First Post & Question

[John A Swartz]

Guess I shoulda read Andy's post first   ;-)

Let me take another look for that file . . .

Ah, here it is - thanks again to Andy Gilham for the translation...





Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett names BOC as his most important musical
influence, and the relevant specialist press labels the group the
American answer to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Actually, hardly
another hard rock band would receive so much critical praise in their
career as BOC.  So write Barry Graves and Siegfried Schmidt-Joos -
neither especially known as friends of Heavy Metal - in "Das neue
Rock-Lexicon":  "Blue Oyster Cult brought together the rock magic of the
Doors, the hysterical pathos of Black Sabbath, the cynical boogie of the
Rolling Stones and the apocalyptic ecstasy of the MC5 in such a
fantasy-laden manner, that the first LP would immediately be deemed the
album of the 70s.  And they behaved with such technical superiority that
their "music of the spheres" (Daily News) already sounded almost mannered"

Also, Christian Graf wrote in his "Rock Musik Lexicon", "BOC stand for
ideas, not dumb heavy rock and occasioned an American metal-boom which at
the beginning of the 80s exploded on both east and west coasts."

While BOC achieved superstar-status in the USA with four gold albums, and
the brilliant multiple-platinum Agents of Fortune, they remained almost
an underground band in Europe.

The beginnings of BOC reach back to 1967.  The initiator was their future
mentor and producer Sandy Pearlman, who also helped Pavlovs Dog on their
way.  In those days,  he still worked his fingers to the bone writing
journalism for the rock magazine "Crawdaddy".  Together with his friend
Richard Meltzer, in the same year at Stony Brook University in Long
Island, he made a pilgrimage to the Monterey Pop Festival:  "Afterwards,
Sandy was totally fascinated and obsessed with the idea of creating and
managing a band," recalls Meltzer.  So said, so done: Meltzers buddy
John Wiesenthal served as keyboard player, and bass-guitarist Andrew
Winter was also quickly found - he worked in Pearlmans fathers
drugstore.  Also, Winter brought guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser
(b. 12 Nov 1947) with him.  Roeser was in those days enrolled at Stony
Brook University - which can be regarded as the birthplace of BOC.

Roeser brought his friend and fellow student Albert Bouchard, his
signs(?) drummer, in his wake.  The group first of all called itself
Cow, then Soft White Underbelly, and performed all sorts of
psychedelically coloured rock songs.  Very soon came another Stony Brook
student into the band: Allen Lanier (b. 25 June 1946) replaced Wiesenthal
on the drums. [Should be "keyboards" - AG]

At that time Meltzer and Pearlman wrote nearly all the songs.  Then the
destitute students played in small New York bars and clubs without a lead
singer.  Les Bronstein finally ended this vocal-less phase. But he was,
according to Meltzer, not a happy choice: "Les got the job as lead singer
in the first place because he had a truck which we needed to move our
equipment."

All the same, Elektra gave them the opportunity to record some songs, but
with Les Bronsteins singing nothing was to be sold - the material
remained unpublishable.  A disastrous appearance at the Fillmore East in
New York immediately prompted Pearlman to change the name to Oaxaca, and
to fire Les Bronstein.  His replacement was Eric Bloom (b. 1 Dec 1944),
who today still forms the front line and supports Roeser on guitar.

Again there were studio recordings with Elektra, the band  meanwhile
called Stalk Forrest Group, and the bass now driven by Albert Bouchards
brother Joe (b. 9 Nov 1948).  But Elektra refused an actual recording
contract.

Finally, in 1971, it worked out.  Sandy Pearlman, who concentrated more
and more on the management of the band, persuaded Murray Krugman of
Columbia Records with a new demo tape.  In the subsequent days everyone
loved them. Recording contract - no problem, though another name had to
be found.  Pearlman suggested Blue Oyster Cult.  In just two weeks the
line-up recorded the eponymous debut - with milestones like "Cities on
Flame with Rock and Roll" and "Then Came the Last Days of May".  And they
touched a nerve with demanding rock fans and critics.  Co-writer Meltzer
wrote bizarre-ironic lyrics of sadistic policemen, drug-informers and the
Altamont disaster, which would "function as the perfect music for
horror-lovers" (Das neue Rock-Lexikon) "It is, as if Alfred Hitchcock and
Stanley Kubrick were to tell each other stories about their sexual
lust-dreams", gushed the Rolling Stone, and outdid themselves with a
charming description of an "excellent balance between aesthetics and
ass-kicking".


After the release of their debut in 1972, BOC toured with Alice Cooper.
Their fans became numerous.  The clever, but outlandish, Pearlman ("life
is just an illusion") gave them a mystical-rebellious image and steered
them deliberately in the direction of Black Sabbath:  the Greek symbol of
Kronos, the sign of Chaos, would become BOC's trademark and brought them
into association with black magic.  Singer Bloom took to the stage
wearing silver-mirrored shades, and the hottest leather gear of any rock
shouter of the day: "You couldn't get that stuff in those days, I had to
buy it in gay shops or sex shops."

Blue Oyster Cult's next onslaught, _Tyranny and Mutation_, in 1973, gave
them a first sniff at the charts.  The LP reached number 95 in the US.  A
year later, _Secret Treaties_ climbed to number 44.  BOC persistently
developed in stage concept and sound.  Their frequent stage appearancves
are documented on 1975's live double album, _On Your Feet or On Your
Knees_, which spent ten weeks in the American charts.  From this classic
is taken the melodic-dramatic "Last Days of May" on this CD.  The success
visibly gave the band security and musical selfconfidence.  In the
beginning, Pearlman and Meltzer wrote a large proportion of the songs,
but now the band largely controlled their compositional fate.  Especially
Roeser, surely the most proficient of BOC's musicians, as a deft soloist
as well as a songwriter, wielded the pen more than ever for _Agents of
Fortune_.

With success: the album achieved platinum status in the USA.  Admittedly
the disc didn't go higher than number 32, though constant sales provided
35 weeks in the charts.  The standout track was undoubtedly the Roeser
composition, "(Don't Fear) the Reaper".  This eerily beautiful
psychedelic number, with its balladesque mosaics is quite simply the
characteristic and outstanding Cult track.  "The essence of glorious rock
music", said the NME.  Fragmented guitar chords, melodic choruses, and
strikingly mystical guitar-riffs catapulted the single into the top 20 in
England and the USA.  Admittedly, BOC still hadn't played in Germany, but
were on the radio more and more often.  On this smash hit you can hear as
backing-singer Patti Smith, who at that time was in a relationship with
keysman Allen Lanier.


Blue Oyster Cult were at this point megastars and headliners in the USA.
For a long time, the group had enough of the leather image dictated by
the management, and, now, finally freed themselves from their dress code.
 "Lots of people associated our music with really false meanings.
Through the clothing, we would often be taken for Sadomasochists, Nazi
gangs, or occult heavies, though these comparisons are really absurd,"
said Donald Roeser.  In 1977 appeared _Spectres_, a further strong
BOC-opus.  Admittedly commercial, it did not go platinum, especially in
the USA, it was "only" gold, though with the hard-rock-belter "Godzilla"
- again written by Roeser - it contained another BOC classic.  In
1978_Some Enchanted Evening_ established itself as a powerful live
recording, not only in America's hit parade, but also was the first BOC
LP in the English charts - and in the top 20.  "R. U. Ready 2 Rock"
showed the full stage presence of the band, and on the Animals' "We Gotta
Get Out Of This Place" one can imagine that it's Mr Eric Burdon himself
swinging the microphone, so bluesy were BOC.

In 1979, BOC risked a first musical gamble.  Up to now produced in New
York by Pearlman and Krugman, the band took a new producer for the first
time with Ted Werman.  _Mirrors_, recorded in California, sounded plainly
commercial and had little in common with hard rock.  The fans didn't
accept the transformation into a pop group.  _Mirrors_ stopped in the
States at number 63 in the hit parade.  Nevertheless, "Dr Music" and "The
Vigil" deserved more recognition.  No wonder, that on _Cultosaurus
Erectus_ in 1980, BOC struck a harder tone once again - this time under
the direction of producer Martin Birch, who had already, with Black
Sabbath and Deep Purple, collected adequate metal experience.  One song,
"The Marshall Plan", tells the story of the rise of a rock-star: at a
trip to a rock concert, Johnny's girlfriend suddenly vanishes into the
band's limousine and leaves him standing alone.  From this moment on, the
very young Johnny decides to be a rock star himself: "Boy, it wouldn't be
somebody else taking my girl away...".  The song sensitively describes
the longings and evolution, as Johnny plays the riff from "Smoke on the
Water" on his guitar, and suddenly makes the breakthrough. _Cultosaurus
Erectus_ reached number 25 in the English charts, more successful than in
the USA, where it merely reached number 52.  Pearlman, meanwhile also
manager of Black Sabbath, brought the two bands together for a tour in
1980 under the heading, "The Black and Blue Tour".

The magazine "Performance" praised the show as the "tour of the year".
The live recording played in the cinemas in 1981.  In the same year, BOC
worked on the music-film _Heavy Metal_.  More importantly, they produced,
with _Fire of Unknown Origin_, perhaps their best album.  BOC shone with
many-sided style-elements and different arrangements.  "Stereo Review"
described the work as "inexorable, high voltage, nocturnal myth".
Alongside typical headbangers like "The Black and Silver" or "Heavy
Metal", they risked themselves, with "Joan Crawford", even on classical
ground: Allen Lanier's heroic piano intro wasat that time a huge
surprise.  But above all the hit single "Burnin' for You" brought BOC to
a world-wide audience again.  The disc stayed in the US charts for three
and a half months.  The long-player climbed in the USA to number 41,
while in England in reached even higher to number 24.

_Fire of Unknown Origin_ also brought a personnel change.  The long-time
drummer Albert Bouchard would be shown the door, since he visibly wanted
to set the tone for BOC.  [I'm not certain I've got all the nuances of
this phrase - AG]  His replacement was Rick Downey, until then a roadie,
and responsible for the drum sound on the tour.  The year 1981 was
completely taken up with a world tour: in all, two million people flocked
to 130 BOC shows.

As an aural document, their third live album, _Extra-Terrestrial Live_,
appear in 1982: number 29 in the American charts and eleven weeks
duration, read the successful bottom line.  Roeser finally realised his
dream of a solo album.  But _Flat Out_ (1982) was not a success, and so
failed BOC's guarantee of success this single time.

As _Mirrors_ in 1979, the next opus, _The Revolution by Night_, in 1983,
seemed a problem for the band.  Always, when the quintet had registered
success, they had ventured onto new musical territory.  But the varying
styles evoked, and the many-sided talents, would not be rewarded.  The
fans showed themsleves to be unconvinced.   Finally BOC's experiment, to
serve change instead of Hard Rock standard brew, rebounded on them, so
that they could never in concert with the commercial big leagues play.
So they experimented on _The Revolution by Night_ with ballad-heavy
pop-music, electronic drums and ethereal keyboards.  "Shooting Shark"
amazed with slap-bass - played by Randy Jackson - and a fat horn section.
 Admittedly, the undoubtedly expertly arranged song proveded itself a
minor hit in the USA - the single placed for three weeks in the top 100,
while the music press described the work as being as smooth as an eel.
They forgot, moreover that only the song "Take me Away" was sure to meet
the diet of hard rock fans.  Guest guitarist Aldo Nova - with whom they
toured England -  played an experienced rock lead.

        After that, BOC allowed themselves a well-earned rest.  But
first, 1985 presented the band in another setting with the album _Club
Ninja_.  Lanier had resigned and would be replaced by Tommy Zvoncheck,
who had previous experience with Public Image Ltd and Dream Syndicate.
At the drums now sat Tommy Price, who came from Rick Derringer's band.
Apart from the satisfying "White Flags", the work had little to offer.
BOC were running out of ideas.  In 1988, they tried, with the concept
album _Imaginos_, to return to the old days.  In the meantime, Allen
Lanier had returned.  Over several years, the band, together with Sandy
Pearlman, developed the concept.  Dynamic highlights and dramatic
moments, as in "In the Presence of Another World", can be counted on the
musical side.  On the other hand, there are long-winded passages and many
a clumsy arrangement.  Time had passed the album by.  Since then, they
have quietly become so-called rock-dinosaurs, but they can still, by
their endless touring, count on their true fans. - Volker Koerdt




Sorry if part of this got screwed up - I did a cut and paste and some
lines appear to have been repeated.

John