Lace And Whiskey Era

Background

Lace And Whiskey is the 10th 'Alice Cooper' studio album and was released in 1977. It is notable as it saw a re-invented 'Alice', who plays the part of alter ego Maurice Escargot, an incompetent, comedic, private investigator.

 

Whilst a novel idea, the concept was too much for many fans, who had already contended with the disco-infused Goes To Hell and were now faced with a character entirely removed from that who had come before. It's therefore no surprise that the album was not a commercial success and underlined the importance of the Alice character to 'Alice Cooper'.

 

For those who persevere, the album has a lot to offer though, with the rockers It's Hot Tonight, Lace And Whiskey, Road Rats and King Of The Silver Screen probably not appreciated as much as they should be. The opening riff for It's Hot Tonight would be briefly sampled by Beastie Boys in their 1989 track What Comes Around

 

There are also the decent ballads You And Me and I Never Wrote Those Songs, plus the exceptional My God, which is certainly the album highlight.

 

Concept aside, the only negatives (and they are fairly notable) are the atrocious Charles Underwood cover Ubangi Stomp, the tepid Damned If You Do and (No More) Love At Your Convenience.

Lace And Whiskey Album Cover

Lace And Whiskey 12" Promotional Vinyl Album

1977, Warner Brothers, BSK 3027

This 12" USA promotional vinyl copy of Lace and Whiskey comes in a simple card sleeve and features an image of a table with a variety of paraphernalia on it including a gun, bullets, an Alice Cooper 'Lace and Whiskey' book, an ash tray and, of course, a bottle of whiskey complete with shot glass. The image extends to the back cover and reveals the back of the book, which cleverly provides the track listings (oddly, in the wrong order, and excluding King Of The Silver Screen) together with three glowing faux reviews of the book. A similar-looking book formed part of the Lace And Whiskey press packs, which included various other items.

 

The inner sleeve includes and image of Alice as his alter ego, investigator Maurice Escargot, on one side and track listings and credits on the other. Also provided inside the sleeve is an insert which promotes the Alice Cooper discography (at the time) on one side and invites fans to join the 'Alice Cooper Fan Club' and buy Alice T-shirts on the other. 

 

As this is a promotional copy, it includes an additional pink Warner Brothers 'PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE' sticker on the front together with a hype sticker promoting the inclusion of 'the hit' You And Me. The disc is notable as it features bespoke white Warner Brothers labels with printed bra, whiskey bottle, shot glass and revolver (which I think was the only Alice Cooper album that had such treatment). These labels were also used for initial stock copies (i.e. the sticker on the front is the only way to differentiate promotional copies from stock copies).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey 12" Vinyl Album

1977, Warner Brothers, K56365

This UK 12" vinyl version of Lace and Whiskey is almost identical to the USA promotional copy (above) only that it features 'Palm Tree' labels, a different product code and no promotional / hype stickers or insert included.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey 12" Vinyl Album

Unknown Year, Warner Brothers, BSK 3027 / R 123927

 

This USA 12" 'Club Edition' vinyl version of Lace And Whiskey is almost identical to the UK version (above) only that it features 'Palm Tree' labels with an alternative text arrangement and a different product code, which is a combination of the original USA code (i.e. BSK 3027) and a unique Club Edition code (R 123927). 

 

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

Lace And Whiskey 12" Vinyl Album

2018, Rhino Entertainment, RCV1 3027

This 140 gram USA vinyl re-issue of Goes To Hell was limited to 3,800 copies and closely resembles the original release (above) with the notable exception that it features a striking opaque 'Whiskey Brown' colour vinyl.

 

It was released as part of the 2018 'Rocktober' event along with re-issues of  Goes To Hell and From The Inside.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey 8-Track Album

1977, Warner Brothers, M8 3027

This USA 8-Track album 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. This copy also includes a matching generic card sleeve.

 

One notable aspect of this release is that the track order is slightly different to the usual arrangement, with (No More) Love At Your Convenience and King Of The Silver Screen appearing out-of-place. This is presumably to enable the album to fit over the four 'programs' on the cartridge, rather than having some split between them (meaning no interrupted playback as the reading head changed position). 

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey Cassette Album

1977, Warner Brothers, K.456365

This UK cassette version of Lace And Whiskey features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is a white tape with printed additional track listings.  

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey Cassette Album

1977, Warner Brothers, 456 365

 

This French 1st edition cassette version of Lace And Whiskey features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is an orange tape which provides additional track listings.

 

One notable aspect of this release is that the track order is different to the usual arrangement, with It's Hot Tonight, King Of The Silver Screen and I Never Wrote Those Songs appearing out-of-place compared to the original vinyl release (above).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace and Whiskey Cassette Album

1990, Metal Blade Records, 9 26446-4

 

This remastered USA cassette version of Lace And Whiskey by Metal Blade Records is notable in that, whilst it includes similar artwork as the original LP release (above) it also features the following additional 'hand-written' note by Alice:

 

"Lace and Whiskey was pretty much a confession of my own alcoholism and Hollywood excess. “You and Me” was a top twenty hit and it was a ballad. Was Alice getting soft? Well melancholy in places, but still a hard rocker. Listen to “It’s Hot Tonight” and “Road Rats”, certainly not mellow. “Road Rats” actually inspired the movie “Roadie” (12 academy award nominations!). I never quite understood this album. I don’t understand most of my albums!".

 

The opaque white cassette features the track titles.

 

Metal Blade Records also made similar cassette and CD releases for the Muscle Of Love and From The Inside albums (both of which contained hand-written notes by Alice).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace and Whiskey CD Album

1990, Metal Blade Records, 9 26446-2

This remastered USA CD version of Lace And Whiskey contains slightly enhanced artwork to the cassette version (above) and again includes the additional 'hand-written' note by Alice.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey CD Album

2000, Warner Brothers, 7599-26227-2

This European CD re-issue of Lace And Whiskey comes in a jewel case and features an eight-page booklet containing track listings, lyrics and credits.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey 'Mini LP' SHM CD Album

2011, Warner Brothers, WPCR-14308

In 2011, all the Alice Cooper albums from Pretties For You through to From The Inside were re-issued in Japan on 'Super High Material' (SHM) CD format. SHM CD's are, apparently, made of improved material, that provides a clearer medium for the reading of the data and so reduces read errors and thus can improve sound quality.

 

A notable feature of all the SHM releases is that they closely replicate the original packaging of the vinyl releases. In the case of Lace And Whiskey, this is a basic sleeve, so this is obviously reflected here. An additional black-and-white bilingual lyric booklet and external 'Obi Strip' are also provided (both of which are common features of Japanese music releases). 

 

What would have been really cool though is if they had made the CDs look more like miniature vinyl discs. What is offered is still more than satisfactory though and the SHM releases are definitely the quintessential Alice Cooper CD editions of all the available variants out there.

 

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.

(No More) Love At Your Convenience 7" Vinyl Single

1977, Warner Brothers, K16935

This UK 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes (No More) Love At Your Convenience on Side A and It's Hot Tonight on Side B (both from the Lace And Whiskey album).

 

The sleeve has the same image of Alice on the front as that included on the inner sleeve of Lace And Whiskey vinyl album (above), whereas on the back is promotional material for the album.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

You And Me 7" Vinyl Single

1977, Warner Brothers, 45-1516

This Spanish 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes You And Me on Side A and It's Hot Tonight on Side B (both from the Lace And Whiskey album).

 

The sleeve has a casual-looking image of Alice on the front, whereas on the back is promotional material for the Lace And Whiskey album.

 

A detachable paper index tab is provided on the rear of the sleeve. Often found folded into the sleeve for protection when not used, these provided basic details of the release and were presumably there to help DJs easily locate them amongst other records. It's my understanding that these were only found in the French 7" of Under My Wheels and a few other early solo Spanish releases. 

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

You And Me 7" Vinyl Single

1977, Warner Brothers, P-180W

This Japanese 7" vinyl single features Palm Tree Warner Brothers labels, comes in a Warner Brothers paper sleeve complete with colour insert, and includes You And Me on Side A and It's Hot Tonight on Side B (both from the Lace And Whiskey album).

 

The insert features a cropped version of the image used on the front of the Lace And Whiskey album sleeve but with additional Japanese hype text and track listings, lyrics and credits on the back.

 

A promotional copy of this release also exists, which is identical except that it features white vinyl labels instead.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

You And Me 7" Vinyl Single

1977, Warner Brothers, W 16914

This Italian 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes You And Me on Side A and It's Hot Tonight on Side B (both from the Lace And Whiskey album).

 

The sleeve has the same casual-looking image of Alice on both the front and back (but with the A and B track titles varying on either side).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

You And Me 7" Vinyl Single

1977, Warner Brothers, WBS 8349

This Yugoslavian 7" vinyl single features 'Palm Tree' Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes You And Me on Side A and It's Hot Tonight on Side B (both from the Lace And Whiskey album).

 

The sleeve has the same casual-looking image of Alice on both the front and back (but with the A and B track titles varying on either side).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

You And Me 7" Vinyl EP

1977, Warner Brothers, 96.029

This unique Brazilian 4-track 7" EP features Palm Tree Warner Brothers labels, comes in a card sleeve and includes You And Me and I Never Wrote Those Songs on Side A and (No More) Love At Your Convenience and Lace And Whiskey on Side B (all from the Lace And Whiskey album).

 

The sleeve has the same image that features on the front of the Lace And Whiskey album (above) with added pink hype text on the front and on the back are track listings and credits.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Lace And Whiskey Promotional Book

1977, Warner Brothers

 

This very rare promotional paperback book is almost identical to the one pictured on the front and back of the Lace And Whiskey album cover (above). Contained inside is the following material:

 

> A very short (i.e two-page) discography covering all the Alice Cooper albums from Pretties For You through to Lace And Whiskey;

 

> A short (i.e. seven-page) thriller story divided into mini chapters titled after ten the songs on the Lace And Whiskey album (in the same order);

 

> A list of 41 'Historical Gangland Characters In America' spread over 15 pages;

 

> A blank day-planner diary for the period 01st May 1977 (i.e. two days after the Lace And Whiskey album was released) to the 31st May 1978. This takes up the vast majority of the book, with two pages dedicated to each week of the year; and

 

> Finally, there are several completely blank pages at the end, which I assume were designed for owners to take notes.

 

Copies of this book (especially with blank diaries) are very hard to find.

Lace And Whiskey Song Book

1977, Warner Brothers, VF0546

This 56-page song book featured the printed notes and lyrics to the entire Lace And Whiskey album (albeit in alphabetical order instead).

 

Also provided is artwork from the original album release (above) and some unique images of Alice performing live, which are presumably from the King Of The Silver Screen Tour of 1977. 

For the From The Inside era Click Here.