DaDa

DaDa is the fifteenth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1983. DaDa would be Cooper’s last album until his sober re-emergence in 1986 with the album Constrictor. The album’s theme is ambiguous, however, ongoing themes in the songs’ lyrics suggest that the main character in question, Sonny, suffers from mental illness, resulting in the creation of many different personalities. The album alludes strongly to the dadaist movement: its cover was based on a painting by Salvador Dalí titled “Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire”. Produced by long-time collaborator Bob Ezrin, at the time his first production with Cooper in six years, DaDa was recorded at ESP Studios in Buttonville, Ontario, Canada.
DaDa reached #93 in the UK and failed to dent the US Billboard Top 200. “I Love America” was released as a single solely in the UK over a month after the album’s release.
Guitarist and co-songwriter Dick Wagner recently revealed that Cooper had relapsed to drinking heavily during the recording of DaDa, and had suggested that the album was a contract fulfillment requirement for which Warner Bros. Records was not pleased and consequently made no effort to promote, 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.
Cooper reportedly has no recollection of recording DaDa, or the preceding albums Special Forces and Zipper Catches Skin, due to substance abuse. Cooper stated “I wrote them, recorded them and toured them and I don’t remember much of any of that”, though he toured only Special Forces. In 1996 Cooper said that DaDa was the scariest album he ever made, 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.
DaDa was Cooper’s final album for his long-time label Warner Bros., and after its release he took a three-year hiatus from the music industry.