Alice Cooper: DaDa Album (1983)

Alice Cooper(solo)
Nov 4, 1983
3 min read

A Dark Synth-Rock Swan Song

Alice Cooper’s DaDa LP, was released in the UK on November 4, 1983, on Warner Bros. Records (catalogue: 92-3969-1). This 9-track concept album, Cooper’s overall fifteenth studio album, blended dark synth-rock with theatrical horror, produced by Bob Ezrin. It peaked at No. 93 on the UK Albums Chart for 1 week. The final chapter of Cooper’s Warner trilogy (Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin).

The album was produced at ESP Studios in Buttonville, Ontario, Canada, featuring local musicians. Contributions included those from Juno Award-winning vocalist and keyboardist Graham Shaw, bassist Prakash John, and vocalist Lisa Dal Bello, who would later adopt the stage name Dalbello. Primarily centered around synthesizers, the album heavily utilized the Fairlight CMI, a cutting-edge digital sampling synthesizer of the time.

In 2014, guitarist and co-songwriter Dick Wagner disclosed that during the recording of DaDa, Cooper had relapsed into heavy drinking. He suggested that the album was created to fulfill a contractual obligation, which Warner Bros. was dissatisfied with and thus did not promote. However, Warner Bros. has neither confirmed nor denied this claim. These and other details, such as the real-life cocktail waitresses who inspired "Scarlet and Sheba," are included in his autobiography, Not Only Women Bleed (2011).

DaDa is the last of three albums that Cooper describes as his "blackout" albums, with the previous ones being the studio albums Special Forces (1981) and Zipper Catches Skin (1982), attributed to substance abuse. Cooper mentioned, "I wrote them, recorded them, and toured them, but I don't remember much of any of that," although he only toured for Special Forces, with the tour concluding in February 1982.

In 1996, Cooper stated that DaDa was the most frightening album he had ever created, and he admitted that he never understood its meaning. There was no tour to support DaDa, and its songs have never been performed live.

Album Overview

Release Details:

Label: Warner Bros. Records (UK).

Formats: 12-inch vinyl LP (no cassette format was released)

℗ & ©: 1983 Warner Bros. Records. Recorded at ESP Studios, Buttonville, Ontario, 1982–1983. Matrix numbers (e.g., 92-3969-1 A-1) confirm authenticity.

UK Release Formats and Track Listings

DaDa was released in the UK on November 4, 1983 and September 28, 1983 (US)

in 1983 as a 12-inch vinyl LP.

12-Inch Vinyl LP (Catalogue: 92-3969-1):

Side One:

A1 DaDa 4:46

Written-By – Ezrin

A2 Enough's Enough 4:19

Written-By – Cooper, Ezrin, Wagner, Shaw

A3 Former Lee Warmer 4:07

Written-By – Cooper, Ezrin, Wagner

A4 No Man's Land 3:48

Written-By – Cooper, Ezrin, Wagner

A5 Dyslexia 4:25

Written-By – Cooper, Ezrin, Wagner, Shaw

Side Two:

B1 Scarlet And Sheba 5:19

Written-By – Cooper, Ezrin, Wagner

B2 I Love America 3:47

Written-By – Cooper, Shaw

B3 Fresh Blood 6:53

Written-By – Cooper, Ezrin, Wagner

B4 Pass The Gun Around 5:43

Written-By – Cooper, Wagner

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the DaDa liner notes.

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

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.

Singles Released and Chart Performance

Single 12" Vinyl (Commercial) in Picture Sleeve

"I Love America"

Released: November 18, 1983 (UK) Exclusive 12"

Label: Warner Bros. Records Inc. – ALICE 1T (920166-0)

Format: Vinyl, 12", Single

A1 I Love America

B1 Fresh Blood

B2 Pass The Gun Around

The release failed to achieve any chart success