Alice “Special Forces” interview.

[Dannorama]

Never saw this before today. It’s a good sized chunk of raw video interview with Alice in 1981. He gives quite a bit of insight to the “new” album.

[jacknifejohnny]

Never seen that either… good find right there

[revinkevin]

For a time period where he was struggling with addiction issues he seemed remarkably focused and relaxed.

[scotty]

Thanks for posting ! What a find!

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

For a time period where he was struggling with addiction issues he seemed remarkably focused and relaxed.

I had the exact same thought.

Interesting interview. Some thoughts:

I think he overestimated or oversold Special Forces. If he was overselling, it raises an interesting question: If he is telling the interviewer that the new album is full of hard rock because he thinks that's what the audience wants to hear him say, then why didn't he actually make a really heavy album?

He really did a good job of predicting his daughter's future.

The man clearly loves him some television. I'm surprised that Dada didn't have a song or two inspired by that British soybean documentary.

I think Alice made a huge mistake by not embracing video in the early 80s. How could he not have jumped on the MTV craze? He loves television, has a good sense of humor, and to say that he has a flare for the theatrical is an understatement. On top of that he already had a large library of songs in his repertoire; MTV was thirsty for fresh content and Alice could have been the poster boy for the fledgling network since he could have provided both hard rock and new wave material.

[patrick]

I remember Headbangersball where Alice was regularly played .
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... K7tE0fgFMP gives about 1250 songs and on a quick look I found several entries by Alice. Most of the AC videos I saw at the time were in Headbangersball and if I am not mistaken I think Alice hosted the program occasionally..
So he did embrace MTV (or the other way round ) in the eighties

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

I was really talking about the early days of MTV, pre-Nightmare Returns. I think he could have turned his career around years sooner if had jumped on the bandwagon from day one. Bad artists could spend 5 bucks making a crummy video and still be in constant rotation on nationwide cable.

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

double post. my bad. Well, since I already screwed up I might as well make something out of it.


Let's see...in the song Fresh Blood, how many of you noticed the woman saying "ahhh" right after Alice sings "Poor Dolores"? I only noticed it for the first time a couple of nights ago. Funny, the little things you only pick up on after hearing a song a hundred times.

[pitkin88]

I was really talking about the early days of MTV, pre-Nightmare Returns. I think he could have turned his career around years sooner if had jumped on the bandwagon from day one. Bad artists could spend 5 bucks making a crummy video and still be in constant rotation on nationwide cable.

Although I agree he could have killed on MTV Warner were not behind him. Press coverage was at a bare minimum from FTF to DaDa. How they never greased any palms to get Clones on heavy rotation is a complete mystery. That song should have been a monster hit.

[Dannorama]

One of the things I took away from the video is his emphasis on “the band.” He mentions the Yardbirds, and then he talks about his band and how they sound like a band because they’re a band, and… It seems almost like he’s trying to sell that idea to himself. It makes me wonder about inner regrets from the breakup with the OG. Some may say “it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Well…. Maybe….

[mr.barlow]

I was really talking about the early days of MTV, pre-Nightmare Returns. I think he could have turned his career around years sooner if had jumped on the bandwagon from day one. Bad artists could spend 5 bucks making a crummy video and still be in constant rotation on nationwide cable.

Although I agree he could have killed on MTV Warner were not behind him. Press coverage was at a bare minimum from FTF to DaDa. How they never greased any palms to get Clones on heavy rotation is a complete mystery. That song should have been a monster hit.

That song could have been the biggest hit of his career next to School's Out. FTF could have been a platinum album and history would have been changed. I'd love to hear the FTF songs that wound up on SF produced by Roy Thomas Baker.

If Shep can get Clones on a soundtrack to a current hit tv show etc it would be huge!

Also it seems Dada is starting to gain a following. Last I checked on Ebay vinyl and cds of the album are bringing a few bucks. Just a few years ago you couldn't give them away.

[del]

Great to see this but I found it a little uncomfortable as it reminded me he wasn’t in a good place then, no matter what he was saying.

This period always felt like misguided attempt to align to the punk/new wave generation. Couldn’t do it though, simply because he had been going in the other direction with the likes of FTI and for many he was seen as an example of the previous generation. At least this is the tour that gave me my first Alice gig in Glasgow which was the glue that made me stay forever.

[Rod]

...no overdubs,play live in the studio, where have we heard that again?

[del]

Absolutely!

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

How they never greased any palms to get Clones on heavy rotation is a complete mystery. That song should have been a monster hit.

Yep. There are several songs on those early 80s albums that would have made good videos, imo.

Dance Yourself To Death could have worked as a humorous "parents vs teenagers" angle.
You Look Good in Rags could have worked with a "trashy chic" sex appeal angle.
I can see an Adam Ant style video for Zorro's Ascent.
If the Knack can get My Sharona on MTV why wouldn't Adaptable (Anything For You) be a hit too?
I Love America is Weird Al material.
A 3 minute single edit of Dyslexia with a Devo-esque video might also be a hit.

And that's before we even get to the classic 70s albums. A "We're Not Gonna Take It" style video for School's Out would have been huge.

This period always felt like misguided attempt to align to the punk/new wave generation. Couldn’t do it though, simply because he had been going in the other direction with the likes of FTI and for many he was seen as an example of the previous generation.

Are there any examples of older artists successfully transitioning to New Wave? I can't think of any. I mean artists who had actually had success prior to the arrival of New Wave. I think a big part of the appeal if that they were NEW and quirky. I still think Alice could have pulled it off if he had embraced the video format.

[Dannorama]

I don't like to disagree with the idea, but Alice and MTV were not made for each other. Sure, there were lots of bands from the late 70s that made a splash on the channel, but Alice Cooper was seen as a dinosaur to the forward-thinking audience that MTV was appealing to. It certainly would have taken a whole lot more than some new videos (of largely unpopular music) for him to overcome his dip in popularity. Happily, it was yet to come, but the world had to change first.

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

It's all academic at this point, but it's fun to speculate on what could have been. I'm sure you're right about Alice's career being at its nadir, but I can't imagine he was viewed as being any more of a dinosaur than Jefferson Airplane or the Moody Blues, both of whom made surprising comebacks in the 80s.

[pitkin88]

I don't like to disagree with the idea, but Alice and MTV were not made for each other. Sure, there were lots of bands from the late 70s that made a splash on the channel, but Alice Cooper was seen as a dinosaur to the forward-thinking audience that MTV was appealing to. It certainly would have taken a whole lot more than some new videos (of largely unpopular music) for him to overcome his dip in popularity. Happily, it was yet to come, but the world had to change first.

The dinosaur had a sell out tour of Europe with Special Forces despite not being there since 75. MTV viewers seen as forward thinking. LOL.

[Dannorama]

The “dinosaur” label didn’t come from me. Alice was lumped in with numerous other groups from the 70s who the “advanced set” saw as archaic. A lot of rockers suffered during the early 80s. I didn’t agree, but it was there. Maybe if he opened for Oingo Boingo or Scritti Politti it may have opened some eyes….? My overall point is that he outlasted the MTV fad.