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| Lace and Whiskey | ||||
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| Released | April 29, 1977 | |||
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 41:17 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Bob Ezrin | |||
| Alice Cooper chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Lace and Whiskey | ||||
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Lace and Whiskey is the third solo and tenth overall studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on April 29, 1977, by Warner Bros. Records.
After many years of portraying a dark and sinister persona Alice Cooper decided to try something new and donned the persona of a heavy drinking comic PI named "Maurice Escargot" — a fictional character in the same vein as Inspector Clouseau. Cooper is pictured as Escargot on the back cover of Lace and Whiskey, which was still a rock-based album but was stylistically influenced by Cooper's love for 1940s' and 1950s' movies and music. The album only peaked at No. 42 in the US and No. 33 in the UK Albums Chart. [3]
The album's lead single, "You and Me", was an easy listening ballad which provided Cooper with his last US top-ten single for twelve years. "(No More) Love at Your Convenience", a disco-inspired pop song, was released as the second single — it did not chart in most countries. Music videos were created for both songs, at a time well before the advent of MTV. The song "King of the Silver Screen" features a sampling of the main motif of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic".
Cooper's King of the Silver Screen tour in support of this album, featured a stage set designed as a giant TV, with its slit screen allowing Cooper and his dancers to jump into and out of it along to filmed choreographed sequences during songs, and had comedic mock commercials screened in between some songs. The tour only ran in the US and Canada, throughout the summers of 1977 and 1978, and for 1978 would be renamed the School's Out for Summer tour. Filmed highlights from the opening night of the 1977 tour, capturing a very inebriated Cooper, were featured in the Alice Cooper and Friends TV special. The tour's Las Vegas concerts were recorded, resulting in the live album The Alice Cooper Show (1977). With the exception of "It's Hot Tonight", which was a regular part of setlists on the following Madhouse Rocks, the 2001 Brutal Planet and the 2008–2009 Psychodrama tours, and "Road Rats" which was a regular during the 1980 Flush the Fashion tour, nothing from Lace and Whiskey has been performed since the close of the School's Out for Summer '78 tour. "Damned If You Do", "Ubangi Stomp", "(No More) Love at Your Convenience", "I Never Wrote Those Songs", and "My God" have never been played live by Cooper.
It was after the completion of the 1977 tour, that Cooper checked into a New York-based sanitarium for his first treatment for alcoholism.
During the initial stage of this album's era, when it was clear that Cooper was not going to return from his new success, original Alice Cooper group members Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith, and Michael Bruce formed a new band with Mike Marconi and Bob Dolin called "The Billion Dollar Babies". [4] Michael Bruce sang their lead vocals.
Lace and Whiskey was digitally remastered and re-released on CD by Metal Blade Records in 1990.
The opening song "It's Hot Tonight" would be sampled by the rap rock group Beastie Boys for the song "What Comes Around" on their second studio album Paul's Boutique (1989).
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+ [6] |
| Rolling Stone | (unfavorable) [7] |
The Indianapolis News wrote that "Cooper is going across the board with ballads, love songs, heavy rockers, country rock and comedy." [8]
All tracks are written by Alice Cooper, Dick Wagner and Bob Ezrin, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It’s Hot Tonight" | 3:21 | |
| 2. | "Lace and Whiskey" | 3:14 | |
| 3. | "Road Rats" | 4:51 | |
| 4. | "Damned If You Do" | 3:14 | |
| 5. | "You and Me" |
| 5:07 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "King of the Silver Screen" | 5:35 | |
| 2. | "Ubangi Stomp" | Charles Underwood | 2:12 |
| 3. | "(No More) Love at Your Convenience" | 3:49 | |
| 4. | "I Never Wrote Those Songs" | 4:34 | |
| 5. | "My God" | 5:40 | |
| Total length: | 41:17 | ||
Credits are adapted from the Lace and Whiskey liner notes. [9]
Additional personnel
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [10] | 3 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [11] | 27 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [12] | 32 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [13] | 43 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [14] | 33 |
| US Billboard 200 [15] | 42 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) [16] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Billion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in March 1973 by Warner Bros. Records. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hitting number one on the album charts in the United States and the United Kingdom, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Destroyer is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on March 15, 1976, by Casablanca Records in the US. It was the third successive Kiss album to reach the top 40 in the US, as well as the first to chart in Germany and New Zealand. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on April 22, 1976, and platinum on November 11 of the same year, the first Kiss album to achieve platinum. The album marked a departure from the raw sound of the band's first three albums.
Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits is the only greatest hits album by American rock band Alice Cooper, and their last release as a band. Released in 1974, it features hit songs from five of the band's seven studio albums. It does not include any material from their first two albums, Pretties for You and Easy Action.
Welcome to My Nightmare is the debut solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released on February 28, 1975. It is his only album for the Atlantic Records label in North America; in the rest of the world, it was released on the ABC subsidiary Anchor Records. Welcome to My Nightmare is a concept album. Played in sequence, the songs form a journey through the nightmares of a child named Steven. The album inspired the Alice Cooper: The Nightmare TV special, a worldwide concert tour in 1975, and his Welcome to My Nightmare concert film in 1976. The ensuing tour was one of the most over-the-top excursions of that era. Most of Lou Reed's band joined Cooper for this record.
Alice Cooper Goes to Hell is the second solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in 1976. A continuation of Welcome to My Nightmare as it continues the story of Steven, the concept album was written by Cooper with guitar player Dick Wagner and producer Bob Ezrin.
Muscle of Love is the seventh and final studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper. It was released in late 1973, the band played its last concert a few months later.
The Alice Cooper Show is a live album by Alice Cooper, released by Warner Bros. in December 1977.
From the Inside is the fourth solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released in December 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. It is a concept album about Cooper's stay in a New York asylum due to his alcoholism. Each of the characters in the songs were based on actual people Cooper met in the asylum. Among other collaborators, the album features three longtime Elton John associates: lyricist Bernie Taupin, guitarist Davey Johnstone and bassist Dee Murray.
Love It to Death is the third studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on March 9, 1971. It was the band's first commercially successful album and the first album that consolidated the band's aggressive hard-rocking sound, instead of the psychedelic and experimental rock style of their first two albums. The album's best-known track, "I'm Eighteen", was released as a single to test the band's commercial viability before the album was recorded.
School's Out is the fifth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in June 1972. Following on from the success of Killer, School's Out reached No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Top Albums chart, holding the top position for four weeks. The single "School's Out" reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart and went to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
DaDa is the eighth solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on September 28, 1983, by Warner Bros. Records. DaDa would be Cooper's final studio album until his sober re-emergence in 1986 with the album Constrictor.
Killer is the fourth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in November 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the two singles "Under My Wheels" and "Be My Lover" made the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Constrictor is the ninth solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in October 1986 by MCA Records. After a hiatus from the music industry after the release of DaDa (1983), Cooper remained in seclusion for three years. He starred in Monster Dog (1986), a horror film for which he wrote two songs. He also guest starred on the Twisted Sister track "Be Chrool to Your Scuel". Constrictor was Alice Cooper's first studio album to feature Kane Roberts on guitar, Kip Winger, who would later gain fame with his own band, Winger, on bass guitar, and the only one to feature David Rosenberg on drums. Winger has since pointed out that his last name was erroneously spelt in the album credits as Wringer.
Brutal Planet is the fourteenth solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in 2000. Musically, this finds Alice tackling a much darker and heavier approach than on previous albums, with many songs approaching a somewhat modern-sounding, industrial/metal sound. Lyrically, it deals with themes of dark "social fiction", including domestic violence, prejudice, psychopathic behavior, war, depression, suicide ("Sanctuary"), Neo-Nazism and school shootings. The album was followed by a sequel, titled Dragontown (2001).
Richard Allen Wagner was an American rock guitarist, songwriter and author best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. He also fronted his own Michigan-based bands, the Frost and the Bossmen.
"I'm Eighteen" is a song by rock band Alice Cooper, first released as a single in November 1970 backed with "Is It My Body". It was the band's first top-forty success—peaking at number 21—and convinced Warner Bros. that Alice Cooper had the commercial potential to release an album. The song and its B-side feature on the band's first major-label album Love It to Death (1971).
Stephen John Hunter is an American guitarist, primarily a session player. He has worked with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, acquiring the moniker "The Deacon". Hunter first played with Mitch Ryder's Detroit, beginning a long association with record producer Bob Ezrin who has said Steve Hunter has contributed so much to rock music in general that he truly deserves the designation of "Guitar Hero". Steve Hunter has played some of the greatest riffs in rock history - the first solo in Aerosmith's "Train Kept A Rollin'", the acoustic intro on Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" and he wrote the intro interlude on Lou Reed's live version of "Sweet Jane" on Reed's first gold record.
Welcome 2 My Nightmare is the nineteenth solo album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in September 2011. Peaking at No. 22 in the Billboard 200 it is Cooper's highest-charting album in the US since 1989's Trash. The album is a sequel to his 1975 album Welcome to My Nightmare.
"Ubangi Stomp" is an American rockabilly song. Written by Charles Underwood and first released on record by Warren Smith in 1956, the song did not chart, but went on to become a rockabilly standard, covered by many artists. "Ubangi Stomp" – usually Smith's recording – appears on many compilation albums, including The Sun Records Collection and The Best of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour.
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