A view on the state of BOC

[Ted O. Jackson]

> > 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

Jazza,
Right you are, on so many points.  Nice to see a young'un with so
much insight and articulation.  With 'friends' like this, who needs
enemies?
theo