{"id":20022,"date":"2020-12-25T05:30:39","date_gmt":"2020-12-25T10:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=20022"},"modified":"2020-11-09T16:34:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T21:34:10","slug":"blue-oyster-cult-cultus-redux-part-3-of-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/25\/blue-oyster-cult-cultus-redux-part-3-of-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue \u00d6yster Cult: Cultus Redux – Part 3 of 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part Two<\/a>…<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"Career of Evil<\/b>
\nThere are many connective threads that runs through Blue \u00d6yster Cult\u2019s body of work. 2001\u2019s Curse of the Hidden Mirror<\/i> took its title from a 1969 song recorded by the band (then known as Stalk-Forrest Group) as part of a demo recording for Elektra Records. And a track on The Symbol Remains<\/i> is titled \u201cThe Return of St. Cecilia,\u201d connecting it to another Stalk-Forrest Group tune, \u201cSt. Cecilia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bloom explains that lyrics to the new song were written by Richard Meltzer, who co-wrote the \u201869 tune with the nascent band as well. \u201cOur manager got in touch with Richard \u2013 we don\u2019t see him too often; he lives in Portland \u2013 and asked him if he had any lyrics.\u201d Meltzer sent some to the band, but they sat unused for a time while the members were busy with other parts of writing for the album. \u201cAnd then,\u201d Bloom recalls, \u201cafter a couple of weeks, Richie sent out an email to everybody: \u2018Is anybody working on that \u201cSt. Cecilia\u201d thing?\u2019 Buck and I both said no, and he said, \u2018I\u2019ve got an idea for it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout its history, B\u00d6C has combined its hard rocking sound (often classified as heavy metal back in the \u201870s) with lyrics that display a more literate side than standard rock fare. Some of that comes from within the group itself, and other times it\u2019s thanks to the contributions of writers like John Shirley, esteemed rock critic Meltzer, science fiction author Michael Moorcock and poet\/rocker Patti Smith. The band\u2019s lyrical approach often meld darker, horror themes with humor, resulting in classics like \u201cGodzilla\u201d (a Buck Dharma composition featured on 1977\u2019s Spectres<\/i>) and \u201cJoan Crawford,\u201d a macabre highlight of 1981\u2019s Fire of Unknown Origin<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom agree that the outside writers don\u2019t make an effort to adopt a \u201cB\u00d6C style\u201d when coming up for lyrics for the group. \u201cI don\u2019t know how much conscious effort or intention [there is] on the part of the other lyricists,\u201d Dharma says. He cites his working relationship with John Shirley as an example. \u201cJohn has been our primary outside lyricist for the last 20 years; he\u2019s very prolific, and he\u2019s an artist himself. It\u2019s my experience that I choose the stuff of John\u2019s that I can work with. We sort of curate his output to our needs, rather than John writing specifically for us. And that\u2019s probably the same in the case with the other outside lyricists that we\u2019ve used as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dark humor that suffuses many Blue \u00d6yster Cult songs comes naturally, too. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for humor, especially as a side note of an intention,\u201d Dharma says, adding, \u201cWe\u2019ve never taken ourselves too seriously \u2026 although fans [sometimes] take us very<\/i> seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Your Feet and Back on the Road?<\/b>
\nIn the band\u2019s early days, Blue \u00d6yster Cult earned its reputation as an exciting live act, with shows sometimes culminating in an \u201caxe battle\u201d where three guitarists treated their instruments like swords in combat. In the days before concert films were ubiquitous, live albums were the primary means of putting across the energy of a concert into a product fans could enjoy at home. Over the course of their existence, B\u00d6C has released no less than seven live albums. Released more than a year before the group scored its first charting single \u201c(Don\u2019t Fear) The Reaper,\u201d 1975\u2019s Gold-selling On Your Feet or On Your Knees<\/i> represented a major breakthrough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe live records were the turning point for us,\u201d says Buck Dharma. \u201cOn Your Feet or On Your Knees<\/i> came out, and then we had three albums with hit singles on them after that.\u201d Subsequent live albums would continue to document the band\u2019s undeniable power onstage, as well as B\u00d6C\u2019s rapport with audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly unusual\u201d to be off the road in 2020, Dharma admits. \u201cIn my time, we\u2019ve never<\/i> been off.\u201d The band\u2019s concert calendar for the year was scrapped in March, and since then they\u2019ve appeared onstage only twice. One of those was a drive-in gig in New Hampshire in July \u201cAnd that was very successful, so we\u2019ll do more of those,\u201d he promises. As much as is possible in the pandemic era, Blue \u00d6yster Cult is determined to deliver the concert experience. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to social distance, but [we have] a real stage, real lights, real big-screen video.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric Bloom says that performing live keeps him active. \u201cI have a few aches and pains like most guys my age,\u201d he says (Bloom turns 76 in December). \u201cBut I looked at my college yearbook, and most guys my age are fat and bald!\u201d He credits the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll lifestyle for keeping him comparatively youthful.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot many people would want to get up at 5 a.m., go to the airport, take two flights and then do a soundcheck at 4 p.m. and a show at 8 p.m. and then get up the next day and do it again,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cMost people would find that it\u2019s okay for a few days, but it might wear on your after a while.\u201d Eric Bloom has been doing it for nearly half a century.<\/p>\n

Buck Dharma feels the same way, and says that he and his band mates are all looking forward to return to the road as soon as it\u2019s practical and safe to do so. \u201cI foresee the pandemic dying down, and I also foresee more workarounds for live performances,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause people want it, and the artists want it. Let\u2019s face it: Live music is how a lot of people make their living; they\u2019re really hurting, not being able to play live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sole Survivors<\/b>
\nWhile many other bands launched in the late\u2019 60s and early \u201870s are long gone, Blue \u00d6yster Cult is still making new music that exemplifies the melodic-yet-hard-rocking style it perfected decades ago. Dharma notes that back in the band\u2019s early days, record companies took a very different approach to their signed acts than is the case today. Their initial run of albums \u2013 1972\u2019s Blue \u00d6yster Cult<\/i>, Tyranny and Mutation<\/i> from 1973, and 1974\u2019s Secret Treaties<\/i> performed only modestly on the charts. \u201cWe did the first three records for Columbia, and \u2013 God bless\u2019em \u2013 they didn\u2019t drop us,\u201d Dharma says. \u201cIn the old days, the label was in it for the long haul; they signed us to a seven-record deal. They stuck with us in a way that most record companies wouldn\u2019t do today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buck Dharma is circumspect about the terms of the band\u2019s current deal with Frontiers, but there\u2019s good reason to think that fans won\u2019t have to wait 19 years for a follow-up to The Symbol Remains<\/i>. \u201cI\u2019m actually a little surprised we made this<\/i> record,\u201d admits Dharma, who turns 73 in November. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to just watch and see what happens to [the new album]. If it\u2019s really successful, I\u2019ll think there\u2019ll be an incentive to make more records. I certainly wouldn\u2019t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part Two… Career of Evil There are many connective threads that runs through Blue \u00d6yster Cult\u2019s body of work. 2001\u2019s Curse of the Hidden Mirror took its title […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,62],"tags":[349],"class_list":["post-20022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-new-release","category-rawk","tag-blue-oyster-cult","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20022"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20040,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20022\/revisions\/20040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}