This is a really cool interview with Buck worth reading from Vintage Guitar magazine, circa 1998 when they released my favorite Cult album (Heaven Forbid). Buck Dharma And in there he is asked what "stun guitar" is, and this is his reply: Speaking of Bloom, what exactly is the stun guitar he was credited with playing? (chuckles) We made up stun guitar to describe some of the fuzz parts Eric did. In fact, there’s a stun guitar part on the new record!
From Ultimate Classic Rock: For Blue Oyster Cult, the overnight success of 1975's On Your Feet or on Your Knees took a while. They had slowly been building a devoted concert following in the early '70s, but could boast far less success with their studio efforts. Both 1972’s Blue Oyster Cult and 1973’s Tyranny and Mutation had struggled to even break into the Billboard Top 200, peaking at No. 172 and 122, respectively. But signs of a breakthrough could be found with 1974’s Secret Treaties, which shot to a comparatively lofty No. 53. On Your Feet or on Your Knees, released on Feb. 26, 1975, did the trick by playing up the Long Island quintet's road skills. In fact, the success of this concert recording led to a wholesale re-evaluation of those first three studio projects, which are now deemed classics. Blue Oyster Cult's uniquely idiosyncratic brand of hard rock, distinguished by its cryptic lyrics and provocative imagery to match, had begun to make sense. Blue Oyster Cult suddenly had a No. 22 hit on their hands -- something helped along by a new-found focus on promotion. Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman, their management and production team, were savvy enough to leverage controversy with On Your Feet or on Your Knees. Frontman Eric Bloom’s remark about an S&M whip before the band kicks into “7 Screaming Diz-Busters,” for instance, was anything but casual. An aggressive Columbia Records marketing campaign, including everything from discounted pricing to media-baiting promotion materials, turned some heads, too. But, in truth, Blue Oyster Cult richly deserved this hard-earned moment of success. On Your Feet or on Your Knees, which included three songs from each of Blue Oyster Cult's previous albums, underscored what a well-oiled musical outfit they'd become. Concert highlights included the always-frantic “Red and the Black,” the contrastingly mellow and majestic “Then Came the Last Days of May,” and “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll,” with its serpentine riff and evergreen message. Lengthier explorations of tracks like “The Subhuman” and “ME 262” offered new insights. The album also included a show-stopping in-concert-only instrumental “Buck’s Boogie,” led by Buck Dharma Roeser. Finally, two effusive cover versions (Calvin Carter’s “I Ain’t Got You” and Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild”) rounded out On Your Feet or on Your Knees by offering a glimpse back to Blue Oyster Cult's club band days -- closing this first chapter of their on-the-rise career.
I replayed OYFOOYK again today and am still stuck with the intensity of their playing ME-262, Then Came the Last Days of May, Seven Screaming Dizbusters all got special treatments. And the closer cover, Born to be Wild, is over the top!
I think On Your Feet Or On Your Knees is the BOC "Deserted Island album" If I could only take one album with me to represent BOC.....this is the album.
I have never heard On Your Feet Or On Your Knees. I have all of the band's studio efforts up to and including Club Ninja. But I have yet to hear their first live set. The way you guys are raving about this album I'm starting to wonder if I need to do penance for a most grievous sin.
It sounds a whole lot better than my previous copy in which was a reissue and not a good one at that but I am enjoying this and I’m also a sucker for colored vinyl
Not to mess with the flow but I was listening to the SACD of Secret Treaties and for the first time I noticed most all of Eric Bloom’s “Stun Guitar” work comes from the left rear surround channel. NEED THE S/T AND TYRANNY ON SACD. ON YOUR FEET WOULD PROBABLY BE ASKING TOO MUCH. I FOR ONE WOULD BUY ANY BOC MULTICHANNEL OR EVEN STEREO SACD RELEASE.
For those looking for a comprehensive remastered box set. Amazon has the Columbia Albums Collection Box Set!! For $66!! https://www.amazon.com/Columbia-Albums-Collection-Blue-Oyster/dp/B008S80OU2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UYNQJWTBIWKT&keywords=blue+oyster+cult+cd&qid=1575608209&s=music&sprefix=blue+oyster+cult,aps,203&sr=1-1
On Your Feet or on Your Knees is a tremendous achievement, a man's album, little girls need (kneed) not apply. We are not worthy really. S**t sound quality is the only detracting factor in an otherwise superb set of songs delivered with maximum impact. In fact, get down on your knees now and tremble at the awesome energy which B.O.C. contributes herein. Perhaps only Deep Purple's Made in Japan bests it in terms of in-your-face 'stun guitar' and rock 'n' roll overdrive. The Oyster boys' verbiage was always what set them apart from other more mundane practitioners of '70s metal mania. I mean let's face it - Geezer Butler couldn't come up with lyrics like this with a gun to his head.
I was just about to write something like this and read this. Right On I consider them a triple album and Love them dearly. I personally don't feel ST is better then the first two. They are my beloved three headed beast.
On Your Feet is, I think, the first BOC record I ever heard. A school friend visited America and came back with a copy. We must have been no older than 13. It totally changed my world view. Subhuman and Last Days Of May were the only tracks I didn't really 'get' at the time (too slow..!). Now though I think they are the best songs on that album! (I do wish they had found room for 'Astronomy' though...). They made up for that omission on the Some Enchanted Evening album - still the best version of Astronomy I've heard...
I gotta say that I think that On Your Feet would have been so much better if they had kept the setlist to their OWN songs. The cover of Maserati GT does nothing for me and Born To Be Wild does not work for me either. Because of that I rarely listened to side four, which ends with those two songs. Speaking of Born to Be Wild, and I think I have posted about this b4, maybe in the older BOC album thread, one of the many BOC shows that I've seen they did that song, back in their still arena days (Philly Spectrum). Probably in the 80's, I 4get. In the row in front of me was a young fan who obviously convinced his parents to take him to the show. I 4get if it was both Mom & Dad or just Mom...there was some drama that happened that I can't remember what, maybe Mom called security on some people lighting up, or voiced her disapproval of what we were all smoking, I 4get, but towards the end of the show, probably the encore, the band had left the stage and came back on, and Eric came on stage on a motorcycle with a beautiful topless girl to much enthusiastic applause, at which point that became the last straw for said Mom and she grabbed her son and hauled him out of there. Which we found to be pretty damn hilarious....poor kid....hey kid are you out there reading this now like 30+ years later???
Most, if not all, of the shows OYFOOYK was compiled from opened with the one two punch of Stairway To The Stars and OD'd On Life Itself. How great would it be if these were part of the tracklist instead of, or in addition to, the covers?
