DaDa

For other uses, see Dada (disambiguation).

1983 studio album by Alice Cooper

DaDa

Studio album by

Alice Cooper

Released| September 28, 1983 (US)[1]
November 4, 1983 (UK)[2]
Studio| ESP Studios (Buttonville, Ontario, Canada)
Genre|

* New wave[3][4]
* art rock[4]

Length| 42:15
Label| Warner Bros.
Producer| Bob Ezrin
Alice Cooper chronology
| Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival 1969, Volume IV
(1982)  | DaDa
(1983)  | Constrictor
(1986)

|
|

Singles from  DaDa

1. "I Love America"
Released: November 18, 1983 (UK)[5]

DaDa is the eighth solo and overall fifteenth studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released in September 1983, by Warner Bros. Records. DaDa would be Cooper's final studio album until his sober re-emergence in 1986 with the hard rock album Constrictor.

## Background and recording

[edit]

DaDa was produced by long-time collaborator Bob Ezrin, at the time his first production with Cooper in six years since his third solo studio album Lace and Whiskey (1977), during that interim Ezrin had produced Pink Floyd's studio album The Wall (1979), with people comparing certain track's sound on DaDa to Pink Floyd.[6] With the guitar solo on "Pass the Gun Around" being compared to David Gilmour's playing-style.[7]

The album was recorded at ESP Studios in Buttonville, Ontario, Canada, and made use of local musicians with contributions from Juno Award-winning vocalist and keyboardist Graham Shaw, bassist Prakash John and vocalist Lisa Dal Bello, who would soon be known by her stage name Dalbello. A mostly synthesizer-focused album, it made extensive use of the then-new digital sampling synthesizer, the Fairlight CMI.

Guitarist and co-songwriter Dick Wagner revealed in 2014 that Cooper had relapsed to drinking heavily during the recording of DaDa,[8] and had suggested that the album was a contract fulfillment requirement for which Warner Bros. was not pleased and consequently made no effort to promote,[9] though Warner Bros. has never confirmed or denied this. This and other details, like the real-life cocktail waitresses that inspired "Scarlet and Sheba" are in his autobiography Not Only Women Bleed (2011).[10]

DaDa is the final of three albums in which Cooper refers to as his "blackout" albums, the others being preceding studio albums Special Forces (1981) and Zipper Catches Skin (1982), due to substance abuse. Cooper stated "I wrote them, recorded them and toured them and I don't remember much of any of that",[11] though he toured only Special Forces, the tour for which ended in February 1982.[12]

In 1996, Cooper said that DaDa was the scariest album he ever made,[13] and that he never had any idea what it was about. There was no tour to promote DaDa, and none of its songs have ever been played live.

## Artwork and packaging

[edit]

The front cover for DaDa was based on a painting by Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí titled Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire (1940). The back cover features a photograph of a young Cooper holding a dog with a separate photograph of an old man next to it.

## Release and legacy

[edit]

DaDa failed to chart on the US Billboard 200, marking a continued commercial downturn for Alice Cooper in his home country. However, the album achieved modest success in the UK, where it peaked at No. 93. According to a Warner Bros. press release issued at the time, "Dyslexia" was intended to serve as the album's lead single.[14] Despite this designation, no single was ultimately released from DaDa in the US. Instead, "I Love America" was issued as a single exclusively in the UK shortly after the album's release there, though it failed to chart.

Interestingly, also in 1983, Warner Home Video released Alice Cooper: The Nightmare, the 1975 television special, on VHS and Betamax formats. Despite the limited promotion for DaDa, the release of The Nightmare attracted significant attention and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Long Form Music Video at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards in 1984.

Although DaDa was Cooper’s final studio album for Warner Bros., followed by a three-year gap between albums, it did not signal a full retreat from music. Cooper stayed active — getting sober in 1983, presenting at the 1984 Grammy Awards, filming Monster Dog, collaborating on songwriting with Joe Perry, Andy McCoy, and Kane Roberts, and recording with Twisted Sister in 1985. During this time, he also focused on his health and family — navigating divorce proceedings in late 1983 before reconciling with his wife and relocating to Chicago in 1984, where their son was born the following year, and developing a deep, lasting passion for golf. Occasional public appearances continued, including attending the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards and the 1985 premiere of Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

## Influence

[edit]

DaDa is cited as[15] the main inspiration behind the birth of the Italian gothic and shock rock band the Mugshots, the first ever European band produced by Dick Wagner, who is also featured on Love, Lust and Revenge. That EP contains the first cover ever recorded of "Pass the Gun Around", a live favourite for the Mugshots.[16]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [17]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Gary Hill wrote that "As Alice Cooper albums go, this one is really far above average." Adding that "This album is a rather varied release, showcasing several sides of Cooper's musical tastes, but it is all very entertaining. If you missed it when it first came around, do yourself a favor and give it a try now."[17]

## Track listing

[edit]

Side oneNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "DaDa"| Bob Ezrin| 4:45
2.| "Enough's Enough"|

* Alice Cooper
* Dick Wagner
* Graham Shaw
* Ezrin

| 4:19
3.| "Former Lee Warmer"|

* Cooper
* Wagner
* Ezrin

| 4:07
4.| "No Man's Land"|

* Cooper
* Wagner
* Ezrin

| 3:51
5.| "Dyslexia"|

* Cooper
* Wagner
* Shaw
* Ezrin

| 4:25

Side twoNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

6.| "Scarlet and Sheba"|

* Cooper
* Wagner
* Ezrin

| 5:18
7.| "I Love America"|

* Cooper
* Wagner
* Shaw
* Ezrin

| 3:50
8.| "Fresh Blood"|

* Cooper
* Wagner
* Ezrin

| 5:54
9.| "Pass the Gun Around"|

* Cooper
* Wagner

| 5:46
Total length:| 42:15

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the DaDa liner notes.[18]

Musicians

* Alice Cooper – vocals
* Dick Wagner – guitar; bass guitar; backing vocals
* Graham Shaw – Oberheim OB-X; Roland Jupiter; backing vocals
* Bob Ezrin – Fairlight CMI programming; keyboards; drums; percussion
* Richard Kolinka – drums ("Scarlet and Sheba", "Former Lee Warmer", "Pass the Gun Around")
* John Anderson – drums ("Fresh Blood")
* Prakash John – bass guitar ("Fresh Blood")
* Karen Hendricks – backing vocals
* Lisa DalBello – backing vocals
* Sarah Ezrin – DaDa

## Production

[edit]

* Shep Gordon: Executive Producer
* Produced by Bob Ezrin; associate producers: Dick Wagner and Robert (Ringo) Hrycyna
* Recording and mix by Bob Ezrin
* Track 1 copyright Under-Cut Co. Inc. Tracks 2 and 5 copyright Ezra Music Inc./Mystery Man Music/Rightsong Inc. /G. Shaw Music Publishing Ltd./Under-Cut Co. Inc. Tracks 3, 4, 6 and 8 copyright Ezra Music Inc./Mystery Man Music/Rightsong Inc./Under-Cut Co. Inc. Track 7 copyright Ezra Music Inc./G. Shaw Music Publishing Ltd. Track 9 copyright Ezra Music Inc./Mystery Man Music/Rightsong Inc.

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (1983)  | Peak
position

|

UK Albums (OCC)[19] | 93

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "DaDa — Alice Cooper". alicecooper.com.
2. ^ "Music Week (UK)" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. p. 25.
3. ^ DiVita, Joe (September 18, 2020). "26 Bands Who Sound Nothing Like Their First Album". Loudwire. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
4. ^ a b Masley, Ed (March 16, 2021). "From 'Love it to Death' to 'Detroit Stories': The best Alice Cooper albums ranked". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
5. ^ "Music Week (UK) Releases page" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com.
6. ^ "In Defense of … Alice Cooper's 'DaDa'". Ultimate Classic Rock. December 12, 2017.
7. ^ "Alice Cooper — DaDa (Album review ) | Sputnikmusic".
8. ^ "Albums Unleashed - DaDa w/Dick Wagner (Ep. 134)" audio interview
9. ^ Parks, John (February 29, 2012). "Alice Cooper guitarist Dick Wagner talks Coop, KISS and his new book Not Only Women Bleed". Legendary Rock Interviews. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
10. ^ "Dick Wagner on Outsight Radio Hours". Archive.org. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
11. ^ Love And Poison, An Alice Cooper Interview
12. ^ Alice Cooper Tour Archive
13. ^ Dominic, Serene; "Hanging with Mr. Cooper"; in Phoenix New Times; June 20, 1996
14. ^ DaDa Press Release - Alice Cooper eChive
15. ^ Mugshots Biography
16. ^ Love, Lust and Revenge on Bandcamp
17. ^ a b Hill, Gary. "DaDa — Alice Cooper". AllMusic. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
18. ^ DaDa (CD booklet). Alice Cooper. Warner Bros. Records. 1983.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
19. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* DaDa at Discogs (list of releases)

* v
* t
* e

Alice Cooper

* Alice Cooper
* Chuck Garric
* Tommy Henriksen
* Glen Sobel
* Ryan Roxie
* Nita Strauss

* Original band members
* Former solo band members

Studio albums|

| with Alice Cooper (band)|

* Pretties for You
* Easy Action
* Love It to Death
* Killer
* School's Out
* Billion Dollar Babies
* Muscle of Love
* The Revenge of Alice Cooper

|

as Alice Cooper (solo)|

* Welcome to My Nightmare
* Alice Cooper Goes to Hell
* Lace and Whiskey
* From the Inside
* Flush the Fashion
* Special Forces
* Zipper Catches Skin
* DaDa
* Constrictor
* Raise Your Fist and Yell
* Trash
* Hey Stoopid
* The Last Temptation
* Brutal Planet
* Dragontown
* The Eyes of Alice Cooper
* Dirty Diamonds
* Along Came a Spider
* Welcome 2 My Nightmare
* Paranormal
* Detroit Stories
* Road

with Hollywood Vampires|

* Hollywood Vampires
* Rise

Live albums|

* The Alice Cooper Show
* Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival 1969, Volume IV
* A Fistful of Alice
* Brutally Live
* Live at Montreux 2005
* Live from the Astroturf

Singles|

* "Reflected"
* "I'm Eighteen"
* "Caught in a Dream"
* "Under My Wheels"
* "School's Out"
* "Elected"
* "Hello Hooray"
* "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
* "Billion Dollar Babies"
* "Halo of Flies"
* "Teenage Lament '74"
* "Only Women Bleed"
* "Department of Youth"
* "Welcome to My Nightmare"
* "I Never Cry"
* "You and Me"
* "How You Gonna See Me Now"
* "Clones (We're All)"
* Talk Talk
* "7 and 7 Is"
* "I Am the Future"
* "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)"
* "Teenage Frankenstein"
* "Freedom"
* "Poison"
* "Bed of Nails"
* "House of Fire"
* "Only My Heart Talkin'"
* "Hey Stoopid"
* "Love's a Loaded Gun"
* "Feed My Frankenstein"
* "Lost in America"
* "It's Me"
* "Brutal Planet"
* "Gimme"
* "Keepin' Halloween Alive"

Compilations
and box sets|

* School Days: The Early Recordings
* Greatest Hits
* Prince of Darkness
* Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival 1969, Volume IV
* Classicks
* The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper
* Mascara and Monsters: The Best of Alice Cooper
* The Definitive Alice Cooper
* The Essentials: Alice Cooper
* Hell Is
* School's Out and Other Hits

Videography|

* Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper
* The Nightmare
* Welcome to My Nightmare
* Alice Cooper and Friends
* The Strange Case of Alice Cooper
* The Nightmare Returns
* Alice Cooper Trashes the World
* Brutally Live
* Live at Montreux 2005
* Super Duper Alice Cooper

Tours|

* Operation Rock & Roll
* Masters of Madness Tour

Related articles|

* Discography
* Filmography
* Nights with Alice Cooper
* The Hollywood Vampires

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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