Blue Oyster Cult - Rock On!

I have populated this lens with my artistic tribute to Blue Oyster Cult. All the work was created with Photoshop and resources found through several kind and generous lensmasters. Without their help, I would not be able to create my visions digitally.

Enjoy!

It was 1967, near Stony Brook University in Long Island New York, that Rock promoter/critic Sandy Pearlman urged the band's formation. Originally named Soft White Underbelly (a term Winston Churchill used to describe Italy during WWII), the band was able to get club dates and minor recording deals with the help of Pearlman.
Over the next three years the band went through a variety of name changes, as well as a change in lead singers. The original singer, Les Braunstein, fit in well with the band's improvisational style will playing live and it was his impression upon Elektra Records executives that landed the band's first record deal. Elektra saw Braunstein as the East Coast's answer to Jim Morrison. It was during the first recording session that the band realized a problem with Braunstein's direction. He was zigging while the band was zagging.

When the band got back from the sessions, they settled on a new name and, because Braunstein abruptly quit, found a new lead singer in their midst: the group's sound man, Eric Bloom. Bloom gave the band a more Rock And Roll feel as opposed to the Psychedelic, West Coast road that Braunstein was driving them down. As for a new name, they finally settled on Blue Oyster Cult, a title to one of Pearlman's poems from his Imaginos collection. Although, the band kept the Soft White Underbelly name in their hip pocket to use as a pseudonym when playing small clubs during the 1970's and 1980's.

In 1972, Blue Oyster Cult released its first studio album, Blue Oyster Cult. The song of note on that album was Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll. A song that has been covered by several artists over the years.

I have a tough time picking a favorite on the first Blue Oyster Cult album. I'm torn between Last days Of May with it's tale of young men caught in a trap backed by an almost hauntingly mellow sound, and I'm On The Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep, a song that drives from beginning to end as it races through a story about being pursued by the Canadian Mounted Police.

From left to right:
Alan Lanier (keyboards, guitar, vocals)

Eric Bloom (vocals, guitar, keyboards)

Albert Bouchard (drums, vocals)

Donald "Buck Dharma" Roesser(guitars, vocals)

Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals)

Shortly after the band adopted the name Blue Oyster Cult, Alan Lanier (keyboards) suggested they put an umlaut over the 'O'. The suggestion stuck and the umlaut became a trademark for the band.

The band's influence had become powerful enough to inspire other popular bands to follow suit; Motorhead and Motley Crue to name a couple. Even the 'Mock Group' Spinal Tap adopted the use of the umlaut.

Between 1972 and 1975, Blue Oyster Cult released 3 albums, two studio and one live album.

Tyranny And Mutations, released in 1973, was an album that was born out of songs that were written while the band was on an almost constant touring schedule. During this era of touring, the band was the "opener" for a wide variety of acts (ranging from the Mahavishnu Orchestra to Alice Cooper, which opened their eyes to a certain flaw the group had to overcome.

The flaw was the lack of showmanship and stage presence. BOC began to hone their live skills as well as shed the garments of the earlier incarnations of the combo. They set out to make a heavy album and they most certainly succeeded. In the process, they also fulfilled their new recording company's wishes; Columbia Records had their 'Stateside Black Sabbath'.

Blue Oyster Cult released Secret Treaties in 1974, an album that is said to be the best heavy metal recording of the 1970's. This album garnished much critical acclaim which was the gateway BOC needed to gain popularity across the country.

With fame on the rise due to Secret Treaties, the band began to 'Headline' shows and their first live album was recorded and released in 1975. The album, titled On Your Feet Or To Your Knees gave the world a real look at what the band had transformed into. They covered Born To Be Wild and you can feel the crowd's enthusiastic reaction to Eric Bloom's intimacy. Also, Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roesser's lead guitar talents are really evident, because live is live and there ain't no hiding.

I had to think long and hard about which song by Blue Oyster Cult I liked most from this era. What a struggle THAT was. Red And Black,ME-262, Hot Rails To Hell, and more. Finally, I settled on Astronomy. The melodic flow and the mixing of the Lanier keyboards and Dharma's guitar. Once again, a heavy laden mellow sound that is as powerful as it is eerie.

The 'Kronos' logo that is the symbol for Blue Oyster Cult, was designed by Bill Gawlick. Gawlick did the artwork for the band's first album and included the 'Kronos' in a prominent position. The symbol has no significance as far as astronomy, occult or religious beliefs. It just appears that way. Something mystical and decadent; perfect for rock and roll. The symbol appears on every album cover by the band and has been the rallying call for BOC fans worldwide.


For the band itself, the symbol is just a logo, the more important thing is the music. At one point, Sandy Pearlman had tried to give each band member a mystical sounding stage name. Only Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roesser kept his.

Blue Oyster Cult rode a great wave between 1976 and 1983, starting with the Agents Of Fortune album and ending with The Revolution By Night. In that span they released six studio albums and two live albums. The live album Some Enchanted Evening is the groups best selling recording to date, giving testimony to their great live shows. One track, a cover of Roadhouse Blues, gets almost as much airplay as their most recognizable song, Don't Fear The Reaper.

Agents Of Fortune was the band's 'Step Up' album. The tour that supported the album featured a freestyle laser show that was as much of a part of their on stage personna as the band itself was. Among other uses, the single color light would be shone off of giant mirror balls or strapped to Bloom's wrist to accentuate his fist thrusts into the air. The laser show had to be stopped eventually due to a lawsuit by one concert goer who claimed vision damage from the laser.

Don't Fear The Reaper was a product of this album. The song was shrouded in controversy as some mistook the lyrics to be a call for teen suicide when they actually were just speaking about a love that lasts forever and an urge to seize the day.

Regardless of what the perceived meanings of the lyrics were, Don't Fear The Reaper climbed to number twelve on Billboard's charts and the album was voted as one of the Top 10 rock albums of 1976.

The next album came in 1977, and was recorded between gigs on the road. The album, Spectres, produced another mega hit in the song Godzilla, a rather hard but playful song about the creature that crushed Tokyo so many times. Spectres featured crisp writing and polished sound. The band had been together long enough to really gel, both on stage and in the studio.

In 1978, Some Enchanted Evening was released. Originally desired by the band to be a double disc release, Columbia pared it down to one disc. No matter, the album went platinum in no time. The live set let everyone know that BOC was still the Kings Of The Hall with their opus performances of Astronomy and Don't Fear The Reaper, not to mention the rollicking cover of Roadhouse Blues.

Sandy Pearlman was put aside as producer for the 1979 Mirrors studio release. Tom Werman, who had previously worked with Cheap Trick and Ted Nugent was brought into the studio as producer with results not being up to the band's previous efforts. Although the song In Thee placed in the top one-hundred on the American charts, the album overall was a disappointment to the band, the fans, and the critics. The general consensus was that the album went a bit too far down the Pop road.

Sandy Pearlman once again figured in the Blue Oyster Scene. He had been hired as Black Sabbath's stage manager and convinced Martin Birch, who had produced Sabbath's Heaven And Hell album to work with BOC on their next project. Coupled with Birch and the failed experiment with Mirrors, the band was ready to get back to being themselves and quit trying to produce a hit. The result was 1980's critically acclaimed Cultosaurus Erectus. The record was a hit with both critics and fans as it reached number 14 on the U.K. charts. What's more, the band felt good about the project and working with Birch. They felt like they were once again on top.

By the time the album was released, Pearlman was managing BOC again. Being manager to both Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath gave Pearlman a unique idea. Since BOC needed to tour to promote their latest effort, why not put both bands on the road together. Here's the hook; The bands would alternate headlining, not "we do half the tour as headliners and you guys get the other half", no, they alternated EVERY night. The concept of the Black And Blue tour paid off as the fans loved it and the resulting concert video was a huge success.

Birch signed on as producer for the bands next album. In 1981 BOC released Fire Of Unknown Origin which was a result of a fury of songwriting due to the band being asked to contribute four songs for the movie Heavy Metal. Burning For You was the big hit from that effort, reaching number forty on the U.S. charts, as well as one of the songs, Veteran Of The Psychic Wars, actually being used in the movie.

During the Fires tour, Albert Bouchard let his indulgences get the best of him and the band decided that they couldn't go on with him. So, when the tour was over, they cut him out. This was the beginning of the decline of Blue Oyster Cult.

Not having Bouchard's writing skills and Dharma working on a solo album, the band came up against a wall for an album contractually owed to Columbia. The decision was to record another live album, Extra Terrestrial Live was released in 1982. The result was a live album that had many of the same songs that were on the previous live album that was released a short four years prior. The album did not sell well because of this fact.

Once Buck washed his hands of his solo effort the band wasted no time getting into the studio to record Revolution By Night using yet another producer, Brian Fairbairrn. Although the band was satisfied with the effort and one song, Shooting Shark,did well on the charts, it was apparent they weren't the same without Bouchard's penmanship and energy.

The ride on the wave was over.

Personally, I had to take Don't Fear The Reaper out of the mix when I went searching for my favorite song from this era; solely for the reason of fairness. It would've been too easy to pick one of the all time classic rock tunes as my favorite. Did I ever make it hard on myself. But, I ultimately chose a real scorcher from the Agents Of Fortune set; Tattoo Vampire. If there ever was a song that will make me pound the steering wheel to the beat every time, and I bet there have been many a motorist wondering what they heck all my howling was about), this is the one. Rockin' from beginning to end, that song is a real turn on for me.

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Since 1983, Blue Oyster Cult has released only five albums. Four studio efforts and yet another live album. The lack of production in the studio is due largely to the unstable state of the band in the era.

Bouchard's sacking was only the beginning. Eventually, his brother, Joe, left and Lanier took what amounted to a two year sabbatical. This left the band with just Bloom and Dharma. During this period a host of musicians came into then out of the band's revolving door as they were touring the smaller venues relentlessly.

BOC recorded Club Ninja in 1986 and realized a minor hit with the song Dancin' In The Ruins, which did reach number nine on the U.S. Mainstream Rock charts. Even with the success of the song, the album only sold 175,000 copies and was a disappointment for the band and fans. It's no wonder, half of the album's writing had come from outside of the band.

After Albert Bouchard's departure from the band he began to work on a project based on the Imaginos writings by Sandy Pearlman. Years of work had finally produced the fruits of his labor. Yet, no record company wanted to touch it. So, it was decided to give the recording to Pearlman and BOC. After some studio magic with the tapes, Imaginos was released by Blue Oyster Cult in 1988. The album was praised highly by the likes of Metallica and music critics, but apparently music buyers weren't ready to buy a concept album recorded by BOC.

The record tanked and shortly afterwards Columbia Records cut their ties with Blue Oyster Cult.

A full decade after Columbia canceled the BOC contract, the band secured a deal with CMC records and recorded the release Heaven Forbid. The album was well received and the band really enjoyed the sound and feel of the album. The feeling had been a long time coming.

In 2001, the band released another solid record, Curse Of The Hidden Mirror. The album reflects the band's basic good feeling with who they are, on the edge rockers who laid the groundwork for the heavy metal genre.

Following 2001's release of Curse Of The Hidden Mirror, Blue Oyster Cult recorded another live album. A Long Days Night was recorded on the summer solstice in 2002 (thus the name of the album) in Chicago. Most fans and critics see this as a great tribute to the band's continued prowess on stage. Some say they sound better today than they ever had.

Eons ago, the band adopted the motto "On tour forever", and to this day they live up to that motto by playing over a hundred dates a year.

Wow. Yet again I have put myself to task on picking a favorite song recorded by Blue Oyster Cult during a certain era. In Thee, I Can See You In Black, and I Am The One You Warned Me of are just a few of the worthy runner-ups. I finally cast my vote for White Flags. This cool little rocker has some really awesome lyrics that would melt most girls.

Sandy Pearlman
Pearlman was a Rock promoter/critic in the 1960's who urged the band to form. Throughout the years he managed the band as well as provided inspiration for some of the lyrics via his Imaginos poetry. Other bands that he had managed or held close ties to were Black Sabbath and The Clash.

Patti Smith
Smith was and remains a poet/musician/writer. Her relationship with Alan Lanier in the early 1970's brought her into BOC's sphere. She provided vocals and co-wrote The Revenge Of Vera Gemini, as well as did writing for Debbie Denise; both songs appear on the Agents Of Fortune album. Eventually the relationship between Lanier and Smith came too an end, but her poetry continued to find their way into other BOC works.

Michael Moorcock
English sci-fi/fantasy writer and Nebula award winner, Moorcock collaborated with Eric Bloom to write several songs for the band. Most notably, these three tracks; Black Blade, Veteran Of The Phsychic Wars, and The Sun Jester.

John Shirley
Sci-fi/horror/fantasy writer Shirley is also a musician and screen writer. His credits include the screenplay for the movie The Crow. Blue Oyster Cult had tapped him for help with lyrics on the Heaven Forbis and Curse Of The Hidden Mirror albums.

Randy Jackson
Yes, The Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. It really should be no surprise that he would show up on a BOC album. After all, he has been a contributor to a wide range of music scenes from Journey to The Grand Old Opera. His contribution to Blue Oyster Cult came in the form of guest bassist for the song Shooting Shark on the Revolution By Night set.

My first experience with Blue Oyster Cult was 1976. I was just out of high school and headed off (way off, I mean like all the way across town) to college in the fall.My friend was renting an old house and we would hang out there waiting for the next adventure to develop. Both of us were getting tired of hearing the same old music when we decided to make a "record" run.

Sifting through the alphabet, all the way up to 'B', I found an album. On Your Feet Or To Your Knees it was called. Blue Oyster Cult, I mused. Where do I know that name? Looking on the back cover, it hit me. Dominance And Submission, yeah I remembered hearing that somewhere. So, I took a chance.

I was hooked almost as soon as the needle hit the vinyl (translated: when the laser read the disc). Man how I wished they would come around in concert, I said to myself a couple of days later.

Then, as if by magic, I saw it in the newspaper. A small black and white ad announcing that Blue Oyster Cult would be coming to Hara Arena. What's more, the ad touted the 'amazing laser show'. Needless to say, I was there!

I haven't been the same since.

The laser show was and still is the most awesome light show I've ever seen, and I've seen more than a few. Pink Floyd and Electric Light Orchestra just to name two. The difference was, that BOC's laser show was 'freestyle'. The band played with the lights while they were performing, but the most amazing part of the show was during the Don't Fear The Reaper solo. The light was set up behind Buck Dharma in a doorway shaped pattern. The laser began to sweep across the arena and when it came to the section where I was, it appeared, because of the smoke filled arena, that Buck was standing at the entrance of a tunnel. The effect was unreal.

I caught the Black And Blue Tour two nights in a row, in two different cities, Dayton one night and Cincinnati the next. And I believ that BOC rule the house as both opener and headliner.

Over the years I have seen BOC ten times in concert, and the last one, although the venue was surreal in that it was at a community picnic and reminded me of a scene from This Is Spinal Tap, was every bit as the first one. That was four years ago, and while doing some research, I found out that they will be coming to the Fraze in July. The Fraze is just about the coolest place to see a concert. Clean, outdoors, and twenty minutes away.

I will be there, just like I was in 1976.

No live beings (alien or otherwise) were harmed, sacrificed, or otherwise abused during the creation of this lens. Thank You!