I urge you to give this record a chance. But bear in mind, it's not hard rock, it's not new wave, it's... something else. Definitely a unique record in his discography and one well worth exploring.

Superb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QS7JxxbCOE

has anyone read "billion dollar baby," the bob greene book? it appears to be out of print

― congratulations (n/a), Friday, August 2, 2013 12:08 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ive always wished i could find a copy

I found a copy in a used book store once and got really excited until I saw how much they wanted for it.

really! I have a first edition hardback copy. Is it worth money?

Not tons of money but more than I'd ever pay for a book I planned on reading...right now the cheapest hardback on Amazon is $59.69 and it's missing the dust jacket.

I haven't read the book, but it's something I've wanted to read for a long time now. The fact that the band weren't pleased with its content actually makes me hungrier to read it!

As much as I love some of the stuff that Alice did after the split of the original band (Welcome To My Nightmare and DaDa in particular), I still very much find it a shame that when most people think of Alice Cooper, they think of the man and not the band. That band put out 7 (seven!) albums and were as classic as any classic rock band of the era, in my opinion. Up there with yer Sabbaths, Zeppelins, Purples etc.

Wow, what a stroke of luck that was, managed to find a copy! Looking forward to finally getting around to reading it!

So yeah, finally got around to reading the Bob Greene book and man, was that an eye-opening read. I can totally see why Alice Cooper (the band) ended up splitting up. The impression that I get from reading the book is that they should have taken a much longer break after the Billion Dollar Babies tour to recharge their batteries, rather than pretty much jumping straight into the Muscle Of Love album and tour which by the looks of it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

In summary: Alice is already a huge alcoholic at this point, never without either a beer or some whisky, but remarkably seems to be still quite functional with it all. As the focal point of a band that are succeeding in causing outrage, he naturally has his bodyguard with him at all times. During the tour for Muscle of Love he seems to be getting bored with the stage show (which is near enough the same as the stage show for the Billion Dollar Babies tour), and seems increasingly unenthusiastic about his status as a "shock rocker", although he's still very much into the theatrics. Also, even though he's drinking like there's no tomorrow, he expresses discomfort about his road crew smoking marijuana and during a moment where they're all watching the movie Deep Throat comments "even I think that's obscene, this should be illegal, whatever happened to the meaningful relationship?".

On the other hand, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith are getting sick of the theatrics and are beginning to resent Alice being the focal point of the band and are beginning to feel that the theatrics are beginning to overshadow the music and that Alice himself is beginning to overshadow the rest of the band. There's a moment in the book which captures Bruce and Smith having a discussion where they're clearly fed up of doing the theatrical stage show and want to take it back to basics. Smith also goes postal on a chauffeur for asking him to move to another car so Alice can use the car he's sitting in, and later on Smith gets absolutely hammered and trashes a hotel.

Glen Buxton at this point is barely able to function, and the band seem incredibly tired of his presence and clearly want to fire him. He doesn't socialise with the rest of the band and stays out the way doing drugs in his hotel room.

The only member of the band that comes out of it looking any good is Dennis Dunaway, who seems to be calm in the face of all the madness that's going on around him.

Man i gotta get a copy of that

I saw the recent "Super Dooper Alice Cooper" film which was pretty good. The only weird thing is that even though it spends a vast majority on the AC Band years, Michael Bruce is not mentioned once. The guy only wrote all the goddamn songs, it made no sense.

Yeah, that's true! Like you said, it makes absolutely no sense because he was responsible for a large amount of Alice Cooper classics. Incidentally, I read an old interview with Neal Smith where he complains about people calling the band "The Alice Cooper Group" or "The Alice Cooper Band"... there seems to be this bitterness that still exists over Alice Cooper being the name of the band, a name which was subsequently hijacked by the lead vocalist changing his name to Alice Cooper, dumping the group and going solo.

The thing is, there's nothing more that I'd love to refer to the band solely as "Alice Cooper", but it would make talking to people who are unaware of the difference between Alice Cooper "the band" and Alice Cooper "the solo artist" a total ballache. I feel sorry for the other members of the band, to be honest.

wait isn't he Furnier credited as "Alice Cooper" on those early record sleeves

like I thought that name change happened before he dumped the band

Yeah. He didn't change his name until 1972.

Incidentally, I read an old interview with Neal Smith where he complains about people calling the band "The Alice Cooper Group" or "The Alice Cooper Band"... there seems to be this bitterness that still exists over Alice Cooper being the name of the band, a name which was subsequently hijacked by the lead vocalist changing his name to Alice Cooper, dumping the group and going solo.

^Dickie Betts always had the same problem with the name "Allman Brothers Band". I guess he was originally for it, but after Duane died it kind of made Gregg de facto leader even though Dickie was the musical force of the band.

Dave Gilmour should've changed his name to Pink Floyd

around 1980 or so

Yeah, it's true that Mr. Furnier was credited as "Alice Cooper" on the sleeves of the albums well before the band disintegrated, but Vincent Furnier was still his legal name. He had his name legally changed to Alice Cooper in 1974 (the same year the band disintegrated), so Alice Cooper has actually been his legal, official name since then.

So yeah, I mean, even though he was known as Alice Cooper, the lead singer of the five-piece rock band Alice Cooper, he didn't have his name legally changed to his stage name until some point after Muscle of Love and before his first solo album Welcome To My Nightmare. I guess in a way this could be seen as him legally hijacking the name of the band, even though he was already known by that name.

^Dickie Betts always had the same problem with the name "Allman Brothers Band". I guess he was originally for it, but after Duane died it kind of made Gregg de facto leader even though Dickie was the musical force of the band.

― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Thursday, December 18, 2014 9:21 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah... I mean, Michael Bruce obviously had a large hand in writing a lot of Cooper classics, and I think most fans recognise this. Hell, he deserves all the acclaim in the world for writing the music to 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' alone! Let's not forget though, the contributions of the other guys: before Glen Buxton started getting too fucked up to play, he wrote the main riff to 'School's Out'! 'Billion Dollar Babies' (the song) wouldn't have existed if Neal Smith hadn't come up with that main drum part first, and Dennis Dunaway single-handedly came up with 'Black Juju'. That band had such an underrated rhythm section too: Smith's drumming on 'Billion Dollar Babies' and Dunaway's bass playing in general, but particularly on 'Gutter Cat vs. The Jets'. Sure, Furnier may have had a large hand in lyrics/concepts/the visual side, and producer Bob Ezrin more than played his part too as an arranger, but musically that band were definitely a unit, and it's such a shame that when people hear the name Alice Cooper, they think of one person and not the incredibly talented, incredibly classic five-piece band.

And sure, Furnier may have struck it lucky with Welcome To My Nightmare, and I still believe DaDa to be an incredibly underrated and classic record (both records driven by Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner as much as Furnier), but when you go to see him live, large portions of his set are songs from when he was the lead singer of the band and not a solo artist.

I guess in a way this could be seen as him legally hijacking the name of the band, even though he was already known by that name.

it's p obvious as a legal move - at the same time, I would say the groundwork for that was pretty clearly laid by appearing publicly as "Alice Cooper" as part of a band that also happens to be called "Alice Cooper". Inviting that kind of confusion was clearly to his personal advantage.

Oh yeah, there's a laugh-out-loud funny moment in the Bob Greene book. He's sitting with Glen Buxton in his hotel room, and Buxton is showing Greene some the poems and writings and stuff in his notebook, and suddenly Buxton says something along the lines of "oh, some of the messages I write in there are in code, so if says 'buy Cocaine' it means I need to pick up the groceries" (!!!)

This conversation takes place near the end of the tour, and it says a lot that Buxton actually has no idea that Greene has been on the whole tour, such is his disconnect from the rest of the band and the situation in general.

man that book must be rare. we have a great library system in minneapolis, they do have a copy but it's listed a "library use only" meaning you can read it there but you can't check it out

found a couple of shady download links...but there is this:

it's a site where you can download stuff if you get a paid membership, but there is in-browser reader that you can make full screen and read the whole thing it looks like, not the most fun way to read but i checked and it goes $60 and up online

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/62794170/BILLION-DOLLAR-BABIES-by-Bob-Greene-an-Alice-Cooper-biography-BILLION-DOLLAR-BABIES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVHUyDxmi_Q&list=RDJVHUyDxmi_Q

VH1 Classic showed Super Duper Alice Cooper last night. It's a pretty great documentary, especially if you dig the Alice Cooper (the band, not the man) period.

Dang, looks like it was showing again at 7:00PM tonight, don't know if they will show it again, don't see it on the schedule.

Definitely dig the band and think they were undersung. Always think the same thing about Elton John's classic lineup. Obviously that is a much different situation in terms of who was doing the songwriter, but in terms of a band that played well together and made great records, well..

Complete Warner Bros. Studio Albums Box: http://www.amazon.com/Studio-Albums-1969-1983-CAB-15/dp/B00ZGVMKU6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436212419&sr=1-1&keywords=alice+cooper+box+set

damn it. I don't have the later stuff but I don't need to replace the early stuff either. Grr.

Looks like this is the 2011 Japanese remasters, at least for all the stuff through the 70s. Ugh. No money.

Found some money. Box set arrived today.

So our own EZ Snappin there was a little bit of history tonight...

https://twitter.com/EZSnappin/status/651598763157381120

https://twitter.com/EZSnappin/status/651599309297709057

https://twitter.com/EZSnappin/status/651606411059707904

And some more:

https://twitter.com/RobertWilonsky/status/651599023820832768

https://twitter.com/RobertWilonsky/status/651604977136177153

AT a little bit of history, but sure he's a little bit of history now too!

This was amazing. Don't know what else to say.

What'd they play?

Erik, you lucky bastard! Jealousy doesn't even cover it... what did they play!?

Alice Cooper = one of the best bands of the '70s, full stop.

Wooooooooah

So is Glen Buxton still alive?

No ;_;

Setlist:

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/alice-cooper/2015/good-records-dallas-tx-73f40e01.html

Report:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/alice-cooper-band-reunion/

And a Periscope:

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1DXGywbpWMkxM

And another report:

http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/alice-cooper-played-a-surprise-reunion-with-his-original-band-at-good-records-7663648

Apparently they've done this at the Cooperstown restaurant in recent years

Interesting. Michael, Neal and Dennis told the crowd it was the first time the three of them had all been together since the Hall of Fame induction.

who's the lead guitarist?

Apparently they've done this at the Cooperstown restaurant in recent years

― Comme Si, Kamasi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, October 7, 2015 2:44 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That was 16 years ago!

23rd October 1999: CoopersTown, Phoenix
16th December 2010: Dodge Theatre, Phoenix
14th March 2011: Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame
11th May 2011: Battersea Power Station, London
6th October 2015: Dallas, Texas

11th May 2011: Battersea Power Station, London

That wasn't a proper gig but some kind of "hologram" live broadcast.

who's the lead guitarist?

Ryan Roxie from the current Alice Cooper lineup.

makes sense. must have been a thrill for him.

have you got the time to tell me did they play "is it my body?"

They did. It was awesome.

Looks like they joined Alice for his set tonight opening for Motley Crue. I would totally go if they toured.

omg
did they do the extended "goin' to the graveyard" part or the album version?

I think it was just the shorter version.

Set list:

Caught in a Dream (sung by Michael)

Alice then joined them:

Be My Lover
I'm Eighteen
Is It My Body
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
School's Out

Encore:

Elected

shut up

elected!!

Which he ended by urging us all to vote as long as it wasn't for him.

Full set is up. A little rocky, especially at the start, but once Alice comes out it's a lot of fun.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sQuYnldPlqY

Whenever I get on a kick of listening to those Alice Cooper albums from 1971-1974, I always find myself thinking that it was a shame that a band that good didn't get back together after a temporary break. I often wonder how many great albums they had in them, and whether Muscle of Love (as much as I love the highlights of that record) would have been just a temporary dip.

Alice's dip into addiction and Bernie Taupin might've just meant we got the same albums with a better backing band

Hmm. I guess the lyrics could have had some of the same themes but musically they would have been very different, definitely. I couldn't imagine Bruce/Buxton/Dunaway/Smith going for some of the disco/funk type of tracks that ended up on Goes To Hell and I definitely can't imagine the original band going "new wave" as Alice did in the early '80s. There may have been some wet ballads, but on the whole I think the LP's would have rocked and had interesting musical passages.

I love a good alternate universe thought experiment, too, but how many hard rock bands made it past '74 without succumbing to some dumb fads or attempts at commercial accessibility?

Well yeah, I'm sure you could look at the discographies of various hard rock bands and point to a moment or two where they attempted to have a go at then-popular styles, it's just that I find it difficult to imagine the original band attempting to play funk or making an album like, say, Moving Pictures.

I think '75 and '76 were great years for hard rock, myself. '78 an underrated year, too.

The Strand has a pile of signed copies of Dennis Dunaway's book.

My piece about the reunion show went up today at Noisey:

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/surprise-alice-cooper-reunion

Man!

Listening to 'Dead Babies' right now and thinking "christ, how goth/post-punk is that bassline?"

That song always strikes me as pretty Beatle-esque. Something about the harmonies.

Yeah that song is so goth. Tied with Black Sabbath's "Born Again" for gothest songs by heavy rockers.

Finally saw "Good To See You Again" which is now on some streaming service. I can't believe it hasn't come up more here. The non-concert parts are terrible, though in a funny way, but the actual music footage is insanely good.

Lot of weird stuff in that stage act, like roadies running on stage and pretending to fight. So right about the comedy bits in that movie. Painful to watch! Whoever made that film probably thought they were making the next "Head."

'Lace and Whiskey' and 'Alice Cooper Goes to Hell' are pretty much show tunes for an unmade John Carpenter musical. Very strange, I can see why the hard rockers went WTF at the time.

Back in the late 80s I used to frequent this rock and roll tshirt/head shop and the crusty dude that owned it and the guy from the health foods store next door used to hold court telling the young ones how it is. Those two guys loved Alice Cooper and pretty much hated everything after 'Welcome to My Nightmare' with a passion. Kinda weird to finally get around to hearing the records 30 years later and getting "I can see why you did not like 'em."

That said, they do have a car wreck interest, so I will probably listen to them again.

Sinatra covered "I Love The Dead" "You And Me".

Heard "Is It My Body?" while shopping for groceries today. It was very weird.

haha wow that is an odd one

I assume it segued into Dead Babies

Lol
I think it segued into "I Can See for Miles" tbh

"Is It My Body?" is in my top 3 Alice Cooper songs so I was excited to hear it.

Never a bad day to repost this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vozLrSIrtU

i love that version and i wish the album version, as good as it is, had the breakdown in it

even though it seems like he's ad-libbing the lyrics during that whole part

the ad libbing is so great!! the dig at your bones ---> just might be my owowowowowowowowowown-whoaaaaa-own part definitely belongs in every version of this song, not just this bizarro live tv version

goddamn that clip smokes

you mean smocks

smocks in frocks

I now must listen to Love It To Death immediately. What a great band Alice Cooper were.

1971 they were hungry, confident and best rock band in the world.

Killer vs Love it to Death is such a close call, both are pretty much perfect

Yes! I have to strain a bit to enjoy Schools Out, and strain more as the theatrics thicken.

top tier: Killer, Love it to Death
2nd tier: School's Out, Easy Action
3rd tier: Billion Dollar Babies, Pretties for You
after that you're on your own

is how i break it down to an extent

Top tier: Love it to Death, Killer, Billion Dollar Babies
Second tier: School's Out
Third tier: Muscle of Love
Not a fan at all: Easy Action, Pretties For You

yep thats pretty much it. Billion Dollar Babies is peak pop Alice for me. intro to the title track is maybe my fave rock intro ever?!?

Billion Dollar Babies is top tier imo
The songs aren't all good but the really good ones (including title track, Hello Hooray) always put me in a good mood. LOVE Hello Hooray!!!

hmmm, upon reflection I am moving Billion Dollar Babies to 2nd tier

we'll be releasing a full statement later today :)

I think Easy Action is great I don't get why ppl diss it

and obv these are all really great records

GOD I FEEL SO STROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG
i love Hello Hooray
i was obsessed with that song for a while and the different versions of it. alice's is best imo. i would like to hear bob pollard give it a crack.

haha oh god yeah hello hooray chorus is totally GBV i never thought of that

even the "let the lights grow dim -- i've been ready" part sounds like BP's singing/songwriting to me

and yes i know Alice Cooper did not write it but his version is best as i previously mentioned

the original is not even close to AC's version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FLEvosGeHA

If we're including solo Alice, hen Welcome to My Nightmare and DaDa are easy inclusions in the top tier for me.

I'm not much into 1976-1979 Alice. The coked up New Wave blackout years (1980-1982) are far more interesting, if spotty. I like some tracks from the hair metal period (1986-1991) although not entire albums. I suspect only the real absolute die hards are familiar with his work after 1994.

Huh, I've never heard that version of 'Hello Hooray' until now... I've heard the 1968 Judy Collins version (which is where I think Cooper/Ezrin got the song) and it really is nothing like Cooper's. They really made that song their own.

great album opener too

I have to strain a bit to enjoy Schools Out, and strain more as the theatrics thicken.

― eva logorrhea (bendy), Tuesday, December 18, 2018 2:16 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

School's Out was a bit of a departure for them in many ways - the rock gets toned down a touch and it starts to get a little more theatrical (hammered home by the brief West Side Story cover and things like 'Blue Turk' and 'Grande Finale') and there's more contributions from session musicians and more emphasis on production. It feels less sinister than the LP's before it and even the one after.

However! Dunaway's bass playing throughout is stunning and 'My Stars' is one of the very best Cooper songs, IMO.

even the "let the lights grow dim -- i've been ready" part sounds like BP's singing/songwriting to me

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, December 18, 2018 9:32 AM (thirty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah totally has that amthemic GBV vibe

Has there been an Alice Cooper artist poll on here yet?

Top tier: Love it to Death, Killer, Billion Dollar Babies
Second tier: Easy Action, School's Out
Third tier: Muscle of Love, Pretties For You

man, its so peculiar to me that anyone after the fact thinks that this band was at any time "the best rock band in the world," or even particularly good. Neal Smith, Buxton…fuck, all of the four instrumentalists' shit is pretty weak. Grand Funk and this band got the payday and acclaim that I would rather the Stooges and MC5 received. I watch that footage upthread, and I'm forever waiting around for this band to be revealed as the American Sabbath. But I always end up thinking it was correct for him to leave those guys behind, and I don't believe there's any other circumstance where I agree with "you're the star, you're the one with talent, ditch those losers." I'm surely the only ILMnik who thinks KIss is a sesquidillion times better than the Alice Cooper band.

I hope you are! Neal Smith was a great drummer and Dunaway churned out great bassline after great bassline, Glen Buxton was no virtuoso admittedly.

... Michael Bruce, good songwriter.

Yeah, Cooper's rhythm section was truly great and Michael Bruce was largely responsible for a lot of the evergreen Cooper classics that the solo Alice would never dream of leaving out of his live set.

Also, when listening to 'Halo of Flies', the band that I'm hearing doesn't square up with what veronica moser is saying/describing at all.

Ok so you're calling the Cooper band weak instrumentalists then stumping for KISS who were completely horseshit musicians except maybe sober Ace

he do scales

KISS are the single most overrated American hard rock band of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uep1pgOUyr0

Listening a really nice 1st press Love It To Death I got for a song rn. Having never really gone post the hits until recently, I'm amazed how garage-y they still were. Perhaps the most Nuggets-ish of all the big early Hard Rock/Metal bands? "Black Juju" could pass for the Chocolate Watchband!

Absolutely! Garage-y while still having a decent degree of musicianship, I think, particularly the rhythm section of Dunaway and Smith. Bob Ezrin really worked wonders in keeping this band focused - apparently, he helped to tighten up 'I'm Eighteen' a great deal for one. I like Welcome to My Nightmare and - much later - DaDa a lot as "solo" Cooper collaborations with Ezrin and Dick Wagner, but I wish the band would have just taken a year off and realised that the theatrics were as much a part of the bands identity as the music.

Bob Ezrin fingerprints are on the mixing board when the classic lineups of Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd came apart (at least for the first time).

You mean, Bob "Yoko" Ezrin.

Spotted on FB: Glenn Buxton's 18th birthday. Guy on the left is you-know-who.

https://scontent.fhou1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/64569208_10219751299196630_94425684931248128_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_oc=AQmAphh-XUP2NCoMyV0Jss4uPI5suQ8PukDC7kZWw1z9cxwZnKsgAvv0Fk6SGt0ZceE&_nc_ht=scontent.fhou1-1.fna&oh=96b5554d9614883b4da46507f9d0944a&oe=5D96B1BF

Vince?

Vince Before Alice.

looking like a member of Wall of Voodoo

Ha!

Lots of jams imo.

good list

I just checked Wiki and goddamn does Alice Cooper have a lot of albums I never knew about

Coop might be a great candidate for a listening thread actually

listening to Dirty Diamonds from 2003, this is kinda...awesome?

I just checked it out on Youtube (it's a bit spotty w/some "you can't watch this in your country" omissions) and you're right! Rough production that doesn't sound like 256 overdubbed guitars with the treble rolled off and a few really strong tracks.

yeah I mean not like an early 70s record but I was pretty impressed

New single: "Don't Give Up"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__YxWnRACxI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKO6zKPfb8A

The Alice Cooper Band in Diary of A Mad Housewife

oh wow the end of that clip rules

Dennis Dunaway wrote about this in his book. Apparently that's olive oil that Alice is hosing down the crowd with, so that the feathers would stick to their clothes.

Kinda hard to imagine Richard Benjamin as an Alice Cooper fan.

Definitely more of a Leo Sayer guy.

We know Neil Young watched this movie at the time, wonder what he made of that scene?

I think the Cooper group lived in Topanga Canyon at this time, so Neil was probably well aware of their antics.

He tried to persuade Crosby to tear up a pillow onstage.

XP...and David Briggs produced their second album.

Drummer Neal Smith later said of the record producer David Briggs, "David hated our music and us. I recall the term that he used, referring to our music, was 'Psychedelic Shit'. I think Easy Action sounded too dry, more like a TV or radio commercial and he did not help with song arrangement or positive input in any way."

Pretty amazing, the progress they made going from Briggs to Ezrin.

The same year, Briggs worked well with Spirit on Twelve Dreams of Doctor Sardonicus, which was pretty psychedelic, although I'm sure they were more instrumentally competent than the Alice Cooper band at that point.

Just watched that “Super duper Alice Cooper”

The first half was quite interesting, up to the ‘band’ splitting. The descent and recovery of his solo years managed to gloss over all his ‘solo’stuff in favour of pics with Sinatra and Dali and his eventual “nightmare 2” show, but hey..

Alice Cooper on The Snoop Sisters (one of the revolving programs that fell under the NBC Mystery Movie umbrella alongside Columbo and Quincy):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubIQeWtmK9o

The descent and recovery of his solo years managed to gloss over all his ‘solo’stuff in favour of pics with Sinatra and Dali and his eventual “nightmare 2” show, but hey..

It can be a challenge to talk about albums when the artist doesn't remember making them...

I saw him on that Special Forces tour and man, what a wreck he was in those days. At least on the From The Inside tour he had that just-out-of-rehab energy. Just a couple years later he was a virtually unrecognizable wraith.

I've read a few online reviewers who admire those early 80s records (which I haven't heard), is that a defensible position?

I quite liked Flush The Fashion, but had and have no use for Special Forces. I don't think I've ever heard Dada.

Flush The Fashion was easily better than the (3?) studio albums that preceded it - From The Inside, Lace And Whiskey, Goes To Hell.

Classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJpqK8ZZbaA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDgNNbyoWdk

This changed my life trajectory when I saw it as a nine year old.

Forgot the best one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz0lXNNkqac

I've read a few online reviewers who admire those early 80s records (which I haven't heard), is that a defensible position?

I like them. DaDa is a weird, dark fuckin' album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7rnFIsoYbM

Yes, Dada's pretty good.

Flush The Fashion is one of my favourite Alice Cooper albums, but Special Forces is weak. Haven't heard Dada actually.

Cooper reportedly has no recollection of recording DaDa, or the preceding albums Special Forces and Zipper Catches Skin, due to substance abuse. Cooper stated "I wrote them, recorded them and toured them and I don't remember much of any of that",[8] though he toured only Special Forces.[9] In 1996 Cooper said that DaDa was the scariest album he ever made,[10] and that he never had any idea what it was about. There was no tour to promote DaDa, and none of its songs have ever been played live.

Dick Wagner and Bob Ezrin really held DaDa together, and they created one hell of a creepy album. As far as theatrical "shock rock" goes, I'd list this LP right up there with Coop's best. "Pass the Gun Around" is particularly unsettling.