Five Alice Cooper Solo Tracks You Should Know

At the beginning in Phoenix in 1968, Alice Cooper was a band. Though the group would come to represent the vanguard of glam- and shock-rock, in its earliest days Alice Cooper was a psychedelic, hard-rocking band. By the time of 1971’s Love it to Death, the band had altered its approach, and scored a hit single with “I’m Eighteen.” Many more hits would follow.

But by 1974, Lead singer Vincent Furnier – who had long since taken on the name Alice Cooper for himself – broke up the band and embarked on a solo career, one that continues to this day. Cooper’s theatrical approach to music would come to the fore even more in that solo work, inaugurated with the February 1975 release of his debut, Welcome to My Nightmare. In celebration of that album’s 50th anniversary, here are five Top 40 singles from the king of shock rock.

“Only Women Bleed” from Welcome to My Nightmare (1975)
Cooper’s first hit single as a solo artist, “Only Women Bleed” featured the talents of guitarist and co-writer Dick Wagner. The song itself had been rattling around in Wagner’s desk drawer since his time with ‘60s hard rockers Frost; he and Cooper freshened it up with new lyrics and scored a #12 hit (and #1 in Canada). The song is about domestic abuse, not menstruation.

“I Never Cry” from Alice Cooper Goes to Hell (1976)
By this point in Cooper’s career, he was struggling in the depths of untreated alcoholism. He wrote this soft-rock ballad as a cry for help, and listeners responded positively, giving him another #12 hit single. Thought it earned a Gold record and charted in three countries, today “I Never Cry” is largely forgotten.

“You and Me” from Lace and Whiskey (1977)
For his 1977 album, Alice Cooper dove even deeper into his alcoholism, making it part of his stage persona. He had also moved – for a time, at least – away from hard rock and toward a melodramatic, balladeering style. That approach would be exemplified by this single, a U.S. #9 hit and a charting release in three other countries.

“How You Gonna See Me Now” from From the Inside (1978)
Cooper’s last single entry of the ‘70s to reach the Top 20, “How You Gonna See Me Now” was co-composed with longtime collaborator Dick Wagner plus Elton John’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. The soft rock tune reached that familiar #12 spot yet again.

“Clones (We’re All)” from Flush the Fashion (1980)
Among the most unexpected and mystifying stylistic detours in Cooper’s catalog, this tune saw him adopting the electronic trappings of new wave. Both in lyric and in musical style, “Clones (We’re All)” evoked comparisons to Gary Numan’s hit single, “Cars.” Cooper scored a hit nonetheless; “Clones” briefly edged into the bottom spot on the U.S. Top 40.

Note: Alice Cooper would score one more Top 40 single as a solo artist. Fully eight years after his major hit-making era ended with “Clones (We’re All),” he returned with “Poison” from his 1989 album Trash. The single reached the Top 40 in ten countries.