And Buck Dharma is a very unrated guitarist. And could say the same for the band as a whole, very well played progressive stuff on many of their tracks.
My favorite all time band. Why? Because each album sounded different from the next and always remained intelligent and thought provoking. Their themes were unique and quirky too. What's not to love?
I'm up to 13 times. and had the amazing fortune to meet them post Bouchard bros; with Bobby Rondinelli and Danny. I was able to meet the Bros Bouchard on tour with Blue Coupe however. And as a bonus Dennis Dunaway.
@@donnaschimming WOW. Dudes I met by chance include Sammy Hagar (walked into the record store I worked at in Fort Worth 1979) and Alice Cooper (walking into a Holiday Inn in Fort Worth 1978).
I remember years after the one time I saw them opening for Alice Cooper, I decided to buy their 'Spectres' LP .I had the white/black ,the one w/ 'the Red and the Black' on it. the hardest thing on 'Spectres' is GODZILLA, which I put up there w/ 'Iron Man'. but I would always be able to hang for the whole record. even now. the songs and musicianship make them listenable. I also seem to remember Pete, when they did 'Godzilla' on TV , I swear the drummer was wearing a Godzilla head.
I've loved this band since early on. Early on for me was 1974/1975. I had little knowledge of their history before then. Saw them live twice and they didn't disappoint. But I do know alot more now, TY Pete! My first album Secret Treaties is what got me started as a forever fan of BOC! 💙🖤 ✌️🤟
Thanks so much for this video! BOC is one of those great bands that had mainstream hits and a whole lot of depth beyond that, and that many of us missed, until now! “Greatest unsung rock bands” indeed!
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! I got to open for BOC in Detroit in 1998 in a weird twist of fate only because Rob Halford's tour got cancelled, which got rescheduled as opener for them, lso with the progrock band TILES from my area of Detroit ROCK City. haha
Nice potted history of a very interesting band, until recently I'd only heard one album and a handful or other songs, but found a few of my subs love BOC, so reacted to a couple of songs, and I am falling in love with this amazing band. This adds some real background to my new growing obsession, thanks.
One day I went to work and there in the shop was a bunch of crates. We opened them up and there was all this crazy looking gear and several disco balls, the mirrored ones. My boss had us uncrate everything and then we played with it. It was Blue Oyster Cult's hand laser rig and we set it up at the concert the night before. It was the first time, that tour, it had ever been used... Oh, and the British Lions opened the show and was followed by UFO.... 'Mirrors' is one of my favorite BOC albums, after Treaties and Cultasaurus and Heaven Forbid. "See You in Black', a song about domestic violence is one of my favorite all time BOC songs.
I saw that same lineup (no doubt the same tour) at an outdoor show in Carson City, Nevada, at a place called T-Car Speedway. They didn't have the mirror ball to use so Bloom just shot the wrist laser into the sky, which still looked pretty cool. During UFO's set, they lost power to the stage and the band stood around for awhile chatting with people at the front of the stage until they got the juice on again. i don't recall much about British Lion's set except that I was glad I finally got to see some Mott members in concert.
Can't believe I watched this whole thing with my limited attention span. Love the Cult. First saw them in '77 at the Cape Cod Colosseum with Starz and REO Shitwagon.
Yes Jim-Starz is a treasured band amongst those in the know! Especially the debut and Violation, which were chock full of melodic, rifftastic, catchy as hell, well written gems!Liked Attention Shoppers as well and am currently looking to obtain Coliseum Rock on disc. Nice shout out for totally unsung band! Peace, Treff@@jamesian-allen8725
Wonderful love this band too will be seeing them in Glasgow next year a truly underratrd band too so many classic songs and albums and always great live
On the new album.. check out "That Metal Show". Buck mentions that they've been working on an all acoustic album. This was from almost 2 years ago after they returned from touring Australia. Many thx for the BOC history! Just saw them live again this past weekend and it was truly phenomenal. Real musicians, real music and the real deal all the way! Hard to believe that Buck and Eric are both over 70 years old now!
Thanks Pete. Lots of good info on one of my favorite bands. I have to agree with you that Secret Treaties is their best album. Only a few of my friends appreciate BOC like I do, so I guess that is their loss.
@@joejones9520 Dio was the singer for Sabbath, for the Black and Blue tour, Heaven and Hell was the album, they had released, while Cultosauras Erectus was the BOC album, just letting you know that!
I caught BOC last month at a small venue in Virginia. Great show, intimate setting - a show well worth seeing. You mentioned covering MSG...oddly enough, I saw BOC open for RUSH in 85 and then MSG open for RUSH in 87
This was a really insightful retrospect of the band. Learned a few things along the way and now throwing on the Cultasaurus Erectus album. What an interesting cover. They had some cool designs on the albums for sure.
Revolution By Night is my cruising disc. And Take Me Away is my favorite BOC Tune. And, "for the love of christ" Commercial FM Radio, Blue Oyster Cult has far more material than "Burnin For You".
Got into them through my bud George Soler (now a very accomplished Chapman Stick player in the Seattle area), who had all of the early ones through Some Enchanted Evening. I remember when he bought CE. Always read the liner notes on those albums - Eric played stun guitar! So, I just had this revelation about their manager/producer Sandy Pearlman, who I had always thought was female from the name back in when I was a young music scholar and didn't know any better. Come on - "Sandy" "Pearl" "Oyster" - talk about a professional stage name intertwined with the band! Forgive me if this has been discussed ad nauseum in the past. Great history lesson Mr. Pardo!
grew up seeing them as bar gigs to msg shows,capital theatre,passaic NJ..great shows n times..bucks still ripping it up.. Eric too great to see....thnx for posting this...
Agents of fortune is my favorite of all time. Saw them destroy Sabbath on the black and blue tours....................Buck was playing his ass off on the solo of votpw, then stopped and told the crowd his fingers were bleeding, laughed and kept going ! EPIC !
Thanks Pete, funny, but growing up as a teen in the seventies, my nick name, the one that I liked, was Buck Dharma ! I played (still do) and looked exactly like him, short, same hair and cheesy mustache ! lol And still to this day, I believe Buck is the most underrated guitarist in history.
I have seen many comments from people that saw the Black & Blue tour in 1980 say that BOC were the superior live band then ... even fans that were mainly Sabs before it ...
I witnessed the same thing when Van Halen opened for them at Cobo hall..........first album was not even out yet, we only heard running with the d on the radio, they were mind blowing-ly hungry and a total surprise. Sab looked and sounded old and slow, This tour broke up Sabbath.I came to the show to see Sabbath, I left, shaken to the core as a guitarist and have to this day, the pick scrapping on atomic punk, etched in my brain. I also saw Rush do the same thing to Kiss, with Rutsy...........moments in rock history ! lol Nice vids ! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and stories, I think New York and Detroit were probably the best places to be, for music !
I saw BOC in the 70s and 80s and the were good. In the 70s l went to alot of kegger parties and we rocked to the Reaper song. l grew up in Los angels and BOC were really big back in the day out here . I saw them one time with Jouney and Triumph and. Aldo nova that was a good show .Sad to say it but so many great bands are gone now but at least the music lives on . Very cool documentary. ✌
someone left a copy of tyranny and mutation at my sisters house after a party. She didn't like it and gave it to me. I loved it, but nobody else I knew liked it at all. Fine with me I got my own band to love. Then years later don't fear the reaper was a big hit and every one was talking about this great new band. I said " I've been telling you guys about them for years and you wouldn't give them a chance, They're not new they have at least three studio albums and a live album that kicks ass" My one time I was ahead of everyone else
I was at the show at Winterland when "On Your Feat Or On Your Knees" was recorded. They had the best laser light show I ever saw. They were cutting edge at the time such a great show.
I saw a BOC laser show in '77 at the Hollywood Sportatorium. Bloom had wrist lasers he fired into a huge hanging disco ball that segmented the light into millions of tiny laser beams! Thankfully, my corneas were not fried.
Very well done. Love me some BOC. I've seen them maybe twenty times thru the years. The first was Black & Blue (or as it says on the t-shirt I still have, "Summer Jam '80") in Seattle. Also on that bill were Riot opening with Molly Hatchet following them. Sabbath headlined that night. Saw them again at an all-day show in the Kingdome in '82, sandwiched between openers Brian Adams and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and headliners Loverboy (!) and Foreigner. Third time was New Year's Eve '83-'84, the middle act of the evening with Aldo Nova opening and Sammy Hagar headlining. From there, it's a string of bars in the Bay Area in the late '80's for several shows. Then more bars back in the Seattle area from the '90's until 2004, the last time I saw them. I've owned everything they ever released until about the same time. Yeah, I didn't pick up anything new from your video, but it was still entertaining, and thanks for posting it! BOC ON TOUR FOREVER!
I had Front row seats at the Black & Blue Tour @ the Capital Center in D.C. (Largo, Md.) 1980. My ears are still ringing from that show...Great show though
I've been watching S oT's BLUE OYSTER CULT videos(thank you Pete), and I realize how little I really know this band. owning 'Tyranny and Mutation' and 'Spectres'(not as metallic, if you will, as the former, but it kicks serious ass). back in my youthful 1970's, and seeing them w/AC, made an impression that few opening acts did, as it was obvious these guys loved the raw power. Bloom's vocals and Buck's guitar playing to this day, make this band instantly recognizable any time I hear them. I salute them!
The Hudson Valley Squares should do a show about their favorite rock bands from New York. I'm sure Kiss would rule but it would be interesting to hear who else makes the cut.
This was awesome. I'm 50, so just a couple years behind you and didn't actually know much about BOC. They've always been a but mysterious to me. They arrange their instrumental parts like a cross between Sabbath and Boston at times.
Bought T and M on the strength of Lester Bangs' review in Cream. I was 14 years old. Best metal-type record I'd ever heard. Still think it's the best BOC album.
I have the first several albums on original vinyl... I dunno what happened to them tho. Redundant became the rule, but I guess " I'm on the lamb " was where it started. I actually built a diorama of the "Secret Treaties" cover... Damn ME 262 was hard to find kit, and made the band and wolves out of glue and paper
Very cool video. BOC's been a fave since I heard Godzilla as a kid back in the 70's. I did find it odd that you skipped their 90's output though. Cult Classic is a very cool greatest hits album but all newly recorded versions, some of which rival the originals. The Bad Channels soundtrack was also really fun with a couple new songs and the film's score by BOC.
A very underrated band among all the great bands in the 70's and 80's. Definitely in my Top 10 of all time. I am not 100 % sure but talking about the band members I think you might have mixed up Allen Lanier with Joe Bouchard talking about the in and out's of the band. I love the mix of boogie rock, progressive rock, hardrock and pop they did. While not ALL songs are 10/10 and classics they are always enjoyable. I rather take a "bad" Blue Öyster Cult song over a "bad" KISS, The Rolling Stones, UFO, Nazareth or Pink Floyd song. Just very solid career!
Damn, Lot's of BOC fans here. First saw them in Alpine Valley Wisconsin, still had the laser light show! Great concert, back in I think 1979. Also saw them later in a small stage at a bar in Minneapolis, that was even better, got to shake hands with some of the band. This is one of my top 5 favorites of all time.
fire of unknown origin is my fave repeat play. i was under the impression it was an attempt to write a soundtrack album for Heavy Metal but only the one song made it... E.T.Live was also a fave album in high school...
The Extraterrestrial Live record actually had a guest appearance by Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger on Roadhouse Blues , also a track recorded at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center , Dominance and Submission, ...on the vinyl version anyway...
I’ve literally lost track of how many times I’ve seen them!! Around 7-10 times from 78-81 and never can I say they gave a bad show!! Only regret I have, I NEVER saw them play “Last Days Of May” never could find out why. But “Spectres” did it for me and “Mirrors “cemented it for me but the last couple years the early stuff got my attention and I listen to the new stuff of late. Much Appreciated By Me!!!
Thank you for this chronology, I've been a fan for many years, didn't know a lot of this information though. Remember my friend Corey's older brother had "fire of unknown origin" when I was just a wee tyke. I always thought that album cover was so compelling. Listened to Cult-o-saurus recently, that one is a banger! Thanks & cheers.
Just to clarify what Pete brought up is the new boc..studio album should be out Oct 7th...i read that..while back...also heaven forbid 1989.and curse hidden mirror 2001 will be eventually Re released by frontiers as well .hope u read this Pete..love yr show dude !
A couple of members from BOC (can't remember who it was) were doing a call in show on KLOS (I think it was KLOS anyway) in LA sometime in the 90s and I got a chance to ask a question that has always plagued me about Last Days Of May. And it turns out it is based on a true story as I suspected. Someone they knew got killed in a drug deal way back. Sad story. Great song. Great album. Great memories.
Heaven Forbid, killer. I'd Like to See You In Black, as heavy as BOC ever got, and surprise Damaged, my favorite track on the album. Just a tiny bit behind See You In Black. It's just amazing. If you don't have it, get it, it'll knock your socks off. It's not an awful cover, either, There's a song referencing 50's B-movies, thus the Ray Milland shout out, it was meant to follow that theme.
Saw them playing in a bar (Silver Dollar Saloon in East Lansing, Mi.) during a down period (maybe 1982?). Good thing the fire marshal didn’t show. Because there were about 400 people crammed into this little bar.
Pete, you and I are the same age, we seemed to have followed a very similar path in our musical tastes. I completely agree, 100%, on your top three albums from BOC. I recently happened to score brand new sealed original copies of Secret Treaties and Fire of Unknown Origin! Very cool!
Very well done Pete! Gotta say that Cultasourus Erectus and On Your Feet are my 2 favs. Seen Buck and Eric going on 13 or 14 times and they still bring it every show!! I did read that they are working on some new material and will be touring in CA in January!! As for an album to dissect, how about Frank Marino's The Power of Rock n Roll? One of the best guitar albums ever recorded!!
One of my favorite bands....I remember 1978, being at a friends house and listening and staring at the wicked scary cover of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING. Few months later they came to town. My first ever concert, May 79. Brownsville (Station) opened. The Lazers broke down ,,so missed that. They came back 2 years later with Foghat on the 81 tour of Fires of Unknown Origin. After that....I didn't care for their 80's releases. I didn't buy BOC disc until HEAVEN FORBID. A great great return to heavier BOC. Seen them few more times over the years. Love the early trio of LP's best.
In the late 1970's they were actually prominent in some punk fanzines in the US & UK ... odd to see them with bands like The Ramones, Clash, New York Dolls etc ... they did have both Japan & The Jam as support bands around that time so maybe people got confused ...
I have heard of them but I have never listened to them once until yesterday when I heard a song called “Astronomy” which was a live video on here, so I’m interested in who they are… y’all know I’m going to be watching a Pete video 😅
Might be a bit out of you bailiwick but a Midnight Oil discussion/history would be tasty. I find them oddly parallel to BOC-they began as an intelligent/competent punkish band, went a bit poppy, kept changing their sound, but never really slid in quality.
On Agents of Fortune, you kind of glossed over a couple of the best tracks: "Morning Final" and "Tenderloin." Not landmark like Reaper or ETI, but fantastic deep cuts.
i should start doing something like this...i'm pretty good on my rock N roll history know how/IQ. i lack this fellas music collection though...i'd be like a kid in a candy store in that guys music room, lol. anyhoo...i enjoyed this immensly...well done pete pardo.
I guess the fact that Patti Smith both co-wrote and sang on "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" escaped your attention? I've known that since "Agents of Fortune" was released. There were these things called LPs and Cassette Tapes back then!
And your point is? Not enough time on these shows to mention every tidbit of information. Patti Smith was discussed as having some things to do with the band during that era.
Pete- technically, you missed one studio album, 'Cult Classic'. They went back into the studio in 1994 and re-recorded a bunch of their classics (as the title implies) with an updated sound more like how they were performing them at the time. The main catalyst for this, from my understanding, is that Steven King wanted to use (Don't Fear)The Reaper in the TV miniseries 'The Stand' but Columbia/Sony refused. So they re-recorded that to get away from the label's copyright on the previous studio arrangement of the song, and while there they did a full album. It was a hell of a deal, too, as the first pressing was of gold picture discs for around $12.
