051: Alice Cooper - Killer (1971)
“Just because I cut the heads off dolls doesn't mean I hate babies — I just hate dolls.”
—Alice Cooper
Kick off your shoes, take a seat in your comfiest electric chair, and join the Discord & Rhyme crew for a look at Alice Cooper’s 1971 shock-rock classic Killer. In this episode, Dan is joined by Mike, Phil, and Ben to discuss how there is much more to Alice Cooper than the elaborate stage show and persona. In particular, we break down what a great group of players the original Alice Cooper band was and how they managed to craft some of the most fun and exciting hard rock of the early ’70s.
Miscellany
While “Halo of Flies” flirts with elements from James Bond, the band would actually go on to write and perform a would-be theme song for The Man with the Golden Gun. Unfortunately, the band lost out to Lulu, leaving the song as a random track on the band’s final album Muscle of Love.
While the influence of Alice Cooper can easily be traced to later shock rockers like Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, a less obvious fan is John Lydon who has named Killer his favorite rock album of all time.
The Milwaukee etymological history comes from George R. Stewart's Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place Naming in the United States, which is a fascinating read.
During the post-production phase, Mike was alarmed to discover that in our discussion of what music in 1971 might have constituted “shock rock,” none of us thought to mention Arthur Brown, who was most certainly an influence on Alice Cooper and his onstage theatrics. We are very sorry, God of Hellfire. Please do not smite us.
Other links
Alice Cooper in Wayne’s World (YouTube)
Alice and the Muppets: “School’s Out” (YouTube)
Discord & Rhyme’s Killer playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Dan Watkins (host)
Mike DeFabio (moderator)
Phil Maddox
Ben Marlin
Rich Bunnell (unreliable DJ)
Killer tracklist
Under My Wheels
Be My Lover
Halo Of Flies
Desperado
You Drive Me Nervous
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Dead Babies
Killer
Other clips used
Alice Cooper:
Feed My Frankenstein (Live in Columbus)
Thrill My Gorilla
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I’m Eighteen
Poison
Caught in a Dream
10 Minutes Before the Worm
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Pass the Gun Around
Others:
David Bowie - Suffragette City
The Rolling Stones - Rocks Off
La Bouche - Be My Lover
The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane
Tommy James and the Shondells - Crimson and Clover
Electric Light Orchestra - Do Ya
The Jam - Innocent Man
J. Geils Band - Love Stinks
The Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
Cornershop - Brimful of Asha
The Wallflowers - Three Marlenas
Cake - Short Skirt/Long Jacket
Butthole Surfers - Dracula from Houston
Peter Gabriel - Modern Love
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Rich
John Lennon - Cold Turkey
Bloodrock - D.O.A.
The Killers - All These Things That I’ve Done
The Doors - The Soft Parade
Band/album personnel
Alice Cooper – vocals, harmonica
Glen Buxton – lead guitar
Michael Bruce – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Dennis Dunaway – bass guitar, backing vocals
Neal Smith – drums, backing vocals
Bob Ezrin – keyboards
Rick Derringer – additional guitar (1, 6)
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Alice Cooper - Halo of Flies (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Killer and other albums by Alice Cooper at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.