Rubber little lady, slicker than a weasel

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

13/05/73 : Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper

I'm aware of "Schools Out", but I think that's about the extent of my knowledge of Alice.  Ah yes,  I also know that Alice Cooper is both a band and a person - and I have no idea which one this is by.  But, before we get there, we have two albums to consider briefly before ignoring...

At #4, we have Believe In Music which is a K-Tel compilation of 22 "original hits, original stars" - and I've only heard of about half of the "stars", let alone the "hits".  Mouth & MacNeal, The Raspberries, Bobby Vinton or Bulldog, anyone?  No, I thought not.  And at #5, we have Singalongamax Vol 3.  No, no, no, no, no.  So we're back to Alice. 

Apparently, it's the band - his solo stuff came later.  And well, it's not terrible but it's not great either - it's generally somewhere between soft and glam rock, with it being more harmless and understated than I was expecting.  Most of it is listenable at least, but "Elected" is not a great track, "Billion Dollar Babies" sounds a bit like a Rocky Horror track and "Mary Ann" sounds like a McCartney solo effort.  I'm also not convinced "Raped And Freezin'" is a GREAT name for a track.  Interesting to visit from a novelty viewpoint, but there's no "Schools Out" on here (I'm reliably informed it's on the Schools Out album).

We're at #7 in the charts on its ninth week of a 20 week run, having peaked at #1 in its debut week.  WHAT?!?  I said it was fine from a novelty viewpoint, not a chart-topping masterpiece - the 70s was a peculiar time and no mistake.  The top five this week were Bowie, Beatles Red and Blue, Believe In Music and Max Bygraves - thank god for Bowie, that's all I'll say.  Wings are the highest new entry at #6, which means we'll be losing Linda from the charts next week - and there's no sign of any other new women to replace her this week.

Wikipedia certainly has some content on the album - strap yourself in, people.  Apparently "Raped And Freezin'" is "a "hilarious and gorgeously catchy" take on the idea of sexual harassment", "Unfinished Sweet" is about visiting a dentist and "the album's closing track, "I Love the Dead", is a tongue-in-cheek song about necrophilia".  Ohhhh kay.  A quadrophonic mix is available on 8-track, reel-to-reel and vinyl (I really must check that out) and Donovan sings on the title track, but all this pales into insignficance when we read about the supporting tour.

It "featured Cooper wearing a costume with fake blood stains at the crotch, tearing apart baby dolls, attacking mannequins, and being decapitated by a guillotine", employed 50 people and broke US box office records at the time.  Props for the tour apparently included "a dentists drill, four whips, a surgical table, six hatchets, 33,000 program books, 300 baby dolls, 22,000 sparklers, 58 mannequins, 280 spare light bulbs, 1,000 patches, 6,000 mirror parts, 14 bubble machines, 28 gallons of bubble juice, and 250,000 packages of bubble bath".  I imagine the concerts were QUITE the experience.

All of which resulted in an album that the critics ABSOLUTELY LOVED - even retrospective reviews salute its magnificence.  The public adored it as well with it reaching #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, selling over a million copies.  I'm extremely confused by the whole thing - but let's just leave it as no accounting for tastes.

"Customers also listened to" Blue Oyster Cult, The Sweet, Golden Earring and Spinal Tap.  And, to be honest, it's the latter that invokes the closest comparison to me - it's fun(ish) and there's some skill involved, but it's all rather ridiculous and not supposed to be taken seriously.  But it seems like a lot of people didn't get the memo.

06/05/73 - Thrown together, at best
20/05/73 - Not the shortest album I've met