I remember that Atomic Rooster album mixed in with Ed Ames and Engelbert Humperdinck albums at home as a kid. Must have been my oldest brother's ... and not my mother's. :)
I've always liked Flush The Fashion. Previous to that, all I was hearing on the radio from Alice was ballad after ballad. I heard "(We're All) Clones" & "Talk Talk" on the radio and decided to give the album a shot. It was fun.
Flush the Fashion is fun. That’s the perfect word to describe it. It’s good silly fun. Special Forces and Zipper Catches Skin are definitely in the same vein. DaDa is the darkest of the “black out period.” Check out those other 3 if you haven’t. There’s incredible stuff on each of em. There’s also some filler. Overall it’s such a fun period.
I watched the garage bands video I have been to the top of the arch they put you in this little egg like shuttle and was thinking the whole time when you crossed over to IL. You didn’t mention Cheap Trick a Rockford IL band and big Midwest band I have a promo copy of In Color Also the AC80 is one of my favorites loved it since back in the day actually have it autographed when I met Alice at a golf course in FL. Really nice guy, also saw Alice this weekend with Rob Zombie still a great show. Love the sarcasm and humor keep it coming. Thanks
Another great video! Dust! I love that Alice Cooper album. In my first video post I mention another one from that period "Zipper Catches Skin". Nice snag on the Seger and the Atomic Rooster! Cheers
I really enjoyed your video on garage psyche in St.louis!...yeah fabulous thunderbirds albums are slept on especially the ones before tuff enough..they are just fun..keep up the good work!
I would recommend checking out Alice Cooper’s Special Forces. It’s the follow up to Flush the Fashion. DaDa is another one of my favorite Alice albums, which was released a few years later. It’s a lot darker in places than those other two albums and was produced at probably the lowest point in his life, but it’s got some great tracks.
I will definitely be checking both of those out. Always heard bad things about them, but never heard them myself. Heard bad things about "Flush the Fashion", too.
@@RobertFithen I think they’re really polarizing albums. When they first came out, people did not like the new wave direction, but now a lot of hardcore fans rank those early 80s albums as some of his best. Personally, I like the original band’s albums better, but I totally respect that era of Alice’s solo career as well.
Thanks for the reviews, Robert. Always informative and entertaining. :-) Flush the Fashion is a favourite album of mine; your appraisal of it is spot-on. I love the Roy Thomas Baker production, and it's no accident that you were reminded of The Cars and Devo because he produced both bands around the same time. I read somewhere that all the songs on the album were based on newspaper headlines, so in a sense it's a bit of a concept album. About Cheap Trick, you mentioned in passing Next Position Please, and that's an album I recommend; seems it's a bit of a neglected one in the CT discography (produced by Todd Rundgren). Keep up the great work!
No doubt you know where I stand on Flush the Fashion. It's easily a top 10 Alice album for me, and I believe I put it at #1 in the 1980 Albums of the Year video. It's fun, has the freshness of a debut album and features some of his best and most humorous lyrics. Love it. Haven't heard a lot of that Bob Seger & The Last Heard stuff, but East Side Story is a killer track.
The Bob Seger is hit and miss. There is a ballad that doesn't suit him and a weak song about smoking, but a lot of it is on par with "East Side Story" and there is also an instrumental track of that song which was the b-side. "Flush The Fashion" is so much fun.
Thanks for the reminder - I have the early Cheap Trick LPs which I haven't heard in quite some time. Live at Budokan and Frampton Comes Alive are definitely 2 definitive live albums.
Just so you know Robert I had no real interest in St Louis area obscurity per say but I watched that entire video because I enjoy your presentations and sense of humor
First off, those of us who watched your St Louis video really liked it. Maybe it's a good thing to do those type videos. You're keeping your steady audience because we're sticking around to see what you do next. Not saying that your channel ever gets monotonous, I've mentioned before how it's hands down my favorite channel. But that video was for fans of the show. And we absolutely appreciate it. Thank you!
Love 'Flush the Fashion' as well as the other so called Blackout albums. 'Special Forces' , 'Zipper Catches Skin' and 'Da Da'. Quirky off-kilter stuff peppered with loads of humour, witty observations and interesting musical twists and turns. I think Vincent adapted really well to what was going on musically at the time, without simply copying or compromising his artistic integrity. As you mentioned, these albums are best taken in the right spirit. Big thanks for another great episode and good laughs. Keep it up Robert. Peace out from Stockholm.
"Clones (We're All)" was a minor hit single, I recorded it from the TV speaker with my portable tape recorder when it was on American Bandstand! To my surprise, "Flush The Fashion" was in the cut-out bin at Kmart a few months later; I bought it for .99 cents. Very difficult for many '70s artists to transition into the '80s, always puzzling and fascinating to me. If you don't have "All Shook Up" by Cheap Trick, try and snag that record - it's a wild one!
Dude - the best Cheap Trick album is their eponymously titled first LP, You must check it out; not only does it rock, it's got some pretty dark stuff on there too! As for "Flush The Fashion" - I loved it back in the day, and I still do (even though I hated his new look at the time, and still do!). "Clones" was slagged for being a Gary Numan ripoff - and it kind of is, I mean, it came out the year after Numan's "Cars" - but I still like it anyway. And you are correct - the album was not well received at the time, it was seen as an act of desperation by Alice.
Those first 2 Kiss albums do sound weird but Hotter Than Hell was my first album ever so it has a place in my haart. Just got a first pressing for ten bucks last weeks.
Great albums you got there Rob! The Blackout period of AC is some of my favorite stuff he ever did! Definitely check those other 3 from around that period. His lyrics are hilarious on those records and the music rocks most the time! Love that CT too seeing them in December so excited! Never heard of any of the Seger songs besides Heavy Music so something else to check out! Dust and Atomic Rooster also very cool underlooked 70s bands! And never got into the T birds but have seen that record before!
Never heard of Dust or Atomic Rooster. That's something you're doing for the VC. Getting us to listen to stuff we wouldn't normally. Also, I just watched Alice Cooper last weekend here in Austin and he still rocks! Fabulous Thunderbirds! I snuck in the back door of a club to see them about 25 years ago. Really fun band.
Good find with Cheap Trick’s “In Color” album. I like Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”, “Stranger in Town” and “Against the Wind” albums, but I have not heard the earlier Bob Seger albums. I am looking for Alice Cooper’s “Welcome to my Nightmare “ album.
Hard attack is a great album. Often wondered how the heck that wild psych ballad with violins came to be on there. Its really kewl but so unlike anything else they did.
Video intros only kick ass if you are Cosmic Brian. That guys shtick is fantastic. Also....i watched and enjoyed your St Louis Arch video and watch all your stuff......and finally. Alice Cooper - Clones from Flush the Fashion is every bit as good as everything else of the time period and gets constant rotation from me. I love that song. I need to find that whole album. Thanks for the content and keep them coming.
You can’t go wrong with Cheap Trick for great power pop. Love Flush The Fashion. So much fun and a really interesting detour. I’ll take it over anything that came after. Pain is a real highlight for me. Clones never gets old. I hated to see him go the route of the hair bands soon after this.
Same here - I was happy for Alice that he got to have a comeback, but none of his "hair metal" stuff ever held any interest for me. I did like his "Welcome 2 My Nightmare that came out 10 or 15 yrs ago; that had some fun rockers on it.
You should check out Cheap Trick "Sgt. Pepper Live" . Original concert on 40th anniversary of the original album at The Hollywood Bowl with the H.B. Orchestra. Released on CD 2009.The concert is on RU-vid - or at least additional commercial performances. Probably the official CD release is a later live in studio effort with different orchestra, keyboards and vocals in addition to the basic 2 guitar, bass and drums - but this is speculation. There is a DVD out there but cannot track it down. They run through the track listing in the original order.
I just started delving into Alice Cooper's music, starting with his early stuff. Haven't made it to his Flush the Fashion era yet. Next Position Please was the album where the quality of Cheap Trick's music began to decline, in my opinion (check out The Doctor for a good laugh). But you definitely need the two albums before NPP, All Shook Up and One on One. They are my favorites.
Flush the fashion was in his blackout period, he'd given grog but then took on coke. This album and Dada are by far the best albums he has done in the last 40 years.
Robert, Slash called Cheap Trick the rock bands rock band. Most rock and roll groups love Cheap Trick. You need to hear the rest of their catalogue. Their best live in person. If ya get the chance, go see them.
Hey Robert. I watched your St. Louis video. I thought it was fine. Nice change of pace rather than polishing the top of your jukebox with your arse. I didn't realise St. Louis had so much rock music history. I hope you make something similar soon. Show me the way to St. Louis. Show me the way, ba ba ba!
Hi Rob, dust hard attack is high on my want list, they released the debut in the UK but not the follow up. I’m in the US 🇺🇸 this week so fingers cross I find a copy.
Now I feel guilty for not watching your last video! Ok I suppose I better watch it then. Maybe you should buy more cheap Trick and Roxy Music albums to review in return? 😆
Love the early 80s Alice albums, well I'm not sure on Zipper, obviously there are strange crack driven choices extra verse on generation landslide or end of you look good in Rags?. Flush the fashion probably tightest of bunch and a great album, for me Special forces has better tracks but fashion is a better album as a. whole.
After the commentary on The Fabulous Thunderbirds, I'm not sure that they got the name right. Maybe they should have called themselves The Decent Thunderbirds.
