Poison (Alice Cooper song)

Last updated

"Poison"
Poison (Alice Cooper).jpg
Single by Alice Cooper
from the album Trash
B-side "Trash"
ReleasedJuly 17, 1989 (1989-07-17) [1]
Genre
Length4:28
Label Epic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Desmond Child
Alice Cooper singles chronology
"Freedom"
(1987)		"Poison"
(1989)		"Bed of Nails"
(1989)
Music video
"Poison" on YouTube

"Poison" is a song by American musician Alice Cooper. Written by Cooper, producer Desmond Child and guitarist John McCurry, the song was released as a single in July 1989 from Cooper's eighteenth album, Trash . It became one of Cooper's biggest hit singles in the United States, peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. The song performed even better in the UK by peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart.

Contents

"Poison" marked a major comeback for Alice Cooper, becoming his first Top 10 hit in the US and UK for 12 and 16 years respectively, and remains one of his best known songs. It is ranked by Billboard as the "91st top song of 1989", while Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it as the "7th best Alice Cooper song", commenting "Poison sounds like a typical '80s pop-metal number at times, but Cooper’s intensity brings it to a whole other level." [6] The song's main riff was written by guitarist John McCurry, who two years earlier had used it for the John Waite track "Encircled".

Music video

There are two versions of the video to the song, one of which shows Alice Cooper being chained to a bizarre mechanism and singing while a ghostly woman looms over him. The original video had to be censored for showings during the day, due to shots of a topless model. Rana Kennedy plays the roles of both women in the video but the topless scene were shot with a body double. [7] This is notably visible in the video. The studios in which the video was filmed in spring of 1989 have since been torn down and are now a parking lot in Los Angeles. The video is still often played on MTV Classic's Metal Mayhem .

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [32] Platinum70,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [33] Gold50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [34] Gold45,000‡
Germany (BVMI) [35] Gold250,000‡
Sweden (GLF) [36] Gold25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [37] Platinum600,000‡
United States (RIAA) [38] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

Film and media usage

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References

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  2. ↑ "Rock and horror: Alice Cooper on 40 years of beheadings, fake blood -". The Independent. October 30, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
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  4. ↑ "36 Essential '80s Pop Metal Tracks". Stereogum. April 5, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
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  31. ↑ "Longbored Surfer – 1989". longboredsurfer.com.
  32. ↑ The ARIA Report. Vol. 10. ARIA. March 18, 1990. p. 4.
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  37. ↑ "British single certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  38. ↑ "American single certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". Recording Industry Association of America.
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 "Covers of Poison by Alice Cooper on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
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  41. ↑ "Songs from Tango & Cash". www.sweetsoundtrack.com. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
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