BOC (the current line-up consists of Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, Allen Lanier, Danny Miranda, and Bobby Rondinelli) are currently managed by Steve Schenck, the executive producer of *Cult Classic*. BOC is, as one of their t-shirts sold at a concert from a few years ago says, "On Tour Forever" (mostly touring large clubs).
TicketMaster is handling the tickets for most of their concerts, which are not highly promoted. Many of us find out where they are playing after the show is over. Keep your eyes open!
Eric Bloom also posts upcoming show dates on America On-Line, and these dates have been posted on some pages on the World Wide Web (see another part of this FAQ for more information). The most up-to-date listing of upcoming BOC shows is now the BOC website:
Buck Dharma, with the opening of his website, is now releasing some independent music, and may release more in the future.
The 4/11/1997 Rick Browning Benefit performance of the Buck Dharma Band (Buck Dharma, Danny Miranda, John Miceli, Sandy Roeser) in Atlanta was professionally recorded and videotaped. The video is available now (see the section of the FAQ on the Ricky Browning Benefit for more information), and a CD (with tracks not available on the video) should be available some time in the near future, with some of the proceeds going to charities.
The band may perform in other locations in the future. Information on these activities can be found at Buck's website:
Danny Miranda and Bobby Rondinelli also play in the New York area in a band called "Pyramid" with George Cintron on guitar and vocals. They play a variety of cover tunes, as well as George's original music.
Albert Bouchard is currently playing occasional shows (mostly clubs in the New York area) with The Brain Surgeons (Albert on drums, vocals and occasional guitar or mandolin, with Deborah Frost and David Hirschberg sharing guitar and bass duties, and Deborah also handling much of the lead vocals).
Billy Hilfiger (guitar), and Peter Bohovesky (guitar) are currently not touring with the band. They play mostly Brain Surgeons' tunes along with a few BOC tunes -- Baby Ice Dog, The Red And The Black, Career Of Evil, This Ain't The Summer of Love, Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll (in English and Spanish), Death Valley Nights, Dominance And Submission, Astronomy, and I Am The One You Warned Me Of have been played on different occasions.
Joe Bouchard occasionally sits in with the band. Information on Albert's latest activities can be found on his website:
Joe Bouchard, according to Bolle Gregmar, is now really "Dr. Music", having received his Master's Degree in Music (at the University of Hartford).
His thesis/grad test was a four movement dance work for orchestra, computers and a rock band, which he composed and scored. Aside from his previous involvement in "Deadringer" and the "Cult Brothers", Joe has produced at least one album (*Burn To My Touch* by "Liege Lord" in 1987).
One of his non-music hobbies is brewing beer. He also teaches at the National Guitar Workshop, and has a guitar instruction book/CD titled "Rock Guitar (for beginners)" published, as well as a video on beginning bass guitar.
Joe has also played occasional shows with "The Cult Brothers", and provided support to albums by The Brain Surgeons. He has released a CD with original music written and performed by the "Cult Brothers", titled *Joe Bouchard Presents The X Brothers: Solid Citizens* in 1997 on Cellsum Records.
Both Joe and Albert have also played in the New York area with the David Roter band. In 2001, Joe Bouchard teamed up with old friends Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith to release *Bouchard Dunaway & Smith: Back From Hell* on Kachina Records.
Sandy Pearlman, according to Bolle Gregmar, is running his studio Alpha & Omega in San Rafael, California. He had previously hoped to turn *Imaginos* into a multimedia project, however the status of this project is unknown at this time.
He currently is not involved with BOC. He is also the vice president of media and artist development at the internet music company, GoodNoise.
Short Answer: If you think BOC's last album was released in the 1980's, you need to get out more!
Long Answer: This had probably been one of the biggest questions surrounding BOC in the 1990's. There had been several "false starts" after the 1988 release of *Imaginos*, with deals falling through, or compilation albums being released instead.
However, on March 24th, 1998, the band released their first complete studio album in 10 years, *Heaven Forbid*, on CMC International Records. Based on strong album sales of *Heaven Forbid*, CMC agreed to release another BOC album, and BOC's latest release, *Curse Of The Hidden Mirror*, was released on June 5th, 2001.
Also, prior to the release of *Workshop Of The Telescopes*, Sony had indicated that there was additional BOC material that might be released in the future, depending on the what arrangements can be made with the band.
Possible material might include other single b-sides, re-mixes, live cuts, and demos. As of this writing, Sony is planning on re-releasing all of their BOC releases on the Sony/Legacy label, remixed and containing bonus tracks.
Currently BOC's first 4 studio albums (*Blue Oyster Cult*, *Tyranny And Mutation*, *Secret Treaties*, and *Agents Of Fortune*) are scheduled for release in July 2001.
In addition, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs released a "gold" CD of BOC's *Agents Of Fortune* album in 1998, and a "gold" CD containing BOC's first two albums (*Blue Oyster Cult* and *Tyranny And Mutation*) on a single CD in 1999.
These re-mastered CDs have superior sonic quality to the original CD releases, and includes the original album liner notes and artwork. In addition, these releases contain some new liner notes penned by Buck Dharma (for the *Agents Of Fortune* release) and Eric Bloom (for the *Blue Oyster Cult*/*Tyranny And Mutation* release). The track listings are identical to the original releases of these albums.
Unfortunately, Mobile Fidelity has since gone out of business, and therefore it is unlikely that they will produce future BOC re-mastered CDs. In addition, the two Mobile Fidelity releases are now out of print, and will become increasingly difficult to obtain.
It was believed that King Biscuit Flower Hour Records would release a live BOC album in the near future. This album, would contain songs from the 6 times that King Biscuit broadcast live BOC shows over the radio (spanning the years 1975 to 1986). However, it is now believed that this project is on hold indefinitely.
In early 2000, BOC collaborator Helen Robbins, aka Helen Wheels, passed away. Albert Bouchard is currently producing a tribute album to her. Albert, Joe Bouchard, and Buck Dharma have gotten together and recorded a number of previously-unreleased Helen Wheels songs for this project.
Buck's wife Sandy, as well as members of the Brain Surgeons, X-Brothers, and Helen Wheels' band are expected to contribute as well. The CD is expected to be released by early 2001 - the latest news on this project can be found at the Cellsum website:
*Flat Out* was never released in the U. S. on CD. However, it is available as an import. According to Bolle Gregmar, it's a French release on SONY/PORTRAIT (14-477942-10) -- part of their "Mr. Collector" series.
At one time, Bolle Gregmar had been discussing with Buck Dharma the possibility of letting Rhino Records release *Flat Out* on CD, possibly with an additional track. The status of this project is not currently known.
However, Buck did release a number of limited editions of Flat Out (creating the copies in his own studio) which included the song "Gamera Is Missing" as an added track. It is not known if he will do another production run of these CDs, however Buck has recently released a number of previously unreleased recordings via his website.
*Imaginos* has been out of print in the U.S. for a few years. However, it may still be available in Europe, and can be obtained as an import.
*Bad Channels* may still be in print, although several import releases of it (all with the same tracks) exist..
However, since the movie was a relatively small production (and not a box office hit), it may be hard to find in music stores. If it is available, it is usually found in the "Movie Soundtracks" section, and not under "Blue Oyster Cult".
There are a number of avenues for fans to obtain these, and other rare BOC items.
The magazines *Goldmine* or *Discoveries* may list some dealers which sell European imports (see the section "Where can I get BOC live recordings?" for more information on these items).
Many of these dealers now also are accessible on the Internet - using an Internet search engine might help locate some of them.
Also, Internet auction sites (most notably Ebay: http://www.ebay.com) often have individuals auctioning off BOC items.
Editor's note: I personally have bought and sold numerous items on Ebay and have found it a very positive experience. I have seen many BOC and related items, including *Flat Out*, *Imaginos*, and *Bad Channels* being auctioned on a regular basis.
Perhaps this question should be: "What BOC album should I buy?", which gets asked every now and then, usually by people who have only heard BOC on the radio (i.e., "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla", and "Burnin' For You", sometimes collectively referred to as "The Big Three"), and are looking to buy one BOC album.
Or it gets answered when someone voices their dislike for a particular album.
Editor's note: *Club Ninja*, and sometimes *Mirrors* (which is sometimes referred to as "Errors"; and in a magazine interview, Albert Bouchard claimed that his song, "You're Not The One (I Was Looking For)" is in reference to using Tom Werman to produce the album) or *The Revolution By Night*, most often get this abuse, and then several individuals will rush to the albums' defense.
There is no definitive answer - it's obviously a matter of personal choice, but the following (in no particular order) might provide some guidance:
Some say an artist is only as good as their latest album. Certainly how an band sounds "today" can usually be best determined by their latest release, and BOC's *Curse Of The Hidden Mirror* is an excellent example.
It is, in fact, the only complete studio BOC album released by the current BOC line-up. For any new fan wishing to discover what BOC sounds like today, this album would perhaps be the best place to start.
Compilation albums might be recommended for those who don't plan on purchasing more than a few albums. BOC, like other bands that have been around for years, have several to choose from.
The compilation released by Sony, *Workshop Of The Telescopes*, stands head and shoulders above all the others as the definitive "greatest hits" package. Not only are most of the hits included, but also some previously hard-to-get material (the studio version of "Born To Be Wild", and three of the four songs on the *BOC Bootleg EP* release).
As for other compilation albums to choose from, *Cult Classic* is the most representative of what songs the band is playing live these days, and how they are playing them (the songs have been re-recorded).
For audiophiles, the Sony compilation *Don't Fear The Reaper - The Best Of Blue Oyster Cult* contains re-mastered tracks and an excellent selection of BOC's "hits". Other compilations contain only previously-released material, and are usually only sought out by collectors. On the other hand, they sometimes can be obtained at bargain prices.
Some people recommend live albums, and BOC has 3 to choose from:
While the band no longer performs songs from this album (see next question for more information), many of BOC's current fans cite the album, *Imaginos* as the best work the band every put out (both from a musical and conceptual standpoint).
Others, however, point out that BOC as a group are not completely responsible for this album (again, see next question for more information). Some of the concepts alluded to in *Imaginos* (as well as versions of two of the songs) are present on the *Secret Treaties* album, and many fans cite this album as their favorite (the band still regularly plays 2 or 3 of the songs off that album).
Due mostly to the benefit of a hit single on them, *Agents Of Fortune* (containing "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"), *Spectres* (containing "Godzilla"), and *Fire Of Unknown Origin* (containing "Burnin' For You") are probably BOC's most successful albums commercially, and some fans would cite one of them as their favorites.
Since he is the head of the BOC fan club, it is appropriate to consider Bolle Gregmar's favorite album, *Cultosaurus Erectus*. This album, released after *Mirrors*, marked a return to the "heavier" BOC sound, due in part to the production talents of Martin Birch (who had produced albums for Black Sabbath and Deep Purple). According to Bolle, the album is very energetic, and contains some of the band's best song-writing.
The one that started it all, *Blue Oyster Cult*, is cited by many as their favorite. The band's roots can be most clearly seen on this album, and "Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll" and "Stairway To The Stars" are still regularly performed by the band. For those that like the songs on the first album, *Tyranny And Mutation* and *Secret Treaties* also get high marks.
Editor's Notes: For those albums which have been re-mastered by Columbia/Sony, it is recommended that you get the re-mastered version, which has optimum sound quality, as well as lyrics, expanded liner notes, and bonus tracks). And, of course, the only "real" way to enjoy BOC is to get *all* of their albums.
The Imaginos story actually pre-dates BOC, and started within the mind of Sandy Pearlman, who, back in about 1967, wrote a collection of poems called "The Soft Doctrines of Immaginos" (note the original spelling of Immaginos). It was Pearlman's desire that BOC be the embodiment of the Imaginos concept.
Around that time, two songs were written around this concept -- "Gil Blanco County" (which would appear on the Stalk-Forrest Group demo for Elektra), and a Buck Dharma tune called "Port Jefferson" (interestingly enough, this is the town where current BOC drummer Bobby Rondinelli was born).
Radio promotion copies of the first BOC album included an insert which indicated that the song "Redeemed" was "a short version of the tune that will appear on their fourth album, an opera, titled, 'The Soft Doctrines of the Imaginos'". While the band decided against doing the concept, Albert Bouchard began working on music for it.
By 1974, the songs "Imaginos", "Astronomy" (which appeared on *Secret Treaties*), and "The Subhuman" (which also appeared on *Secret Treaties*, and would later be changed to "Blue Oyster Cult" on the *Imaginos* album) were written. At the *Agents Of Fortune* sessions, Albert demoed "Imaginos".
At the *Spectres* sessions, Joe Bouchard demoed "In The Presence Of Another World" (which was also worked up by the band as a candidate for the *Mirrors* album), while Albert Bouchard demoed "Del Rio's Song", "I Am The One You Warned Me Of", "The Siege And Investiture Of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle At Weisseria", and a song titled, "The Girl That Love Made Blind" -- however, the band was still not interested in doing the whole project.
Albert continued to write and demo songs for the project, and by *Cultosaurus Erectus*, really wanted to see the band do the concept. After Albert left BOC in 1981, he began working with Sandy Pearlman on the project, recording all the basic tracks in 1982. Albert brought Joe Bouchard, Allen Lanier, and Buck Dharma to play certain portions of some of the tracks.
By 1984, the Imaginos work was essentially completed.
Sandy Pearlman first approached CBS about putting the album together around 1981, and CBS was initially interested in the project. According to Eric Bloom, CBS was not happy with the final result (in which Albert sang much of the lead vocals), and was not interested in releasing the album unless it was released as a "BOC" album with Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma singing lead vocals.
In response to concerns over his own vocals, Albert obtained the services of Joey Cerisano, a veteran of the New Jersey music scene (who at the time had been in a band known as Silver Condor) to sing on the tracks.
Joey Cerisano's rendition of "The Siege And Investiture Of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle At Weisseria" was used on the final release of *Imaginos*, while Cerisano went on himself to become one of the most successful jingle singers in the United States (he's done jingles for Budweiser, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and numerous car companies, to name a few of his credits).
After BOC had broken up in 1986, the idea of the band getting together to release *Imaginos* was discussed. Albert, hoping to get the original line-up back together for the recording (and a subsequent tour), spent time getting in contact with all the original members of the band.
Apparently Albert had a difficult time convincing Joe Bouchard, who was the last of the original 5 members to quit the band, to do the project. However, the rest of the band (Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, Allen Lanier, Jon Rogers, joined by Ron Riddle on drums) had reformed as Blue Oyster Cult by the time Joe Bouchard had agreed to do the project.
In addition, the financial obligations had to be worked out as Albert wanted to be co-producer of the album, having played such a large role in the project.
With the band re-forming in mid-1987 without Albert and Joe Bouchard, Albert abandoned the *Imaginos* project. However, Sandy Pearlman and the band did go forward with the project, re-doing some of the tracks by early 1988, and releasing *Imaginos* as a BOC album later that year.
The original 5 members of the band are credited as performing on the album, along with several other musicians (see album credits in Discography section). However, it is not clear how much of a "BOC" album this is, beyond Eric/Buck's lead vocals, and their hand in the writing of some of the songs.
According to Albert Bouchard, the bulk of the instrumentation credits should go to former Ian Hunter guitarist Tommy Moringiello (guitars), former David Johansen guitarist Jack Rigg (guitars), and Tommy Mandel (keyboards - uncredited on the album).
Tommy Zvoncheck later indicated that most of Tommy Mandel's keyboard parts were replaced by his own on the released version of *Imaginos*. In addition, Albert says the following were not credited on the album: Jon Rogers (additional lead vocal on "I Am The One You Warned Me Of"), Phil Grandee (guitar), and a number of individuals contributing background vocals (Jeff Kawalik, Corky Stasiak, Helen Wheels, Glen Bell, Peggy Atkins, Casper McCloud - although it is not clear if these contributions appeared on the released version of *Imaginos*).
Between the reworking of the songs on *Imaginos*, the improper credits, and the fact that the band apparently did not want Albert back as their drummer after the release of *Imaginos*, there were considerable hard feelings between Albert and BOC/Sandy Pearlman.
The original *Imaginos* project contained over 90 minutes of music, and budgets wouldn't allow for the complete package. The "complete" Imaginos story spans 200 years from the beginning of the 19 Century to the end of the 20th.
At the time the album was recorded, two other parts were anticipated, titled (according to Sandy Pearlman) "Germany Minus Zero And Counting" and "The Mutant Reformation". Albert Bouchard has indicated that possible titles for "Germany Minus Zero And Counting" were "Half-Life Time", and "Bombs Over Germany".
According to Albert Bouchard, the following songs were left off of *Imaginos*: "Gil Blanco County", "The Girl That Love Made Blind", "Blue Oyster Cult Reprise", "Imaginos Overture", and an a capella reprise of the first verse of "Magna Of Illusion".
Also, the song "Shadow Of California" (from the album, *The Revolution By Night*) was originally intended, in one form or another, to be on the second "Imaginos" album.
It is possible that "Shadow Of California" was partially re-worked from an Albert Bouchard song, "Half-Life Time", which contains the lyrics that later appeared as the spoken intro to the *Club Ninja* song, "When The War Comes".
With the past problems and current tensions between the various parties associated the recording of *Imaginos*, it is probably unlikely that the full Imaginos saga will ever be completed, at least not by BOC.
Albert Bouchard has released some *Imaginos* material ("Overture" on *Box Of Hammers*, "I Am The One You Warned Me Of", "Astronomy", and "The Girl That Love Made Blind" on *Malpractise*), and has expressed interest in doing more, as his other activities allow.
Sandy Pearlman has been reportedly working over the past few years on an Imaginos comic book and multimedia (video game) project, but it is unknown if this project will ever be finished.
Bolle Gregmar provided a list of songs which Albert mixed in 1985 in the planned order of the tracks:
Albert Bouchard provided a list of songs which might be applicable to the rest of the Imaginos trilogy. They appear, with his comments, as follows:
Act One: The Imaginos album we're familiar with.
Act Two: Bombs over Germany:
Act Three: The Mutant Reformation:
* Left off the original Imaginos album
** "Motor City is Burning" version -- based somewhat on the MC5 song
+ Very few have heard this one
++ Non-Pearlman songs because I never plan to write another with him and these tunes kind of fit into the story.
Sandy Pearlman, in an interview with *Kerrang* magazine (September 1988) says, "Basically, it's an interpretation of history - an explanation for the onset of World War I, or a revelation of the occult origins of it.
Imaginos is the main character, and is what I call 'an actor in history'. He plays different roles in history and was born as a modified child, modified by an alien influence, and his mission is to present the human race with the challenge of evil.
The aliens are playing with our history as if it's a game, and he motivates the game and presents the choices to the human race. They react as they will." Sandy Pearlman also says that the story explains what the "Blue Oyster Cult" is. "They are aliens.
When Imaginos is dying on a beach (in the song 'Blue Oyster Cult'), they announce their presence to him and give him a choice - side with them or die as a human. He chooses the former and realizes he was one of them after all. In 'Astronomy' he realizes he is descended from the stars."
Of course, the above statements leave much left untold, and subject to interpretation. Such discussion went on between various individuals on BOC-L, and this discussion was captured, distilled, and condensed into a sort of mini-thesis by BOC-L member Bryce "The Subhuman" Baker.
His complete work may be available (either now or soon) in the BOC-L archives. An edited version of his work is presented here (note: quotes that go unreferenced are either from the liner notes or song lyrics):
The Saga of Imaginos begins with the discovery of the New World by the Spanish. "Out beyond the Europe's rim the Spaniards met the Indians." The Indians: the natives of the New World, the Aztecs, Haitians, and others. "To the Spanish, agents of a Catholic Sovereign, the New World was no place of grace ... anti-genesis, anti-Eden, seat of evil, pit of darkness ... the priests in the expeditions could imagine no place worse than this place ... visibly in the thrall of invisible spirits." These spirits: Les Invisibles - The Invisible Ones.
It is assumed that the Indians of the New World (in particular, the Aztecs and the Haitians) worshipped Les Invisibles (which we also assume to number seven). Les Invisibles' seat of power is Haiti, "... still a dream world, seat of Les Invisibles ...", suggesting a connection between their world and our world. This is not taken to be a physical connection (as a portal, for example), but a religious connection, as The Vatican is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.
Haitian Voodoo references are indeed present in Imaginos, Baron Samedi (see the lyrics to 'Les Invisibles') is reportedly the Voodoo lord of graveyards, and Les Mesteres (also in "Les Invisibles") is reportedly another name for the Loa, the seven African spirits worshipped in Voodoo.
Regarding the dance of Don Pedro, ghost-dancing (a group dance for communication with the dead) plays a large part in Haitian religious beliefs, and apparently played a similarly large role in Aztec religious customs; drums seem to have been the instrument of choice (see lyrics in 'Les Invisibles' and 'Del Rio's Song').
As to the identity of Don Pedro, the emperor Montezuma supposedly had a Spanish-sympathizing son named Don Pedro who helped rebuild the Mexican capital after its destruction by the Spanish. How this could tie in is unclear, and may simply be a coincidence.
If rich in its evil, the New World was also rich in its gold. At first, to the Spaniards, the gold was "no luminous mirror of delight, but rather, a mirror of blackness."
But as fear turned to greed, in this gold, this mirror of blackness, "the Spaniards discovered for themselves an image of self without limit ... the invention of all new things, the invention of genocide." Greed overcame fear. Civilizations were wiped out (under the guise of religious purification), and Spanish power in Europe rose, fueled by the gold from the New World. "For hundreds of years, all the gold ... came from the New World ... the seduction of the Old World by the New World - innocence corrupts experience."
Ultimately, the Spain/Portugal monopoly on the New World was broken by England, under the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). "Her occult advisor was a Dr. John Dee. He spoke, he said, with invisible spirits and in his possession was a magic mirror of black volcanic glass... it was fashioned in Mexico."
Dee's associate, Edward Kelly, looked into the stone, and Dee recorded his visions (this mirror and some of Dee's other paraphernalia are on display in London in the British Museum). The interpretation relative to the Imaginos story is that Les Invisibles somehow made this mirror available to Dee, and information gained from using it was used in the destruction of Spanish power.
It has been suggested that this was a form of 'retaliatory strike' at Spain by Les Invisibles for invading Mexico and eradicating much of the religion devoted to them. However, it is seems more likely that this wasn't a 'retaliatory strike' at all, but part of a larger, centuries-spanning scheme by Les Invisibles to cause strife and bloodshed in Europe, continuing all the way to World War I, and perhaps beyond.
It should be noted that in contrast to the relative black mirror of New World gold mentioned in the first paragraph, here we have the first appearance of an actual, physical black mirror.
In the early 1800's, (perhaps in the month of August) Les Invisibles cause the birth of a 'modified' child - Imaginos - in New Hampshire. His powers include the ability to see the future to some degree ("singing songs nobody knew and stories left undone") and to change his shape ("actually this Buzzardo was Imaginos in disguise").
Ignorant of his future role and billing himself as somewhat of an adventurer, he travels North America (at least Vermont and Texas) before winding up in New Orleans in 1829. Still acting as an "adventurer", he heads up an "expedition", sailing the Mississippi south towards Mexico.
Realizing that there may be more of a reason behind his powers than he previously believed, and perhaps having visions or some other drive, he has goals for the expedition he isn't telling his crew.
He is heading south to the Yucatan, to a place "just between the verse and me" where he will find something "lost, last and luminous, scored to sky yet never found".
Somewhere along the trip, the boat is shipwrecked near land. As Imaginos lies on the shore, seriously injured and dying, his friends, the survivors of the shipwreck, leave him alone to die "on a shore where oyster beds seem plush as down".
The morning tide washes in and he drowns. As can be seen here, Imaginos' ability to see into the future is limited to some degree, or he would have been able to foretell of his upcoming shipwreck.
This shipwreck, however, was no accident. As he drowns, Les Invisibles come to Imaginos and show him everything: "the Invisible [Ones] visible at last and manifest; no mere hints or traces". Knowing who and what he is and the role carved for him in future events, he agrees to become the Invisible Ones' agent on earth; he becomes one of the "Blue Oyster Cult", the servants of Les Invisibles.
Les Invisibles, acting through the "oyster boys" (some kind of fish-like creature) resurrect Imaginos from the dead. He is now their agent, "unleashed to forge a new destiny; he is Imaginos called Desdinova."
After the shipwreck, it is clearly stated in the liner notes that Imaginos dies. The song "Blue Oyster Cult" contains a bit about "The Dream of Luxor", which is an Egyptian reference to rebirth: "Luxor, site of the southern Temple of Amun, built essentially by Amenophis III and Ramesses II.
The image of Amun from the temple at Karnak spent the flood season here ... at Luxor, Amun took the form of Min, a mummiform, ithyphallic fertility god ... fertility gods in Egyptian religion were associated with rebirth and immortality." (Jean Lansford)
"We understand, and so do I" and "One deal is what we made" from "Blue Oyster Cult", taken along with the liner notes for "Astronomy" point to the "all is made clear" inference (and also to the 'I didn't know what the hell's going on with me' inference mentioned above). It isn't really very clear just who or what the Oyster Boys are, just that they somehow are connected with The Invisible Ones.
The next songs in the cycle are mainly descriptive, rather than playing out the story. "I Am the One You Warned Me Of" - Imaginos, reborn, fully aware of who and what he is. "Fresh from zones of moisture": on that "shore where oyster beds seemed plush as down" to a drowning young Imaginos.
We almost get a sense of 'excitement' from this song. Albert Bouchard had an interesting comment on the song and the lyric "and afterwards the meat": "This song was influenced by "Memo from Turner" and was supposed to be about Imaginos getting down and lascivious."
"In the Presence of Another World" - Imaginos, the earthly agent of Les Invisibles, still aware of his former self, but now so much more, and forebodings of the evil to come.
"The Siege and Investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria" - the continuation of Les Invisibles' influence on earth - earlier, through corruption by gold, now through corruption by technology.
The liner notes have a lot to say on the reborn Imaginos:
"This then is Imaginos of whom it will be said, between what he can realize and what he can imagine, there is to be nothing and no distance. His will be the perfect sight. 'Behind closed eyes realize your sight.'
Through the powers of perfect vision and Imaginos, vested in him by Les Invisibles, he will bring the world to a rendezvous with its own destiny, to change the world's course, to -write- history, to tilt the axis of destiny - Imaginos becomes the world's greatest actor, a transcendent role player, an actor in history."
It can only be assumed that between his rebirth (~1829) and the next song in the story (Magna of Illusion, ~1892), Imaginos is somehow living up to this role, involving himself in key events that will lead up to the grand conclusion.
1892, Imaginos, now in the role of an old sea captain:
"Out beyond the Europe's rim and further by far, beyond the sphere of light, into a place where darkness is omnipotent and never from hungry. In Mayaland in the Yucatan he will discover an unheard-of temple or pyramid.
At the core of the pyramid, with only one way in and no way out, is a chamber of jade, curiously sculpted with impossible angles, itself surrounding something hardly there, a new germ, made from 'pieces of the perfect black.'
[jumping down a paragraph in the notes...]
"In the chamber of jade is a mirror carved of blackest obsidian, black volcanic glass, tempered with blood: 'the sugar of sacrifice.' Obviously a magic mirror, it is nothing less than the Magna of Illusion: the last song in the cycle. In it Imaginos, now playing the of an old English sea captain in the 1890's, takes the mirror from Mexico (which is nowhere) to Europe.
He takes it by crime and blood from the jungle to give to his granddaughter on her birthday. It sits in her family's attic in misty Cornwall for ten years or more. Poisoning Europe ..."
[moving back up a paragraph in the notes...]
"When thrust in vivo into Europe's all too fertile soil, this new germ will - having grown ever more powerful and mature, having in fact become an organism - beam ridding voices direct to the brains of the (European) multitudes. The voices call in hunger for absolute darkness and absolute light. They are ready. We are ready. It is ready"
[moving back down...]
"And then World War I breaks out. A disease with a long incubation."
Some random general reflections:
"Basically, what it is that this guy comes down from a spaceship, and he lands in New Hampshire. I don't know if he has a son or not, but there's a young Immaginos (note: "Immaginos" was Albert's intended spelling) that is hatched from the spaceship in New Hampshire. He drifts down towards Texas. When he's in Texas he discovers that he has all sorts of powers that regular people don't have. I guess that he's probably not completely aware that he's an extra-terrestrial."
Note that his interview was in 1982 (and done for some metal magazine, it was never published), a lot could have changed in the time between the interview and when the final version(s?) of the story was settled on. But if you look at some of the lyrics out of context, we have:
"the rhyme of the star clock" [Les Invisibles]"this starry wisdom" [I Am The One ...]"how even space can modulate" [In The Presence ...]"the milky way abyss inclines""the buried city in the stars""from the glare of stars, the starry wisdom" [The Siege And ...]
Again, the above quotes are -completely- out of context and are meant just to provide a (weak) counterview to the mystical, almost religious viewpoint. Also, a mystical location and an outerspace location are by no means mutually exclusive. But, to tighten that wrench:
"and don't forget my dog, fixed and consequent" [Astronomy]"Astronomy...a star!" [Astronomy]"approached the sun, in August" [Imaginos]
Sirius: The Dog Star, a star of the constellation Canis Major, the brightest star in the heavens. Used for navigational purposes because it usually remains fixed in the sky. The Dog Days ... the period of in late summer (between early July and late August) when Sirius rises andsets with the sun.
And according to Dr. Paul Mather:
"Okay, here's another Sirius connection. I remember R.A. Wilson making much about the connection between the "Dog Days" and Sirius. There is a "primitive" African tribe - the Dogon tribe - who, it seems, accurately detected the companion to Sirius and mapped its relationship to Sirius. This companion is invisible to the naked eye, and can only be detected by x-rays (I seem to recall). The tribe detected its presence long before modern radio astronomy."
The plot thickens ...
"The Dogon tribe worship a half-man, half-fish god, who is said to come from the companion star, and who is said to have come down to Earth."
This account was later shown to the bogus result of the tribe mixing modern astronomy with their mythology, or something like that [from FoFP].
But it was still widespread and certainly available to influence a young Sandy Pearlman ...
In any event, as mentioned above, "outer space" and "beyond time and space" are certainly not mutually exclusive.
Aside from the speculation that the cactus was perhaps part of the Imaginos story, the definition of "sacred cactus of the four winds" suggests a possible connection to the four winds bar in "Astronomy".
There are some speculations as to how the song, "Workshop Of The Telescopes" fits into the Imaginos story. It is possible that the line "Sees through the charms of Doctors and their wives" refers to Dr. John Dee and his associate Ed Kelly mentioned previously.
Dr. Dee believed that Kelly was in touch with cosmic forces, and Kelly was presumably using this belief to get Dr. Dee to allow him to sleep with his wife.
"Salamander Drake" may refer to a fire-breathing dragon: salamander - a mythical animal having the power to endure fire without harm, an elemental being in theory of Paracelsus inhabiting fire; drake - dragon. Note: There may be more to this, as the BOC lyric book capitalizes the words "Salamander" and "Drake", implying perhaps a proper name rather than a thing.
Perhaps "Drake" actually refers to Sir Francis Drake, who, under approval of England's Elizabeth I, raided Spanish ships bringing gold from Mexico (this ties in with some of the concepts of *Imaginos* -- European conflict originating from the New World).
"Undine" (also mentioned in the song) is, according to the Swiss-born alchemist and physician Paracelsus, a water-spirit that can obtain a human soul by bearing a child to a human husband. This may also refer to "Captain Von Ondine" in the song, "ME-262" (perhaps Captain Von Ondine is the child born of a water spirit - this also appears to tie in with some of the concepts of *Imaginos*).
A further note about the term "Ondine". There is a rare brain disorder known as "Ondine's Curse" where the victim can not breathe involuntarily. Ondine refers to a nymph of Greek mythology who offended the gods. As punishment, she was sentenced to think about every breath. She could never sleep, for sleep would mean not thinking about breathing, and she would die.
Finally, the term "Ondine" may have simply come from a club in New York called "Ondine's". A 1967 issue of *Crawdaddy* magazine mentioned a concert by The Doors there.
From all of this discussion, it appears that the inspiration for the story of *Imaginos* appears to come from various sources. Another possible source may be Jean Ray's 1965 collection of short stories entitled *Ghouls in my Grave*. One of the stories is entitled "The Black Mirror", and contains the following 2 paragraphs which suggest that perhaps Sandy Pearlman had read it:
"In 1842 the collection of curios formed at Strawberry Hill by Horace Walpole was sold at auction. Among the singular objects contained in it was the famous black mirror of Dr. John Dee, physician, surgeon, and astrologer of Queen Elizabeth I.
It was a piece of beautifully black coal, perfectly polished and carved into an oval shape, with a handle of brown ivory. It had formerly been in the collection of the Earls of Peterborough, bearing this description: 'Black stone by means of which Dr. Dee called forth spirits.'"
and
"Yes, but Edward Kelley, the sinister pirate who clung to poor Dee like a shadow, used the mirror for discovering hidden treasures and for committing his mysterious crimes."
Not directly, however, some of the concepts in BOC's lyrics, particularly *Imaginos* seem to be inspired by some of Lovecraft's work. For those not familiar, Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an early 20th-century writer of horror and science fiction stories. Although some of Lovecraft's contemporaries often did not appreciate his work (labeling it "bad taste" and "sick"), Stephen King has acknowledged Lovecraft as the 20th-century's "greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale".
He is best known for several short stories often referred to collectively as the "Cthulhu Mythos" -- these stories refer to "The Great Old Ones", creatures from other worlds and dimensions which once ruled the earth, and have since been defeated, expelled, or imprisoned by various cosmic forces. These creatures may rise again ("when the stars are right"), often aided by human cults performing ceremonies with various blasphemous incantations.
Looking at the lyrics and liner notes of *Imaginos*, it's obvious that there are many similarities. The story told by *Imaginos* explores a lot of the same concepts as the "Cthulhu Mythos", close enough for some to claim that the two are one and the same (For example, Desdinova or Imaginos is "an actor playing roles in history, challenging man against evil".
He could be considered as an agent of evil -- Lovecraft's Nyarlathotep.). However, general is that *Imaginos*, while no doubt inspired by some of Lovecraft's work (Al Bouchard also indicates that Sandy Pearlman and he had read some of Lovecraft's work), is not meant to be a re-telling of Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos". Having said that, the following are some literary references between *Imaginos* and Lovecraft's work:
The song "Les Invisibles" contains the line "beneath the polar mountain". Lovecraft's tale, "At the Mountains of Madness" discusses Antarctica as being a location where some of the Great Old Ones either arrived, ruled, or lay waiting.
The songs "I Am The One You Warned Me Of" and "The Siege And Investiture Of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle At Weisseria" both contain references to "Starry Wisdom". Lovecraft's story, "The Haunter of the Dark" refers to "the Church of the Starry Wisdom", a cult organization in which "the Shining Trapazohedron shows them heaven & other worlds, & that the Haunter of the Dark tells them secrets in some way." Also, the Shining Trapazohedron appears to be similar in function to the Magna of Illusion of *Imaginos*.
The song, "Les Invisibles" talks about "the empress lay sleeping to the rhyme of the star clock", which may refer to the Great Old One's return "when the stars are right". The song "In The Presence Of Another World" contains the spoken words, "when the stars are right". This same line is used in Lovecraft's, "The Call of Cthulhu". In addition, the "Oyster Boys", as water beings can be likened to agents of Cthulhu.
The song, "Harvest Moon" seems very Lovecraftian in nature as well. An unknown evil is implied in the final verse, where the singer refuses to go out at nights since the disappearance of someone's daughter, yet with the understanding that she'll be found in the spring when the snow melts. Lovecraft wrote a few stories about towns with such hidden evils.
The symbol of Kronos (Saturn) appears on every BOC album. According to Albert Bouchard, the symbol was used by Bill Gawlik in his "City of the Future" project (his Masters thesis in architecture at Stony Brook University). Sandy Pearlman liked the symbol, and hired Bill Gawlik to do the covers for BOC's first two albums.
Sandy had Bill put the symbol on the covers, and it became the band's logo. According to Eric Bloom, Gawlik is also responsible for the name "Tyranny And Mutation" for BOC's second album. While working on the artwork for BOC's second album, Gawlik was listening to BOC's first album. After 24 straight hours of drawing and listening, he told Sandy Pearlman, "This is tyranny and mutation!".
The symbol is also very similar to the ancient Greek symbol for "chaos". While it is visible on most albums, it can be hard to spot on a few (most notably "Spectres" and "Cultosaurus Erectus"). The following lists the location of the BOC symbol on each album:
As an aside, the curved part of the symbol represents a sickle -- Greek mythology tells us that the god Kronos, was given the sickle by his mother to kill his father, the god Ouranos. Kronos sliced off his father's genitals, and threw them into the sea, which later formed the goddess Aphrodite. Kronos later became the father of the Greek gods Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.
Also, Saturn and Lead were congruent in alchemy, so the symbol for Saturn (the Roman name for Kronos) is also the symbol for lead, which is a "heavy metal" (sometimes incorrectly noted as the "heaviest" of metals - actually Mercury is, while lead is one of the "most dense").
Just to throw a few other pieces out on the table, from Chetwynd's Dictionary of Symbols:
Lead, personified as Saturn: depression or unconscious content, which once raised into the light of the conscious, rational mind, becomes gold
Saturn or Kronos: The lowest and darkest stage of any process of transformation. The terrifying aspect of losing your youth. But at the same time this nadir of life, this mood of darkest depression, liberates what is essential from the dross and affords the chance of transformation.
[...] Kronos castrates his father: He severs the point of contact between male and female in his fierce struggle to be born, to achieve individuality.
[...] ... Saturn becomes the focal point of opposites, each changing into the other in the course of life....
Alchemy (Summary of tables)
The Descent into the Black:
The Fourfold Sequence of Alchemical Work:
In addition, the following terms have been used when referring to this symbol:
Cross and Claw - a review of *Imaginos* in *Rolling Stone* magazine mentioned this term.
Cross of Confusion - There is a book titled, "Cults That Kill", which discusses police investigations of satanic murders. In the book, the symbol is mentioned as being used by the Romans to question the existence of Christ.
Editor's Note: The above is not meant to imply that BOC intended people to extract all (or any) of these meanings out of the fact that they used the symbol of Kronos. However, some of the alchemical implications do seem to fit nicely with many of their songs, and may spawn endless hours of discussion among BOC fans. In addition, the suggestion that the symbol implies that BOC is "satanic" will probably also spawn much discussion, and probably a lot of ridicule as well. Special thanks go out to Jean Lansford and Wallace McBride for providing the symbol information.
Bolle Gregmar has worked with the band to compile a complete "official" set of lyrics to all of the BOC songs. The lyric book is available to BOC fan club members. Bolle's address is listed elsewhere in this FAQ. Also, the lyrics have been posted to the band's official website:
Note: The band, their management, and/or their record labels hold the legal rights to BOC's song lyrics. The BOC fan club had previously received legal permission to re-produce a limited number of copies of them in the lyric book, and now has done so for the website.
All other sources of lyrics, unless they come directly from the band, their management, their record labels, or one of the officially produced BOC songbooks (see BOC Collectibles section in the FAQ for information on released BOC songbooks) should be considered "unofficial" (and likely to be in violation of copyright laws).
You used to be able to send 50 cents to an address (believed to by Sandy Pearlman's) printed on the back of BOC albums and get a complete set of BOC lyrics. It was a bargain, despite several errors. However, they are no longer available this way. So, if you just bought your first copy of *Some Enchanted Evening*, and were hoping to get lyrics, save your 50 cents.
The following CDs are known to have lyrics:
Former BOC drummer Albert Bouchard has stated that the "diz" refers to the cleft of the penis. In some Slavic languages, possibly Serbian or Croatian, "dizna" means "nozzle, small outlet, etc.".
Bolle Gregmar further tells us that "duster's dust" (from the song, "Seven Screaming Diz-Busters") refers to sperm. Therefore, a "Diz-Buster" refers to someone (or something) which causes one to ejaculate. Well, you wanted to know...
The ME-262 (referred to by the BOC song of the same name) was the world's first operational turbojet-powered fighter plane (as the song says, "ME-262 Prince of turbojets"), first entering operational service for Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany on July 10th, 1944 (at Juvincourt, France).
"ME" is short for Messerschmitt, the German aircraft builder Willy Messerschmitt (as the song says, "Willy's done quite a job"). Unfortunately for Nazi Germany, while the plane as a fighter proved to be superior to any of the Allied planes of its day, the plane did not end up to be a major factor in World War II.
The main reasons for this are that it entered too late into the war (only about 10 months before the end of the hostilities in Europe), and there was not a good plan for the deployment of the ME-262 (they were used mostly as bombers, where their true tactical superiority were as fighters due to their speed advantage).
Technical Data (as reported in "Jane's History of Aviation"): Engines - two 8.825 kN (1,984 lb st) Junkers Jumo 109-004B-1 or 004-4 turbojets (as the song says, "Junkers Jumo 004"). Wing Span - 12.5 m (41 ft). Length - 10.61 m (34 ft, 10 in). Max Take-Off weight - 7,045 kg (15,531 lb). Take-Off run with two auxiliary rockets - 600 m (1,969 ft). Max level speed - 868 km/h (539 mph) at 7,000 m (22,975 ft). Range - 1,050 km (652 miles).
Eric Bloom is listed on the first 4 BOC albums as playing "stun guitar". There has been much discussion on BOC-L as to exactly what a stun guitar is. Some have heard that it refers to a guitar that was wired for a constant "fuzztone" sound.
Other people have suggested that it may be an inside joke with the band, referring to either Eric wanting his guitar turned up loud (according to Albert Bouchard, there used to be some arguments among the band members about how loud Eric's guitar should be during BOC's concerts), or possibly that he did not play much guitar on the albums (again, according to Albert Bouchard, Eric did play some guitar on most of the albums, although Buck did most of the guitar work).
Others have jokingly said it refers to Eric's guitar-playing skills (Editor's note: Eric may not be Buck Dharma when it comes to playing guitar, but Eric can play. However, he was originally brought into the band as a singer, not as a guitar player).
According to Albert Bouchard, the true meaning of "stun guitar" is as follows: "He played fuzz parts on 'She's As Beautiful As A Foot' and other songs on the first BOC album. They were all pretty easy so we decided to make it more mysterious by calling it Stun instead of Fuzz."
According to Bolle Gregmar, however, a more accurate description of the parts that Eric played would be that they were "muted" (i.e. placing one's hand over the guitar strings to eliminate sustain of the played notes), and cites underlying guitar parts on "Stairway To The Stars" and "O.D.'d On Life Itself" as some of the better examples of Eric's stun guitar work.
Of course, it is only appropriate to hear Eric's logic in this matter. In an interview in 1975 with *Circus Raves* magazine, Eric states "Originally, I got 'stun guitar' from Star Trek, I was a very big Treky... if you recall the line 'set your phasers on stun', that's where I got 'stun guitar' from. I was really into the Star Trek technology."
According to Albert Bouchard, there is a somewhat interesting story regarding Eric Bloom playing guitar with the band. After the band's first performance with Bloom as lead vocalist (at the Fillmore East in New York City), it was decided that he should have a guitar.
For their next performance (at The Electric Circus in New York City), Bloom had a guitar, however it was not plugged in at the time. Elektra executives were at the performance, and later remarked that they felt that Bloom's rhythm guitar added greatly to the band's sound.
The insert enclosed with the radio promo copies of BOC's first LP provides some insight into the term, "Bungo Pony": "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" is a colorful tale set in New York during the late fifties.
The location is Columbia University where the apathy setting in on campus results in a dreadful scandal. The diseases picked up from animals caught cruising the dormitories are still showing scars.
Conry's bar (mentioned in "Before The Kiss, A Redcap") is a real place, and BOC has played there. According to Al Bouchard, there were two, Conry's East and Conry's West, both on Hempstead Turnpike.
BOC was the house band at Conry's West for several months in 1969-1970. They played Conry's East on New Year's Eve 1970/1971 (playing an Auld Lang Syne / In A Gadda Davida medley at midnight). Alas, the two bars have both been gone for over 20 years now.
"Redcap" (mentioned in "Before The Kiss, A Redcap") refers to a barbiturate. According to Buck Dharma, Sandy Pearlman witnessed a woman and a man exchange the pill through a kiss when the band was playing at Conry's bar.
The line "their tongues extend, and then retract" refers to the act of exchanging the pill through their kiss. According to Sandy Pearlman (from a 1974 interview in *Creem* magazine), the incident in question occurred at Conry's bar, but that it was a man who approached Sandy with the "red" on his tongue offering the "kiss".
The line "the gin glows in the dark" also came from an incident at Conry's bar. According to Sandy, there was a fight, and a guy who was drinking a gin and tonic threw his glass down on Sandy's table, and the gin was glowing in the dark.
"Suzy" is referred to in at least 4 BOC songs ("Before The Kiss, A Redcap", "Dominance and Submission", "Astronomy", and "The Marshall Plan"). Suzy originally referred to one of Sandy Pearlman's many girlfriends, but later just came to refer to "some mean bitch" (poor Sandy).
An interesting aside is that BOC's *Imaginos* was actually released on SUZY Records in Yugoslavia (the only BOC album issued in that country), as this was the record company that had exclusive rights for CBS Records in Yugoslavia.
"Celine" (as referred to in the song, "Searchin' for Celine") is Louis Ferdinand Celine, a French writer from around the turn of the century. As such, "Searchin" was originally written as searching for a "he" instead of a "she".
Celine suffered from narcolepsy, which is an affliction which causes one to fall asleep at any time without warning - this may be why the song contains the line "I know why she's sleeping, I know why she's tired." The following is from the America On-line Encyclopedia on CIS:
Celine, Louis Ferdinand {say-leen'} Louis Celine, originally named Louis Ferdinand Destouches, b. May 27, 1894, d. July 1, 1961, was a French writer and doctor whose novels Journey to the End of the Night (1932; Eng. trans., 1943) and Death on the Installment Plan (1936; Eng. trans., 1938) are innovative, chaotic, and antiheroic visions of human suffering.
Pessimism pervades Celine's fiction as his characters sense failure, anxiety, nihilism, and inertia. Celine was unable to communicate with others, and during his life sank more deeply into a hate-filled world of madness and rage. A progressive disintegration of personality is visible in the stylistic incoherence of Guignol's Band (1944; Eng. trans., 1954), Castle to Castle (1957; Eng. trans., 1968), and North (1960; Eng. trans., 1972).
His novels are verbal frescoes peopled with horrendous giants, paraplegics, and gnomes, and are filled with scenes of dismemberment and murder. Accused of collaboration, Celine fled (1944) France to live in Germany at Sigmaringen and then moved (1945) to Denmark. Condemned by default (1950) in France to one year of imprisonment and declared a national disgrace, Celine returned to France after his pardon in 1951.
"Debbie Denise" (referred to in the song of the same name) was originally one of Patti Smith's poetic flirtations with lesbianism -- the words were about a woman as told by a woman (the line "I was out rolling with my band" originally read "I was out rolling with my man").
Was there a Debbie Denise? It doesn't appear that there was. However, somewhere in the mid to late 1970's, two young, blond, attractive twins named "Debbie" and "Denise" turned up in L.A., and apparently became well acquainted with members of the band's touring personnel.
According to Bolle Gregmar, "Sir Rastus Bear" (as referred to in the song, "Redeemed") was the dog of Henry Farcas (who wrote the lyrics to the song).
As far as "live recordings" go, one must distinguish between a "live tape" and "bootleg" (often referred to as "Import", "Live Recording" or "Euro-CD"). A "live tape" is a tape of a live performance - perhaps obtained by taping a radio broadcast, or a live show.
Sometimes the tape may come from the soundboard of the band's sound engineers. These live tapes are usually traded amongst fans, or kept as personal copies, and are not distributed on a for-profit basis. "Bootlegs", on the other hand, are mass-produced copies of a band's material (usually a live concert, but sometimes studio outtakes) which are sold for profit by individuals or organizations most likely not even closely related or affiliated with the said artist.
With the advent of more powerful computer desktop publishing capabilities and the ability to record CDs (known as CD-Rs), more "bootleg" CDs may actually be CD-Rs produced on desktop computers. The *Dharma For Buck* release is a good example.
Different people in the music world have different opinions of live recordings. Some argue that they hurt album sales, and take money away from the artist.
Others argue that fans interested in live recordings (which are usually of lower quality than official releases) most likely already have bought most of the artist's official releases anyway, and in fact these recordings may even help to promote the artist.
The prevailing attitude among most bands is that they have no problems with fans trading live tapes, but are against bootlegs (which may be illegal, depending on what country you live in).
There has been a fair number of BOC shows that have been taped over the years, in one way or another. Many BOC fans have tapes of various shows, and the best way to obtain them is by trading with other BOC fans. To find other BOC fans to trade with, you could consult a BOC discussion group or the BOC Fan Club (see elsewhere in this FAQ for information) or appropriate internet newsgroups, check out the ads in magazines such as *Goldmine* or *Discoveries* (see below for more information), or meet some new friends at the next BOC concert.
There are some dealers which may carry "Imports", "Live Recordings", and "Euro-CD's", although most of these are either small record stores, or mail-order dealers. Sometimes dealers can be found at flea-markets and record shows, and others can be found by searching the Internet.
Mail-order dealers can be tricky to deal with as some have been known to be unscrupulous, fly-by-night operations that have inconsistent records of service and have no qualms about lying to customers or otherwise ripping them off. In addition, these recordings can often take months to arrive, so you want to be careful about how you are paying for your purchases.
People who have dealt with mail-order dealers recommend that you never make a large initial order from a dealer that you have never dealt with before. People with internet access might want to ask people on appropriate newsgroups for information on the reliability of a particular dealer.
Another way to find people selling or trading live recordings, videos, and other collectibles is to look in *Goldmine* or *Discoveries*, two magazines for record and CD collectors. These magazines run numerous ads from individuals and dealers looking to buy, sell, or trade records, CDs, tapes, and other memorabilia.
*Goldmine*, which is published bi-weekly is the more extensive (and expensive) of the two.
*Discoveries* is published monthly. Some of the BOC items that have been advertised recently include vinyl singles, *Flat Out* on CD, and a Quadraphonic pressing of *Secret Treaties*.
If you can't find these magazines in your local bookstore or newsstand, here is some subscription information (Editor's Note: I have no affiliation with either *Goldmine* or *Discoveries*):
GOLDMINE, Special Services, Subscription Department, 700 E. State St. Iola, WI 54990-0001 U.S.A.
Master Card & Visa orders: (800) 258-0929
DISCOVERIES, Antique Trader Publications, Inc., 100 Bryant St., Dubuque, Iowa 52003
Master Card & Visa orders: (800) 334-7165
You can't. The book mentioned in the liner notes of the *Secret Treaties* album does not exist.
As an interesting aside, however, the following listing appears in the Library of Congress catalogue:
Hubert, Joseph, 1874- Rossignol: le combat du 22 aout 1914.--Le martyre de habitants.--Les annees d'occupation.--A la memoire des fusilles. --Annexes ... [translation by Andy Gilham and Alexandre Garcia: Rossignol - the battle of the 22nd August, 1914 - the martyrdom of the people - the years of occupation - to the memory of the executed -- appendices...]
Tamines, Imprimerie Duculot-roulin [1938] 212 p., 1 l. incl. front., illus. (incl. ports., plan) maps (1 fold.) 20 cm. [pub.Tamines, Duculot-roulin Printers, etc, etc] LC CALL NUMBER: D542.R6 H8 1938
SUBJECTS: European war, 1914-1918--Campaigns--Belgium. European war, 1914-1918--Atrocities. Rossignol, Belgium.
ADDED ENTRIES: Neujean, Joseph, 1880-1931, joint author. Les drames de l'invasion allemande dans le Luxembourg belge. [The tragedy of the German invasion of Belgian Luxembourg.]
GEOG. AREA CODE: e-be--- LCCN: 40-10573
Rossignol, as referred to by this entry, is actually the name of a place - there does in fact exist a small town called Rossignol, in the Belgian province of Luxembourg (not to be confused with the country of the same name).
Another interesting aside: In 1901, a French weapons inspector named Rossignol invented an automatic rifle mechanism which became the basis of several self-loading weapon designs. This system is known as "direct gas impingement" or "pistonless gas". It is used today in the M16 series of rifles. It has only been recently that Rossignol was recognized for his invention, presumably due to French obsession with secrecy.
One more note: "Rossignol" (which means "nightingale" in French) is the last name of some pre-revolutionary French member of a secret police organization involved in cracking codes. The term was used as slang by French criminals for a skeleton key used for burglary.
The romanized Japanese is:
Rinji news o moshiagemasu! Rinji news o moshiagemasu! Gojira ga Ginza hoomen e mukatte imasu! Daishikyu hinan shite kudasai! Daishikyu hinan shite kudasai!
The translation is:
Attention, emergency news! Attention, emergency news! Godzilla is going toward the Ginza area! Immediately escape/catch up/find shelter please! Immediately escape/catch up/find shelter please!
There have been a number of BOC singles released. In addition, a few BOC songs (most notably, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla", and "Burnin' For You") have appeared on compilation albums of various artists. Most of these songs, along with the "b-sides" of the singles, are as they appeared on the BOC album on which they were released. There are, however, some notable exceptions:
"Godzilla" (from *Spectres*) -- A 12" single (Columbia 3-10725, 1977 promo) of this song was produced with the studio version on one side, and a live version (that is not the version found on either *Some Enchanted Evening* or *Extraterrestrial Live*) on the other side - the song is most easily identified by Eric's introduction - "It's not Raymond Burr, it's Godzilla!"
"We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" (from *Some Enchanted Evening*) -- A "b-side" of this single contains a live version of "Stairway To The Stars" that was recorded at Commack New York on 6/8/1975.
"Born To Be Wild" -- A compilation album of various artists titled, *Guitar Wars*, released in 1982, contains a live version of this song that was recorded at Poughkeepsie New York on 2/11/1980.
"Burnin' For You" (from *Fire Of Unknown Origin*) -- The "b-side" of a 12" single (U.K. Release) of this song contains live versions of "Dr. Music" (recorded at Nassau Coliseum, NY, 10/17/80) and "Flaming Telepaths" (recorded at Bonds International Casino, NY, 6/16/1981) - neither of these live versions are found on other domestic BOC albums.
However, this version of "Dr. Music" can be found on the *Black And Blue* video, and this version of "Flaming Telepaths" can be found on the *The Thing!* recording. This live version of "Dr. Music" also appears on the 1983 U.K. 4-song release of "Take Me Away" with "Burnin' For You" and "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".
"White Flags", "Make Rock Not War" (from *Club Ninja*) -- The U.K. single release with these two songs is presumably from the first (U.K.) mix of *Club Ninja*, and has the non-fadeout version of "White Flags", and also a longer version of "Make Rock Not War". These songs were released on 7" vinyl and 12" vinyl (the 12" vinyl also includes "Shooting Shark" from *The Revolution By Night*).
"Astronomy" (from *Imaginos*) -- There are 4 versions of this song on a promo CD single, two long and two short versions of the song (the long version appears on *Imaginos*). Two of the versions (one long, one short) have a spoken intro by horror author Stephen King.
The spoken intro is from the Imaginos liner notes: "Imaginos (performed by Blue Oyster Cult) - A bedtime story for the children of the damned. From a dream world, paralleling our earth in time and space, the invisible ones have sent an agent who will dream the dream of history. With limitless power he becomes the greatest actor of the 19th century.
Taking on many ingenious disguises, he places himself at pivotal junctures in history, continually altering its course and testing our ability to respond to the challenge of evil. His name is 'Imaginos'".
There's also a U.K. 12" single of "Astronomy" known as "Wild Mix", which is a re-mixed dance-oriented version of "Astronomy" and also has more of Albert's original vocal for the track. The single has 2 versions - with and without the Stephen King introduction.
"In The Presence Of Another World" (from *Imaginos*) -- There are 2 versions of this song on a promo CD single. The first version is the album version. The second version is an edited version which ends by fading out during the "Your master" coda section, without the added spoken vocals.
*Guitar* magazine put out a series of compilation albums called "Guitar's Practicing Musicians". These albums contain various jam sessions, re-worked songs, or musical experiments by various guitarists. Buck had two tracks released on these CDs, the instrumental "Gamera Is Missing", and a mostly acoustic version of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". These two tracks were later released by Buck on "The Buck Dharma Archive Volume III" CD in 2001.
"Gamera Is Missing" -- This song appears on Volume I of the series (released in 1989). The liner notes for the song are as follows:
GAMERA IS MISSING / Buck Dharma (3:21)
Buck Dharma : All instruments except drums
Ron Riddle : Drums
Equipment: Steinberger GM5, recorded direct through Chandler Tube Driver and Groove Tubes Preamp. Composed by Buck Dharma (c) 1989 Triceratops Music Inc. (ASCAP) Produced & recorded by Buck Dharma at his home studio, on an Akai 1214. Mixed by Buck Dharma at Masterview Soundcrafts, with Peter Kirk Hopper engineer. All computer editing and post production by Buck Dharma.
Buck Dharma, a master of melodic rock phrasing, has been at the lead guitar helm of Blue Oyster Cult throughout its whole 14 album career. His "Gamera Is Missing" shows off all the fire and finesse that defined the blues based players who grew up feeding on the influence of early Clapton, Hendrix and Beck.
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" -- This song appears on Volume III of the series (released in 1994). The liner notes for the song are as follows:
Buck Dharma DON'T FEAR THE REAPER (Donald Roeser) SONY Music Inc. / BMI
Buck Dharma: Guitars and Vocals
Chuck Burgi: Drums
Produced By Buck Dharma. Drums recorded by Bob Acquaviva at Acqrock Studios. All guitars and vocals recorded by Will Russell at Electric Wilburland. Mixed by Jeff Kawalek at Saul'Zattic.
EQUIPMENT: Steinberger GM-7 guitars with LaBella Strings, Musicman Stingray Bass, Mesa Boogie Mark IV amp, Marshall 4X10 cab, Martin acoustic.
"I played a similar version of the 'Reaper' live in a pop/rock trio called The Red and The Black that existed in 1990. John Stix suggested that I do that version for this disc, so I recorded Chuck Burgi's drums against a scratch electric guitar. We played a tempo map in Vision synched to a time code on tape.
The last half of the tune was recorded first. Then the Martin acoustic and 'unplugged' vocals of the first half were recorded. The background vocals were sung to a rough mix on a separate piece of tape, then mixed to stereo and sampled into my Ensoniq ASR-10, which was then sequenced to the master 16 track tape." (quote by Buck Dharma)
Most of the following information was provided by Melne Murphy of the BOC Fan Club, which appeared in an article in the fan club's newsletter, "Morning Final". Additional information was provided by Bolle Gregmar and Albert Bouchard.
Buck played lead guitar on three songs ("Evil", "Drivin' Me Mad", and "Rock And Roll") on the Kasim Sulton (former bassist for Utopia, and keyboardist for Meatloaf) album, *Kasim* in 1982. He played lead guitar for the Blotto song (and video), "Metalhead" (released in 1982 on the *Combo Akimbo* album).
Buck can also be found on one of "The Source" radio show albums jamming with the Pat Travers Band to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" (in addition, Buck introduced Pat Travers at that show).
Buck may also have been credited as playing on a live album by Shakin' Street, but according to Buck, he does not play on it. Buck contributed vocals to an acoustic medley of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "Burnin' For You", which appears on the album, *All-Time Greatest Hips* by the band Too Hip For The Room; and Buck, Eric, and Danny Miranda contributed to Too Hip For The Room's BOC tribute album, *Don't Fear The Remake* (see elsewhere in the FAQ for more information on this release).
Finally, Buck plays a guitar lead on a song called "Thumb" by Christy Jefferson.
Eric sang as a backing vocalist on 2 songs ("Just Another Night" and "Ships") on Ian Hunter's 1979 album, *You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic*. Eric was also briefly involved in 1984 with Ritchie Cannata in the B.C. project -- they recorded a few demos, including "Eyes of Fire" with some of Cannata's musicians doing the session work.
In 1986, both Eric (vocal) and Buck (guitar) appeared on the song "Stars" for the Hear'n Aid project -- the project, organized by Ronnie James Dio, was a heavy-metal version of previous projects (most notably, the "We Are The World" and "Live Aid" projects) to raise money for world famine relief projects.
Allen wrote several songs with Jim Carroll (who also co-wrote "Perfect Water" on *Club Ninja*). One of them, "Day and Night", appears on Carroll's first album, *Catholic Boy*. Allen plays keyboards on this track, as well as on the song "I Want The Angel".
Another Lanier/Carroll collaboration, "Dance the Night Away" (originally intended for *Agents Of Fortune*, but was rejected), appears on Carroll's, *I Write Your Name*. Allen is also featured on keyboards throughout on Carroll's *Dry Dreams* album.
Allen's contributions on guitar and/or keyboards can also be found on some of Patti Smith's albums (including her *Easter* album on the track "Space Monkey"; and her 1975 *Horses* album on the tracks "Kimberly" and "Elegie", which Allen also co-wrote; Allen also co-wrote "Distant Fingers" which appears on Patti Smith's *Radio Ethiopia* album), on John Cale's album, *Music For a New Society*, and on Amy Kanter's 1982 release, *Other Girl*.
Allen was used often by Sandy Pearlman as a studio musician in the 1970's, playing on albums by the Dictators, Shakin' Street, Pavlov's Dog, and The Clash -- not all of these appearances are credited, or are credited to the name "Allen Glover".
In addition, Jim Carroll has a spoken-word performance ("Nightclubbing") on a Sony Compilation album titled *Home Alive*, in which Allen provides guitar accompaniment.
After leaving BOC, Joe Bouchard joined ex-Alice Cooper members Neal Smith (drums, who has a co-writing credit on BOC's "Shadow Of California") and Dennis Dunaway (bass, who worked with Buck Dharma on *Flat Out*), along with Jay Johnson (guitar) and Charlie Huhn (vocals) in the band known as "Deadringer".
Joe played keyboards, sang back-up, and co-wrote four songs on the band's album, *Electrocution Of The Heart*. Joe has also produced albums for Helen Wheels, Liege Lord, and the Long Island band Empyre.
In 1997, Joe released a CD with original music written and performed by the "Cult Brothers", titled *Joe Bouchard Presents The X Brothers: Solid Citizens* in 1997 on Cellsum Records. In 2001, Joe Bouchard teamed up again with Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith to release *Bouchard Dunaway & Smith: Back From Hell* on Kachina Records.
Albert Bouchard performed on Tom Paxon's 1968 album, *The Things I Notice Now* (he played on the track, "Bishop Cody's Last Request"), and has produced (and in some cases performed on) albums, singles, or demos for David Roter (*Bambo* and *Beauty Of The Island*, both on David's label, Unknown Tongue - these two albums also have some keyboard parts played by former BOC keyboardist Tommy Zvoncheck), Heads Up, Helen Wheels, Maria Excommunikata, Kablamachunk, Women In Love, and Faith.
Albert's song "Adopt Me" (co-written with Roter and Richard Meltzer, and demoed by Albert for *Cultosaurus Erectus*) appeared on David Roter's 1987 *Bambo* album (along with versions of "Joan Crawford" and "Unknown Tongue" - also of note is that former BOC keyboardist Tommy Zvoncheck played keyboards on Roter's version of "Joan Crawford").
Also on that album is a David Roter/Jack Rigg song called "Il Duce", which was recorded by BOC (for the *Cultosaurus Erectus* album, but it wasn't used) with Buck singing the lead vocal.
For Roter's *Bambo* album, this recording was used, although Buck's lead vocal was replaced by Roter, and a keyboard part was added.
It is also interesting to note that on this album, Albert is credited as "S.W. Underbelly". Roter's *Beauty Of The Island* album features a Roter/Bouchard composition, "666 (The Devil Got Your Mother)", which would later appear on The Brain Surgeons' *Eponymous*.
Joe also plays keyboards on a track called "I Shot Dr. Krugman" (a possible reference to BOC record producer Murray Krugman). Albert is featured on former Plasmatic Ritchie Stotts' single "Man With The X-Ray Eyes" and "1944" (recorded in 1987, released in 1992). Albert, along with Deborah Frost, produced The Brain Surgeons' albums.
In addition, Albert plays a guitar part, drums, and sings lead vocals, and Joe Bouchard plays acoustic piano, on a cover of BOC's "Dominance And Submission", for Mike Watt's (former bass player for punk bands The Minutemen and fIREHOSE) first solo album -- note that although the song did not make it onto Watt's *Ball-Hog or Tug Boat* CD, it was released as an additional track by Sony on two Mike Watt CD singles from that album (on the "E-Ticket Ride" single in the U.S., and on the "Piss Bottle Man" single in Europe).
Albert also sings background vocals on Gumball's cover of BOC's "She's As Beautiful As A Foot" (which can be found on Gumball's *Revolution On Ice* album), plays drums on some of David Roter's album, *Find Something Beautiful* (which contains a song Albert co-wrote with David Roter called "Run M.F. Run") and on Brain Surgeons guitarist Peter Bohovesky's self-titled CD release.
On David Roter's *They Made Me*, Albert plays drums on all tracks (and wrote music for the tracks "Sheniqua's Having A Baby", "My Man Won't Stand", "My Sister's Gynecologist", and "Joan Crawford Revisited" - a slight re-working of the BOC song, which Roter originally co-wrote), keyboards on one track ("Joan Crawford Revisited") as well as provides some spoken word parts.
On this same album Joe plays keyboards on five tracks ("Legends Of New York", "My Man Won't Stand", "I Love My Mom", "Norma Jean", and "My Sister's Gynecologist"), and bass on one track ("Joan Crawford Revisited"), while Buck Dharma played guitar on two tracks ("My Man Won't Stand", "My Sister's Gynecologist").
The Brain Surgeons (Albert and Deborah, with Joe Bouchard as well) have a song on the Minutemen tribute album, *Our Band Could Be Your Life: A Tribute To D. Boon And The Minutemen* -- the song, "Tour Spiel", is significant in that it was originally written by the Minutemen to pay tribute to BOC (see the section on references to BOC).
Helen Wheels debut CD, *Archetype* (released in 1998, it contains both new and previously released tracks), was produced by Albert Bouchard and Deborah Frost, and contains numerous contributions from the Bouchards: both Albert and Joe Bouchard (plus additional members of the Brain Surgeons and The X Brothers) play on Helen's rendition of "Tattoo Vampire" (a song which she originally wrote the lyrics for).
Albert plays on some of the tracks ("Get Out Of Town", "Carry My Own Weight", Self-Defense"), and also co-wrote some of them ("Get Out Of Town", "Carry My Own Weight", "Self-Defense", "Helen Of Troy").
Joe Bouchard produced the original recording of some of the tracks ("Break The Chains", "Survival", "Tumblin Down", "Brotherhood Of Outlaws", "Loud Crowd", "Double Toungue"), and Albert produced the original recording of one of the tracks ("Carry My Own Weight"). Finally, the Brain Surgeons as a band play on the track, "Niagra Falls").
A tribute CD to Helen Wheels, *To Helen With Love* (released in 2001, it countains new recordings of existing and unreleased songs by Helen Wheels), was produced by Albert Bouchard, and contains numerous contributions from Albert Bouchard (along with fellow Brain Surgeons Deborah Frost and David Hirschberg), Joe Bouchard, and Buck Dharma (along with his wife Sandy Roeser).
Albert plays on several tracks ("Lover's Loan", "Sinful Love", "Elle Sol", "Niagara Falls", "Will To Survive", "Room To Rage", "Hero", "St. Vitus", "Goodbye Joe", "Chimes Of Freedom"), and also co-wrote some of them ("Lover's Loan", "Sinful Love", "Hero", "St. Vitus").
Joe Bouchard places on several tracks ("Lover's Loan", "Elle Sol", "Will To Survive", "Rallen Angel", "Room To Rage", "Hero", "Goodbye Joe"), and also co-wrote some of them (""Elle Sol", "Will To Survive", "Fallen Angel", "Goodbye Joe"). Finally, Buck Dharma plays on four tracks ("Lover's Loan", "Elle Sol", "Hero", "Goodbye Joe").
Les Braunstein (original Soft White Underbelly vocalist) has an appearance on vinyl, and now also on CD. Buck (guitar), Albert (drums) and John Trivers (bass) helped him record three songs in 1973. Les eventually unearthed the demo, added a violinist to the song, "Dead House" (the other two were "Whippoorwill" and "Ticket To Negumbo"), re-worked the vocals and changed the title to "Dark Angel", which was released as a single in 1979 on the Mega Toons label.
In 2000, Les released a CD entitled *Fool's Gold*, on Albert Bouchard's Cellsum Records label. It includes guest appearances by Buck Dharma (on "Scratch Around", "Dark Angel", and "Departure Point") and Albert Bouchard (on "Slow Time", "Dark Angel", and "Departure Point"). In addition, Eric's former bandmates (from "The Lost And Found") Peter Haviland and John Trivers also play on the album.
BOC's bassist Danny Miranda has appeared on several recordings. He ghosted on "Realized Fantasies" by TNT, and is on several Japan-only releases, including "Morning Wood", "The Mojo Brothers", and "A Place Called Rage" (which also features Al Pitrelli, who filled in for Allen Lanier for a few months in the late 1990's).
He also appears on two instrumental albums by Ralph Valducci. BOC's drummer Bobby Rondinelli appears on a CD with his brother Teddy, in a band called Rondinelli. He is also found playing on the Rainbow album, *Difficult to Cure*.
In January of 1969, the band that would become BOC, the Soft White Underbelly, made a recording for Elektra Records. Les Braunstein was the lead vocalist at that time, and Andrew Winters was the bass player.
The track list from the sessions is as follows (note: in addition to the songs listed, the band recorded demos of "Queen's Boulevard", "Bonomo's Turkish Taffy", and "Arthur Comics" in November of 1968):
* Note 1: The vocals for this track were not recorded.
** Note 2: The first appearance of "Suzy" and "Diz".
According to Bolle Gregmar, 10 tracks in total were recorded in January of 1969, although only the above 7 songs were believed to be planned for the album. According to Les Braunstein, on the track "Rationale Passionale", Sandy Pearlman played harmonica and Eric Bloom (then the band's equipment manager) played tambourine.
In the summer of 1969, the band (presumably still using the name "Soft White Underbelly", but now with Eric Bloom as lead vocalist) recorded the following tracks as demos for Columbia (which rejected them) in the hope of securing a record contract:
The versions of "Donovan's Monkey", "What Is Quicksand", and "I'm On The Lamb, But I Ain't No Sheep" are slightly different from the ones that would be recorded for Elektra in 1970. Columbia/Legacy released "Donvan's Monkey", "What About Quicksand", "A Fact About Sneakers", and "Betty Lou's Got A New Pair Of Shoes" as bonus tracks to the re-master of the album, *Blue Oyster Cult*.
Columbia/Legacy also released "Donovan's Monkey" and "John L. Sullivan" as part of a promotional CD (to promote the *Blue Oyster Cult*, *Tyranny And Mutation*, *Secret Treaties*, and *Agents Of Fortune* re-masters) entitled *God Save Blue Oyster Cult From Themselves*.
After "Soft White Underbelly", the band's name changed to "Stalk-Forrest Group", and they made another set of recordings in early 1970 for Elektra Records.
The line-up was Prince Omega (Albert Bouchard), Buck Dharma (Donald Roeser), Jessie Python (Eric Bloom), La Vern (Allen Lanier), and Andy Winters (Andrew Winters). Sandy Pearlman came up with the nicknames for all the band members, however only Donald Roeser continued later to use his nickname "Buck Dharma".
Andrew Winters may have on occasion also been referred to as "Andy Panda", and Pearlman also came up with the name "Roy Mucilage" for Eric. The following 10 songs were recorded as candidates for the album (Note: The first seven of these tracks have been traded on tape amongst BOC fans for years):
While the "Stalk-Forrest Group" album was never released (until 2001), about 200 copies of "What Is Quicksand?" and "Arthur Comics" were pressed as a single on Elektra (EKM-45693), and later appeared on Elektra's "Nuggets" compilation. "Arthur Comics" was included on Elektra's 1986 vinyl boxed set *Elektrock*, and mentioned the band in the set's liner notes.
In addition, "Arthur Comics" was part of the set played on 9/8/1980 at the Old Waldorf Theatre in San Francisco, California as part of a radio broadcast.
Due to incomplete information about some of the aforementioned tracks and demos, there has been much confusion about the recording dates and personnel of some of them. Some may have been recorded as part of different sessions, some were submitted to the record companies at different times under different band names (Soft White Underbelly, Oaxaca, Stalk-Forrest Group).
Due to this, it was thought that versions of "A Fact About Sneakers", "Donovan's Monkey", and "I'm On The Lamb, But I Ain't No Sheep", which were recorded by Stalk-Forrest Group for Elektra were actually recorded after Andrew Winters left the band (with Joe Bouchard playing bass).
It now appears that this is not the case. However, this error has been reflected in 1998 on a European bootleg vinyl pressing (believed to be about 500 copies) entitled *St. Cecilia* by "Stalk-Forrest Group", and on a bootleg CD entitled *Curse Of The Hidden Mirrors* (not to be confused with BOC's 2001 album, *Curse Of The Hidden Mirror*).
BOC performed the song, "Wings of Mercury", live on occasion during the 1985/1986 timeframe. The song appears on the *Into The Crypts Of Rays* recording, as well as some live tapes from that time period.
This song, as previously mentioned, was actually written by Karl Precoda of Dream Syndicate. While Dream Syndicate didn't want to use it, Sandy Pearlman, who was producing one of their albums at the time, liked it, so BOC performed the song live. However, the band decided it was not right for the *Club Ninja* album.
Buck Dharma, Jon Rogers, and Ron Riddle briefly formed another band, "The Red and The Black" (also known as RonDonJon, or Roeser, Riddle, and Rogers), as a side-project to BOC. They played a number of gigs around NY in 1990 and maybe a little into '91.
The music has been described as "heavy pop caught with one hand in the progressive cookie jar", having more in common with the harder parts of *Flat Out* than with BOC.
The lead vocals were shared by the three of them, except that Buck sang all of the BOC tunes (editor's note: it's interesting to hear Buck sing "Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll"). A few demos were recorded by the band, including a seven song demo that was reviewed in "Morning Final" (BOC Fan Club Newsletter).
The following songs were among those performed by the band and may exist on a few live tapes:
* Recorded on a seven song demo by The Red And The Black
+ Recorded on a nine song demo by The Red And The Black
A CD of 16 songs (those identified above as being on demos, plus "Dawn Of The Living Dead", "Crime Of Passion" and "Gravity Hill") has been released as part of the "The Buck Dharma Archive Series" available only at Buck's website. See the discography section for a track listing.
As mentioned later in the FAQ, Buck Dharma, Danny Miranda, John Miceli, and Sandy Roeser participated in "The Buck Dharma Band", and played a benefit concert on 4/11/1997 in Atlanta GA.
Some of this material can be seen on a documentary video, and some will be available on CD in the future (see the Ricky Browning Benefit Concert section of the FAQ for more information).
The entire setlist from this performance is as follows:
* Available on video -- see the Ricky Browning Benefit Concert section of the FAQ for more information
Many BOC shows (over 25) were broadcast on the radio. Many BOC fans that trade live tapes have copies of these shows. At least 15 of these shows were pressed to vinyl, CD, or reel-to-reel tape by syndicated radio shows (such as the King Biscuit Flower Hour) for distribution to radio stations.
While they are fairly rare, copies of these are occasionally sold by magazines such as *Goldmine*. Some of these recordings were later pressed to CD by "import" CD manufacturers - recordings such as *The Thing!*, *Nail You Down*, and *Into The Crypts Of Rays* are examples.
Below is a listing of known radio shows that have been pressed to vinyl, CD, or reel-to-reel tape:
| King Bisquit Flower Hour (D.I.R. Broadcasting): | ||
| 1975 | Show #06-08 | BOC/Black Oak Arkansas - Commack L.I., NY (Reel To Reel) [Used for *Dharma For Buck*] |
| 1976 | Show #10-24 | BOC/Tommy Bolin - Albany, NY (Reel To Reel) [Used for *Dharma For Buck*] |
| 1978 | Show #03-28 | BOC (on The British Bisquit) - Detroit, MI (Reel To Reel) |
| 1980 | Show # 233 | BOC - Poughkeepsie, NY / The Babys - Cleveland, OH (2-LP-Set) |
| 1980 | Show # 306 | BOC/Black Sabbath - Hartford, CT (2-LP-Set) |
| 1986 | Show # 636 | BOC - Santa Monica, CA (2-LP-Set) [Used for *Into The Crypts Of Rays*] |
| Westwood One - In Concert | ||
| 1981 | Show #81-3 | BOC - Long Island / Loverboy - Santa Monica (2-LP-Set) |
| 1983 | Show #83-7 | BOC - Poughkeepsie / Vandenberg - Houston (2-LP-Set) |
| A Night On The Road (ABC Radio Networks) | ||
| 1981 | Show #ANOTR-681 | BOC - New York (3-LP-Set) [Used for *The Thing!* and related recordings] |
| 1982 | Show #ANOTR-282 | BOC - Los Angeles (3-LP-Set) |
| Captured Live (RKO Radio Networks) | ||
| 1983 | Show # CL-1083 | BOC - Pasadena (Hosted & Unhosted Sets) (3-LP-Set) [Used for *Nail You Down* and *Rock And Roll Reapers*] |
| 1984 | Show # CL-1184 | BOC - London (Hosted & Unhosted Sets) (2-LP-Set) |
| The Source (NBC Radio's Young Adult Network) | ||
| 1982 | Show #NBC-82-4 | BOC - New Haven (2-LP-Set) |
| 1983 | Show #NBC-83-1 | Pat Travers* - Baltimore (2-LP-Set) *With Buck Dharma as announcer and guest guitarist on last song |
| BBC Rock Hour (London Wavelength) | ||
| 1981 | SHOW #237 | BOC Live In The USA (1-LP-Set) |
In addition to the songs previously mentioned, there are a number of BOC or BOC-related songs that have been written and recorded by the members of the band, but, for one reason or another, did not make it onto any of the BOC albums. Most of these songs were in demo format - some were only pieces of songs, some were 4-track recordings (usually bass, guitar, drums, and vocals), and others were nearly complete songs.
There are also a number of tracks that were completely worked up by the band during the sessions, but eventually left off of the album. A few of these rare songs may appear on a live tape as a few of the songs were done by the band live a few times, but otherwise, the vast majority of these songs and snippets will never be heard by most BOC fans. Unless you personally know one of the members of the band, the only way one might hear some of this material is by making a pilgrimage to "The Museum of Cult".
Bolle Gregmar, head of the BOC fan club, has copies of most of BOC's unreleased material. He may play some of it for you if you visit the museum (a.k.a. his apartment), but he is under agreement with the band not to duplicate any of the demo material (Editor's Note: He sticks to that agreement, so don't even bother asking for copies).
Small descriptions of many of these tracks and demos can be found in issues of the BOC fan club's newsletter, "Morning Final".
As of late 2001, some of these, and other recordings have been made available on the "The Buck Dharma Archive Series" CDs. In the list that follows, tracks followed by a plus sign (+) are available on these CDs.
Below is an incomplete listing of known demo tracks of songs that were not used, listed by album session where known:
BOC is believed to have made 3 demos for Columbia records in 1971. The following tracks were part of the second demo. This is the demo that the band made at David Lucas' studio in the summer of 1971 - this demo led to a live audition for Columbia and the band's signing to that label:
The following songs were believed to have been recorded on either the first or third demos for Columbia:
Albert also demoed versions of the following songs for the *Imaginos* album at this time: "Del Rio's Song", "The Girl That Love Made Blind", "Frankenstein", and "I Am The One You Warned Me Of".
A few covers were also recorded during this time -- the Ronettes' "Be My Baby", and Peter Tosh's "Steppin' Razor" (which the band refered to as "Dangerous").
Albert not only demoed a whole album's worth of tunes (between the songs listed above and those that were selected for the album), but also about a dozen songs for the *Imaginos* album as well.
Albert had recorded all of the songs on *Imaginos*, including tracks left off the album, with him singing most of the vocals.
His version includes not only the songs that appeared on the album, but also the songs: "Gil Blanco County" (a new version of the Stalk-Forrest Group song), "The Girl That Love Made Blind", "Blue Oyster Cult Reprise", "Imaginos Overture", and an acapella reprise of the first verse of "Magna Of Illusion".
Albert also demoed a version of the song "Half-Life Time", which was intended for the second Imaginos album.
Other Known Tracks (may or may not have been demoed for BOC albums):
In 1998, Sony/TriStar released a "Godzilla" movie. Despite efforts by BOC fans, BOC's ode to the monster was not used for the film or its soundtrack.
In May of 1998, Buck and Eric decided to poke fun at that decision by recording a parody of their song "Godzilla", entitled "No Zilla".
To create the song, Buck and Eric used the "TV Mix" of "Godzilla" from the *Cult Classic* album (which had no lead vocals) and re-recorded new lyrics. This song was released only to radio stations.
Short Answer: You can't (at least not legally).
Long Answer: First, a definition. MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3) is a standard technology and format for encoding and compressing a sound sequence into a very small file (about one-tenth the size of the original file) while preserving most of the original level of sound quality when it is played. MP3 files (identified with the file name suffix of ".mp3") are available for downloading from a number of Web sites.
They have become popular in the late 1990s as songs can be compressed into small files that retain near CD quality, yet take only minutes to download with standard modem connections to the internet (or seconds on faster connections such as cable modems or T1 lines).
MP3s are also seen by many as a form of piracy as people encode published music into MP3 format and distribute it on the internet (sort of like making tape copies of your CDs and handing them out to your closest million or so friends).
Having a song in MP3 format is legal, provided you either own the original source of the song (that is, the CD, tape, or LP from which it was encoded), or have received permission from the song's copyright holder to own it (many bands, especially smaller ones on independent labels, are distributing their music in MP3 format free of charge as a means to promote their music). However, many individuals are now searching the internet to find MP3s of copyrighted music so that they can avoid purchasing it on CD, tape, or LP.
All of BOC's music is copyrighted. The only way to legally obtain BOC MP3s is to purchase BOC's albums and encode the songs into MP3 format yourself (note: this is not difficult to do on a home computer, but is beyond the scope of the BOC FAQ). As long as you own the albums, you have legal right to also own the MP3s, just as you have a right to make backup tapes of your albums.
However, like backup tapes of your albums, it is illegal to distribute these copies, whether you do so for financial gain or not. Therefore, if there are any BOC MP3s on the web, they are illegal copies. How to search the internet for illegal copies of BOC's music is beyond the scope of the BOC FAQ. The short answer bears repeating:
You can't (at least not legally).
Update: Of course, with the advent of the file-sharing software Napster and other programs, BOC's music, like most other music, has proliferated over the Internet, as many have encoded their personal music collections and made them available to other users.
The fact that these MP3s are fairly readily available does not make them anymore legal than in the past. However, along with the various MP3s of copyrighted BOC material, there are also a number of MP3s created from BOC bootlegs or live tapes. Since the original sources of these files are not copyrighted, such MP3s would probably be considered "legal".
Still, with the future of on-line music distribution (and the legalities associated with) undetermined, nothing in this section should be construed as legal advice.
Short Answer: No
Slightly-Longer Answer: Eric Bloom (Sandy Pearlman too) is Jewish...
Longer Answer: In the early 1970's BOC tried to create a particular image. This was reflected in many elements including the types of music they played, their album covers, the use of an umlaut in their name (used in European alphabets, including German, see later in the FAQ for more information on BOC's use of the umlaut) and how they dressed (most notably Eric Bloom wearing leather).
The BOC symbol was often depicted in black on a red background (coinciding with the lyrics, "red and black - it's their color scheme", which actually referred to the Canadian mounted police), which is the same color scheme used by the Nazis for the swastika. Therefore, some saw BOC's symbol, another sort of "twisted cross", as some form of Nazi symbol.
In addition, the "Hot Rails To Hell" (a title which aptly fit BOC's sinister image) single depicted a German military figure on the picture sleeve, also adding fuel to the fire for a band often referred to simply as "The Cult" (note: the band of that name would not appear on the scene until later).
Of course, the real controversy came with the release of *Secret Treaties*. The following elements were all used to support the argument that BOC were Nazis:
The cover itself depicts the band around a German WWII airplane, the ME-262. The image of this airplane was also used by the band in various promotional items around this time, such as picture sleeves for singles, posters, and advertisements (some which bore the slogan "Aggression Unchallenged is Aggression Unleashed").
The song "ME 262" of course is about the airplane of the same name, and is written from the point of view of a German WWII pilot. Lyrics like "Hitler's on the phone from Berlin - says 'I'm gonna make you a star'", "There's no reward for failure but death", and "See these English planes go burn", were seen as advocating the Nazi cause.
Editor's comment: of course these people failed to grasp the fact that one can write about topics and points of view that one doesn't necessarily support.
Many of the remaining songs on the album supported the band's sinister image: "Career Of Evil", "Subhuman", "Dominance And Submission", "Cagey Cretins", and "Harvester Of Eyes". Of course, none of these songs refer to Nazism or even German warplanes.
Finally, the liner notes refer to the mysterious (and, as we now all know, non-existent book, "The Origins of a World War", which could also be interpreted as having ties with Nazis.
So, there were many factors which suggested that BOC could be Nazis. For the band's part, little was done initially to downplay any image - probably under the assumption that "no press is *bad* press".
While there was no admission of being Nazis there was probably little denial as well by the band, management, or record label. Sandy Pearlman had even made statements in reference to "music as Fascism".
What was not well understood at the time, however, was that the concepts surrounding *Secret Treaties* were derived from Sandy Pearlman's Imaginos poems (see other sections in the FAQ for discussion on the story of Imaginos, and the references to *Secret Treaties*, and the song "ME 262").
Sandy was an avid reader of science fiction and world war history, and was trying to provoke thoughts in the minds of the listener by using all of this imagery. In addition, the use of mysticism and evil imagery was somewhat a sign of the times -- a reaction to the late 1960's which focused more on the images of peace, love, and flowers.
However, this image began to backlash upon the band. The Jewish Defense League picketed their concerts, and threatened to sabotage them. Record stores in Germany refused to sell *Secret Treaties*.
It's one thing for a band to create an image, even one that might be offensive to some (note: although the band really meant it all as a sort of joke), but it's quite another when the fans of the band start believing in it.
Albert Bouchard describes one incident which made the band re-think their image. "After a gig in Portland, Oregon, this blond, blue eyed guy came up in full (Nazi Secret Service) uniform, saluting us. He freaked us all out."
A lot of BOC fans from the 1970's and early 1980's that have "rediscovered" BOC in the 1990's had asked this question. Some time around 1985, Buck shaved off his trademark moustache, and was without it until 1997.
In 1997, Buck was again seen with a moustache, and briefly also had a goatee. Buck was seen without a moustache again in 1999.
Somewhat related: Eric Bloom has had his hair cut very short these days. For inquiring minds that want to know, he has been sporting this new hairstyle since 1994.
Short Answer: No
Longer Answer: While many BOC fans (especially those that saw the original line-up together) would like to see this happen, it is just not likely. By "original line-up", we mean of course, Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, Allen Lanier, Joe Bouchard, and Albert Bouchard.
It has now been over 10 years since that line-up performed live together, and while *Imaginos* was credited to the entire band, it was not really a "band effort" (this was discussed previously in the FAQ). The current line-up of BOC are happy with their current situation, and both Bouchard brothers are pursuing their own individual projects.
However, it is possible that members of the original line-up may collaborate with each other on future projects.
A quote, believed to be by Eric Bloom, was printed in *Raves* magazine: "We're one of the shortest bands in rock." So, here are the heights of the original members (shortest to tallest):