390. Alice Cooper / Flush the Fashion. 1980. 3.5/5

After the immediate super success of the start of his solo career with the release of the album “Welcome to My Nightmare”, the episode of which you can find just recently on this podcast, Alice Cooper had continued to push the boundaries of his new career, and his old habits. Following the tour to promote the “Lace and Whiskey” album, Alice had committed himself to a sanitarium for treatment of his addictions. Once sober, Alice had used this experience as the inspiration for his follow up album “From the Inside” which he co-wrote with Bernie Taupin. He also appeared in several shows as both himself and as a different character. He made a memorable appearance as himself on The Muppet Show, creating skits to his own hits “Welcome to My Nightmare”, “You and Me” and “School’s Out”. He also appeared in an against-typecasting role as a piano-playing disco waiter in Mae West's final film, Sextette, and as a villain who is a mind-controlling cult leader called Father Sun in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Alice at this time also led celebrities in raising money to remodel the famous Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, California. Cooper himself contributed over $27,000 to the project, buying an O in the sign in memory of close friend and comedian Groucho Marx.
Moving into the follow up album to “From the Inside”, Alice moved into a phase of his career that he dubbed his ‘blackout years’ because he has no memory of actually recording the albums of this period. Although he has been quoted as saying that he recall’s moments of the process of writing and recording this follow up album, his new and increasing addiction to cocaine was to seriously affect the three albums that followed this one. Roy Thomas Baker, who was a famed producer who had had great success in that roles for bands such as Queen and The Cars, came on board for this album, and was one of the people instrumental in the direction that this album ended up taking, one that at the time baffled and surprised longtime fans. Davey Johnstone and Fred Mandel, who had played guitars and keyboards respectively on the previous album, remained on board for the new album, and also became co-writers of most of the project. The album was composed and recorded in Hollywood in late 1979 and early 1980, and at just 28 and a half minutes in the shortest album of Alice’s career. Whether a deliberate move or not, Alice Cooper met the start of the new decade with an album that could not have been more different yet perhaps also no more appropriate for the times, and was titled “Flush the Fashion”.

On his radio show in 2020, Alice said that all of the song titles on the “Flush the Fashion” album were taken from actual headlines from the National Enquirer back in the day – all except the final track, which was appropriately titled “Headlines”.
It’s a whole new Alice Cooper that appears here. There is none of the make up that created the Alice Cooper persona here in 1980, and his photo on the back cover of the album is almost in an evil David Bowie fashion, with hair and thin facial features that mirror the Thin White Duke, but in black leather shirt and still holding his whip cane. And the style of the album is a whole new production as well. There had been some changes made over the course of the previous two albums mainly due to the different writers Alice had collaborated with, but no changes as stark as what was to come here on “Flush the Fashion”. And look, if you didn’t know that new wave was hitting the pop and rock scene in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, then one listen to the opening of this album would have you realise it like finding out that a sledgehammer to the foot is extremely painful. And it is an interesting performance on the album with the way the songs all segue into the next without hesitation – it is almost like a musical in itself, moving from one scene straight into the next. Some will find it confronting, and wonder why this has been allowed to occur. The whole new writing partnership has been brought together for this album, and the only reason that that occurs is because the artist is looking to create something completely different from what they have done before, or they have an absolute direction in mind that they have handpicked these new collaborators for because of their expertise.
The album opens with a cover of the song “Talk Talk” by the Music Machine which was released by that band in 1966. Alice’s version here has been updated to the modern age as a punky new wave track with garage rock tendencies, but more in the new wave theme than anything else. It’s an interesting choice to make as an album opener, and to cover a track by a different band from a different era at all. Did it just fall into pace because of the title, and that this title was also a headline in the National Enquirer? I don’t know the answer to that question. “Talk Talk” was also released as the second single from the album, which failed to chart. Following this is the opening single from the album, “Clones (We’re All)”, and this is pure new wave. There is nothing resembling what Alice had brought to his music in the first couple of albums of his solo career. This is wonderfully and amazingly new wave with the synth and keyboard dominating. The song is about forced conformity, and Alice reportedly wanted to record the song because he was looking for a new sound. It barely sounds like Alice singing this song at all, it could have been any other singer. If you didn't know it was on an Alice Cooper album, you’d have trouble identifying the artist. The track is written by David Carron from the group Shenandoah, another cover song to kick off the album. This did chart on the singles chart in the US.
“Pain” follows, and the real Alice is back here, the real voice and the real angst. As this is the first song written by Alice and his co-contributors on the album, this doesn’t come as a real surprise. It is one of only two songs on this album that sounds anything like the Alice Cooper of old, and that isn’t meant as a criticism it is just a statement of fact. “Leather Boots” has its roots in the early rock n roll of the 1960’s, a mixture of pure Elvis styled themes and other rock n roll bands of the era, but highlighted with the more modern heavy guitar riff in the mid pieces. It only goes for a minute and a half, and again is a cover song written by Geoff Westen. Another possible example of a song already written to match the title of the track? Who’s to know. Side A then closes out with “Aspirin Damage”, a song where Alice may well be singing about the problems that come with overusing prescription medicines but perhaps is also a pointer to what he was becoming addicted to at the time this album was being created as well.
The second side of the album opens up with “Nuclear Infected”, a song full of fun lyrics about the protagonist with that infection. The lyrics here are of a style that Alice used later on in the 9180’s on albums such as “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist and Yell”, fun songs without taking themselves seriously. Musically it is fine but could have used more energy to go with the vocals. “Grim Facts” tells the story of a girl who is up to a lot more than her parents are aware of, and Alice is offering up the grim facts. Musically again it is fine for the era, but the backing vocals seem to let the song down and even Alice’s vocals don’t have their usual style. It is another song where he seems to be moving away from the Alice Cooper voice into another dimension.
Arguably the best song on the album lifts the quality next with “Model Citizen”, another track that points to albums further down the track. The music is upbeat and fun, and with Alice crooning “I’m a model Citizen, I think I've got them fooled again” he has everyone in the palm of his hands. “Dance Yourself to Death” has Alice seeing off his parents as they go out to party, and to see them dance themselves to death though in a variety of ways. Is it filler or is it clever? Lyrically there are several double meanings to the song, but musically it doesn’t always capture what you imagine the mood of the song should be. The album then concludes with “Headlines”, and for the last time the almost-real Alice Cooper returns vocally, with a hard hitting song lyrically about wanting to be in the headlines to remain in the limelight, and doing whatever it takes to do so. THIS is a more relevant Alice Cooper song and a good one to sign off the album with.

My Alice Cooper story has been described many times before, but for those of you who either AREN’T avid listeners to this podcast and the previous version of Music from a Lifetime, my initial foray into the Alice Cooper legend was through his latter 80’s albums “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist and Yell”, before eventually moving back through the catalogue he had amassed prior to those two albums, and then of course forward as new albums were released. The period that this album was released was probably my final port of call in regards to catchig up on the back catalogue. That wasn’t a deliberate thing. It’s just that when you start hearing about and asking about Alice Cooper you are generally sent in the direction of the seven albums of the Alice Cooper Band first, and then “Welcome to My Nightmare”, before being offered the rest of the discography.
First hearing this album a number of years – a lot of years – after it was first released was an interesting experience. To listen to it WITHOUT considering the era in which it was written makes for a real WTF moment. Because it really is very little like ANY Alice Cooper album. In fact, as much as the following three albums are in a different dimension in their own right, this album to me has always been the least Alice Cooper album since “Easy Action”. A number of the songs here just don’t sound anything like Alice’s usual format, his usual style, or even his usual voice! “Clones (We’re All)” is just different, not only charting on the singles chart in the US but also the DISCO chart! I mean, that’s just how unusual this song is. “Talk Talk” and “Leather Boots” are the other obvious ones, and the fact all three are written outside of the band probably makes that an obvious point. The start of the album could easily scare off any long time fans of the band if you haven’t heard this before. So it is very true that this is most unlike any other Alice Cooper album.
However, let’s look on the other side of the equation. I’m not going to try and influence you here because this is a rather divisive album. The thick layers of the new wave era mixed with Alice looking to innovate and go with the times means that this album can be seen to be a hard sell. But as it turns out, I’ve always enjoyed listening to it. Now bear with me for a moment, because I am not saying here that I think it is in the highest echelon of Alice Cooper albums. I’m definitely not saying that. What I am saying is that when I listen to this album, I just enjoy it for what it is. It is very different, and it did take me some time to adjust to the changes made for this album. But I am not averse to the new wave music, especially from the UK around this time. So I can handle that influence on this album. And while the tracks where Alice’s vocals are unpredictably changed, or the overuse of the backing vocals from Fred Mandel and the other players seem to take away the Alice Cooper flavour, make me less enthused, I can and have adapted to those as well. Alice is an innovator, as we have heard many times through his career. Maybe not all of those albums have worked, but I will still listen to them, and enjoy them for what they are.
What does that mean for “Flush the Fashion”? Over the last week I have played the album again many times. I picked up an original battered pressing on vinyl of this album a couple of years ago, and it still sounds great, crackles and all. It feels authentic listening to that copy, rather than the streaming or CD version where that crackling doesn’t exist. I love the way there is no break between tracks, each song segues immediately into the next. The only break comes from turning the album over. And when you get past any of the rough or slightly negative things I may have said about this album on this episode, there is just Alice Cooper, having fun, and sounding like it. And THAT is what makes the best Alice Cooper albums. Of all of the 29 Alice Cooper and Alice Cooper Band studio albums that have been released over the years, I rank this as #20 out of 29. Out of Alice’s 22 solo only albums, I rank this #16 of those 22. Again, that might not seem like a ringing endorsement for this album. But I believe again that it just proves how wonderful Alice Cooper’s discography is overall. This isn’t the greatest, but if you enjoy Alice Cooper, there is more than enough here to have you like this album too.