Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is the name of the lead singer and band that recorded released the 'Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits' album, the very first record I ever bought, from Sounds Groovy in Horsham back in the early 1975 as best as I can remember!

Originally the group was Cooper on vocals, Glen Buxton on Drums, Neal Smith on Lead Guitar and Michael Bruce on Rhythm Guitar and Dennis Dunaway on Bass Guitar. After 1975 Alice Cooper became a solo act and the band broke-up.

As with many, my first awareness of eth band was with 'School's Out' an anthem from 1972, which was knocked off the No.1 spot in the UK by Donny Osmond!

Warning many of these videos contain snakes.

After this hit, the band had hits with 'Elected' and 'Billion Dollar Babies'

It was not until I got hold of the Greatest Hits album that I was really hooked on the group until the emergence of Punk and New Wave...

Early tracks such as 'I'm Eighteen' and 'Under my Wheels' became instant favourites of mine.

Having gotten into the band I bought most of their albums over the next couple years, they were not your usual heavy metal or prog rock bands that most of my friends were all into!

Next album I got was 'Welcome to my Nightmare', the first solo album, from which came the tracks 'Only Women Bleed' and 'Department of Youth' where he famously has a pop at Donny Osmond.

His 1976 album 'Alice Cooper Goes to Hell' was the last great offering with title track 'Go to Hell' being stand out.

Believe this video is from the same tour that I saw him at Hammersmith back in the early 1980s.

Other tracks of interest are 'Muscle of Love' and my personal all time favourite track 'Teenage Lament '74' - summed up how I felt growing up in downtown Horsham

The Alarm

The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, The Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon migrated to a more standard rock format and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s. The Alarm's highest charting single in Britain was 1983's "Sixty Eight Guns" , and is what they are most remembered for. Their 1984 album, Declaration, which contained "Sixty Eight Guns", peaked at number six in the UK Chart.

Malcolm McLaren

Malcolm McLaren was an English visual artist, performer, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, most remembered for his management of the Sex Pistols. McLaren attended a number of British art colleges and adopted the stance of the social rebel in the style of French revolutionaries. He realised that a new protest style was needed for the 1970s, and largely initiated the punk movement, for which he supplied fashions from the Chelsea boutique SEX, which he operated with girlfriend Vivienne Westwood. After a period advising the New York Dolls in the U.S., McLaren managed the Sex Pistols, the issue of a controversial record, " God Save the Queen ", poking fun at the Queen's Jubilee in 1977, was typical of McLaren's shock tactics, and he gained public notoriety by being arrested after a promotional boat trip with the band outside the Houses of Parliament. McLaren performed with acclaim as a solo artist, initially focusing on hip hop and world music and later div...

Orange Juice

Orange Juice was a Scottish jangle pop band founded in the Glasgow by Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics with his school-mate Alan Duncan, and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, They became Orange Juice in 1979, best known for their only UK Top 40 hit hit " Rip It Up ," which reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart in early1983. The band released their first singles on the independent Postcard Records label founded by Alan Horne, along with fellow Scottish bands Josef K and Aztec Camera.

King

Paul King was born in Ireland but moved to Coventry, England, with his parents at a young age. After graduating from Coventry Drama School he joined rock-ska band the Reluctant Stereotypes. King's line up of the band – which also contained record producer Paul Sampson – released an album and three singles before the band disintegrated. After the demise of the Reluctant Stereotypes, King formed the Raw Screens who in 1983 were relaunched as the self-named band King. As lead singer, King was famed for his BIG haircut and spray painted Doc Marten's Boots – whilst Richard James Burgess produced and drummed on most of the band's songs. The band lasted just a couple of years, though both of their albums, "Steps in Time" and "Bitter Sweet" , went Gold, and they had two Top 10 singles with "Love & Pride" and "Alone Without You" .

Big Country

Big Country were a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline,in the early 1980s, Big Country comprised Stuart Adamson (formerly of Skids, vocals / guitar / keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar / mandolin / sitar / vocals), Tony Butler (bass guitar / vocals) and Mark Brzezicki (drums / percussion / vocals). The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s and the band incorporated Scottish folk and martial music styles, and they engineered their guitar-driven sound to evoke the sound of bagpipes, fiddles and other traditional folk instruments. Their biggest hit and my favourite track is ' In a Big Country ', also 'Look Away' and their first single ' Fields of Fire '

Muzical Mystery Tour

Search This Blog