BOC R.I.P.??

[John A Swartz]

Gumby writes a few things that I'll add a few cents to . . .

>I have been quietly and slowly digesting the recent topic of
>"Is BOC dead?"

Please - digest it.  Don't anyone vomit it up again!  ;-)

>1.      I haven't purchased Cult Classics yet. I've been putting it off.
Can anybody give me a clue as to whether I should pick it up?


Another regurgitated topic, but one I don't mind commenting on.  IMHO,
if you need to be a completist (like me), you should get it -- the studio
version of "Buck's Boogie" is worth the price of admission.  I also
like the new versions of "O.D.'d on Life..." and "This Ain't the Summer...".
Alot of the other portions of the album may leave you feeling, well,
unfullfilled (and while the "TV Mixes" may be a bit of a novelty at first,
you'll soon be hitting the "skip" button on your CD player).  If you are
merely looking for a BOC compilation, my guess is that *Workshop of the
Telescopes* will blow *Cult Classic* away.  But, I still like it.

>2.      Is Workshop of Telescopes going to be stictly rares and b-sides, or
is it going to be a greatest hits album with a few "extra" tracks on it?

Closer to the second.  I believe it will have all the "hits", and they will
be as they were on the original albums or singles (although possibly with
some sound quality enhancement).  The "b-sides" are supposed to be there,
along with the studio version of "Born to be Wild" (which I believe was
the "a-side" of a promo single).  Also, the "Bootleg EP" songs (4 recorded
live in NY in '72) are supposed to be on there.  Unfortunately, for the
BOC fan that has almost everything, there won't be ALOT of new stuff here
that I'm aware of (but hints of future releases of rarer stuff like the
Stalk Forrest Group EP?), but it should be a nice package for most BOC
fans, I would think - and, some of that rare stuff that some of us only
have on vinyl or tape will be now on CD.

>Finally, I must put my vote in for favorite live album.
Extraterrestrial Live receives my vote (with OYFFOOYK a very close second).


I've held off on responding to this question because I like all of BOC's
stuff (yes, even Club Ninja), and I think each album has some great stuff
to offer.  *Some Enchanted Evening* was the first BOC record I ever
bought (because I was into Godzilla movies, and I heard that BOC had a
song about him - so I went to a used record store . . . and now I'm
getting ready to release the next version of the BOC FAQ -- life is
strange and wonderful, ain't it?) and was blown away.  *On Your Feet...*
is great for me because in some weird way, it just captures the mid-70's
rock concert for me in some way, and those classic oldies, some of which
I'll never hear live again, still ring true to me today.  *ETL*, although
seemingly a more commercial move (capitalizing on the strength of "Burnin'
for You" - perhaps this was the first instance of BOC and/or their record
company trying to cash in on their past?), has alot of energy, and alot
of great tunes.  So, I like them all, but for different reasons.

John