The Marketing of Alice Cooper

[Rock10]

I think Alice just needs some fresh air around him.

Why is the band live so good? Young, still hungry musicians who love what they do.

Last Alice's album don't have that vibe.
Some said that Ozzy had not put out a good album since No More Tears but last two albums produced by Andrew Watt where fresh and more true to what Ozzy was thinking than most of his career and that was great. I believe Alice's character, although it works live, on the albums is stuck on an image that honestly is dead. Old rock n roll is great but it's not for all.

That's why Rock n Roll cover ended sounding flat, why Magic Bus and Road Rats Forever are not really up with the rest of the albums. They do not sound fresh.

The same happens with Deep Purple to give an example (I love them but they do not sound up to what they can deliver* which we could blame age and many factors, but we do know for a fact that Alice can deliver so much more (watching him live is the best example)

I think Alice wanted to break free from the horror shtick after Goes To Hell and his fans would never allow it.

I think he was selling out when he did those things.

[mr.barlow]

You just proved my point.

[del]

“The early 80s albums along with Dada to me are Alice at his creative best and a glimpse of what may have been should his fans have been more open minded.“

..and if Alice had carried on with the drink and drugs? Perhaps creative but made in a haze so very possibly never capable of being recreated or being released given the lack of a record deal after DaDa.

“accept his lot” sounds very negative. Could it have been that he realised what was important in his life and that he had spent several wasted years confusing and alienating his fans and more importantly his family and totally screwing up his life and that far from accepting his lot he grabbed his life back?

Taylor Swift, I honestly know very little of her beyond the fact that she was screwed over big style by Scooter Braun for her back catalogue and that Rick Allen’s brother has been managing her tours forever and heads up her management team now. What she has said must surely have been said by almost every act’s manager in the past. Fame 101 - don’t forget your fans or they will forget you. Nearly happened to Alice but he clawed it back.

[mr.barlow]

“The early 80s albums along with Dada to me are Alice at his creative best and a glimpse of what may have been should his fans have been more open minded.“

..and if Alice had carried on with the drink and drugs? Perhaps creative but made in a haze so very possibly never capable of being recreated or being released given the lack of a record deal after DaDa.

“accept his lot” sounds very negative. Could it have been that he realised what was important in his life and that he had spent several wasted years confusing and alienating his fans and more importantly his family and totally screwing up his life and that far from accepting his lot he grabbed his life back?

Taylor Swift, I honestly know very little of her beyond the fact that she was screwed over big style by Scooter Braun for her back catalogue and that Rick Allen’s brother has been managing her tours forever and heads up her management team now. What she has said must surely have been said by almost every act’s manager in the past. Fame 101 - don’t forget your fans or they will forget you. Nearly happened to Alice but he clawed it back.

It's no secret that Alice wanted to escape the character for years. I think it's what led to his decline into drink and drugs. I think he's even said as much.

He wanted to do other things and couldn't shake the identity that the fans straddled him with...it's still with him to this day.

Look at the forum over the years...everytime three is an album release the fans want more horror...more of the same. Alice finally accepted it as cashed on it .

Going back to the planning of the comeback in 1985 he and shep purposely went back to the classic character and went with the dumbed down hair metal shtick which was all the rage as it was the best chance at success.

It all came down to timing and a huge risky investment.

Ask anyone involved in the planning and execution of the 1986 tour on how nerve wracking it all was as if it failed it was over for Alice and Shep would have lost millions.

It worked in a large part due to the 1986 touring band. Without that band..namely Kane as he, for the most part, put it together...it would have been over.

Don't take my word for it...ask Alice at the next meet and greet. Ask Shep. Ask anyone involved at that time.

The classic horror character was resurrected as the best means to achieve success and I believe they wanted to move on from it as time passed.

What they did with the Trash tour was genius...have Alice play it straight without the make up and character then switch into character during the show. The old fans bought into it.

Since then he has cashed in on the classic character and can step out of it with the HV.

Seeing the eddie truck performance you can see Alice was really enjoying himself being singer and not a character. I think we will see more of that with the upcoming stuff with the original band.

[del]

I know the back story and I actually think we are agreeing on most things but am just disagreeing on the “accepting your lot” point.

Alice clearly wanted to move on in the 70s but got the direction and timing wrong in my mind. He then lost himself and nearly his family, in drink and drugs. When he found himself properly he was focussed differently, with new strength in his beliefs and finally able to divorce the person from the character properly. He realised he still had a chance in the music business if he could get the real character back on stage and step outside of it properly off stage.

I call that getting your life in order and grabbing it with both hands rather than accepting your lot. Splitting hairs to some but a different mindset entirely if you talk with people who come back from a similar crisis.

I agree 86 was key as was Trash and the tour. Credit to Kane etc but ultimately it started with clear heads and a focus on what you need to do to get success. A bit the same as in 71 when Ezrin came in.

Continuing to play the character on stage and being a more balanced person off stage has led directly to the wide variety of opportunities he has had in the last 20 years or so.

He has enjoyed stepping out of character for quite a long time now. Eddie Trunk is just the latest but we have had Christmas Pudding shows, Shep Gordon’s New Year clips, British Rock Symphony, the rock orchestra tours in Europe for a few years etc. He has always looked relaxed and enjoying himself.

That said, I’ve seen him up close in character as Alice and he was intense, totally in character, no going through the motions in a stale performance. He is still a professional who is very good at his job and has a great balance in his life from what I can see.

[PFOLGORE]

The their stage show was really rudimentary, KISS and technology long passed them by. I think they make too much of it. Their attempts at music videos and their full length movie were cringe worthy. Their management seemed to focus more on old school publicity stunts and had no long term marketing strategy for the band as a whole. Their music evolved, their marketing savvy and theatrics not so much.

[mr.barlow]

The their stage show was really rudimentary, KISS and technology long passed them by. I think they make too much of it. Their attempts at music videos and their full length movie were cringe worthy. Their management seemed to focus more on old school publicity stunts and had no long term marketing strategy for the band as a whole. Their music evolved, their marketing savvy and theatrics not so much.

KISS sucked then and KISS sucks now and avatar KISS will also suck!

Gene Simmons is a marketing genius and I love him for his unabashed in your face capitalism but KISS still sucks!