@DEFUND WELFARE uh, he was a huge coke head at this point. It’s talked about in his latest documentary. I was also surprised to hear that because I heard the same stories as you.
I saw this tour front row at Melody Fair in Buffalo NY. Loved it but man it was a different Alice. Opening was a girl band from NY called Spider. I remember they were pretty hot. I got some amazing photos from the show and I had an 8x10 made of one perfect shot. In 1986 I went to downtown Toronto to meet Alice and thankfully by miracle a buddy from college was working the door and got me first in line. Very cool. I got to meet Alice and Kane Roberts. Kane looked and my photo and laughed and asked Alice what the hell that was about. I said it must have been a bad acid trip and they both laughed their heads off. Alice signed the photo, let me take some pictures and shook my hand. It was an amazing experience and unlike signings today, it was FREE. Alice was super nice and real pleasure to meet my childhood idol. Alice is the BEST!!!
@@davicus100 Strong seasons, lot's of fishing/hunting available. Some of the best housing prices in the country, decent nightlife. We have more restaurants per capita than many larger cities(at least pre-covid)The highway system is effective(easy to get around)These are a few reasons off the top of my head. Have you ever visited?
Cool era of Alice but unfortunately Warner Bros. never pushed those albums well .. I think if they had then Alice Cooper might have played this role for the length of the 80's ..
@@zombie2wo You can't really blame the record company for not making any real effort in promoting an artist who, by his own later admission, was so fucked up that there was no guarantee he'd turn up for an interview or show, or worse, turn up so fucked up that he'd probably end up throwing up on or attempting to dry hump, or both, the host of the show, or the entire audience all at once.
Flush The Fashion, Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin, Da Da is the best albums Alice Cooper ever done. I know he was anorectic and marked by heavy alcoholism and he really hates these albums from the 80-s but he is so wrong. They are all so screwed, exciting and musically great, nothing before or after is in the same unique leage.
@@kristianhjorth2402 They are great albums! What people should be dissing is all the garbage released after 1987. His last listenable album was Raise Your Fist and Yell.
I loved the era of the original band. Billion$babies. Every decade Alice Cooper is different. He looks pretty rough here. I wanna feed him. He's overcome a lot in his life. And I'm thankful he has and keeps making great music
You could have fed him with a shovel every hour of every day back then and he still would have looked like this. Extreme cocaine addiction will do that to a person. When you have half of Bolivia coursing through your veins, you tend to metabolize food faster than you can consume it.
I followed Alice on the UK Special Forces tour in early 82. I loved the four shows I attended and have a great love for the Special Forces album. 40 years on from this video and Alice is better than ever ... who'd have bet on that!
Yeah he was a real wreck at this time. From all accounts he was really going at it hard and heavy. Not just the freebase but also the usual heavy drinking, only exacerbated by the coke. He really is lucky to have survived that period. If he had been any older his heart probably would’ve given out. I saw him on this tour, and though at the time most people weren’t aware he was doing coke, it was pretty obvious something was seriously wrong. He looked like a painted corpse, and was all jittery and twitchy. I thought he had cancer at the time. I’m glad he survived.
What I find incredible with Alice is his interpretation of the lyrics. He is no extraordinary voice but he can bring you deep with him in his songs like david bowie. And he is free from music style standards, it s just Alice Cooper and that means alot
And without him even trying to be creepy 😆 He was just so wacked out at the time and looked like a painted corpse from all the coke he was freebasing that it was authentically creepy as f**k. Very strange but fascinating chapter in his career. I’m glad I got to see him on this tour.
Alice did Glam better than almost anyone, he did Punk better than almost everyone, he did ballads better than almost anyone, he did hard rock better than almost anyone, he did metal better than almost anyone and he was DEFINITELY the best Alice Cooper anyone ever saw. This is a guy who gave not a single fuck. Not one.
GREAT PERFORMANCE !!! Better than I expected on Tom's show. Not to mention I just bought his new Cd and it is fantastic !! WAYYY BETTER than most other music coming out of the states right now. Would love to see him visit Nashville again !!!
Music producers of today pour tens of millions into the “artists” today, and not a single one of them can replicate what’s happening here. There’s only one Alice. God bless Alice Cooper.
Lewis used to show up at The Holy City Zoo wearing that Japanese bandana around his neck for months on end. He stopped when Robin Williams told him that it looked fantastic.
Hi Clarences ! How are you... Phil from The Nothings ! I usually don't like solo Alice...but this is really great ...! I was devastated when the original band broke up...nice to see you enjoying good music ! The Alice Cooper group and the Sex Pistols...along with the original 4 guys in Kiss ...The Ramones (and a band called Mott the hoople) are my all time favorites...oh and my band too 😀...hope you're doing well !
Glad he woke up and cleaned up his act. To dang skinny and sickly looking here. Hes 75 years old abd doing so much better in 2024!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ Alice Cooper ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Saw Cooper during his change...He was still Badass still Cooper Great Showman...did'nt like it at first...but before the show was over Loved it...!!! always a Cooper fan...!?!
Love this era of Alice! Flush the fashion is a classic and one of my favorite albums. Just been to see him in Glasgow and we are now in 2022! Unbelievable!
Alice was very sick between '80-'82 was his Family finally got him help for the 2nd time around. He went into a Long Term Clinic in the late 70's around '77 for Alcoholism. All it took for him to hit rock bottom the 2nd time was a sip of his wife's wine. (I don't know about the Cocaine) By that night he had already purchased and hid 2 bottles of whiskey. Thank God he got Clean & stayed Clean! I love him and it makes me so sad to see him this way. Shocking!!!
There are a lot of inconsistencies in these stories, so it is hard to tell what the real truth is. One other thing I noticed is that in Super duper Alice Cooper he talks about waking up with a gun and blood running from his eyes and that it was then he decided to get clean. But the song Pass the Gun Around on Dada clearly recounts that story and he has stated that he was still messed up when he recorded that album. It doesn't add up. So, what's the truth?
Alice stopped completely drinking in '78, and never fell off the wagon. He started freebasing cocaine instead until he almost died from it. After 1984, hes been completely sober. It took some major guts to finally come clean about his drug use in the Super Duper doc! Also when you know this fact, you can clearly tell that everyone is lying about "falling off the wagon" in the VH1 segment. And it's painfully obvious when you watch live performances from this era.. Compare them to live performances from his alcoholic era and see for yourselves
His Golf Monster book also confirms the Behind The Music story.It talks about how he was hiding bottles of liquor all over their house.I haven't seen the Super Duper documentary,but I believe both stories are likely true.
You all need to see Super Duper Alice Cooper. He openly talks at length about freebasing coke..he had a serious problem with it...he almost killed himself because of it
Have that film, and it was pretty hard to watch that bit, especially the bits of archive footage, you can literally see him deteriorating. I once read an interview from the 80's he had, and even reading it came across like he wasn't with it.
@@razrhiannaspiers8506 In an interview I read about a year ago, he said that the only albums he has zero recollection at all of recording were Zipper and DaDa. He said he had some very blurry, vague memories of recording Special Forces, but no memory whatsoever of the tour that followed it. One thing I’ve noticed is that he seems to change his story quite a bit about this recollections of this era, which kind of leads me to think it might just be a case of the old “selective memory”. Who knows.
Confession. I wish he had done a ballad or two. I still tear up every time I hear 'You and Me.' For all the pomp and carnival, Alice can really deliver the sweetness. Forgive me.
The only one of his ballads I ever really liked (more like LOVE really) is “I Never Cry” from “Goes To Hell”. Probably because I can relate to it. That one hits me right in the heart every damn time.
My first concert was AC special forces tour in London's Hammersmith Odeon. I was about 14, it was Fantastic. They don't make them like Alice any more :-(
You and I must be exactly the same age. I also saw him on this tour when I was 14, at Cardi’s in Houston. Back then nobody really knew he was strung out on coke, but it was pretty obvious that something weird was going on with him. He looked like he could drop dead at any given moment. I remember thinking he had cancer. Everyone at that gig was talking about how terrible he looked. He still put on a good show though. I much prefer the original AC band, but as far as the 80’s stuff goes, Special Forces and DaDa are my favorite Alice albums.
I’d just stick with this if I were you. This sounds a million times better than the studio/album versions. Special Forces has some great songs, but it’s produced for shit.
The one and only Alice. Vintage stuff. Thanks for the post. One of his lesser known albums, but still great music as only Alice can do it. Can't agree it's his worst album, but I respect your opinion. I'm a die hard Alice fan!
Danny Dunne gotta figure if someone calls this his "worst" LP.. then that's saying a lot about him.. if his 'worst' is this good.. then he truly is one of the best..Ever! Not realy all that familiar with this part of his career.. but seeing how 'Punk' it is.. I'll def be taking a closer look at this LP & this time line if his life... He was mainstream, for me from 1970 till.. oh just after the "Goes to Hell" LP.. & kinda lost touch.. didnt realize he changed all his make up style and jus seems a litlle more Punk sounding... but.. def taking a second look at this era... thanx
..and I've seen him 3 times after he sobbered up... and he had reverted back to his regular make-up again...like I said.. i didnt remember him changing so much.. and look at how thin he was.. def on the Crackin's Diet... lol
Special Forces is *FAR* from his worst album. Not even remotely close. I can think of several, right off the top of my head that are much, much worse. I won’t name names because it would invariably start a pissing match… but let’s just say that in the 80’s alone, this was one of his best albums, even if it wasn’t wasn’t his most successful.
Rough period for Alice. Times and musical tastes had changed, his teenage audience from the 70s had grown up and moved on, his record sales were declining, and the concert venues were getting smaller. Throw hard drugs into the mix and you get...this. Still, it is interesting that Alice chose to include a cover of "Seven and Seven Is." It is as if he were saying to the world, "I'm not a has been, and I'm not an imitator. You know all of those giants like Arthur Lee, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, etc.? They are my contemporaries, and I am their equal, and I am still here!" Rock on, Alice. Glad that you are still here!
I’ve never understood the concept of “I grew up and outgrew all the bands I loved as a kid”. I’m in my mid 50’s, and I still listen to pretty much everything I loved as a teenager or even as a little kid (Alice Cooper being a case in point). Sure, there were a small handful of bands… mainly the more angry, light speed tempo bands… from my teenage rage years that I left behind, but compared to the hundreds (maybe thousands) of bands that I never stopped loving, they’re an anomaly. I guess my point is that I think it’s downright silly to “outgrow” music that brought you joy in your youth. I mean sure, you’re not ever gonna see me in the pit again when I go see these bands for the 25th time, but I’m still going to go see them and continue to buy their music. That stuff is sacred and lifelong for me.
This time Alice was at his best, I loved all his early albums, I went to see him live in Birmingham for the very first time on this your, was awesome. Why didn't he keep this band together they were great
“At his best”? Really? More like at his most bizarre and drug-addled. It’s an interesting period of his career for sure, and much better than his cheesy hair metal period that followed it, but I’d hardly say he was “at his best” at this time. He’s damn lucky his heart didn’t give out on him back then. He looked like death eatin’ a cracker.
Alice Cooper in that era was the most punk act, shocking in a way the other punk giants could only manage in their dreams. Most of them bands are no more. Alice in 2024 is still here and strong as ever.
I always liked this era for Alice, very different, and in its own way, downright disturbing. The cocaine use is pretty obvious, though, especially in the interview section with Snyder. Alice is definitely flying here!
+Brad D I agree. There are songs off Dada, Flush the fashion and Special forces that i like better than his big hair metal band sound he was doing in the late 80's-early 90's
@@lennydog666Ugh, I *HATED* the hair metal era. It was just a cash-grab, plain and simple… but I suppose it worked for him. He started getting interesting again when “The Last Temptation” came out, but honestly when it comes to solo Alice, this is the era I always return to. Some of it is truly awful (Zipper Catches Skin), but most of it just has this weird, unique charm that I love.
I had no idea he was also into cocaine at this time until last night when I saw Super Duper Alice Cooper. Apparently he talked about freebasing and rock cocaine use for the very first time in it, partly because his friend Bernie Taupin would only appear in the film if Alice would finally open up about coke, which Taupin apparently got him into in the first place in the late 70's. He always said it was a big alcohol blackout that these early 80's albums were made in, and I think it's still true he was abusing booze at this time, but it's weird cause the documentary doesn't actually mention the whole sip of Cheryl's wine relapse story that he's told over and over for years.
+Mark Rago Me too. At this same time in the '80s, pretty much EVERYBODY that partied did some coke. I did more than my share, but I started to see people go down the fucking toilet in a hurry and was lucky enough to get away from it relatively unscathed. Uncle Alice was WAY down the fucking rabbit hole though, holy shit!
He probably invented that story. It isn't the only story he's invented over the years. I knew before Super DUper Alice Cooper that something didn't add up. While I have no experience with coke, I know how drunks behave and he clearly isn't drunk here. He's the opposite of drunk. Drunks have slow and slurry speech and they're slow in general. Alice is extremely speeded here, so it's obvious he's on something that makes him like that. .
Me too. I always knew he was an ALCOHOLIC. But I hadn't known that he ever had a DRUG problem until RECENTLY when I looked into THIS period ( which was pretty obscure for a long time ).
I don't believe the relapse back into alcohol was a cover up.In his Golf Monster autobiography it reconfirms the story of taking a sip of his wife's wine and goes into more detail.It talks about how he was hiding bottles of liquor all over the house.It was at that time she tried to file for divorce because she couldn't stand to watch him kill himself anymore.
Thank you for being one of the few to actually get it right. I get so tired of people referring to this period of Alice as “punk”. I’ve always thought of this era as Alice taking a stab at new wave, in a way that only Alice could do.
FANTASTIC VERSION! (So much better than the studio versions) This version of this song has been among my favorite Alice Cooper songs ever since this aired!
This definitely is much better than the album version, as is every other live recording I’ve heard from this period. Also I saw Alice on this tour in the fall of ‘81, and though it was a looong time ago, I do remember thinking the sound was awesome (not that he’s ever sounded bad live). I like Special Forces, but it’s produced for shit. I’ve never been a big fan of remixing, but that’s one album that would really benefit from a full remix and remaster, though I seriously doubt that will ever happen.
After his rock n roll hall of fame induction , I suggest a step higher that the USA should add one more star on their flag devoted to Vincent, Cause this geniusrock'n'rollvillainhero, (along Billy the kid, Capone and Nixon) incarnates a part of their history.
I saw this tour , the Reason why Alice claims not to remember it is not because of the Music(It was Great) It was a Dark time in his personal Life....and that's all I have to say about that...
It’s pretty obvious at this point that Alice is full of shit when it comes to setting the record straight on his past. Apparently the only reason he ever finally admitted that he was indeed doing mountains of cocaine back then was because it was a condition of Bernie Taupin’s involvement in the documentary (that Alice come clean about the coke usage). I don’t mean to talk shit on Alice, I practically worship the man and I’ve been a major fan since I was 7 years old… but I can’t help but notice that he’s changed his story (about this period of his life) a million times, and I think he probably remembers a *LOT* more about that time than he cares to admit. Another thing I know about recovery from drug addiction is that if you want to stay clean and sober then you *HAVE* to be 100% honest about your past with others, as well as with yourself. I mean, it’s really actually not any of our business what Alice was doing behind the curtains 40+ years ago, but I hope he at least has come clean with all that stuff with his family and closest friends. There’s no age limit on relapsing.
I just keep wondering what he was thinking, in his rather 'druggy' moments, in front of his backstage mirror, doing his makeup.... "Let's see here...let's do...ONE giant eyebrow...yes, that's good...and let's just put a little bit of dark shadow under each cheek bone-just a smidge....ok...and some seriously white, simmey eye shadow...overdrawn lips....annnnnd we have it!" XD
+creatornat Boy, I'm sure he was going for "weird" but HOLY SHIT!!!! I hated this "new" look and sound of his when it happened...I was a die-hard Alice fan WAY before he "re-invented" himself during this era of his career. I remember HATING his new look and sound when I first heard and saw it. It's funny...this all happened when I was a teenager, and I remember being disappointed when I found out that the "evil ghoul/maniac" that was Alice Cooper in the '70s was basically a "gimmick" and he was actually a really nice guy...then Special Forces (and the other albums of this period) came out and I HATED it! I pretty much gave up on him during this era. Looking back at it though, during this part of his career, he pretty much BECAME the sick, twisted, fucked up person I wish he was when I was younger...and it's taken all of the decades since for me to revisit those weird "new wave" and "punk" albums he put out in the early '80s, to realize how messed up he actually was at that point.
Not too mention the hair pinned up like an old ladies! I think he looks a bit like a punk / junkie version of that "sweet transvestite" guy from Rocky Horror. It kind of brought the ANDROGYNOUS element, that he had in the really early ( 70 / 71 ) days of the persona, back into the image in a very weird way. MY favorite SONG from THIS album is You Look Good In Rags.
@@creepyskulldini581 I believe I heard him say he was aiming for the look to be like Joan Crawford in ''Whatever Happened to Baby Jane'' Heres a picture for an example: derekwinnert.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/whatever-happened-to.jpg
I know how this whole early 80’s era of Alice is now commonly referred to as “the blackout years”, but personally I’ve always likened it to Apocalypse Now. Coop is basically Willard, and he just keeps winding further and further upriver into the jungle, descending ever deeper into madness with each click. If Flush The Fashion is the river’s mouth where the journey begins (and Charlie don’t surf), then I’d say that Special Forces is the USO stage, where the Playboy bunnies make their appearance and it’s still fun, but things are beginning to get pretty weird and you can really start to sense the darkness up ahead. After this was Zipper Catches Skin, which is like the last outpost on the river, where all the C.O.’s are dead, no one is in charge, and it’s just pure chaos. By this point Alice is still Willard, but by the time they reach the compound (DaDa), he’s pretty much transformed into Kurtz. The horror.
Excellent performance. This era is fascinating to look at. Even though he was struggling in his personal life the art he was creating was phenomenal. Much better than Lace and whisky and From the inside.
Well said. I agree. Looking back, I think this period of his career (the blackout era - 1980-83), though far from his all time best was a hell of a lot more interesting than the “muppet” era that preceded it and the hair metal cash-grab that followed it. For me, nothing’s ever going to come close to the original Alice Cooper band (1969-74), but this stuff is arguably my favorite part of his solo career.
Like Bowie, Alice Cooper has different incarnations and this is one of my favorites. I dig that early 80s punk vibe. But Alice should have invested in a Gold's Gym membership card and put some muscle on them bones.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he gorged himself daily at the buffet at this time, with all the coke he was freebasing. When you have half of Peru coursing through your veins you tend to metabolize food faster than you can consume it.
Alice was chosen to help poeple by God thats why God spared him 🙏 walking angel 😇 that overcome alcohol in a rock in roll life style ✨ 😎 he has helped me through my recovery just listening to nights with alice cooper 💪 🙏 ❤ 💙
My gawd. He looks skeletal here...thinning hair, teeth yellow. Looks like he weighs about 80 lbs. Lot of great Rock Stars, in better shape than that, died so Young. Glad he recovered, And still performing great Rock today. LEGEND.
Развлечения
I loved this era of Alice, but I am surprised that man is still alive.
back when Alice still had some ziggy in him......you can see the bowie influence. i like this stuff so much more than the 90's version...
Alice cannot die.
I think he is too
@@billharding6693 He went through some rough patches but amazingly pulled himself together....Just a normal guy then there is Alice!
@DEFUND WELFARE uh, he was a huge coke head at this point. It’s talked about in his latest documentary. I was also surprised to hear that because I heard the same stories as you.
I saw this tour front row at Melody Fair in Buffalo NY. Loved it but man it was a different Alice. Opening was a girl band from NY called Spider. I remember they were pretty hot. I got some amazing photos from the show and I had an 8x10 made of one perfect shot. In 1986 I went to downtown Toronto to meet Alice and thankfully by miracle a buddy from college was working the door and got me first in line. Very cool. I got to meet Alice and Kane Roberts. Kane looked and my photo and laughed and asked Alice what the hell that was about. I said it must have been a bad acid trip and they both laughed their heads off. Alice signed the photo, let me take some pictures and shook my hand. It was an amazing experience and unlike signings today, it was FREE. Alice was super nice and real pleasure to meet my childhood idol. Alice is the BEST!!!
post the picture for gods sake
I also saw this tour. It was at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City.(I think) An excellent show! I miss the edgier punk sound he had then.
@@empoweryou1 i always wondered why people lived in kansas city and cincinatti whats the draw there?
@@davicus100 Strong seasons, lot's of fishing/hunting available. Some of the best housing prices in the country, decent nightlife. We have more restaurants per capita than many larger cities(at least pre-covid)The highway system is effective(easy to get around)These are a few reasons off the top of my head. Have you ever visited?
3 beers & a single hit ...how big was the venue & did he play much of his early stuff ?
he makes the most reckless punk rock icons look wholesome in this year.
Cool era of Alice but unfortunately Warner Bros. never pushed those albums well .. I think if they had then Alice Cooper might have played this role for the length of the 80's ..
@@zombie2wo You can't really blame the record company for not making any real effort in promoting an artist who, by his own later admission, was so fucked up that there was no guarantee he'd turn up for an interview or show, or worse, turn up so fucked up that he'd probably end up throwing up on or attempting to dry hump, or both, the host of the show, or the entire audience all at once.
He doesn't even remember making this album or touring it.
"ACTING!" - The Great Thespian.
@@stuartjenkins3039 it probably wasn't even because of that. Warner Bros are just assholes in general
Special forces is Alice cooper most underrated album. It's got everything. Rock, punk, electronic, and the lyrics are some of Alice's best ever
Probably an underrated one because the 80's were his blackout years when he was wacked out of his mind. Man couldn't remember making these songs.
Alice during the 80's is SO underated.
Flush the Fashion is one of my favorite AC albums even after being a fan for years.
Period
Flush The Fashion, Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin, Da Da is the best albums Alice Cooper ever done. I know he was anorectic and marked by heavy alcoholism and he really hates these albums from the 80-s but he is so wrong. They are all so screwed, exciting and musically great, nothing before or after is in the same unique leage.
@@kristianhjorth2402 They are great albums! What people should be dissing is all the garbage released after 1987. His last listenable album was Raise Your Fist and Yell.
Snyder was so underrated for giving good treatment to rock acts of the day. Always respectful, good questions.
one of the Best album of Alice in the 80's !!!!!!!!
Yes, in the 80’s. That’s not saying much though.
I loved the era of the original band. Billion$babies. Every decade Alice Cooper is different. He looks pretty rough here. I wanna feed him. He's overcome a lot in his life. And I'm thankful he has and keeps making great music
You could have fed him with a shovel every hour of every day back then and he still would have looked like this. Extreme cocaine addiction will do that to a person. When you have half of Bolivia coursing through your veins, you tend to metabolize food faster than you can consume it.
love this Album! Had it on vinyl just bought it again on CD off of Amizon.
I followed Alice on the UK Special Forces tour in early 82. I loved the four shows I attended and have a great love for the Special Forces album. 40 years on from this video and Alice is better than ever ... who'd have bet on that!
special forces is one of my favs
Me 2. What's the best cut ?? I generation? Vicious rumors is!!
He looks like the corpse in movie 7 that pops outa the bed babbling
Title track, VIcious Rumors, Skeletons in the Closet... Such good tracks.
Special Forces is my favorite album also. I saw Alice do the Special Forces show in a small venue/club called the Agora Ballroom in Atlanta.
You Look Good In Rags@@GRILLBUOY101
Damn! I am surprised that Alice made it through. I like this periods music but it is kind of hard to see Alice so far out there.
So true He was smoking copious amounts of freebase at that time
Yeah he was a real wreck at this time. From all accounts he was really going at it hard and heavy. Not just the freebase but also the usual heavy drinking, only exacerbated by the coke. He really is lucky to have survived that period. If he had been any older his heart probably would’ve given out. I saw him on this tour, and though at the time most people weren’t aware he was doing coke, it was pretty obvious something was seriously wrong. He looked like a painted corpse, and was all jittery and twitchy. I thought he had cancer at the time. I’m glad he survived.
What I find incredible with Alice is his interpretation of the lyrics. He is no extraordinary voice but he can bring you deep with him in his songs like david bowie. And he is free from music style standards, it s just Alice Cooper and that means alot
iggy also
@@baronweirwulf5221 naa
@@baronweirwulf5221 And Lou Reed.
Alices act was always supposed to be creepy/scary, but this era was by far his creepiest
And without him even trying to be creepy 😆 He was just so wacked out at the time and looked like a painted corpse from all the coke he was freebasing that it was authentically creepy as f**k. Very strange but fascinating chapter in his career. I’m glad I got to see him on this tour.
Genius! Alice the untouchable!. The guitar work on this performance is awe inspiring.
Alice did Glam better than almost anyone, he did Punk better than almost everyone, he did ballads better than almost anyone, he did hard rock better than almost anyone, he did metal better than almost anyone and he was DEFINITELY the best Alice Cooper anyone ever saw. This is a guy who gave not a single fuck. Not one.
+Guy Fawkes Remember, remember the 5th of November. Now you're a man who knows what he's talking about. I totally agree. Long live Alice.
Guy Fawkes I'm going to see him with Deep Purple and Edgar Winter in September
Mark Rago wow. I didn't know Edgar Winter still toured!
Guy Fawkes
im jazzed! im gonna see him in June 😜
+Mark Rago
WOW! That will be one helluva show! I'm jealous!
GREAT PERFORMANCE !!! Better than I expected on Tom's show. Not to mention I just bought his new Cd and it is fantastic !! WAYYY BETTER than most other music coming out of the states right now. Would love to see him visit Nashville again !!!
Smoking on live tv, unthinkable today!
Special Forces was/is his most consistent album since the glory days. its easily my favorite solo album
This is when the wheels flew off
Way off
Music producers of today pour tens of millions into the “artists” today, and not a single one of them can replicate what’s happening here. There’s only one Alice. God bless Alice Cooper.
Little known fact: Comedian Freddy Lewis was OBSESSED with this era of Alice! xoxo The Clarences
Lewis used to show up at The Holy City Zoo wearing that Japanese bandana around his neck for months on end. He stopped when Robin Williams told him that it looked fantastic.
@@rockinyouallnight Freddy was a unique character!!! xoxo The Clarences
Hi Clarences ! How are you... Phil from The Nothings ! I usually don't like solo Alice...but this is really great ...! I was devastated when the original band broke up...nice to see you enjoying good music ! The Alice Cooper group and the Sex Pistols...along with the original 4 guys in Kiss ...The Ramones (and a band called Mott the hoople) are my all time favorites...oh and my band too 😀...hope you're doing well !
@@philipholmes5884 Hi Phil! Good to hear from you! How is everything? xoxo The Clarences
Glad he woke up and cleaned up his act. To dang skinny and sickly looking here. Hes 75 years old abd doing so much better in 2024!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ Alice Cooper ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I love, love, LOVE Tom Snyder. I just can't get enough of him. His voice, his smile, his laugh, his eyes.....the man was intoxicating.
Saw Cooper during his change...He was still Badass still Cooper Great Showman...did'nt like it at first...but before the show was over Loved it...!!! always a Cooper fan...!?!
The voice and the Rock was still very well represented in this era of Alice's career.....
Wow that totally punked out and I loved it. 🤘💥
Band was right there with him !💋
Love this era of Alice! Flush the fashion is a classic and one of my favorite albums. Just been to see him in Glasgow and we are now in 2022! Unbelievable!
Alice was very sick between '80-'82 was his Family finally got him help for the 2nd time around. He went into a Long Term Clinic in the late 70's around '77 for Alcoholism. All it took for him to hit rock bottom the 2nd time was a sip of his wife's wine. (I don't know about the Cocaine) By that night he had already purchased and hid 2 bottles of whiskey. Thank God he got Clean & stayed Clean! I love him and it makes me so sad to see him this way. Shocking!!!
There are a lot of inconsistencies in these stories, so it is hard to tell what the real truth is.
One other thing I noticed is that in Super duper Alice Cooper he talks about waking up with a gun and blood running from his eyes and that it was then he decided to get clean. But the song Pass the Gun Around on Dada clearly recounts that story and he has stated that he was still messed up when he recorded that album. It doesn't add up. So, what's the truth?
Alice stopped completely drinking in '78, and never fell off the wagon. He started freebasing cocaine instead until he almost died from it. After 1984, hes been completely sober. It took some major guts to finally come clean about his drug use in the Super Duper doc! Also when you know this fact, you can clearly tell that everyone is lying about "falling off the wagon" in the VH1 segment. And it's painfully obvious when you watch live performances from this era.. Compare them to live performances from his alcoholic era and see for yourselves
His Golf Monster book also confirms the Behind The Music story.It talks about how he was hiding bottles of liquor all over their house.I haven't seen the Super Duper documentary,but I believe both stories are likely true.
Tom Snyder was great. Still is - and he will never be replaced.
You all need to see Super Duper Alice Cooper. He openly talks at length about freebasing coke..he had a serious problem with it...he almost killed himself because of it
Have that film, and it was pretty hard to watch that bit, especially the bits of archive footage, you can literally see him deteriorating. I once read an interview from the 80's he had, and even reading it came across like he wasn't with it.
luckily he got some help *& overcame the addiction. It can ruin a persons life, drugs suck.
Droga
Frula
He looks terrible here for sure.
the only thing controversial about this now is an interviewer smoking on tv!
You got that right! 😆
@@olliecrow3547 And that Alice's teeth are rotting right out of his head.
40 years ago it was possible !
I saw this tour in Toronto! It was great and really underated. A shame Alice Cooper says he does not remember much of it.
agree !
I bet he remembers it. He just thinks it was a big mistake... he looks pretty lucid to me in this video.
He doesn't remember it because of the cocaine...
+austinfailz he has said that he doesn't remember recording special forces, zipper catches skin or dada at all. Flush the fashion a little bit.
@@razrhiannaspiers8506 In an interview I read about a year ago, he said that the only albums he has zero recollection at all of recording were Zipper and DaDa. He said he had some very blurry, vague memories of recording Special Forces, but no memory whatsoever of the tour that followed it.
One thing I’ve noticed is that he seems to change his story quite a bit about this recollections of this era, which kind of leads me to think it might just be a case of the old “selective memory”. Who knows.
Confession. I wish he had done a ballad or two. I still tear up every time I hear 'You and Me.' For all the pomp and carnival, Alice can really deliver the sweetness.
Forgive me.
The only one of his ballads I ever really liked (more like LOVE really) is “I Never Cry” from “Goes To Hell”. Probably because I can relate to it. That one hits me right in the heart every damn time.
great cover of Love's "Seven and seven is.., in fact about the best cover of that song. I wouldn't expect less from this band though.
Alice also covered Talk Talk on Flush The Fashion. It was a song by The Music Machine
Definitely as it’s performed here. The studio version on the album is pretty mediocre to be honest. This version kills though.
Alice Cooper was turning punk rock at that time which was perfect.
He was never punk
He was always a punk...just long hair & make up on his eyes...
@@heimeygazzonteight7347 Obviously you never heard the early Nazz and Spiders singles. Or his love of Detroit bands like The Stooges, MC5, etc.
@@heimeygazzonteight7347 it's an expression dummy.
“Turning punk”? Is that like turning Japanese?
He went for the drunken geisha look n nailed it.
Kimono Alice's House!!
Drunken geisha? More like “painted corpse”.
Rare, with John Nitzinger, guitarist. Awesome to see him here! -Judy
This is pretty fantastic! Should be the music of the day during these post-apocalyptic Covid times.
Alice cooper was allways the best. I loved him since I was a little kid never got tired of him
Scary Alice! Like the album. And If you want kids to stay off drugs have them watch this!
I always say of Alice.
THE BEST OF THE BEST 💞
Fave album from this era . Be safe 💝
Special Forces was special❤
My first concert was AC special forces tour in London's Hammersmith Odeon. I was about 14, it was Fantastic. They don't make them like Alice any more :-(
Dave - the Hammy O gig was my one and only AC gig - brilliant - can't bring myself to go to another to hear the same old 70s greatest hits stuff....!
You and I must be exactly the same age. I also saw him on this tour when I was 14, at Cardi’s in Houston. Back then nobody really knew he was strung out on coke, but it was pretty obvious that something weird was going on with him. He looked like he could drop dead at any given moment. I remember thinking he had cancer. Everyone at that gig was talking about how terrible he looked. He still put on a good show though. I much prefer the original AC band, but as far as the 80’s stuff goes, Special Forces and DaDa are my favorite Alice albums.
That was excellent. I need to buy the Special Forces album…..again.
I’d just stick with this if I were you. This sounds a million times better than the studio/album versions. Special Forces has some great songs, but it’s produced for shit.
The one and only Alice. Vintage stuff. Thanks for the post. One of his lesser known albums, but still great music as only Alice can do it. Can't agree it's his worst album, but I respect your opinion. I'm a die hard Alice fan!
Danny Dunne
gotta figure if someone calls this his "worst" LP.. then that's saying a lot about him..
if his 'worst' is this good.. then he truly is one of the best..Ever!
Not realy all that familiar with this part of his career.. but seeing how 'Punk' it is.. I'll def be taking a closer look at this LP & this time line if his life...
He was mainstream, for me from 1970 till.. oh just after the "Goes to Hell" LP.. & kinda lost touch.. didnt realize he changed all his make up style
and jus seems a litlle more Punk sounding... but.. def taking a second look at this era... thanx
..and I've seen him 3 times after he sobbered up... and he had reverted back to his regular make-up again...like I said.. i didnt remember him changing so much..
and look at how thin he was..
def on the Crackin's Diet... lol
Special Forces is *FAR* from his worst album. Not even remotely close. I can think of several, right off the top of my head that are much, much worse. I won’t name names because it would invariably start a pissing match… but let’s just say that in the 80’s alone, this was one of his best albums, even if it wasn’t wasn’t his most successful.
That was a powerful performance!
Seven is and Seven was,,, YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!
Rough period for Alice. Times and musical tastes had changed, his teenage audience from the 70s had grown up and moved on, his record sales were declining, and the concert venues were getting smaller. Throw hard drugs into the mix and you get...this. Still, it is interesting that Alice chose to include a cover of "Seven and Seven Is." It is as if he were saying to the world, "I'm not a has been, and I'm not an imitator. You know all of those giants like Arthur Lee, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, etc.? They are my contemporaries, and I am their equal, and I am still here!" Rock on, Alice. Glad that you are still here!
I’ve never understood the concept of “I grew up and outgrew all the bands I loved as a kid”. I’m in my mid 50’s, and I still listen to pretty much everything I loved as a teenager or even as a little kid (Alice Cooper being a case in point). Sure, there were a small handful of bands… mainly the more angry, light speed tempo bands… from my teenage rage years that I left behind, but compared to the hundreds (maybe thousands) of bands that I never stopped loving, they’re an anomaly.
I guess my point is that I think it’s downright silly to “outgrow” music that brought you joy in your youth. I mean sure, you’re not ever gonna see me in the pit again when I go see these bands for the 25th time, but I’m still going to go see them and continue to buy their music. That stuff is sacred and lifelong for me.
Sorry, I know that’s not really what you meant in your post, but the bit about “growing up and moving on” must’ve hit a nerve. 😁
Just seen video of Alice on Johnny Carson 1977 It's amazing it's the same person.
This time Alice was at his best, I loved all his early albums, I went to see him live in Birmingham for the very first time on this your, was awesome. Why didn't he keep this band together they were great
“At his best”? Really? More like at his most bizarre and drug-addled. It’s an interesting period of his career for sure, and much better than his cheesy hair metal period that followed it, but I’d hardly say he was “at his best” at this time. He’s damn lucky his heart didn’t give out on him back then. He looked like death eatin’ a cracker.
UMMM BIP BIP UMM BIP BIP YAAAA. London Gardens, London Canada 1981 I WAS THERE . Best album EVER
Alice Cooper in that era was the most punk act, shocking in a way the other punk giants could only manage in their dreams. Most of them bands are no more. Alice in 2024 is still here and strong as ever.
Amazing album!
This is a more RAW COOPER .... LOVE IT 😁👍🏻👍🏻
WOW i ❤❤❤❤ Alice cooper
Loved the "Joan Crawford" look.
You nailed in man! I bet you are not far off the mark if you were to ask Alice.
I hear Old Joan has risen from the grave : )
Yeah funny. Looks more like kathryn.hepburn. but i love me some alice
*NO WIRE HANGERS EVER!!!*
Saw him during this period after his show we went to THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW trippin all night!
back when musicians were talented.
Yeah, because all the talented musicians either died or retired… derp. 🤨
I loved up to his early 80's best... Black Widow, School's Out, Cold Ethel..... 💯💞😎😎
Those songs were from the 1970s Lisa
Those songs were from the 1970s Lisa
@@laurencelevene4333 ok good, you agree
Welcome to my nightmare is probably my favourite Alice album
🤣🤣🤣
amazing , my favorite coop' period 81
I saw him on this tour in Feb 82. he was amazing 3 encours..
I always liked this era for Alice, very different, and in its own way, downright disturbing. The cocaine use is pretty obvious, though, especially in the interview section with Snyder. Alice is definitely flying here!
+Brad D I agree. There are songs off Dada, Flush the fashion and Special forces that i like better than his big hair metal band sound he was doing in the late 80's-early 90's
Agreed. I didn't care for the hair metal era, although I was happy to see Alice getting props again.
@@lennydog666Ugh, I *HATED* the hair metal era. It was just a cash-grab, plain and simple… but I suppose it worked for him. He started getting interesting again when “The Last Temptation” came out, but honestly when it comes to solo Alice, this is the era I always return to. Some of it is truly awful (Zipper Catches Skin), but most of it just has this weird, unique charm that I love.
@@Shikta-poobah67 agree 100%
That was an experience ⚡️⚡️
Wow the "LOVE" cover starting at 3:30 is amazing!!
Love it.
Outstanding!
I love you alice cooper
I had no idea he was also into cocaine at this time until last night when I saw Super Duper Alice Cooper. Apparently he talked about freebasing and rock cocaine use for the very first time in it, partly because his friend Bernie Taupin would only appear in the film if Alice would finally open up about coke, which Taupin apparently got him into in the first place in the late 70's. He always said it was a big alcohol blackout that these early 80's albums were made in, and I think it's still true he was abusing booze at this time, but it's weird cause the documentary doesn't actually mention the whole sip of Cheryl's wine relapse story that he's told over and over for years.
Sam Windmill I too know the evils of crack cocaine. Fortunately not anymore. I can relate to where he was at this point though. So strange
+Mark Rago
Me too. At this same time in the '80s, pretty much EVERYBODY that partied did some coke. I did more than my share, but I started to see people go down the fucking toilet in a hurry and was lucky enough to get away from it relatively unscathed. Uncle Alice was WAY down the fucking rabbit hole though, holy shit!
He probably invented that story. It isn't the only story he's invented over the years.
I knew before Super DUper Alice Cooper that something didn't add up. While I have no experience with coke, I know how drunks behave and he clearly isn't drunk here. He's the opposite of drunk. Drunks have slow and slurry speech and they're slow in general. Alice is extremely speeded here, so it's obvious he's on something that makes him like that. .
Me too. I always knew he was an ALCOHOLIC. But I hadn't known that he ever had a DRUG problem until RECENTLY when I looked into THIS period ( which was pretty obscure for a long time ).
I don't believe the relapse back into alcohol was a cover up.In his Golf Monster autobiography it reconfirms the story of taking a sip of his wife's wine and goes into more detail.It talks about how he was hiding bottles of liquor all over the house.It was at that time she tried to file for divorce because she couldn't stand to watch him kill himself anymore.
J'adore Alice (Vincent Furnier, so french).
Alice's 'new-wave' phase. Starting with 'Flush The Fashion'.
Thank you for being one of the few to actually get it right. I get so tired of people referring to this period of Alice as “punk”. I’ve always thought of this era as Alice taking a stab at new wave, in a way that only Alice could do.
0:46 Who Do You Think We Are
3:20 Seven & Seven Is
I like this Alice cooper
seen this concert in Alpena MI. in 1981 5 july , was trippin my ass off. great show. after the Rockets opened for them.
Great!
FANTASTIC VERSION! (So much better than the studio versions)
This version of this song has been among my favorite Alice Cooper songs ever since this aired!
This definitely is much better than the album version, as is every other live recording I’ve heard from this period. Also I saw Alice on this tour in the fall of ‘81, and though it was a looong time ago, I do remember thinking the sound was awesome (not that he’s ever sounded bad live). I like Special Forces, but it’s produced for shit. I’ve never been a big fan of remixing, but that’s one album that would really benefit from a full remix and remaster, though I seriously doubt that will ever happen.
Freakin awesomely killer!!!
Whatever he sings ... I like it very much .... We don't care!!!!😊
Special Forces may be my fav AC album.
After his rock n roll hall of fame induction , I suggest a step higher that the USA should add one more star on their flag devoted to Vincent, Cause this geniusrock'n'rollvillainhero, (along Billy the kid, Capone and Nixon) incarnates a part of their history.
I saw this tour , the Reason why Alice claims not to remember it is not because of the Music(It was Great) It was a Dark time in his personal Life....and that's all I have to say about that...
It’s pretty obvious at this point that Alice is full of shit when it comes to setting the record straight on his past. Apparently the only reason he ever finally admitted that he was indeed doing mountains of cocaine back then was because it was a condition of Bernie Taupin’s involvement in the documentary (that Alice come clean about the coke usage). I don’t mean to talk shit on Alice, I practically worship the man and I’ve been a major fan since I was 7 years old… but I can’t help but notice that he’s changed his story (about this period of his life) a million times, and I think he probably remembers a *LOT* more about that time than he cares to admit. Another thing I know about recovery from drug addiction is that if you want to stay clean and sober then you *HAVE* to be 100% honest about your past with others, as well as with yourself. I mean, it’s really actually not any of our business what Alice was doing behind the curtains 40+ years ago, but I hope he at least has come clean with all that stuff with his family and closest friends. There’s no age limit on relapsing.
I just keep wondering what he was thinking, in his rather 'druggy' moments, in front of his backstage mirror, doing his makeup....
"Let's see here...let's do...ONE giant eyebrow...yes, that's good...and let's just put a little bit of dark shadow under each cheek bone-just a smidge....ok...and some seriously white, simmey eye shadow...overdrawn lips....annnnnd we have it!" XD
+creatornat
Boy, I'm sure he was going for "weird" but HOLY SHIT!!!! I hated this "new" look and sound of his when it happened...I was a die-hard Alice fan WAY before he "re-invented" himself during this era of his career. I remember HATING his new look and sound when I first heard and saw it. It's funny...this all happened when I was a teenager, and I remember being disappointed when I found out that the "evil ghoul/maniac" that was Alice Cooper in the '70s was basically a "gimmick" and he was actually a really nice guy...then Special Forces (and the other albums of this period) came out and I HATED it! I pretty much gave up on him during this era. Looking back at it though, during this part of his career, he pretty much BECAME the sick, twisted, fucked up person I wish he was when I was younger...and it's taken all of the decades since for me to revisit those weird "new wave" and "punk" albums he put out in the early '80s, to realize how messed up he actually was at that point.
Not too mention the hair pinned up like an old ladies! I think he looks a bit like a punk / junkie version of that "sweet transvestite" guy from Rocky Horror. It kind of brought the ANDROGYNOUS element, that he had in the really early ( 70 / 71 ) days of the persona, back into the image in a very weird way. MY favorite SONG from THIS album is You Look Good In Rags.
@@creepyskulldini581 I believe I heard him say he was aiming for the look to be like Joan Crawford in ''Whatever Happened to Baby Jane''
Heres a picture for an example: derekwinnert.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/whatever-happened-to.jpg
You know that overused saying; “Cocaine is a helluva drug”? Well….
Never got into this album may have to get it. Love the Coops. Xxx
It was the best Ken Dodd impression of Alice Cooper ever....
40 years ago, what a trip
Wow!
I got special forces for Christmas 81(?). I wish I could find a copy of it nowadays.
This right here,is all kinds of hot,cool,and fucking amazing
I know how this whole early 80’s era of Alice is now commonly referred to as “the blackout years”, but personally I’ve always likened it to Apocalypse Now. Coop is basically Willard, and he just keeps winding further and further upriver into the jungle, descending ever deeper into madness with each click.
If Flush The Fashion is the river’s mouth where the journey begins (and Charlie don’t surf), then I’d say that Special Forces is the USO stage, where the Playboy bunnies make their appearance and it’s still fun, but things are beginning to get pretty weird and you can really start to sense the darkness up ahead.
After this was Zipper Catches Skin, which is like the last outpost on the river, where all the C.O.’s are dead, no one is in charge, and it’s just pure chaos. By this point Alice is still Willard, but by the time they reach the compound (DaDa), he’s pretty much transformed into Kurtz.
The horror.
Excellent performance. This era is fascinating to look at. Even though he was struggling in his personal life the art he was creating was phenomenal. Much better than Lace and whisky and From the inside.
Well said. I agree. Looking back, I think this period of his career (the blackout era - 1980-83), though far from his all time best was a hell of a lot more interesting than the “muppet” era that preceded it and the hair metal cash-grab that followed it.
For me, nothing’s ever going to come close to the original Alice Cooper band (1969-74), but this stuff is arguably my favorite part of his solo career.
Like Bowie, Alice Cooper has different incarnations and this is one of my favorites. I dig that early 80s punk vibe. But Alice should have invested in a Gold's Gym membership card and put some muscle on them bones.
That or actually EATING, instead of drinking booze and smoking crack.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he gorged himself daily at the buffet at this time, with all the coke he was freebasing. When you have half of Peru coursing through your veins you tend to metabolize food faster than you can consume it.
My favorite albums from this time is Special Forces by Alice and Another Perfect Day by motorhead
Hoom Pep Pep!
Hoom Pep Pep YEAH!!
I’m pretty sure it’s “Oop bip-bip, oop bip-bip, yeah!”
Cool!!!
his little bouncy boxing thing is great
Alice was chosen to help poeple by God thats why God spared him 🙏 walking angel 😇 that overcome alcohol in a rock in roll life style ✨ 😎 he has helped me through my recovery just listening to nights with alice cooper 💪 🙏 ❤ 💙
My gawd. He looks skeletal here...thinning hair, teeth yellow. Looks like he weighs about 80 lbs.
Lot of great Rock Stars, in better shape than that, died so Young.
Glad he recovered, And still performing great Rock today.
LEGEND.
he had a lot of people praying for him, his dad being a minister spearheaded that im sure.
I saw this tour summer of 81 Sun Dome in Tampa