Flush the Fashion
Release Date: April 28, 1980
Highest US Chart: #44
Tracks: Talk Talk * Clones (We're All) * Pain * Leather Boots * Aspirin Damage * Nuclear Infected * Grim Facts * Model Citizen * Dance Yourself to Death * Headlines
Since the past few middle-of-the-road productions had failed to light a sales spark, Cooper decided to try New Wave. Boosted by a great single “Clones” the album did chart higher than “From the Inside” but it still wasn’t able to put Alice back into the major leagues.
The LP opens with 2 fantastic covers - Music Machine’s “Talk, Talk” and “Clones” (with that bitchin’ sci-fi synth riff played by Fred Mandel). Both are the kind of tunes that force you to rock in your chair or tap your toes, very catchy and cool. The 3rd track is an original (and more old school Alice than new wave) - “Pain” is one of Cooper’s best; lyric and melody are strong as is AC's expressive vocals, and for a while I thought there was the makings of another classic; but then the record finishes up with a string of nice though rather slight numbers. “Aspirin Damage” for example is cute, with funny lyrics, but it’s not a heavy hitter like the opening 3.
"Grim Facts" is my favorite from side 2, though Roy Thomas Baker (The Cars) strips a bit of the guts out of it, the tune could use a little dirt thrown on it, make it a bit meaner, tougher. It's emblematic of the production overall, which was rather bloodless... but that's new wave for you.
Fashion runs short, clocking in under 29 minutes, so it leaves me wanting more (and according to co-songwriter Fred Mandel in Chris Sutton's book, Alice Cooper in the 80s, there was more. He had a ballad titled "It Rains" and another, called, "My Machine". Also, Prettiest Cop and Don't Talk Old to Me were planned for this one, but both were pulled and used instead on "Forces").
Anyhoo; It's difficult to pinpoint my issues with the release; it's not the style, I like the style, and there's really not a bad song in the mix, nothing I skip, but it feels like it's filled with B-sides, entertaining and listenable, but truly, only the first 3 tracks and Grim Facts deliver the A-game.
Still, it ushers Cooper into the 80s on a decent note.
Note: Alice was friends with Sid and Marty Krofft and as a favor to them he submitted a performance of the song Clones for use in their short-lived variety show, "Pink Lady and Jeff". It was shown in the 5th and final episode (there was an unaired 6th). Cooper doesn't look good, or comfortable, and the show is... yikes, but it's posted at YouTube if you're interested.
Note 2: On June 13, the film Roadie was released. Alice, as himself, plays the object of affection of the female lead. While the picture was filmed before Flush, Cooper performs Pain, so he had that song in the bank and ready to go. He also does Road Rats and a bit of Only Women Bleed.
Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD
🐍🐍🐍½
Special Forces
Release Date: September 1, 1981
Highest US Chart: #125
Tracks: Who Do You Think We Are * Seven & Seven Is * Prettiest Cop on the Block * Don't Talk Old to Me * Generation Landslide '81 (Live) * Skeletons in the Closet * You Want It, You Got It * You Look Good in Rags * You're a Movie * Vicious Rumors
The next few releases are kind of Alice’s lost years. I remember these records just popping up on store shelves; I don’t recall any advance notice or heavy promotion (I know he went on Tom Snyder, for this, but I don't recall seeing it). The albums, especially Zipper and DaDa, came and went quietly.
Forces sports one of the ugliest covers and Alice -who took a tumble into drug abuse, to go along with his alcoholism- looks terrible. He was rail thin and appeared near death in pictures and interviews I’d seen of him in this time span. He was in such bad shape that he says he doesn't even remember making this or the following 2 releases and refers to them as the "blackout albums".
Musically it's an oddball, standing out as its own unique entity, even among the 4 grouped here. Alice was into the mag, "Soldier of Fortune", which acted as an inspiration conceptually (and explains the guns, helicopters and marching boots heard here and there). He's also working with a new band, with a sound that is thin and punky, and songs that are idiosyncratic. It opens with 2 outstanding numbers: The intense and driving “Who Do You Think We Are”, and the cover of Love's “Seven and Seven Is”, with its rapid-fire drums and synths, but it gets spotty thereafter (including an unnecessary and sorry remake/rewrite of Generation Landslide (not actually live as advertised).
Forces sports one of the ugliest covers and Alice -who took a tumble into drug abuse, to go along with his alcoholism- looks terrible. He was rail thin and appeared near death in pictures and interviews I’d seen of him in this time span. He was in such bad shape that he says he doesn't even remember making this or the following 2 releases and refers to them as the "blackout albums".
Musically it's an oddball, standing out as its own unique entity, even among the 4 grouped here. Alice was into the mag, "Soldier of Fortune", which acted as an inspiration conceptually (and explains the guns, helicopters and marching boots heard here and there). He's also working with a new band, with a sound that is thin and punky, and songs that are idiosyncratic. It opens with 2 outstanding numbers: The intense and driving “Who Do You Think We Are”, and the cover of Love's “Seven and Seven Is”, with its rapid-fire drums and synths, but it gets spotty thereafter (including an unnecessary and sorry remake/rewrite of Generation Landslide (not actually live as advertised).
The repetitive You Want It and Skeletons are wispy bits of fluff, as is the amusing You're a Movie. A step up from them are the kinetic, Prettiest Cop (those irritating cymbals, however, uhg) and Vicious Rumors. Though only, Don't Talk Old to Me, and its neat, rather staccato, off beat drum-to-guitar pattern, and You Look Good in Rags, with its familiar Blondie guitar riff, come close to the bright pulse heard on the 2 opening tracks.
My memories of this album? It was distinctive but rather passionless. It didn’t fire me up, and it didn’t stay in my record player for very long. Today? About the same, decent, but not a powerhouse.
Note: It had another song listed on the back cover, "Look at You Over There, Ripping the Sawdust from My Teddybear", which was removed by Cooper before the release, as he felt it didn't fit with the overall theme. After hearing it on "The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper" box set, I discovered I wasn't missing anything.
Note 2: A video special, Alice Cooper à Paris was filmed and shown (though not aired in the States), and later, a single, For Britan Only was released in the UK as a thank you for supporting the tour. It doesn't sound anything like a Forces track, more like a late 80s number.
Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, Amazon digital
🐍🐍🐍
And then there's this rare bird, where did it come from, and how did it make its way into the world? Acetates are early test pressings which allows an artist a chance to evaluate what he has, and what he might want to change; they're not intended for public ears. With that in mind, what you're hearing here is raw, and certain effects and instruments are missing - the lead guitar solo, and added drums when Cooper does his "Oom-baby's", are absent from Seven and Seven Is, for one; the marching in You're a Movie, for another. Despite that, I prefer this version.
The sound is crisp, more vibrant and less muffled, the mix wide open, the guitars aren't buried, there's lyrical clarity, and that's very much a positive, you can hear things you couldn't on the official release. Even the lesser numbers come alive and are improved.
The sound is crisp, more vibrant and less muffled, the mix wide open, the guitars aren't buried, there's lyrical clarity, and that's very much a positive, you can hear things you couldn't on the official release. Even the lesser numbers come alive and are improved.
Honestly, while Alice has expressed a desire to re-record some albums or songs, I don't think that's necessary, not when a remix would do the job just as well. With Forces, you have the immediacy and electricity of the acetate as your model, fold in the missing elements - the leads, the intro, but don't overproduce, make sure the details remain, and voilà, you have yourself a real ass kicker.
As it stands, I'll give this a 🐍🐍🐍 ½
As it stands, I'll give this a 🐍🐍🐍 ½
Zipper Catches Skin
Release Date: August 25, 1982
Highest US Chart: Did Not Chart
Tracks: Zorro's Ascent * Make That Money (Scrooge's Song) * I Am the Future * No Baloney Homosapiens * Adaptable (Anything for You) * I Like Girls * Remarkably Insincere * Tag, You're It * I Better Be Good * I'm Alive (That Was the Day My Dead Pet Returned to Save My Life)
Here is another album that just popped up one day. I bought it and liked it, much better than Special Forces. While Alice is still going through a dangerous run with substance abuse and has little memory of the writing and recording, he doesn't sound disconnected here, there's a liveliness and a real sense of playful humor. Plus, Dick Wagner made his return and is credited as co-songwriter on tracks 2,4, 9 & 10, so that's an added spice.
The title might very well be a nod to Zappa (Weasels Ripped My Flesh) and I like the much-maligned cover. It’s only the lyrics, but a smudge of blood highlights the title (a rather new waveish, anti-cover, type of thing, akin to the essay on XTCs "Go To").
The title might very well be a nod to Zappa (Weasels Ripped My Flesh) and I like the much-maligned cover. It’s only the lyrics, but a smudge of blood highlights the title (a rather new waveish, anti-cover, type of thing, akin to the essay on XTCs "Go To").
Alice doesn’t sing much, he rather sing/speaks most of the songs, and lyrically it's off its a nut - an example of that? The screwy rhyme from "Adaptable", "Now, you ain't no Hepburn, and I ain't no Fonda, but if you were drownin', In Golden Ponda".
The LP hits the ground running with tunes marked by memorable guitar work from Billy Steele (whose lead evokes a sense of adventure in "Zorro"), and Dick Wagner's super-charged licks on "Make that Money". Though, considering what happened with the last 2 releases this isn’t exactly a good sign. But fear not, each number is entertaining, aurally irresistible, and skillfully and soundly put together.
Other highlights? The Waitresses Patty Donahue lends delightful vocal support to "I Like Girls". There's the horror movie inspired “Tag, Your It”, with its marching snare, sound effects, and an electric guitar taking the role usually reserved for the keyboard in scary film scores. And if “I Am the Future” seems a bit out of place, it’s because it was written for the movie “Class of ‘84” (still, it’s a good one).
I'm also a fan of Jan Uvena's work, especially on "No Baloney" (which possibly received a shot in the arm from Craig Krampf's percussions). In my experiences in the studio, there'd be instances where a producer would dampen the drums (for good reason), but at times I'd think, but no, I liked that SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! there, it sounds like a punch from Bruce Lee - well, you get plenty of SNAP on Skin.
Zipper might not break into my Top 10, but I feel it's an underrated goodie. Like co-producer Erik Scott said, it's lean, stripped down, low on frills, punkish and bratty.
Note: There was no supporting tour, though he did film a television commercial to promote the album (but did it ever air?)
This was Cooper's first producers' credit, partnering on that job with his bassist, who was with him on the last album, as well as the Fashion tour.
Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, iTunes
🐍🐍🐍🐍
DaDa
Release Date: September 28, 1983
Highest US Chart: Did Not Chart
Tracks: DaDa * Enough’s Enough * Former Lee Warmer * No Man's Land * Dyslexia * Scarlet and Sheba * I Love America * Fresh Blood * Pass the Gun Around
Producer Bob Ezrin returns and, with co-writer Dick Wagner, helps create a refreshingly superb LP, the most consistently great album from AC in the decade. DaDa is character driven, generally dark and often eerie: As with the creepy little girl's voice repeating the words “DaDa” as the drums pound like a heartbeat; or the frightening tale of “Former Lee Warmer” - a cannibal locked up in an attic (as one writer proposed) or a story about split personality (you decide)? And the horror of alcoholism is powerfully tackled in “Pass the Gun Around” (a number bolstered by indelible musical phrasing, and Wagner's poignant call and response guitar solo).
Beyond those titles I dug the sweeping ode to masochism “Scarlet and Sheba” (which were names Dick and Alice gave two Toronto waitresses who worked at the hotel lounge where they were staying), I adore how towering and dramatic it is, and the Middle Eastern flavoring woven throughout. “I Love America” is hysterical and is pure mocking Alice. Cooper sings in an exaggerated manner and the music is over the top (complete with Custer’s last stand). Things get funky with "Fresh Blood, which gives off Peter Gabriel vibes (it actually pre-dates Sledgehammer by 3 years), I like how the tune builds at the end, with female vocalists Karen Hendricks and Lisa Dalbello, joined by a growing horn section to add some kick.
I also find it interesting how organic and vital (meaning, not robotic) it all sounds, especially when you consider that the album was recorded using a Fairlight CMI (a new -at the time- digital synth sampler), and that the drums are frequently accompanied by computer programing (yet they sound livelier than what will be heard on the next record). Of course, it doesn't hurt having Dick on bass and guitar (his leads on tracks like "No Man's Land" and "Enough's Enough" are electrifying).
In addition, the Dali cover (with Alice’s head superimposed over the figures) contributes to the off-kilter and unsettling flavor of the album.
Sadly, DaDa was ignored, it received no support from Warners and Alice disappeared from the music scene for 3 years.
When he returns it will be with product geared to put him back on the charts, and that's fine, but these releases unfortunately fail to offer anything of substance. Say what you will about the blackouts, and I've had my share of complaints, but this period produced music that often was daring, disturbing, and delightfully perplexing. Constrictor, Raise Your Fist and Yell and Trash simply don't deliver on that level, they are just rock songs... DaDa, even at its most lighthearted, was never "just" a collection of rock songs. As bad off as Alice was, there's a spark of creative genius and originality here.
In addition, the Dali cover (with Alice’s head superimposed over the figures) contributes to the off-kilter and unsettling flavor of the album.
Sadly, DaDa was ignored, it received no support from Warners and Alice disappeared from the music scene for 3 years.
When he returns it will be with product geared to put him back on the charts, and that's fine, but these releases unfortunately fail to offer anything of substance. Say what you will about the blackouts, and I've had my share of complaints, but this period produced music that often was daring, disturbing, and delightfully perplexing. Constrictor, Raise Your Fist and Yell and Trash simply don't deliver on that level, they are just rock songs... DaDa, even at its most lighthearted, was never "just" a collection of rock songs. As bad off as Alice was, there's a spark of creative genius and originality here.
🐍🐍🐍🐍½
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There was no tour in support of DaDa, instead Alice sobered up and acted in a horror film in Spain sometime in 1984 (and he does look healthier on screen). Titled "Monster Dog", I remember the VHS, in a large clamshell case, showing up on shelves (wiki gives the release date as July 15, 1986) and of course I rented it. ACs speaking voice was dubbed, and that was a downer, but on the plus side, it featured 2 new songs, Identity Crisis and See Me in the Mirror (both were included on The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper box set)
A few months later, in September, a new LP!
