Poison (Alice Cooper song)

"Poison" is a song by American hard rock musician Alice Cooper. Written by Cooper, producer Desmond Child and guitarist John McCurry, the song was released worldwide as a single in late-1989 from Cooper's eighteenth album, Trash. It became one of Cooper's biggest hit singles in the United States, peaking at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The power ballad[1] performed even better in the UK by peaking at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. "Poison" remains one of Alice Cooper's best known songs. It is ranked by Billboard as the "91st top song of 1989", while Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it as the "7th best Alice Cooper song", commenting "Poison sounds like a typical ’80s pop-metal number at times, but Cooper’s intensity brings it to a whole other level."[2] The song's main riff was written by guitarist John McCurry, who two years earlier had used it for the John Waite track "Encircled".

"Poison"
Single by Alice Cooper
from the album Trash
B-side"Trash"
Released7 July 1989
Recorded1988
GenreHeavy metal, hard rock, glam metal
Length4:28
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Desmond Child
Alice Cooper singles chronology
"Freedom"
(1987)		 "Poison"
(1989)		 "Bed of Nails"
(1989)
Music video
"Poison" on YouTube

The song is available as downloadable content (as part of the Alice Cooper pack or as a single) for use in the music video game Rock Band, and a re-recorded version is also available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

Music video

There are three versions of the video to the song, one of which shows Alice Cooper being chained to a bizarre mechanism and singing while a ghostly woman looms over him. The original video had to be censored for showings during the day, due to shots of a topless model. Rana Kennedy plays the roles of both women in the video but the topless scene were shot with a body double.[3] This is notably visible in the video. A final third cut utilizes alternate takes of Cooper during the final refrain of the song with the 80s Glam Metal band Poison singing in the background, leading to the end (this version seemed to receive the most airplay on MTV). The studios in which the video was filmed in spring of 1989 have since been torn down and are now a parking lot in Los Angeles. The video is still often played on MTV Classic's Metal Mayhem.

Cover versions

Charts

Certifications

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Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[30] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[31] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[32] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA)[34] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Top 10 Power Ballads That Don't Suck". Loudwire.
  2. "Top 10 Alice Cooper Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  3. "Rana Kennedy". www.facebook.com.
  4. "Volkswagen Passat: It gets into you". Adsoftheworld.com. Mediabistro.com. February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  5. "Passat". Volkswagen Israel. February 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  6. "Australian-charts.com – Alice Cooper – Poison". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  7. "Austriancharts.at – Alice Cooper – Poison" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Alice Cooper – Poison" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  9. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6623." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  10. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6 no. 25. September 2, 1989. p. IV. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  11. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Alice Cooper". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  13. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 42, 1989" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Alice Cooper – Poison" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  15. "Charts.nz – Alice Cooper – Poison". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Alice Cooper – Poison". VG-lista. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  17. "Swedishcharts.com – Alice Cooper – Poison". Singles Top 100. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  18. "Swisscharts.com – Alice Cooper – Poison". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  19. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  20. "Alice Cooper Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  21. "Alice Cooper Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  22. "Offiziellecharts.de – Alice Cooper – Poison". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  23. "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 1989". ARIA. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  24. "Eurochart Hot 100 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6 no. 51. December 23, 1989. p. 6. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  25. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1989" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  26. "End of Year Charts 1989". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  27. "Year-End Charts '89 – Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. March 3, 1990. p. 16.
  28. "1989 The Year in Music: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 101 no. 51. December 23, 1989. p. Y-22.
  29. "Longbored Surfer – 1989". longboredsurfer.com.
  30. The ARIA Report. 10. ARIA. 18 March 1990. p. 4.
  31. "Canadian single certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". Music Canada.
  32. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  33. "British single certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Poison in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  34. "American single certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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