I've taken to calling the Alice from this period "Crack Alice". I know, not exactly the same thing. But he's got the look.
It's kind of sad because when you see that rail thin, frenetic version of Alice now it seems obvious that he's coked up. I think I so bought the "It was always drink, never drugs" story that I don't think it occurred to me.
I do recall when word came out that he had fallen off the wagon and gone back to rehab in '83 and came back looking much better on Constrictor that I thought it was odd that when he was drunk in the '70s he got chubby but when he was "drunk" in '80s he got skinny. If I considered drugs as an explanation for that I blanked it out of my mind enough that it was a genuine surprise when I saw Super Duper Alice Cooper.
Thinking about this I went looking for rehab stories the newspaper archives from that period. I didn't find any but I did find a reference to an Esquire article about Alice meeting up with Bob Greene in Chicogo after being out of touch since '74. I found that article here. https://alicecooperechive.com/articles/ ... squ/850400
In retrospect it's clear that moving to Chicago wasn't just to get his daughters away from those bad influences.After some initial awkward banter, we were led to a table by the window. I asked him the obvious question first; What was he doing living in Chicago? If there was ever a person who seemed perfect for the entertainment-industry it was Alice Cooper. Why had he left?
"My daughter is three-and-a-half years old now," Alice said. "Sheryl is pregnant again. We were living in Beverly Hills, but we just decided that is no environment to bring up children. It's crazy in Los Angeles - the drugs, the fast life. There are too many negative temptations. I just couldn't see risking bringing my children up in that kind of atmosphere."
Alices wife said, "There is something less jaded about the Midwest. And my parents live in the Chicago suburbs - Oak Park. We thought it would be nice to be near them."