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Blue Öyster Cult is an American psychedelic/heavy metal band formed in the late 1960s and active as of 2006.
They are probably best known for two songs: their 1976 single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" from the album Agents of Fortune (featured in the cult movie Halloween, and in the TV movie The Stand based on Stephen King's novel of the same name), and their 1981 single "Burnin' for You" from the album Fire of Unknown Origin. Their song "Veteran of the Psychic Wars," with lyrics penned by Michael Moorcock, appeared in the soundtrack of the movie Heavy Metal. Two other well-known songs are "Godzilla" (1977) from Spectres, and "Astronomy" (1974) from Secret Treaties; the latter was covered by Metallica on 1998's Garage Inc..
History
The members of the band began to come together in the late 1960s, as a band called "Soft White Underbelly", in the vicinity of State University of New York at Stony Brook on Long Island, New York, at the prompting of critic Sandy Pearlman. Pearlman was very influential for the band, getting them gigs, their first record with Columbia, and using his poetry as the basis of many of their songs, including "Astronomy". For a while they played under the name of Oaxaca, a province in Mexico. The band changed its name to the Stalk-Forrest Group in 1968. One single was released on Elektra Records under this name in 1969, though over one album's worth of songs were recorded. The name again changed to the Blue Öyster Cult in 1970 (see "Band Name" section below for its origin).
The Black & White Years
The self-titled debut album Blue Öyster Cult was released in January of 1972. Its striking monochrome cover, by artist Bill Gawlick, featured the now famous hook & cross symbol prominently which the band adopted as their logo. The album sold fairly well, and heavy touring started the growth of a country-wide fan base.
Because of their hectic touring schedule, the band had to complete most of the second record’s songwriting on the road. Taking on a much heavier and ominous tone, the second record Tyranny and Mutation built on the first album and moved them towards fulfilling Columbia's wish to have a stateside Black Sabbath.
By 1973, the days of the communal band house were over, and each member lived in his own place, which led to less collaborative songwriting. They still retained a "band house" for rehearsals, but rather than working out songs as a group, they began to come to rehearsal with songs more or less together, and only arrangement details to be hashed out with the group. The band aimed to make an album with more emotional impact for their third outing. When Secret Treaties hit the streets in 1974, it garnered great critical acclaim, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavy records of the 1970s, and is probably the most popular record with fans.
Commercial Success
Despite the punishing touring schedule & increasing proficiency in the studio Blue Öyster Cult still hadn't managed to attain commercial success. Their first live album On Your Feet or on Your Knees was not only a cheap album to produce (it was not overdubbed in any way) but also their most successful to date and paved the way for the follow up album.
Agents of Fortune contained the Buck Dharma-penned hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" which reached #12 on the Billboard charts, and “Agents of Fortune” became the band’s first gold record. The crowds at the concerts grew, and shortly the band found themselves headlining coliseums.
For the tour that promoted Agents of Fortune, the band decided to complement its stage show with a new cutting-edge entertainment technology: Lasers. This relatively new (for entertainment) technology offered the ability to enhance the songs with twirling, twisting shapes made from different colored light, a high-tech version of the old psychedelic oil and pigment projections done in the sixties.
Although the laser show brought BÖC a lot of recognition and notoriety — many people still heavily associate "Blue Öyster Cult" with "Laser Show" — the band finally decided that the expense and troubles associated with hauling the staff and equipment around the country just wasn’t worth it, and they happily sold off the laser equipment and its accompanying hassles.
The success of Agents had the band on the road for extended periods of time, and the follow-up, Spectres took over a year to complete. Bolstered by the success of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", the band worked very hard to try to come up with an even better record in Spectres. For a lot of hardcore fans, Agents was too "soft" and Spectres was even softer, with lush production and a very polished sound. Others, however, found the diversity of songwriting on Spectres a pleasant experience, as each band member contributed at least one song, and everyone except Allen Lanier contributing at least one lead vocal. Although Spectres sold very well, and generated a minor cult hit in "Godzilla," its sales and its promotion by Columbia were ultimately disappointing for the band.
At this time they chose to record another live album. Some Enchanted Evening, featuring what is to many the "definitive version" of BÖC opus "Astronomy" and a new version of "Reaper" went Platinum in short order, and it also gave the band some time in which to work on material for a new studio release.
For the next album Mirrors, the band decided to get some "new blood" in the studio, and chose not to work with producers Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman, who had worked with the band on every previous album. This time they chose Tom Werman, whose work included Cheap Trick and Ted Nugent. Unfortunately the pairing of Werman and BÖC was not optimal, and the resultant record was not only a disappointment to the band, but also to the fans, the majority of which felt the record was far too pop and commercial. Although the record does have some songs that many fans consider great, including "The Vigil" and "The Great Sun Jester," sales were bleak. It was apparent that the band was trying very very hard to write another hit, and both critics and fans took the band to task for it. Needless to say, Tom Werman would not be hired again, and the band realized they had to step back and reevaluate their next move in order to recover from the Mirrors debacle.
During this time, Sandy Pearlman had become Black Sabbath's manager, and that association led to Heaven and Hell producer Martin Birch being hired for the next BÖC record. That, coupled with BÖC’s decision to get back to "being BÖC" rather than trying to write with the commercial hit machine in mind, brought 1980’s critically acclaimed Cultösaurus Erectus. Critics wrote that Birch brought out the best in the band, with clean, polished production that didn’t obscure the harder edges of the band’s sound. Sales were rather disappointing in the U.S., but the record was a hit in the UK, reaching #14 on the charts there.
Birch was again in the producer's seat for the next record, Fire of Unknown Origin. This album included "Burnin’ For You," a song Buck had written with a Richard Meltzer lyric and was intended for inclusion on his solo album, which he’d been wanting to do as an outlet for the music he’d written that didn’t fit as a Blue Öyster Cult song. Although the "Burnin’" demo is the song that secured the deal for him to make his solo record, Pearlman convinced him to put the song on the Fire album, and it subsequently became the band’s next hit single. The song reached the top 40.
During the supporting tour for this record, founding member Albert Bouchard was dismissed forcing the band to go on with lighting designer Rick Downey filling in on drums.
Decline and Fall
With Buck working on his solo album, and Albert's prolific pen absent, and an album contracturally due Columbia, the band recorded yet another live record, the double-LP Extraterrestrial Live.
Albert, in the meantime, devoted himself to writing and recording Sandy Pearlman's late 1960s song cycle, "Imaginos." Gathering his long list of New York musical friends and associates, he spent the next 5-plus years working on what he hoped would be his debut solo album.
BÖC was soon back in the studio to record their next record, and this time Bruce Fairbairn was brought on board as producer. In late 1983 The Revölution by Night was released. Although the band was satisfied with the work, it wasn’t as successful as Fire of Unknown Origin, and the single, "Shooting Shark" only reached #83 on the charts.
After the Revölution tour, Rick Downey decided to leave the band, and in 1985 the band found themselves with dates to play but no drummer. As it happened, they called upon Albert, who rejoined the band for a two week tour of the California coast. Things did not go well, the old differences came back, and the reunion of original members was over when the tour was.
Shortly after this, Allen Lanier quit the band as well. In the meantime, with both the drum and keyboard positions vacant, and a new album in the future, the remaining members hired Jimmy Wilcox and Tommy Zvonchek and with them finished the Club Ninja album which is one of the least favored BÖC records, by both the band and fans.
After the German leg of the tour behind Club Ninja, Joe Bouchard decided to leave the band. BÖC now only had two original members: Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma. Jon Rogers was hastily hired to replace the departed Joe, and this band finished out the 1986-87 tour.
Shortly afterward, the band, for all practical purposes broke up.
Imaginos and Continued Touring
This split was very short-lived, however, as they received an offer they couldn’t refuse: to play in Greece. This was the impetus for Allen Lanier’s rejoining the band.
In the meantime, Albert had gotten a long way with his "Imaginos" project, but to his dismay found that the record company was no longer willing to support its release. Pearlman negotiated with Columbia executives to have it released under the Blue Öyster Cult moniker. The decision was made to turn the tapes over to Pearlman and Blue Öyster Cult. New vocals, guitars, edits and overdubs were added at Pearlman’s San Francisco studio with the assistance of producer Daniel Levitin (credited as sound designer), and in 1988 Imaginos was released. The album was only half-heartedly promoted by Columbia and consequently sold poorly, yet many fans consider this one of the finest BOC albums. Notable is a remake of the hit Astronomy. Shortly thereafter, Columbia records was sold to Sony Music and the new management terminated Columbia's almost 20-year relationship with Blue Öyster Cult.
Aside from a couple of songs that appeared on the Bad Channels soundtrack, the band went 10 years before releasing another album. During these years, BÖC took to the clubs, hiring Ron Riddle for the drum position, and retaining Jon Rogers on bass. In 1991 Riddle quit the band, and over the years the drum position has been held by Chuck Bürgi, John Miceli, John O'Reilly, Bobby Rondinelli, and now Jules Radino (hold the Spinal Tap jokes). In 1995 Jon Rogers quit the band, and was briefly replaced by Greg Smith. Long Island bassman Danny Miranda held the post from 1995 until October 2004, when Richie Castellano took over on bass.
In the late 1990s, BÖC secured a contract with CMC records and are continuing to perform into the 21st century. Two studio albums have been released, 1998's Heaven Forbid and Curse of the Hidden Mirror from 2001, with sixteen songs co-written by cyberpunk/horror novelist John Shirley, followed by another live record and DVD, both drawn from one epic show in Chicago. In the Summer of 2005, Blue Öyster Cult performed at Retrofest in Chilliwack, British Columbia, with Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter, Jefferson Starship, and It's A Beautiful Day.
Band Name
The name "Blue Öyster Cult" came from a 1960s poem written by manager Sandy Pearlman. It was part of his "Imaginos" poetry, later used more extensively in their 1988 album Imaginos. Pearlman had also come up with the band's earlier name, "Soft White Underbelly", from a phrase used by Winston Churchill in describing Italy during World War II. In Pearlman's poetry, the "Blue Oyster Cult" was a collection of aliens who had collected to secretly guide Earth's history. Another myth is that one of the band members was doodling and playing around and eventually found that "Blue Oyster Cult" is an anagram of "Cully Stout Beer." (It works.)
The addition of the umlaut was suggested by either Allen Lanier or Richard Meltzer. Other bands later copied the practice of using umlauts or diacritic marks in their own band logos (see Heavy metal umlaut), such as Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Queensrÿche, and the parody band Spinal Tap, which put an "umlaut" over the n (a symbol found only in the Jacaltec language of Guatemala and in some orthographies of Malagasy). *
Lineup
The current members of the band are:
- Eric Bloom: lead vocals, guitar
- Buck Dharma: lead guitar, vocals
- Allen Lanier: keyboards, guitar
- Richie Castellano: bass, vocals
- Jules Radino: drums
The original lineup of the band was:
- Eric Bloom: lead vocals, guitar
- Buck Dharma: lead guitar, vocals
- Allen Lanier: keyboards, guitar
- Joe Bouchard: bass, vocals
- Albert Bouchard: drums, vocals
Lead vocal duties
While Eric Bloom has always been the band's official lead singer, other members of the band have contributed lead vocals throughout its history.
- Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser
- Joe Bouchard
- Albert Bouchard
- Allen Lanier
- Jon Rogers
- Joey Cerisano
Former members
Bass
Drums
- Albert Bouchard (1970–1981, 1985–Californian tour)
- Rick Downey (1981–1984)
- Thommy Price (1985)
- Jimmy Wilcox (1985–1987)
- Ron Riddle (1987–1991)
- Chuck Burgi (1991–1992, 1992–1995, 1996–1997)
- John Miceli (1992, 1995)
- John O'Reilly (1995–1996)
- Bobby Rondinelli (1997–2004)
Keyboards
Guitars
Cowbell
Blue Öyster Cult was parodied in a sketch aired on a 2000 episode of NBC's famed Saturday Night Live. In the skit, actor Christopher Walken portrays mega-rock producer Bruce Dickinson, who is overseeing the 1976 studio recording of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." The band begins by performing the song, then breaks off the take in the middle, due to anger at their overly loud and vigorous cowbell player, Gene Frenkle (played by Will Ferrell). A dissatisfied, somewhat psychotic Dickinson comes out from behind the glass, saying he loves the song and insisting "I gotta have more cowbell." Further takes follow.
As with many SNL skits, lines from the skit became catch phrases, even going so far as to spawn merchandise based on the skit. The band has responded to this by having a roadie play a cowbell on stage during performances.
Walken's "Bruce Dickinson" character is not to be confused with Bruce Dickinson, the singer of Iron Maiden. In reality, Bruce Dickinson was not a record producer, but a mid-level manager who worked at Columbia Records and packaged their greatest hits record, but had nothing to do with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." Insiders say that the producer character was based on Pearlman, and cite Walken's dead-ringer impression of Pearlman's speech patterns, walk, and clothing as evidence.
At the end of the skit, an in memoriam was shown: Gene Frenkle, 1950–2000. Eric Bloom later said in an interview that "Gene Frenkle" was absolutely fictional, and that during his whole career he had never met or worked with anyone named Gene Frenkle. Bloom also said that it was he who had played the cowbell on that recording.
Supernatural
In a March 2006 episode of the WB's hit television series Supernatural, three BOC songs are featured: "Fire Of Unknown Origin," "Burnin' For You," and "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" -- and the band's infamous logo plays a pivotal role in the plot, as well.
In the episode, a pair of Texas teenagers discover and decorate an abandoned home to look like a house of satanic worship; painting symbols on the walls they've copied off of BOC records and from college theology class textbooks. Unfortunately, one of the symbols, the Tibetan Spirit Sigil, succeeds in summoning an actual ghost through the fearful collective beliefs of everyone who visits the house. Fortunately, however, BOC's Cross of Questioning is eventually recognized by one of the show's lead characters (whom it had been established in previous episodes mostly listens to classic rock) -- which in turn, leads he and his brother to realize what they're facing is just a harmless prank gone terribly awry.
Discography
References
External links
- Official Blue Öyster Cult discography (PDF; requires Adobe Reader)
Band member sites
- Official Buck Dharma site
- Official Eric Bloom site
- Official Richie Castellano site
- BOC Gig lists and reviews (Joe Bouchard fan page) (Albert Bouchard Fan page)
American musical groups | Long Island musical groups | Rock music groups
Blue Öyster Cult | Blue Öyster Cult | בלו אויסטר קאלט | Blue Öyster Cult | Blue Öyster Cult | Рондинелли, Бобби | Blue Öyster Cult | Blue Öyster Cult | Blue Öyster Cult
"Blue Öyster Cult"