Blue Oyster Cult. Where Did You Come in?

2018, forty-six years late to the party on Blue Oyster Cult. Finally decided to take the plunge, did my research, and bought this 2CD compilation to catch up.

 

Agents of Fortune album. "Don't The Reaper," loved that song.

 

That was from Sandy Pearlman...……..The Blue And The Black. He managed both bands simultaneously for a time and subsequently there was a tour. Yeah, two very different bands which sound nothing alike. Both bands are a little strange in my opinion, but strange in a good way.

 

My introduction to BOC was a friend's copy of Some Enchanted Evening which I often borrowed. After that I picked up the Spectres LP and then, because it was budget priced, the double live LP 'On Your Feet Or On Your Knees.'

Then my sister bought a copy of Agents of Fortune, but I never got into it (until years later) and I moved on to Mirrors which I've always adored because it was a huge part of my summer of '79. Then of course the "comeback" album Cultasaurus Erectus came out the following year and I was fully on board. And then Fire Of Unknown Origin the very next year. Every spring and summer it became a sort of tradition. Becoming completely immersed into another new and fresh BOC album.

But...that ended in 1981. I never heard them on the radio again with new material so I assumed that they were done. That's ok because I wouldn't have liked Revolution by Night or Club Ninja anyway. Those records are pretty mediocre.

Mirrors remains my absolute favorite BOC album. The memories from that spring and summer of '79 when I turned 15 years old are just too strong.

 

Fire of Unknown Origin was my first record. I bought it when it came out. The cover looked cool.

BÖC is now one of my favorite bands. I have seen them only once in 1982/83 with Dokken and Aldo Nova opening. It was The Revolution by Night tour. I had the best seats I’ve ever had for that show.

 

Where was it? I would have loved to see that tour.

 

I want to say it was Reunion Arena in Dallas. I’m pretty sure it was. I was right in front of Joe Bouchard the whole show.

 

On Your Feet Or On Your Knees - a few months after it was released. I can remember buying it as a kid; probably based on nothing but the sleeve...

Never looked back. Though it was only last year when I first saw them live...

 

Summer of 1975.

Had just moved from Albuquerque to San Diego (yet another family move). Made some friends in the apartment complex we were set up in while mom & dad looked for a house. We drove to Tower Records on Sports Arena every now and again to look for records to buy, get together late at night, drink beer, and spin our new buys.

Flipping the bins I came across BOC's Tyranny & Mutation and saw the hype sticker on the front describing them as The American Black Sabbath - so it was an instant buy reinforced by the bizarre album cover.

After a couple of oversized Schlitz Malt Liquor bottles we were all jamming to this. Went backwards to get the S/T later, and Secret Treaties. FM radio provided enough of the later albums to meet my needs.

Side 2 of T&M (aka The Red and the Black) is my current favorite.

 

It’s never gotten old. I never tire of hearing it.

 

The first album. I read an ad for it back in the day that said something along the lines of "this is the album preachers warned you about". I thought "okay let me check it out". I loved it the first time I heard it even though I didn't consider it any more "ungodly" than most rock albums. It's still my favorite BOC album.

 

Bought the first album a couple weeks after its '72 release at the local Super Valu grocery store's endcap record rack. I found the cover interesting enough to invest my 5.98. I never looked back.

Seen them more times live than any other band.
Still look for oddball releases and reissues I don't have. There aren't that many.
Still keep up by reading articles and news about the band.
Still my "go-to" band when (sometimes) I'm not sure what I want to listen to.
Still love "Fallen Angel", the best thing off of Cultosaurus Erectus.
Still don't care for Club Ninja.

 

Sabbath's lyrics are straightforward. BOC's are impenetrable! (Who the hell is/was Sid Rastus Bear?)

 

Haaahaaa........I don't know? But he was redeemed!

 

It was actually *Sir* Rastus Bear and according to Wikipedia, this song was written by a Harry Farcas, and that was the name of his St. Bernard Dog.

 

I was 16 when the 1st album came out. I don't recall why I bought it, but buy it I did. I still really dig that album. So when Tyranny and Mutation came out I bought it as well. That was almost as good. I now have those 2 on a MOFI double disc. Nothing else by Blue Oyster Cult did it for me.

 

Don't Fear The Reaper. Quickly discovered their early catalog right after.

 

Agents of Fortune. Still my favorite.

 

Still have the first album I bought in 1972 and turned a lot of friends onto that band back in the day. Back in the early 70's a high school friend had a basement/ garage hangout setup, just like you see on "That 70's Show", and we used to go over and listen to music with a bunch of friends. Used to smoke a few and tell his mother the smell was scented candles. She knew but was cool.

I have the first half dozen of their albums but the first three are my favorites. I cleaned up the first two and was playing " She's as Beautiful as Foot" while cleaning LP's and my young teenage daughters got a kick out of the lyrics.

Saw BoC a few times in the early to mid 70's which were great shows but my favorite show of theirs was at a local Guitar store in the late 80's called East Coast Sound in Danbury, CT. It was a large warehouse sized building with a full stage at one end. They were doing a promo for Kramer guitars and BoC played an hour or more set to about 50 people and put on a fantastic show. You would have never have known it was just paid promo gig for them. The highlight was when the whole band, including drummer, came to the front of the stage just jamming on guitars.

Others there that night was Leslie West, Roger Glover and JJ French who jammed together later in the night. They did a great jam on Mississippi Queen to end the night.

 

I got into them around '93/'94, I think. A few friends were big fans and made me a mixed tape of their best songs from 1976-1988. I was hooked pretty quickly, largely thanks to how great the songs from Cultosaurus Erectus and Imaginos were.

 

I bought the single, Don't Fear The Reaper, when it was in the top 40 in '76. Later, my brother picked up Some Enchanted Evening, and I made a cassette of a friend's LP copy of Mirrors.

In 1980, I finally bought my first B.O.C. album when I saw Cultosaurus Erectus sitting in the new release bin of a Maryland record store. I then slowly but surely added the rest of their catalogue to my collection.

 

So underrated.

 

Secret Treaties was my first in ‘74, followed by On Your Feet...when that came out. Then when back and got the first two.

 

I saw them play 2 shows here in Halifax in 1989, and another one maybe 5 years ago at the casino here.

They always put on a good show, no matter how small the venue. They take pride in that. Buck has said 'We're better some nights than others, but we never suck'.

 

On Your Feet Or On Your Knees was where I came in, Secret Treaties next, then, when Agents Of Fortune came out I was blown completely away. AOF might be close to the most played album I own. I think I played it at least a couple of times a week until the mid-1980s. I liked it that much. Actually, love is the word. Saw them live in 1977 and thought it they were fantastic.

Spectres was a disappointment and I and my friends that were BÖC fans really hated Going Through The Motions -- we thought they'd 'sold out.' In the intervening years I've completely reassessed Spectres and think it's great.

Their return in '81 with Burnin' For You and the Fire Of Unknown Origin was a welcome surprise and a regular on the turntable. Felt kind of middling about The Revolution By Night and lost some interest at that point...bought Imaginos when it came out but hardly remember it now.

But BÖC's run from their 1972 debut through Spectres is one of the best album runs ever and Agents Of Fortune remains a desert island disk for me.