The Alice Cooper Thread

[Susan Foreman]

The line up for the new album:

The Last Vampire:

Narration: Sir Christopher Lee
Keyboards and Sound Design: Johnny Depp, Bob Ezrin and Justin Cortelyou

Raise The Dead:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen, Bruce Witkin
Drums: Glenn Sobel
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Background Vocals: Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen, Bob Ezrin

My Generation:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Drums: Zak Starkey
Background Vocals: Tommy Henriksen,

Whole Lotta Love:

Vocals: Brian Johnson, Alice Cooper
Guitars: Joe Walsh, Johnny Depp, Orianthi, Tommy Henriksen, Bruce Witkin
Harmonica: Alice Cooper
Drums: Zak Starkey
Bass: Kip Winger
Programming: Tommy Henriksen
Backing Vocals: Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen

I Got A Line:

Vocals: Alice Cooper, Perry Farrell
Guitars: Joe Walsh, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen, Bruce Witkin
Drums: Abe Laboriel Jr.
Bass: Kip Winger
Background Vocals: Perry Farrell, Tommy Henriksen, Bob Ezrin

Five to One/Break On Through:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Robby Krieger, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen
Drums: Abe Laboriel Jr.
Farfisa: Charlie Judge
Bass: Bruce Witkin

One/Jump Into The Fire:

Vocals: Alice Cooper, Perry Farrell
Guitars: Robby Krieger, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen, Bruce Witkin
Drums: Dave Grohl
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Keyboard: Bob Ezrin, Bruce Witkin
Programming: Tommy Henriksen

Come And Get It:

Vocals: Paul McCartney, Alice Cooper
Guitars: Joe Perry, Johnny Depp
Piano: Paul McCartney
Drums: Abe Laboriel Jr.
Bass: Paul McCartney
Background Vocals: Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, Abe Laboriel Jr., Bob Ezrin

Jeepster:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Joe Perry, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen,
Drums: Glenn Sobel
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Programming: Tommy Henriksen
Background Vocals: Bob Ezrin

Cold Turkey:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Joe Perry, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen
Drums: Glenn Sobel
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Programming: Tommy Henriksen
Background Vocals: Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen

Manic Depression:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Joe Walsh, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen
Drums: Zak Starkey
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Piano: Bob Ezrin

Itchycoo Park:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen
Drums: Glenn Sobel
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Programming: Tommy Henriksen
Background Vocals: Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen, Bob Ezrin

School’s Out / Another Brick In The Wall pt.2:

Vocals: Alice Cooper, Brian Johnson
Guitar: Slash, Joe Perry, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen, Bruce Witkin
Drums: Neal Smith
Bass: Dennis Dunaway
Background Vocals: Kip Winger, Bob Ezrin

Dead Drunk Friends:

Vocals: Alice Cooper
Guitars: Johnny Depp, Bruce Witkin,
Drums: Glenn Sobel
Programming: Tommy Henriksen
Bass: Bruce Witkin
Piano: Bruce Witkin, Bob Ezrin
Background Vocals: Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Tommy Henriksen, Bruce Witkin, Bob Ezrin

[Susan Foreman]

It looks like I might have a bit of stability in my life for the next few days, so lets crack on with the discography

PART 2: The Solo Years

1975's 'Welcome To My Nightmare' should not need much of an introduction.

It is a concept album that takes the listener through the twisted mind of a psychopath

In 1975, Cooper turned the stage show built around this song into a concert TV special entitled 'Alice Cooper: The Nightmare, which also featured a guest appearance from Vincent Price. It was released in Warner Home Video in the early 80's, but has long since disappeared, and has never been released on DVD or Blu-Ray. If you can find a copy, however, it is well worth it

Most of the people in the band were also Lou Reed's band at the time

Alice Cooper - Vocals
Dick Wagner - Guitars
Steve (Deacon) Hunter - Guitars
Prakash John - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Whitey Glan - Drums
Johnny (Bee) Badanjek - Drums
Jozef Chirowski - Keyboards, Clavinet, Vocals, Fender Rhoads
Bob Ezrin - Keyboards, Fender Rhoads

Producer - Bob Ezrin

The first song is the title track, 'Welcome To My Nightmare', a lovely song to open the festivities. It starts quietly, but gathers momentum, and is very catchy

When performed live, this is the song that tends to introduce the theatrics!

01/11 - Welcome To My Nightmare (Cooper, Wagner)



"Welcome to my nightmare
I think you're gonna like it
I think you're gonna feel you belong
A nocturnal vacation
Unnecessary sedation
You want to feel at home 'cause you belong
Welcome to my nightmare, whoa

Welcome to my breakdown
I hope I didn't scare you
That's just the way we are when we come down
We sweat and laugh and scream here
'cause life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home here
Welcome to my breakdown , whoa
You're welcome to my nightmare, yeah

Welcome to my nightmare
I think you're gonna like it
I think you're gonna feel you belong
We sweat laugh and scream here
'cause life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home here
Welcome to my nightmare, oww
Welcome to my breakdown
Yeah"

The second song, Devil's Food, is a back-to-basics rock song!

02/11 - Devil's Food (Cooper, Ezrin, Kelley Jay)



"Gettin' ready for the lady
She's gonna be a treat
Simmer slightly 'til ready
Make her soft too, make her sweet

I kiss the tears off from your chest
I felt the poison fright that's in your breath
I knew your precious life and I know your death
I squeeze the love out of your soul
All the perfect love that's in your soul
You're just another spirit on parole

Devil's food
Devil's food
Devil's food"

In 2009 Alice wrote an additional verse for this song when it was included in the 'Theater Of Death' show.

"Get ready for the lady
She's gonna be a feast
Roast her slowly and steady
Eat it all feed the beast

I sense the fears that paralyze
See the memories lost are in your eyes
Closed and dead and hiding in disguise

I know the scars I know your dreams
I can't tell your laughter from the screams
You're inside out and ripped up at the seams"

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I like the idea of Alice and Perry Farrell doing the vocals.

Some guitar legends as well in Slash and Joe Perry. I look forward to seeing if Perry's guitar sounds the same as with Aerosmith.

Good on Johnny Depp as well for playing guitar on all the songs. He could easily have been overawed by some of the other axe men,.

[Susan Foreman]

The third song on the album actually comes in two parts. Part one is a spoken monologue by horror film icon Vincent Price. Although it is untitled on the album, some documentation from the time gives it the title "Jolly MacAmbre Tour Guide at the Pasadena Palace of Insects".

Allegedly Michael Jackson was a fan of this, and it led to him hiring Vincent to provide the narration on the 'Thriller' album

"Leaving lepidoptra - please, don't touch the display, little boy, aha cute! Moving to the next aisle we have arachnida, the spiders, our.. finest collection. This friendly little devil is the heptothilidi, unfortunately harmless.
Next to him, the nasty licosa raptoria, his tiny fangs cause creeping ulcerations of the skin *laugh*.

And here, my prize, the Black Widow. Isn't she lovely?.. and so deadly. Her kiss is fifteen times as poisonous as that of the rattlesnake. You see her venom is highly neurotoxic, which is to say that it attacks the central nervous system causing intense pain, profuse sweating, difficulty in breathing, loss of consciousness, violent convulsions and, finally.. death. You know I think what I love the most about her is her inborn need to dominate, possess. In fact, immediately after the consummation of her marriage to the smaller and weaker male of the specie she kills and eats him - *laugh* - oh, she is delicious.. and I hope he was!

Such power and dignity - unhampered by sentiment. If I may put forward a slice of personal philosophy, I feel that man has ruled this world as a stumbling demented child-king long enough! And as his empire crumbles, my precious Black Widow shall rise as his most fitting successor!"

This leads into the song itself, 'The Black Widow', which musically reminds me of Black Sabbath.

During the Welcome To My Nightmare tour, this song got a lavish production, with a giant web and humanoid spiders. The two guitarists, Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, dueled on guitar for about 5 minutes while the stage morphed into a spider's lair. Price's recorded voice would then play, before Alice would finally take the stage. His vocals are just a small part of the number, as most of it is dominated by guitar solos and spider battles.

**NOTE - Those who suffer from arachnophobia might want to skip the first 2 and a half minutes of the video!

Alice Cooper - Vocals
Dick Wagner - Guitars
Steve (Deacon) Hunter - Guitars
Prakash John - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Whitey Glan - Drums
Johnny (Bee) Badanjek - Drums
Jozef Chirowski - Keyboards, Clavinet, Vocals, Fender Rhoads
Bob Ezrin - Keyboards, Fender Rhoads
Vincent Price - The Curator

03/11 - Introduction (Cooper, Ezrin)/The Black Widow (Cooper, Wagner, Ezrin)



"These words he speaks are true
We're all humanary stew
If we don't pledge allegiance to..
The Black Widow

The horror that he'll bring
The horror of his sting
The unholiest of kings..
The Black Widow

Our minds will be his toy
And every girl and boy
Will learn to be employed...
The Black Widow

Love me (yes we love me)
Love him (yes we love him)
Love me (yes we love him)

He sits upon his throne
And picks at all the bones
Of his husbands and his wives he's devoured
He stares with a gleam
With a laugh so obscene
At the virgins and the children he's deflowered

Love me (yes we love me)
Love him (yes we love him)
Love me (yes we love him)

Our thoughts are hot and crazed
Our brains are webbed in haze
Of mindless senseless daze
The Black Widow

'Cause words he says are true
We're all humanary stew
If we don't pledge allegiance to
The Black Widow"

Song number 4 is a jazzy, Broadway melody entitled 'Some Folks'. This song contains the first subtle mention of necrophilia on the album, 'Some folks crave a blue lady'

This video is taken from the previously mentioned 'The Nightmare' television special

04/11 - Some Folks (Cooper, Gordon, Ezrin))



"Some folks love to see red
Some folks never talk about it
Some folks crave a blue lady
Some folks know and still they doubt it

I'm just no good without it
I'm not a man at all
It makes my skin crawl

Baby, baby
Come on and save me, save me,
My, my baby, baby,
Come on and save me now

Some folks love to feel pain
Some folks wake up every mornin'
Some folks live for no reason
Some folks die without a warning

I'm just no good without it
I'm not a man at all
It makes my skin crawl

Baby, baby
Come on and save me, save me,
My, my baby, baby,
Come on and save me, save me,
My, my baby, baby,
Come on and save me now

I can't live without it
Just can't live without it
I don't wanna think about it
Don't wanna think about it
I just can`t live without it
I can`t, cant live without
I just can`t...
I can`t........
I can`t.........

I'm just no good without it
I'm not a man at all
It makes my skin crawl

Baby, baby
Come on and save me, save me,
My, my baby, baby,
Come on and save me, save me,
My, my baby, baby,
Come on and save me, save me,
My, my baby, baby,
Come on and save me now

'Cause I just can't live without it
I just can't live without it
I, I don't wanna think about it
I don't wanna think about it
No I, I just can`t li..,
I can`t live without it
I can`t live....
I can`t live..."

[Susan Foreman]

Completing the first side of the original LP is the ballad 'Only Women Bleed', which many listeners believe is about menstruation, when actually it is attacking domestic violence. This misconception has resulted in limited radio play when it was released as a single

The original demo was recorded at the home of Mickey Dolenz, from the band The Monkees, who was a drinking buddy of Alice, and one of the original Hollywood Vampires

The song has been covered by many people, including Tina Turner, Julie Covington, Etta James, Ruby Turner, Elkie Brooks, Lita Ford, Slash (on the Guns N' Roses 'Use Your Illusion' Tour), John Farnham, Tori Amos, and The Chris Farlowe Band

It is still a regular part of the live show

Alice Cooper - Vocals
Dick Wagner - Guitars
Steve (Deacon) Hunter - Guitars
Prakash John - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Whitey Glan - Drums
Johnny (Bee) Badanjek - Drums
Jozef Chirowski - Keyboards, Clavinet, Vocals, Fender Rhoads
Bob Ezrin - Keyboards, Fender Rhoads

**NOTE: The video is taken from the 'Alice Cooper Trashes The World' DVD, and comes immediately after the song 'Gutter Cats Vs, The Jets', which culminates in Alice murdering the girl in the gang [see post #125]

05/11 - Only Women Bleed (Cooper, Wagner)



"Man got his woman to take his seed
He got the power - oh, she got the need
She spends her life through pleasing up her man
She feeds him dinner or anything she can

She cries alone at night too often
He smokes and drinks and don't come home at all
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed

Man makes your hair gray, he's your life's mistake
All you're really lookin' for is an even break
He lies right at you, you know you hate this game
He slaps you once in a while and you live and love in pain

She cries alone at night too often
He smokes and drinks and don't come home at all
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed

Man got his woman to take his seed
He got the power - oh, she got the need
She spends her life through pleasing up her man
She feeds him dinner or anything she can

She cries alone at night too often
He smokes and drinks and don't come home at all
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed

Black eyes all of the time
Don't spend a dime
Clean up this grime
And you there down on your knees begging me please
Come watch me bleed

Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed
Only women bleed"

The next song on the album is (for me) a bit if a strange one. 'Department Of Youth' opens the second side of the album, but I do not think that it fits in with the concept and story of Steven. However, it is a great rock song.

The additional vocals are provided by The Summerhill Children's Choir. It should be noted that producer Bob Ezrin had previously used children to provide backing vocals for 'School's Out', and he would do so again on the song 'Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2', when he produced the album 'The Wall' for Pink Floyd

The song contains a hilarious punchline during the fade out!

06/11 - Department Of Youth (Cooper, Wagner, Ezrin)



"We're in trouble all the time
You read about us all in the papers
We walk around and bump into walls
A blind delegation
And we ain't afraid of high power
We're bullet proof
And we've never heard of Eisenhower
Missile power, justice and truth

We're the Department of Youth
Your new Department of Youth
We're the Department of Youth
Just me and youth

We talk about this whole stupid world
And still come out laughing, ha
We never make any sense
But hell that never mattered
But we'll make it through our blackest hour
We're living proof
And we never heard of Billy Sunday
Damon Runyon, mad as a cout

We're the Department of Youth
Your new Department of Youth
We're the Department of Youth
Just me and youth

We're the Department of Youth
The new Department of Youth
We're the Department of Youth
The new Department of Youth
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
(Alice: Who's got the power?)
(Children: We do!)
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
(Alice: Who's got the power?)
(Children: We do!)
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
(Alice: We got the power?)
( Children: Yeah!)
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
(Alice: We got the power)
(Children: Yeah!)
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
(Alice: ..And who gave it to you?)
(Children: Donny Osmond!)
(Alice: What?!)
We're the Department of Youth, ah
We got the power
(fade)"

[Susan Foreman]

'Cold Ethyl', is the hardest rock song on the album.

Listeners have read two meanings into the song. The first is that it is about necrophilia, but there is also a train of thought that suggests that this is the first time Alice acknowledged his drinking. Ethyl could be the shorter form of Ethanol, which is the principal type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, produced by the fermentation of sugars by yeasts! Either way, it is a great song

It is still a regular part of the live show, and any pictures you see of Alice with a life size doll is almost certainly from a performance of this song

Alice Cooper - Vocals
Dick Wagner - Guitars
Steve (Deacon) Hunter - Guitars
Prakash John - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Whitey Glan - Drums
Johnny (Bee) Badanjek - Drums
Jozef Chirowski - Keyboards, Clavinet, Vocals, Fender Rhoads
Bob Ezrin - Keyboards, Fender Rhoads

**NOTE: The video is taken from the 'Nightmare Returns' DVD, Alongside Alice, the band consists of:

Kane Roberts - guitar
Devlin 7 (Arthur Funaro)- guitar
Ken Mary - drums
Kip Winger III - bass
Paul 'Horrors' Horowitz - keyboards

07/11 - Cold Ethyl (Cooper, Ezrin)



"One thing I miss is Cold Ethyl and her skeleton kiss
We met last night making love by the refrigerator light
Ethyl Ethyl let me squeeze you in my arms
Ethyl Ethyl come and freeze me with your charm

One thing, no lie, Ethyl frigid as an eskimo pie
She's cool in bed, yeah she oughta be 'cause Ethyl's dead
Ethyl, Ethyl let me squeeze you in my arms
Ethyl, Ethyl come and freeze me with your charms
Come on Cold Ethyl
Freeze me babe

One thing, it's true, Cold Ethyl I am stuck on you
And everything is my way, Ethyl don't have much to say
Ethyl, Ethyl let me squeeze you in my arms
Ethyl, Ethyl come and freeze me with your charm
Come here Cold Ethyl
What makes you so cold?
Ooh so cold

Cold Ethyl
Cold Cold Ethyl
Cold Ethyl
Cold Cold Ethyl
Cold Ethyl
Cold Cold Ethyl
Cold Ethyl
Cold Cold Ethyl
If I live 'til ninety-seven
You'll still be waiting in refrigerator heaven
'cause you're cool
You're ice
Cold Ethyl
You're my paradise
Ow!"

The next three songs are the psychological horror trilogy of the album, giving more information about the character of Steven

'Years Ago' is incredibly creepy. It's done as a waltz, and Alice inserts a number of sound effects to give it a disturbing atmosphere. The last half of this features a crazy, out of tune synthesizer, and some nutter mumbling in the background, which Alice has stated is some audio of a supposed exorcism!

The voice of 'Mom' is provided by Trish McKinnon

08/11 - Years Ago (Cooper, Wagner)



"Here I go again
Up and down alone
All my friends went home
Years ago

All my toys are broken
And so am I inside mom
The carnival has closed
Years ago
hmm-mm-mm

I'm a little boy
(No, I'm a great big man)
No, let's be a little boy
For a little while longer
Maybe an hour?
(No Steven, We have to go back now)
Isn't that our mom calling?
"Steven, Steven."
"Steven, come home!""

[Susan Foreman]

Continuing with the psychological horror trilogy, the next song is 'Steven'

The song starts with a looping piano that is both frightening and beautiful at the same time. Musically, it takes its cue from Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells', or possibly something that Goblin would have done for a 70's Argento giallo. It starts as a ballad, with Alice singing like a child. After a while, though, the guitars kick in, and it turns into a hard rocker, with an utterly involved electric guitar solo

Alice Cooper - Vocals
Dick Wagner - Guitars
Steve (Deacon) Hunter - Guitars
Prakash John - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Whitey Glan - Drums
Johnny (Bee) Badanjek - Drums
Jozef Chirowski - Keyboards, Clavinet, Vocals, Fender Rhoads
Bob Ezrin - Keyboards, Fender Rhoads

09/11 - Steven (Cooper, Ezrin)



"I don't want to see you go
I don't even want to be there
I will cover up my eyes
And pray it goes away
You've only lived a minute of your life
I must be dreaming, please stop screaming

I don't like to hear you cry
You just don't know how deep that cuts me
So I will cover up my eyes
And it will go away
You've only lived a minute of your life
I must be dreaming, please stop screaming

Steven!
Steven!
I hear my name!
Steven!
Is someone calling me? I hear my name!
Steven!
That icy breath it whispers screams of pain!

I don't want to feel you die
But if that's the way that God has planned you
Well, I'll put pennies on your eyes
And, and it will go away
See?
You've only lived a minute of your life
I must be dreaming...

Steven....
Is someone calling me? No....
Steven....
I think I hear a voice---it's outside the door!
Steven!
I hear my name!
Steven!
Is someone calling me? I hear my name!
Steven!
What do you want?
Steven!
What do you want? What do you want? What do you want?

Steven!
Steven!
Steven!
I hear my name...."

This is followed by 'The Awakening', which again is very creepy

10/11 - The Awakening (Cooper, Wagner, Ezrin)



"I wake up in the basement
I'm so hungry
I'm dry
I must be here sleepwalking
Mustn't I?

Getting up from my easy chair looking for my wife
Following a trail of crimson spots that lead into the night
Suddenly I realize
I see it all through real eyes
These crimson spots are dripping from my hand
And, ooh, it makes me feel like a man"

[Susan Foreman]

The last song on the original release of the album is 'Escape', an upbeat pop-rock song

Co-authors Mark Anthony and Kim Fowley sued Randy Bachman, from the band Bachman Turner Overdrive, because his song 'Down The Line', taken from the 1975 album 'Head On' sounded musically like 'Escape'. They settled out of court and he added their names to the publishing. Strangely, alongside Anthony and Fowley, the BTO song also credits Furnier, but Alice didn't write the music, only the lyrics

The song was originally written by a band called 'The Hollywood Stars', which featured Mark Anthony. Bob Ezrin produced the song for them, and when they split up, brought the song to Alice, who subsequently changed the lyrics

Alice Cooper - Vocals
Dick Wagner - Guitars
Steve (Deacon) Hunter - Guitars
Prakash John - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Whitey Glan - Drums
Johnny (Bee) Badanjek - Drums
Jozef Chirowski - Keyboards, Clavinet, Vocals, Fender Rhoads
Bob Ezrin - Keyboards, Fender Rhoads

NOTE: The video is taken from the 'Welcome To My Nightmare' DVD

11/11 Escape (Cooper, Fowley, Anthony)



"Paint on my cruel or happy face
I hide me behind it
It takes me inside another place
Where no-one can find it
Escape
I get out when I can
Escape
Anytime I can
Let`s all Escape
I'm crying in my beer
C'mon lets Escape
Just get me out of here

Don't get me wrong, don't get me right
I'm not like you are
When I get home from work at night
I'm blacker and bluer

So I escape
I get out when I can
Yeah I escape
Anytime I can
Let`s all escape
I'm crying in my beer
Escape
Just get me out of here

But where am I running to?
There's no place to go
Just put on my makeup and get me to the show
Yeah, Escape
Yeah
What are you waiting for?

My doctor said just come around
You'll be taken care of
And while he ran my problems down
I stole his mascara

That's how I escape
I get out when I can
I escape
Anyway I can
I escape
I'm crying in my beer
Lets Escape
Just get me out of here
Escape
Let`s get out while we can
Let`s escape
Anyway we can
C'mon let`s escape
Nobody wants us around here anyway
Escape
What are we waiting for
Escape
Escape
Escape
C'mon all of you let`s escape
Escape, Escape, Escape, Escape, Escape
(repeat to fade)"

When the album was re-issued on CD in 2002, it contained three additional bonus tracks. These were alternate versions of 'Devil's Food', 'Cold Ethyl' and 'The Awakening', all of which were taken from the television special 'The Nightmare'

The 'Welcome To My Nightmare' live shows were a tour de force of musical theatre. Costing US$600,000 to produce (an unheard of amount for a rock show at the time), the show was a grand visual spectacle with an elaborate stage set, pre-filmed projections, four dancers (including Cheryl Goddard, whom Alice would later marry), and elaborate costumes. Set in a graveyard/bedroom, a well-drilled band ran through the songs, whilst Alice encountered giant spiders, dancing skeletons, faceless silver demons and a 9-foot 'cyclops' (pre-dating the giant, walking Eddie that Iron Maiden first used on 'The Beast On The Road' tour in 1982)

The show was performed three times in the UK: Sept 11th and 12th, 1975 at the Wembley Empire Pool in London (both dates were recorded for the 'Welcome To My Nightmare' DVD) and then on Sept 14th, 1975 at the Liverpool Empire

The touring band for the live shows consisted of:

Dick Wagner - guitar
Steve Hunter - guitar
Prakash John - bass
Penti 'Whitey' Glan - drums
Jozef Chirowski - keyboards
Sheryl G. Goddard - dancer
Robin Blythe - dancer
Yuichi Sugiyami - dancer
Eugene Montoya - dancer

A sample setlist consisted of:

• Welcome To My Nightmare
• Years Ago
• No More Mr. Nice Guy
• Years Ago
• Billion Dollar Babies
• Years Ago
• I'm Eighteen
• Years Ago
• Instrumental Medley*
• Some Folks
• Cold Ethyl
• Only Women Bleed
• Devil's Food
• The Black Widow
• Steven
• Welcome To My Nightmare (reprise)
• The Awakening
• Escape
• School's Out
• Department of Youth

* Before "Some Folks", a short medley was performed as the dancers danced in their skeleton costumes. The medley consisted of 'Halo of Flies', 'The Black Widow, and 'Didn't We Meet', which would turn up on the next album

[Justin101]

I can listen to Welcome to my Nightmare on repeat it's so good, there is not a bad song on the entire LP!

Devil's Food into Black Widow, and the whole of side 2 - just great!

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I can listen to Welcome to my Nightmare on repeat it's so good, there is not a bad song on the entire LP!

Agreed. 'Billion Dollar Babies', 'From The Inside' and 'Welcome To My Nightmare' are my favourite Alice albums

Saying that, when I first got the album, back in the mists of time, I absolutely hated it. Played it once, and then forgot about it. I think the problem was that I just didn't get it - it wasn't a heavy metal album, and the different musical styles jarred

Then I 'grew up', and rediscovered it!