Having A Hell Of A Time, My Dear

Celebrating Vincent Damon Furnier aka Alice Cooper, born 4th February 1948.

 

School's Out (the song) was firmly imprinted as a toddler thanks to it's inclusion as the closing song on K-Tel's 1974 magnum opus Dynamite ("20 Original Hits 20 Original Stars"). One of the standouts in my parents' limited vinyl collection, I would listen to the album repeatedly and be fascinated by the characters on the record sleeve. Alice Cooper (the band, well three of them) were featured on the back cover.

At the start of the 1980s, when I became briefly obsessed by Adam & The Ants, I read (probably in Look-In) that School's Out was one of Adam's favourite songs, which meant that I got my brother to add it to one of the first mixtapes he did for me.

In the latter part of the decade, the first Alice Cooper album I ever bought was nearly Flush The Fashion, his post-punk, pop rock response from 1980. I was fascinated by the back cover photo in particular, Alice looking nothing like the familiar image of old. 

 

At this point, Alice had enjoyed a revival of sorts with He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask), although I'm shocked to find that it only got to #61 in the UK singles chart in 1986. I think my record shop visit was also before Alice's 'comeback' was cemented by the single Poison and album Trash, both of which hit #2 in Jul/Aug 1989. As it happens, I ended up buying Under The Flag by Fad Gadget instead, whose image on the back cover was notably similar to Alice's. Although I went back to Flush The Fashion many years later and like it, I made the right decision that day.

So, my first Alice Cooper purchase ended up being in early 1991, in Perth, Western Australia as I was stocking up on music tapes to take with me on an anti-clockwise trip round the country via Greyhound bus. Inevitably, I went back to School's Out but even better, it was a "specially priced" double-play cassette with 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies.

I wasn't familiar at all with either album, which changed over the next six months as I played and played and played them, relaxing on the beach, on overnight bus journeys when I couldn't sleep, walking around exploring the latest place that I'd rocked up in. 

Unsurprising therefore that half of my 12-song selection today draws from these two albums. To be honest, I could have focused on these two alone but I have cast my net a little wider from 1970 to 1976, from Alice Cooper (the band)'s second album Easy Action to Alice Cooper (the artist)'s second solo album, Alice Cooper Goes To Hell.

 

The latter provides today's post title and also includes a personal favourite, I Never Cry, a confessional about Alice's drinking problem and a trigger to enter rehab within the year. Return Of The Spiders from 1970's Easy Action is a nod to an earlier incarnation of the classic Alice Cooper line-up.

A couple of weeks ago, when I posted a selection of the UK Top 20 from 20th January 1974, John Medd put a shout out for Teenage Lament '74. Unfortunately, I couldn't include it then, partly as it was at #26 on that date in history and - more significantly - I didn't actually have the song in my collection. I've subsequently, ahem, sourced it via a copy of Alice Coopers Greatest Hits compilation from 1974. 

 

John commented previously that "a roundup of [1974] cannot call itself thus without Alice Cooper's Teenage Lament '74" and I think that goes double for any self-respecting Alice Cooper selection, let alone one covering the 1970s. It's a truly magnificent song.

 

The choices from School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies may also be predictable. I make no apologies for that, they're all greatly loved here.

Have a suitably wonderful birthday, Vincent, whether it's in the depths of hell or a golf course in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

1) Hello Hurray (1973)

2) Public Animal #9 (1972)

3) I Never Cry (1976)

4) School's Out (1972)

5) Wish You Were Here (1976)

6) You Drive Me Nervous (1971)

7) Teenage Lament '74 (1974) 

8) Luney Tune (1972)

9) Return Of The Spiders (1970)

10) I Love The Dead (1973)

11) Is It My Body? (1970)

12) Elected (1973)

 

1970: Easy Action: 9 

1970: Love It To Death: 11

1971: Killer: 6

1972: School's Out: 2, 4, 8

1973: Billion Dollar Babies: 1, 10, 12

1974: Alice Coopers Greatest Hits: 7

1976: Alice Cooper Goes To Hell: 3, 5

Having A Hell Of A Time, My Dear (45:57) (KF) (Mega)

I hadn't seen the promo video for Teenage Lament '74 before now and it's lots of fun, foregoing any attempt at recreating the lyrical theme and opting for a Keystone Cops riffing romp. There's a wonderful panning shot of the band on-stage around the 2 minute mark, Alice holding a can of beer, DIY fringe and prison fatigues, turning and sweeping his free hand to his forehead in exaggerated cinematic style. It's brilliant.

Today's post and selection is inevitably dedicated to John Medd. Enjoy!