Flush The Fashion Era
Background
Flush The Fashion is the 12th 'Alice Cooper' studio album and was released in 1980. The advent of a new decade saw Alice again take a different direction, embracing the popular punk scene of the time and ditching his iconic look (including makeup) in favour of a contemporary image.
Whilst the album contains the stand-out tracks Clones, the pulsating Pain (which rivals anything released by solo Alice) and Grim Facts, it suffers from prolonged bouts of mediocrity in the form of the likes of Talk Talk (a song originally by the band The Music Machine), Aspirin Damage, Nuclear Infected and Model Citizen, which whilst not bad, are very alternative. The less said about Leather Boots, however, the better.
History has actually been quite kind on this album, with its unique sound offering an insight into a cultural revolution and the life of Alice at the time, but better examples were to follow over the next few years...
Flush The Fashion 12" Vinyl Album
1980, Warner Brothers, BSK 3436 DJ
This USA 12" promotional vinyl album comes in a simple card sleeve and features an 'Alice Cooper '80' logo and graffiti-style 'Flush The Fashion' text. The '80 was presumably added to herald Alice's career entering its 3rd decade. Also provided on the front cover is a round / gold 'PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE' stamp, which was also used on promotional copies of the From The Inside album. On the rear of the sleeve is an image of Alice (without make-up) holding a riding crop.
The inner sleeve features a further image of Alice holding a riding crop on the front and track listings, lyrics and credits on the back.
The disc features cream Warner Brother labels, which state 'THIS IS A PROMOTIONAL ITEM NOT FOR SALE'. The 'DJ' suffix added to the end of the product code also distinguishes the from USA stock copies (which state just 'BSK 3436').
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion 12" Vinyl Album
1980, Warner Brothers, K56805
This UK 12" vinyl version of Flush The Fashion comes in a simple vinyl sleeve and features an inner sleeve containing track listings, lyrics and credits. The vinyl disc is provided with cream Warner Brothers labels.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion 12" Vinyl Album
1980, Warner Brothers, 208827
This Argentine 1st pressing of Ponsera A La Moda (i.e. Flush The Fashion) comes in a simple card sleeve with unique Spanish text artwork and features cream Warner Brothers labels with bilingual Spanish / English track listings. The rear of the sleeve is almost identical to the USA and UK versions (above) only that the track listings are presented in Spanish only.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion 12" Vinyl Album
2018, Rhino Entertainment, 603497860753
This European 140 gram vinyl re-issue of Flush The Fashion is almost identical to the original release (above) only that it now has a nice partially translucent 'Green Swirl' effect vinyl and associated hype sticker on the packaging. The disc features the familiar Warner Bros labels and was limited to 5,200 copies worldwide.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion 8-Track Album
1980, Warner Brothers, M8 3436
This USA 8-Track version of Flush The Fashion features a black cartridge and includes the original album cover artwork and track listings on the front. The wrap-around sticker also provides the product code on the side.
One notable aspect of this release is that the track order is different to the usual arrangement, with the majority of them appearing out-of-place. Also, Grim Facts spans more than one of the 'programs' on the cartridge (meaning that it had interrupted playback as the reading head changed position). This illustrates the limitations of this music format.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion 8-Track Album
1980, Warner Brothers, S132778
This USA 8-Track 'Club Edition' of Flush The Fashion features a white cartridge and includes the original album cover artwork on the front. A wrap-around sticker provides track listings and product code on the back / side.
As the name suggests, Club Editions were distributed through mail-order subscription clubs. In this case the club in question was the RCA Music Service with the packaging / labels being unique to this particular edition.
This version contains the same, alternative, track order as the standard USA 8-Track (above), with Grim Facts again spanning more than one of the 'programs' on the cartridge.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion Cassette Album
1980, Warner Brothers, M5 3436
This USA cassette version of Flush The Fashion features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork and track listings. Inside is a white tape with printed additional track listings.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion Cassette Album
1980, Warner Brothers, M5 3436 C 132788
This USA cassette 'Club Edition' of Flush The Fashion features a simple, single-sided, J-card containing abridged artwork and track listings. Inside is a white tape with printed additional track listings.
As the name suggests, Club Editions were distributed through mail-order subscription clubs. In this case the club in question was the RCA Music Service with the packaging being unique to this particular edition.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion Cassette Album
1980, Warner Brothers, M5 3436
This further USA cassette 'Club Edition' of Flush The Fashion (in this case, by Columbia House) features a simple, single-sided, J-card containing abridged artwork and track listings. Inside is a white tape with printed additional track listings.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion Cassette Album
1980, Warner Brothers, K 456 805
This French / German cassette version of Flush The Fashion features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is an orange tape with matching orange labels.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion Cassette Album
1980, Warner Brothers, M5W 3436
This Australian cassette version of Flush The Fashion features a simple, single-sided, J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is a white tape with cream labels providing additional track listings and credits.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion Cassette Album
1980, Warner Brothers, XM5-3436
This Canadian cassette version of Flush The Fashion features a simple, single-sided, J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is a black tape with white labels providing additional track listings.
Discogs Link: Click Here
NOTE: A further cassette copy of this album is featured in the Compilations section of this website.
Flush The Fashion CD Album
1990, Warner Brothers, 7599 26229 2
This European CD version of Flush The Fashion comes in a jewel case and features an 8-page booklet containing track listings, lyrics and credits.
Discogs Link: Click Here
NOTE: A further CD copy of this album is included in 'The Studio Albums 1969-1983' boxset and can be seen here.
Clones 7" Promotional Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, P-570W
This Japanese 7" promotional vinyl single features white Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve complete with colour insert, and includes Clones (We're All) on Side A and Model Citizen on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
The insert has a two-tone image of Alice, as featured on the inner sleeve of the Flush The Fashion album (above) but with additional Japanese hype text on the front and track listings, lyrics and credits on the back.
A stock copy of this release also exists, which is identical except that it features cream vinyl labels instead.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Clones (We're All) 7" Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, WB 17598
This Dutch 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features cream Warner Brothers labels, and includes Clones (We're All) on Side A and Model Citizen on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
On the front of the sleeve is an image of Alice that originally featured on the rear of the Flush The Fashion album sleeve (above) and on the back are track listings and promotional material for the Flush The Fashion album.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Clones (We're All) 7" Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, 17598
This French 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features cream Warner Brothers labels, and includes Clones (We're All) on Side A and Model Citizen on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
The sleeve features the same image of Alice on both sides that originally appeared on the rear of the Flush The Fashion album sleeve (above).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Clones (We're All) 7" Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, K17598
This UK 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features cream Warner Brothers labels, and includes Clones (We're All) on Side A and Model Citizen on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
On the front of the sleeve is an image of Alice that originally featured on the rear of the Flush The Fashion album sleeve (above) and on the back are track listings only.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Clones (We're All) 7" Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, W17598
This Italian 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features cream Warner Brothers labels, and includes Clones (We're All) on Side A and Model Citizen on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
On the front of the sleeve is an image of Alice that originally featured on the rear of the Flush The Fashion album sleeve (above) and on the back are track listings and promotional material for the Flush The Fashion album.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Clones (We're All) 7" Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, WAR 17598
This Portuguese 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features cream Warner Brothers labels, and includes Clones (We're All) on Side A and Model Citizen on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
On the front of the sleeve is an image of Alice that originally featured on the rear of the Flush The Fashion album sleeve (above) and on the back are track listings and credits.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Clones 12" Promotional Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, PRO-A-864
This USA 12" promotional vinyl single comes in a generic card sleeve (with cut-out label hole and hype sticker), features cream Warner Brothers labels, and includes Clones (We're All) on Side A and Model Citizen on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
Discogs Link: Click Here
Talk Talk 7" Vinyl Single
1980, Warner Brothers, WB 17697
This German 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve with an image of a casual-looking Alice on front and features Talk Talk on Side A and Dance Yourself To Death on Side B (both from the Flush The Fashion album).
Talk Talk is a cover of the 1966 single by American garage rock band The Music Machine and used to be played by the original Alice Cooper Group in their early days of existence.
On the front of the sleeve is an image of a casual-looking Alice and on the back is promotional material for releases by other artists of the time.
Discogs Link: Click Here
Flush The Fashion Press Release
1980
This USA four-page press release features an interview with Alice, who provides some interesting insights on the Flush The Fashion album, plus his recent appearance in the movie Roadie.
A notable remark from the unnamed author is that Alice "has never looked better" and was "fit, tan and trim". This is rather ironic given that this was around the time where Alice started to become addicted to cocaine and was already looking unhealthily thin.
For the Special Forces era Click Here.