Hard hearted Alice (Alice Cooper) (LP 730 - 731)

Alice Cooper  Muscle Of Love (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1973) *** 

Alice Cooper  Detroit Stories (Vinyl, Edel Music, 2021) *** 

Genre: Pop/rock 

Places I remember: Muscle Of Love is from Real Groovy Records, Detroit Stories from Vinyl Countdown.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Teenage Lament'74.

Gear costume: Hard Hearted Alice, Rock & Roll, Muscle Of Love

Active compensatory factors: Back in 1973 a friend had a copy of Muscle Of Love (at that point I only had Billion Dollar Babies and the School's Out single). I borrowed it - loved the packaging and the title track, plus Teenage Lament '74 and Hard Hearted Alice, but wasn't motivated to buy it myself. Weird.

I think it's because the other songs sounded so different to Billion Dollar Babies, which I really loved. Now I know that this last album by the original Alice Cooper band was an attempt to go back to a sound they had before School's Out, and I appreciate it a lot more in my (haha) mature years.

Luckily, I recently obtained a near mint copy from Real Groovy with all the original packaging. BTW - this brings to an end the lavish packaging that began with School's Out (a school desk) and Billion Dollar Babies (a bill fold wallet). Both of which I still have in my collection. You can take the boy out of 1973 but you can't take 1973 out of the boy.

Detroit Stories was released this year! I don't own any Alice Cooper solo albums apart from this, and I was drawn to it by the inclusion of former Alice Cooper band members on a few tracks.

It's a good album, not great, and not as good as those early seventies albums, but still worth owning. His take on Lou Reed's Rock & Roll is a high point.

Where do they all belong? And that's it for Alice. I have now written about all of the Alice Cooper albums I own from 1969 to 1973 (there and here). I don't feel particularly driven to collect any of the twenty albums he released from 1975 to 2017 but you never know - I may be tempted - maybe Welcome To My Nightmare and Goes To Hell if I see them going for a bargain price in these inflated price for vinyl times we currently live in.

Laughing at me (Alice Cooper) (LP 204 - 207)

Alice Cooper Pretties For You (CD - Warner Bros, 1970) ***
Alice Cooper Easy Action (CD - Warner Bros, 1970) ** 
Alice Cooper Love It To Death (CD - Warner Bros, 1971) ***
Alice Cooper Killer (CD - Warner Bros, 1971) ***

Genre: American pop/rock

Places I remember: A Taupo record shop. 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I'm Eighteen




Gear costume: Under My Wheels

Active compensatory factors: The first four Alice Cooper albums trace the arrival of the Coop (a.k.a. Vince Furnier) and his band from weirdo experimentalists beloved by Frank Zappa and signed to his label (Straight Records) to weirdo pop icons via I'm Eighteen (on Love It To Death). 

Debut album Pretties For You will appeal to Zappa/ Beefheart fans (like me). It's weird, eclectic, psychedelic music straight (ha ha) out of 1969.

Follow up, Easy Action, suffers a little from second album syndrome as the boys were a little short of material. David Briggs is well known for his association with Neil Young and no frills rock'n'roll so he's a bizarre (ha ha) choice!

Third and fourth albums are like Vol 1 and 2 of the new AC; they hit their mark with a harder rockier sound but still poppy in all the right places. I'm Eighteen is an obvious standout on Love It To Death and Under My Wheels is nicely macabre.

Still, they are all something of a preamble for School's Out - where I first started taking notice back in the day via the lead track as a single. 

That album is also collected in this five pack, original album series which I came across recently while cruising for burgers in Taupo [not sure what it is about Taupo and Alice - coincidentally, that's also where I first bought the School's Out album way back in time].

Where do they all belong? The classic School's Out (not included above because I've written about it already. You can check it out here). Next up is Billion Dollar Babies!

Sick things (Alice Cooper) (LP 60)

Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies (vinyl - Warner Brothers Records, 1973) ****

Genre: American pop/rock

Places I remember: RCA Record Club. There was a real thrill attached to getting a record in the mail!

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: No More Mr Nice Guy




Gear costume: Elected, Billion Dollar Babies

Active compensatory factors: It's the more straight forward rock songs that grab my interest like the ones listed above, as opposed to the shock value attached to things like I Love the Dead, Sick Things, and others.

Compared to the classic School's Out, this set was much more varied in quality. Of the two albums I listen to School's Out much much more. 

Where do they all belong? I stopped collecting Alice Cooper albums after this one and the superior School's Out. Quality became increasingly patchy to my mind and then he went all wannabe metaller on us.  Marilyn Manson, I guess, is the natural destination if you have a mind to (which I don't).

Luney tune (Alice Cooper) (LP 31)

Alice Cooper School's Out (CD - Warner Bros. Records, 1972) *****

Genre: American pop/rock

Places I remember: A Taupo record shop whose name escapes me now, although it's still there! Bought while holidaying with Jacky and the Purdettes. I had this on cassette tape before finally buying it from a budget rack.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hard to pull one out - it's a five star album all the way: no weak tracks. Okay, if pushed - Alma Mater

!

Gear costume: All the rest!!!

Active compensatory factors: A classic. Solid gold. I play it a lot, and I always hear new things.

It's the Alice Cooper album that is the least shocking. 

It's a weird album which is maybe why I love it so much. Nothing is what you expect from The Coop. In fact it almost sounds like School's Out (the big hit single/song) is the anomaly here - the rest of the album is like a stage show without the usual Alice schlock horror dead babies stuff and it's all the better for it.

Bob Ezrin's contribution needs to be acknowledged as well. The production standards are top notch!

Where do they all belong? Billion Dollar Babies is up next.

Well, I thought that fifteen was gonna be a breeze (Alice Cooper) #69

Alice Cooper Teenage Lament '74/ Hard Hearted Alice (Warner Bros B 7762,  1973)

Yep - I have a couple of singles out of alphabetical order. Sorry 'bout that chief.

I remembered that in a fit of enthusiasm many years ago I put a lot of singles into album sleeves. The idea was that if an A side was featured on an album I'd put the two together to create a more unified package.

I know, I know. Anal. But there you go.

Half way through the Beatles' singles run down I remembered this and went through my albums to separate the two again.

Which brings us to Alice Cooper - the man and the band and their 1973 album Muscle Of Love (both A and B side are from the album).

1973 was a stellar year in rock generally but a great one for Alice Cooper - they managed to produce the brilliant Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle Of Love.

Teenage Lament '74 is certainly an album standout but it makes an even better single.

Teenage angst: Alice gets into the teenage mind to a frightening degree in two of his biggest hits - I'm Eighteen and this song. The whole thing is a shtick but it's done in such an over the top yet tongue in cheek way that it works. Helps that the music is terrific!

Hidden gem: The B side is also from the album and a nice line in self mythology. I'm a sucker for the twice shy stuff.

Two pressure cookers go insane (Alice Cooper)

I see recently that Ringo Starr (bless him) is touring the UK again with his All Starr Band.


Rick is third from left, next to Ritchie.

 This time around the band includes the amazing Rick Derringer who seems, like Mr Starkey, to be ageless. He's been around since the 60's (Hang On Snoopy), had some brilliant albums in the 70's and some key moments playing with the Winter brothers along the way.

One of my favourite albums is his All American Boy which includes, for me, his two greatest moments: Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo and Teenage Love Affair.

So much of rock and roll is about being a teenager. That seminal time in our lives when we only care about ouselves and we view the world with a chip on our shoulder. Most rock and rollers try hard to keep that spirit of teenagerhood alive in their music, well into their middle age and beyond (John Mellencamp's memorable phrase - hold onto 16 as long as you can is a constant aim of mine). I only need mention the oldest teenage gang on the planet - The Rolling Stones - to make my point convincing.

So many of my favourite songs are about that rebellious, angst ridden time; summed up by Pete Townshend's it's only teenage wasteland phrase.

Teenage Love Affair captures the essence of teenage lust, in this case lived vicariously. No way have boy-girl relationships been as easily consummated as Rick would have it. The song smacks of that teenage boy thing of bigging up sexual encounters. But who knows - guitars seem to have an aphrodisiacal effect on girls.

Another great teenage themed song is Alice Cooper's Teenage Lament '74.

Alice tells a familiar tale - trying to look cool in trendy (uncomfortable) clothes, trying to get a cool haircut and looking like a rooster instead, getting told to turn your music down (when that's one of your few ways to be independent) and wanting to get away from home but not really knowing what to do.