Summary

“Flush the Fashion” (1980, Warner Bros. Records K56805) is Alice Cooper doing what Alice Cooper does best: spotting a new cultural mood, stealing its jacket, and wearing it on stage. This is his sharp, new‑wave‑leaning detour—tighter songs, colder edges, and hooks that land like a wink and a jab at once.

About the Artist

Before Flush the Fashion, Cooper had already rewritten the rulebook for shock rock—guillotines, snakes, theater, and chart hits that proved heavy could be pop-smart. By 1980, punk and new wave had changed the “cool” setting on the radio. Instead of fighting it, Cooper leaned in. He’d always been a great satirist of American manners; this time, he just swaps platform boots for something more angular.

About the Record

Think of this LP as Cooper’s post‑’70s wardrobe purge. The guitars are leaner, the grooves are more nervous, and the attitude feels deliberately contemporary for 1980. A key reason: producer Roy Thomas Baker (famous for meticulous, punchy studio craft) brings a crisp, modern snap—less grand horror musical, more neon-lit menace.

About the Cover

The front cover (see image) looks like graffiti scratched across a blank wall, with a bold red slash that feels like a stamp of mischief—or a warning label. Flip to the back, and you get Cooper behind a chain‑link fence, cool and cornered at once, as if the album’s theme is: society’s cages come in fashionable sizes.

About the Lyrics & Music

This is Cooper as a headline-skimming storyteller: media panic, identity, and public masks.

• “Clones (We’re All)” turns conformity into a chant you can shout in a crowd.
• “Talk Talk” is a sly cover that fits perfectly here—gossip as a weaponized hobby.
• “Nuclear Infected” taps real-world anxiety (the lyric sheet even namechecks Three Mile Island) and turns it into dark, danceable paranoia.
• “Model Citizen” skewers respectability with a smirk—classic Cooper social satire, just in sharper clothes.

Conclusion

Flush the Fashion is Alice Cooper proving he can mutate with the times without losing his bite. If you like your rock hooky, cynical, and slightly unhinged, this K56805 pressing is a wickedly fun slice of 1980 tension.

Other Recommendations

• Live at the whisky a go-go 1969 – “Lace and Whiskey” (slick, hard-rocking bridge into this era).
• Alice Cooper – “From the Inside” (darker narrative mood, more theatrical).
• If you want similar vibes: The Cars, Blondie, or Devo for that era’s tight, stylish nervous energy.