A view on the state of BOC

[Jon Jarrett]

On Wed, 10 Jan 1996, E F wrote:

> I forward some messages regarding BOC from this group to a friend of mine
> who has yet to subscribe (the mail volume is prohibitive right now).
>
> Here is a message he sent me regarding some of the current thoughts on
> BOC and their status as a band as he sees it.
>
        <Snip>
> 'I love BOC, but until they come out with something NEW (and of merit) I
> will "back burner" them. They are regarded by some within the industry as
> "greasy kid stuff". I think part of the problem is that songs about
> mysticism tend to become trite over time and their listening audience,
> composed of teenage white males, have LARGELY grown up, and now are
> buying steely-dan albums and drinking chardonnay. Quite a problem,
> encountered by MANY a band over the years.'
        <Snip>

        Well, this here teenage white male ( teenage only for a month and
half more, but I'm trying not to let it go easy ) was into Steely Dan
long before I was BOC, and they're still my second favourite band, BOC
now being first. And I hate Chardonnay, and always will. Riesling's the
stuff.
        Also, more seriously, it seems to me that if mysticism is the
problem, then Imaginos is surely the worst offender. I think calling
BOC's stuff childish is a bit harsh: it has a lot of the old heavy-metal
focus on death, drugs and the devil, sure, but Sandy Pearlman seems to me
to have drawn on a quite huge background knowledge, which is a damn sight
more sophisticated than the average heavy rock/metal. And the same goes
for the music, which is maybe more important...? Does it make or break
your liking a band that their lyrics are a bit dated sometimes, when
you've got riffs like Tattoo Vampire's, Godzilla's, DFtR's, and HRtH's?
Arbitrary selection there, but you see my point?
        But then, I'm just one of those `greasy kids', so what do I know?
I'd be interested in your friend's thoughts on this, however. And I agree
with him on one major thing: new material. It's badly needed: Havest
Moon, I suppose, but I imagine ( though I don't know - someone feel free
to correct  my lamentable ignorance ) that that's going out as a Buck
Dharma production, for all that BOC are playing it every gig? And one or
two songs like that since Imaginos is not what you could call a flood of
output. Ah well. Steely Dan don't do anything any more either...
                                                                 Jazza