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Home , Allen Lanier, Buck Dharma, Eric Bloom, Fire of Unknown Origin, Helen Wheels, Love Me Two Times

Morning Final No. 6 “Roadhouse ,” and Side B: “.” Canada released singles simultaneously with Columbia USA, but these singles bar…by Bolle seem quite rare, as I have only managed to track down three different releases. The Canadian pressings look almost identical to the American releases, but come in Orange CBS logo sleeves. and there are no picture sleeve Canadian singles. The ones we’ve found are: “This Ain’t The Summer Of Love/Debbie Denise”COLUMBIA 3-10560 (1976) “Godzilla/Nosferatu” COLUMBIA 3-10697 (1977) “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place/E.T.I.” COLUMBIA 3-10841 (1978) Having now presented all known released singles from various parts of United Presbyterian Church of , had a series on syndi- the world, I intend to update previously incomplete information on those cated radio stations all over continental USA between 1974 and 1978, releases as a final chapter on 7” singles. called What’s It All About? hosted by Bill Huie. The focus was on present- Germany has a different release of “We Gotta Get Out Of This ing the modern day music stars to their listeners with regards to religious Place/Kick Out the Jams” CBS-6760. On that picture sleeve is a miniature aspects and meaning of each artists output. of Some Enchanted Evening sleeve, as opposed to the Dutch version that Huie presents a quick history and lets the artist comment after which was released with a photo of the band from the photo Huie puts it all into perspective with Biblical quotes, and lets us know at sessions. the end of every show that: “That’s What it’s All About!” The shows were Germany also has a specially made series of rarer demo copies of their sent out as 7” singles to their affiliated stations, and each disc had two singles, a special series for the press, called CBS Blitz-Information, with a artists featured. Blue Öyster Cult were featured in programs # 352 different touch to the photos from the official releases and a little biogra- (January 1977) and #447 (November 1978). phy on the tracks and artist on a yellow and orange coloured back The interview included on these is with Allen in 1976. He talks about the sleeve. Quite the collectibles, if you can find them... origin of the band’s name as well as commenting on violence in Rock & England did release “Going Through The Motions/Searchin’ For Celine” Roll. Although there are two different singles from different times, each CBS S-5889. The release did not offer a Picture sleeve. Both Stock Copies disc contains the same show/interview. and Demo copies were made of this release, so go and find These pieces are normally found at a price ranging from $15.00 to $ them. 25.00 dollars each . Correct listings should read: Bootleggers from England printed up a boxed set of three EPs called WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT? For Public Service (Religious) B’cast Series “Violences” and had it made in Italy. The box set included 3 EPs on 33 & “Gino Vanelli/Blue Öyster Cult” MA-1500 (# 351/352) (1977) 1/3 rpm speed of , Mötorhead, and Blue Öyster Cult. Each “Blue Öyster Cult/Dion” MA-1538 (# 447/448) (1978) record came in a different black & white picturesleeve, offering a series Stalk-Forrest Group had a single pressed up for Radio Station use only. of comix magazines pictures of various violences on the front and the “What Is Quicksand?/Arthur Comics” ELEKTRA EKM-45693 (1970 & 1976). back offered a xeroxed photo of the artists. The labels had photographs Rumoured figures of only 200 copies pressed, seems most likely to be of rioting police from a Belfast bombing. Initial copies of the box had true. In 1976-77 bootleggers pressed up another 200 copies as a Pirated stickers included for Mötorhead. release, so these are in a sense equally rare, however, to confess, I have The total issue of the set was believed to yet to see a copy of the supposedly original issue from 1970. A final be 500 copies, but in this business one can note goes to the “Hear ’N Aid” Project, which featured Buck & Eric. never tell. Most people split the boxes and There were singles released all over Europe in picture sleeves and I started to sell the records separately, and have a Dutch copy: the Mötorhead collectors got the actual HEAR ‘N AID “Stars/4 & half minute news” MERCURY 884 004-7 (1986) box with their purchase. Having never been able to pick up any of the six released singles from The B.Ö.C. single has three songs taken Australia, I can’t offer any information on these releases, since I need to from a KSAN-FM Radio broadcast of the have copies of everything put forward in this article. Xerox copies of the famous Soft White Underbelly show at The labels will do fine, but I need substantial evidence of anything I list here. Old Waldorf Theatre in on 80- Such additions have been sent to me, and I thank the people involved in 09-08. Taken from the end of the show, the this little aspect of collecting records for the help and information given trax are Side A: “Arthur Comics” and to me. Kingdoms of the Radio by Bolle

In 1983, Blue Öyster Cult were invited to appear on the TV show Rock At The April 22nd 1991). Palace, unfortunately before even airing once, the TV show was cancelled, so we Because of the way format radio works, don’t expect to hear the actual fans lost a great performance for our video collections. Instead the Cult was favorite tune, but rather the song that was once the radio hit from that disc. booked to play the Perkins Palace in Pasadena, on July 24th. RKO Since the listeners interested enough to tune in for Eric’s appearance aren’t likely Radio Networks (Syndicated) taped the show for a special broadcast on the eve to enjoy his real choices for DIDs, there is no trace of his liking of Al DiMeola, Chick of the event, as well as a national broadcast about a month after the actual Corea and that entire genre of fusion. Instead, the show concentrates on rock & event, on August 29th. It has been broadcast several times since, although edit- roll and heavy metal. ed to include only half the show. Eric’s radio style is so smooth that it doesn’t feel at all like you’re listening to a For collectors it is available as a “Captured Live” five-sided 3-LP vinyl record. guest on this show, but rather their regular DJ. In a sense this is close to the The discs hold almost three quarters of the show; everything but the material from “Guest DJ” show that Magazine Productions put out in 1983, but in their upcoming new The Revölution By Night, and “Godzilla.” Evidently that case the show consisted of a choice of current favorites as opposed to all- the new material not yet being available on the market prohibited the band from time favorites. Eric chose some great tunes to be played for his hour on DID. officially displaying the new songs on the air. However, the band actually played Included were: four songs off that upcoming album, “Take Me Away,” “Feel The Thunder,” “Veins,” as well as “Shadow Of California.” Jimi Hendrix “Fire” (Anybody’s origin for Rock & Roll Guitars) The full show fits easily and quite neatly on a C90 cassette. (With commercials “Summertime Blues” (From Live At Leeds, everybody’s Eddie included it is a two-hour special). The show was re-mixed for broadcast by Cochran Tune) George Geranios and Steve Schenck. This is probably one of the most interesting “Dream On” (Endorse That Mellotron, maybe they’ll return the radio tapes to collect because it holds one hell of a neat set list. favour) Hosted by ’ KMET DJ, Jim Ladd, the show starts off with “Stairway To Yardbirds “Over Under Sideways Down” (That inevitable Jeff Beck connec- The Stars” and “Harvester Of Eyes” with Eric telling the fans that “We’ll be playing tion) some old, some mold and some gold!” And, as promised, first came the old: Rush “Spirit Of The Radio” (Nice way to say thanx to your fellow billing “Workshop Of The Telescopes,” and “Before The Kiss, A Recap.” Then, out of con- act) text from Eric’s proposed theme for the eve, “Born To Rock,” a treat from Buck’s Mott The Hoople “All The Young dudes” (You have to remember your friends) solo album, followed by “Hot Rails To Hell,” “Seven Screaming Diz Busters” and “” (Favorite choice, from that true original ending the oldies list with “Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll.” (The show contin- Inspiration for our Cult, still a part of their ) ued on here with the new material, although not on the broadcast recording, “Jailbreak” (One More For the road: Our boys almost played this with “Veins,” “Take Me Away,” and “Feel The Thunder”). Next they go for the tune on their last UK Tour...Could’ve been a killer cover tune!), mold: a couple of tunes off , “Joan Crawford,” and Lou Reed “Walk On The Wild side” (Coney Island Super Hero, can’t possibly “Burnin’ For You,” then “Born To be Wild” and closing with the gold: “(Don’t Fear) be left off this selection) The Reaper,” and encore of “Roadhouse Blues” with its short interpretation of “Highway Star” (The ultimate opening track from that perfect “Love Me Two Times.” Even without the cool new tunes, it’s still one incredible album) Radio Performance highly recommended for any audio collector, as it shows off the really fulfilling side of a true B.Ö.Cult show. Quite an interesting song selection for this show with just about all of the mater- ial dated between 1967 and 1975, the years when most of the best and most in- fluential music ever was being made. could easily be a radio Jock, and has been on a number of occa- A final note from Eric is the news of the band going on tour, and then the DJ sions, as a guest of DJ Dennis MacNamara or as a co-host with Ben Manilla on host, Tony Pegan, announces a contest for the chance of winning all the “Every Wednesday with Eric Bloom,” a special show that ran on WLIR-FM New York on CD that were presented on the show, which I presume is a regular part of this over a period of two years. radio show. Perhaps one of these days, we’ll get to hear on this MJI Broadcasting, the people who produce Metal Shop, invited Eric to host show presenting some of his favorite records to bring to that famous imaginary their new weekly show called Desert Island Discs. The title speaks for itself, Each desert island. week a different guest artist presents the tunes they’d most like to have if they were castaway on a Desert Isle. Being a syndicated show, it is available on vinyl and costs about $25.00. (Eric’s appearance is show # 68, for broadcast date of conversation of travel advances, funds due from management, and per diem Now Boarding, United Flight ME-262 amounts. When they finished the discussion, Allen shifted his attention to reading, by specifically, Gore Vidal’s Hollywood. He managed to consume pages 231 - 258 Eric L. Reiner during the 85-minute flight, as well as a Coke Classic and some aspirin. Steve had calmed down considerably after securing his aisle seat. In fact, he calmed down so much he slept just about the entire flight. Even the cup of cof- “Calling United Airlines Passenger E. Bloom,” paged the flight attendant at fee he ordered in mid-air didn’t keep him awake. Gate 6B. Could it be our E. Bloom I wondered, as I waited for my connection to Seated next to Steve was an older gentleman who was listening to a portable New York at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport? CD player he had with him. But since the man didn’t ask Eric or Allen to auto- And then suddenly he appeared. With a red and white Cult scarf draped graph the jewel case of the CD he was playing, I figured he wasn’t listening to around his neck and without glasses framing his eyes, Blue Oyster Cult’s Eric Bloom Career of Evil. proceeded to the counter to handle the inquiry, with and Steve Behind us, Eric Bloom briefly read the New York Times, then closed his eyes. But Schenck (the group’s manager) close behind. I don’t have a personal relation- after drinks were served, he pulled out a paperback and became engrossed in it. ship with the band (although I’ve met them all casually after various concerts It hadn’t occurred to me initially, but at some point that February night I realized over the past 14 years), so running into my favorite Crustaceans in a situation so that Eric Bloom without glasses is kind of like Ian Hunter without shades. humdrum as an airplane flight home was incredibly exhilarating! Finally, the flight ended and we made our way to the baggage claim with Immediately apparent was that Steve was overwhelmed with anxiety and Allen and the now wide-awake Mr. Schenck. When luggage began to appear sweating profusely, having received a poor seat assignment on the crowded on the United Airlines carousel, a limo driver rudely pushed through the crowd — I flight and hoping instead for an aisle seat. Eric, ever dominating, calmly negotiat- could tell I was back in New York — to get his passenger’s belongings. “Hmm, ed with the flight attendant for a seat on the aisle for his manager. The Cagey he’d make a good road man,” muttered Allen. Cult man ultimately prevailed. It was quite some time before our bags and the Cult’s bags were unloaded, so A few minutes later, my girlfriend and I boarded the Boeing Stretch 727 bound we all stood around together. My girlfriend mockingly read aloud a sign posted for New York’s LaGuardia Airport, having been assigned seats 13A (window) and conspicuously in the area, “Bags look alike. Please check to make sure you have 13B, respectively, several weeks earlier. After we’d been on board a few minutes, the right bags.” Steve conceded to her the similarity in appearance and added Allen and Steve walked on to the aircraft, up the aisle, and stopped at Row 12. that not only do all bags look the same but they also have the same contents: Could it be that the Oysters were sitting just one row in front of us?!! dirty laundry. He suggested that everyone from the flight just grab a bag or two, No. They had merely stopped to stow some bags in the overhead compart- go home and wash the clothes in it, and return the baggage to the same spot in ments — and were now sitting in Row 13 with us!! Allen plopped down in 13C 3 days. Since the band had been on the road for several weeks whereas my girl- (aisle) right next to me, and Steve sat just across the aisle in 13D! Mr. Bloom friend and I had been away only 5 days, we decided it wouldn’t be to our boarded a little later and sat in 16C, 3 rows behind us. advantage to participate in Steve’s scheme. The band was connecting from a flight from Calgary, having played in Red But of course, sooner or later, everyone’s luggage did show up, and we were Deer, Alberta, the night before. The other 3 members of the band had taken dif- forced to go home by ourselves — and with our own dirty laundry. It was, howev- ferent flights. Jon Rogers had connected to a plane headed for Newark er, a flight I’ll never forget, the flight of United’s ME-262! International Airport (which is in New Jersey and also serves the New York Metro- politan Area), while Buck Dharma and Ron Riddle had flown into LaGuardia earli- Editors note: The author of this article, originally from the south (see last ish), has been living in New er in the day to make an additional connection to Ithaca, NY. York the last three years. The enchanted evening of this flight was February 24, 1991 The Oyster boys were very obviously dog-tired from their West Coast tour so, not wanting to bother them with questions they’d undoubtedly answered thou- sands of times before, I turned my article-gathering quest to one of the oldest methodologies known to social scientists: observation. Taking copious notes, I was able to unobtrusively capture the events of this enchanted evening as they unfolded. After getting comfortable, Allen pulled from his tote a stack of receipts big enough to make an accountant proud. He furiously worked the pile (which appeared to be several weeks worth of restaurant, hotel, and car rental receipts from both coasts of the country), first sorting it and then totalling all the amounts. I was surprised that Allen, a veritable wizard of modern electronic keyboard tech- nology, was adding all those figures the old-fashioned way: by hand. I invited him to use my calculator (an HP-12C at that) but he declined the invitation. I guess when you make a livelihood fingering keyboards and guitars every night the last thing you want to do in your spare time is type numbers into a calculator! Once he arrived at a final total, Allen turned to Steve and engaged him in a Hamming it up or, why Ron Riddle no longer fears the reaper more than just a timekeeping station that most drummers are bound to these days. In fact, the drumming is the stand-out feature of this band, after Hamm’s “lead bass” work. by melne Hamm relies heavily on the Chapman Stick “hammer-on” technique popularized by Eddie Van Halen and Stanley Jordan for use on the guitar. This allows for a flurry of notes to be played in different octaves simultaneously, giving the illusion of two or more instruments Ain’t that the way it goes—just when the BÖC boys were sounding their best, and the being played at the same time. This worked really well on Hamm’s LP, but live, given the new guys were really happening and accepted as fully-fledged members of brotherhood first-night-out jitters that the band was feeling made for a lot of ringing strings and slight miss- of Blue Öyster Cult, yet another change has to occur. While this is a disappointment in the es on his part, and made the band sound a lot tighter and more together than its much- Öyster world, it is also a great step forward for the one who has left the nest, being our lauded leader. always smiling and happy drummer, Ron Riddle. He is now the drummer for Stuart Hamm, Playing to a sold-out crowd at the Bacchannal in San Diego, Hamm and the band sailed bass player extrodinaire, whose new record, The Urge is available on Relativity Records. through most of the songs on his new album. Most the set is instrumental, only two or three While on their last southern California stretch of dates, Ron was contacted by Hamm’s songs featured Hamm singing, but after such a barrage of notes, the singing came as a manager, who had heard of Ron from the Red and the Black, and his playing with seventies nice treat, even though Hamm is a competent but not excellent vocalist. His bass tech- progressive group Happy the Man. His experience with Happy the Man, however, really nique is indeed awesome. He plays his Factor bass with its transatlantic-cable-girth strings piqued Hamm’s interest in Ron, and he was invited to come audition for the gig. The way with such ease it Ron tells it, with no idea he was going to leave BÖC, he came in for an audition with an seems he is sim- idea of “seeing what I could do up against some of the heavyweights trying out for this gig. ply stroking the Just to compare and see where I stand.” Ron needn’t have worried or even wondered, as air, and the vari- he stood well above all the rest, and was offered the gig on the spot! ety of sounds he Ron was thrilled with the prospect, and after finishing the string of dates on the Öyster is able to evoke run, returned home from his instru- briefly before head- ment certainly ing out again to gives a person a California for heavy- new idea about duty rehearsals to the bass. prepare the Stuart Guitarist Hamm Band for a six- Skolnik is a fluid month tour. soloist, although During prepara- at times plays tions for the tour we with more flash met up with Ron for than feeling, an evening, and which is a defi- then traveled to San nite downfall of Diego to catch Ron’s this genre of “first day on the new music, a flaw job.” shared by “I’m in musical Satriani, Steve heaven!” proclaimed Vai, and Billy Ron, and it was obvi- Sheehan alike. ous why. His compa- After smiling ny in the band Ronnie behind the drums, Skolnik was the happiest guy on stage. includes Alex Skolnik Keyboardist Yeager was mostly in the background at this show, musically and physically, of Testament on gui- holding down a lot of the bottom end so Hamm could solo over a full sound. tar, Jimmy Yeager on A highlight of the set was a song called “Terminal Beach,” a piece for drums and bass keyboards and of that allowed our ‘öyster alone’ to shine. Unfortunately many of the pieces from Hamm’s course, Stuart Hamm, album lost their subtlety and nuance in the room, which will most likely always plague this whose credits include form of music in a live situation. playing with David & After the show Ron was exuberant, and the band was congratulated and thanked by a David as well as Joe plethora of fans. A few Blue Öyster fans had heard about the gig and were there to give Satriani. Ron has a our Ronnie a pat on the back. The tour is slated to cover the entire in the next lot of creative free- six months, and also off to Japan in September. Mucho congratulations and luck to our dom in this band and man Ron! [Ron’s replacement in Blue Öyster Cult is Chuck Bürgi, who has worked with Eric Bloom on several occa- makes the drum posi- sions (see MF 5 for more on Chuck).] tion much, much

tour personnel. This tour book contains two type errors: In two places Buck Dharma’s name is misspelled as Dahrma, and the errors are covered up Tour Collectibles by black corrective stickers. tour programmes examined… The Japanese tour book is another oversized book, measuring 14x10. On the cover is a color photo of the band on stage, lettered with “Blue Öyster Cult” on the top, and “Blue Öyster Cult Japan Tour” on the bot- One of the highlights of going to rock shows is picking up any number tom. The text is, of course, in Japanese, and the photos are a combina- of souvenirs to take home. Tour merchandising is big business, and an tion of black and white and color. The Japanese tour books also have odd assortment of buyables have been offered over the years bearing advertising, in this case for coffee, musical instruments, radio stations the name or logo of Blue Öyster Cult. and…other upcoming concerts! After T-shirts, tour books are the next most-thought-of and most-bought- The book for the Fire of Unknown Origin U.S. tour is another great book. of tour collectible. BÖC has had seven tour books over the years. In the The cover is black with a blurred but blazing-red photo of the group on United States and in England there are three BÖC tour books each and stage, typeset with “Blue Öyster Cult in concert” with a logo above the there is also one Japanese tour book for the 1979 tour there. The U.S. tour photo. The inside has the obligatory bio, and a variety of great color pho- books were issued in tandem with the Spectres tour, the Cultösaurus tos. In the back of the book is a dynamite spread of all their album covers Erectus tour, and the Fire of Unknown Origin tour. In England the books printed against a black background opposite the tour personnel listing. correspond with the Some Enchanted Evening tour (with the Spectres The last tour book was printed for the U.K. Club Ninja tour, but the left- book, since their tour didn’t reach England until Some Enchanted was overs were also sold in the U.S. Sized the same as the U.K. Mirrors book, almost released), the Mirrors tour and the Club Ninja tour. The Japanese the cover is a color stage photo of the group along the top is “Blue Öys- book was published to coincide with BÖC’s only tour there in 1979. ter Cult” in the Club Ninja lettering. The photos inside, all color, were The Spectres book is the same in content but not in size for the United taken at Hammerjack’s, a club in Baltimore, MD. It also contains a bio States and England. The U.S. version measures 14x11 inches and the and list of tour personnel. English one is 10x8. The book’s cover is black and lettered in white with Other goodies for sale have included badges, pendants, key chains, “Blue Öyster Cult in Concert,” and a poorly rendered logo. The interior stickers, baseball caps and visors, scarves, headbands, belt buckles, begins with a short bio of the group, followed by color and black and patches and some local giveaways like frisbees. white pictures, one page spread for each band member, and a great collage of “goodies” (passes, guitar picks, stickers, old reviews) in the centerspread. This is probably one of the coolest tour books for its variety of photos and artful approach to presenting the band. The Mirrors tour offered fans in the U.K. a book slightly bigger than their previous one, measuring 10x9. The cover is blue with the band name in the “On Your Feet” lettering on the cover, with a logo. It offers no text aside from a list of band members and a brief discography, just colorful pictures—all taken at the same show. In America, no tour book was offered, but a fold-out poster-magazine called Rockbill was distributed at the shows. Later Rockbill became a little magazine, but in its beginning it was a large sheet (the size of four regular sheets of paper) folded twice. On the cover is the same photo of the band as on the back of the Mirrors album cover. The paper opens up once to a bio and some pictures, and opens up once more to reveal a very nice poster of the band wearing sil- ver satin tour jackets (for which there is an order form on the back page). The Cultösaurus Erectus tour book is small 9x12 book done for the U.S. 1980 tour and on the cover is a color live pic of the “Born to be Wild” finale and pyrotechnic display, lettered simply “Blue Öyster Cult,” and the return of the good-looking logo. Inside is a two page bio, a center spread in color, and a selection of photos in black and white, plus a list of the Blue Öyster Cult's Japanese tour programme Buck Dharma and Friends Fortress Studios Hollywood, California April 20, 1991 by Gene Sobczak As would be expected, the Morning Final crew was Although he may be “On Tour thrilled out of its collective Forever” with the interminably gourd to be playing with not gigging Blue Oyster Cult, Donald only a member of their “Buck Dharma” Roeser found favorite band, but with a time during a recent visit to Los musician of such tremendous Angeles to sit in with Morning talent. The man really is that Final staff members for a memo- good! Donald’s kind words of rable, if at times shaggy, thanks and encouragement impromptu jam session. With following the session, and magazine editors Bolle and again a few weeks later at a Melne Gregmar on drums and BOC show in Los Angeles, guitar, respectively, and your topped off an experience author holding the reigns on the that all involved parties have low end, Donald found enthusi- agreed would not remain a astic support from his new band once-in-a-lifetime affair. mates in what must have been one of his most casual sessions in recent years. Nevertheless, Donald’s playing sounded force- ful and inspired as the New Blue Revue ran through a sixty-minute set of BOC concert standards and treasured b-sides, as well as several choice cover songs—always the mark of a good bar Song List band. Noticeably missing from the afternoon’s set list, however, (though with little regret from Bolle or Melne) were such radio- 1. I’m Free (The Who) 8. Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence friendly, Buck Dharma classics as “Burning for You,” “Godzilla,” 2. Cagey Cretins 9. Kick Out the Jams/Ramblin’ Rose (The MC5) “Born to Rock” and, despite some subliminal encouragement 3. Harvester of Eyes 4. Teen Archer 10. We Gotta Get Out of This Place from the , “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” The entire session was 5. Dominance and Submission (The Animals) captured on film by Donald’s wife, Sandra, an accomplished 6. Tattoo Vampire 11. Break on Through (The Doors) photographer, and on audio cassette by Bolle, adding another 7. Transmaniacon MC 12. The Red and the Black feather to the cap of this avid Blue Oyster Cult tape collector. 13. Stairway to the Stars “Baby Ice Dog,” Albert wrote musical themes to Patti’s poems, and the results were “The Revenge Of Vera Gemini,” “To Remember Debbie Denise,” “Sally,” “Soul Jive,” And a first attempt at “A Fire Of Unknown Origin.” This version, a slow ballad and very different from the “Fire” of 1981, was taken all the way to the final step of produc- tion, but in the end didn’t fit the rest of the material, so was left off the album. Albert also wrote two songs with Helen Wheels’ (Robbins) lyrics, “Tattooed Vampire” & “Sinful Love,” as well as “This Ain’t The Summer Of Love” with lyrics by California journalist Don Waller, and touched up by Murray Krugman. He also wrote a song with ’s words called “Hansel & Gretel” and a first attempt at “” that never passed the doorstep to the studios. (Imaginos actually had a couple of different song structures before making the final and complete version we all know). Allen came up with six tunes for these sessions, and they were “True Confessions,” which he sang himself, and the masterpiece “Ten- derloin,” as well as “Searchin’ For Céline,” a song about French nov- elist Louis-Ferdinand Céline, which appeared soon thereafter with a slight re-write on the Spectres album. Allen also presented a song with a lyric called “Dance The Night Away,” which can be found on Carroll’s 1983 album I Write Your Name. Two others were “Lookin’ For The Look” and “Danger Water.” Joe had a couple of ideas for the album, the magnificent musical picture movie “Morning Final” and a song called “Paint The Sky Red.” “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” started out on Buck’s home demo with a couple of guitar and bass tracks with vocals. To top it off, he After wrapping up the early era with added percussion in a most unusual way, Buck played the “drums” Secret Treaties and On Your Feet Or On Your for this demo by hitting the Encyclopædia Brittanica, and for cymbal Knees, the next phase of Blue Öyster Cult was effects simply said “psscchh....” which is very humorous, but also characterized by a new twist in the band’s song- quite effective. The demo itself is almost exactly the same as the final writing process: everyone in the band acquired their version on the album. It did go through a couple of peculiar experi- own home 4-track recorders and began writing songs ments (that failed) before its final mix. Producer David Lucas had in a much different fashion than had been done previ- Randy Brecker play some flugel horn in between the vocals, which ously: at home, alone rather than with the group in a live or was awful and thankfully left off the final mix. rehearsal situation. “E.T.I.” came into these sessions as a raw instrumental cut, Agents Of Fortune was the result of this new step in their and was instantly liked by everyone. Both Joe and Sandy attempted creative process, and defined a new method of how an album’s a lyric for the song. Sandy’s first try at the track bore the name of material was chosen. For a song to appear on an album, it actually “Punishment Park.” Rumour has it that Sandy himself made an has to fight its way through several stages to finally to the final cut. This attempt to sing this track. By the time they started the actual album evolutionary chain could be broken down in three steps: 1) home demo, to be session Joe sang the song with his lyric, “Des Pot Soup,” which only presented first at a band meeting and hopefully chosen to be worked on further, lasted until Sandy came up with the E.T.I. lyric. 2) Pre-production demos, which are all basically live versions from band At this time Buck also wrote “Wind, Weather & Storm,” which rehearsals (with perhaps some vocals and guitars added on afterwards to present was later used for his solo album Flat Out. a clearer idea for the producer to work with) and 3) Studio sessions, the selected Surprisingly, after having co-written five songs, more than “winners” go into the “real” studio to be properly recorded for inclusion on the half of the Secret Treaties album, Eric must have gone dry on ideas, released product. By this stage all the selections have been made, leaving none leaving him completely off the writers credits on this entire project. or very few left-overs from the real studio sessions. Titles submitted as home demos for this upcoming album were: from Albert, several tunes written with ’s lyrics. As before with “Career” and PRESS THE EJECT… …and give me the tape …A trilogy on tape by Bolle

These forever enchanting live tapes we all collect display a lot of fun Xmas tour of California and New York, and for the first time presented “moments of truth” of our artist’s true genius (or lack thereof) captured at material from that would eventually turn up on their next album (Club the spur of the moment, with no chance of going back to repair any Ninja). This show ran for a hefty 100+ minutes, and it was a very spunky blunders. We can go home and relive these moments and share them performance from the band, with (although unknown at the time) Rick with other fans of similar interests. Downey doing his last run of shows before quitting the band in early Thanks to this phenomenon known as bootlegging, I have come to a January of 1985. much greater understanding of my favorite bands and their music, by This show ran a double opening with first “R.U.Ready 2 Rock” followed trading tapes with people who “were there” to tape it all, and then share immediately by “Stairway To The Stars,” what more can anybody ask for? these tapes with anyone who’s into the same music. “Buck’s Boogie” followed with a statement from Eric saying: “It’s a Not ever being able to see B.Ö.C. in concert between 1978 and 1987, I good night in New York, I love that!” Shooting away with “ME 262” fol- am very happy about finding tapes at record fairs and conventions, as lowed by “Last Days O’May”—the first time they adopted the ‘Car-Stop’ well as through trades via magazines like Goldmine, where all these tape arrangement which gave the song a new strength for their live shows. collectors advertise their listings. Most of the time, the tapes they offer “Golden Age of Leather” followed and back in 1984 the band still used a seem to be radio recordings, taped off the air or straight from the Radio tape to provide the choir of “Raise Your Can Of Beer...” The performance Station Discs. These shows always hold a higher sound quality, but a lot of was great with all the good spots really coming off right. 7th song of the people trade with poor quality cassettes, as well as using Dolby (Dubly?— show is the debut of the new material—for the first time “Make Rock Not ed.) and/or have poor dubbing equipment resulting in hissy or muffled War” was being played and Eric introduced the song by talking of the sounding tapes, and that can generate more aggravation than pleasure. 13th Album that’s supposed to be out in 5 months…(It really took 12 Also, as a general rule, buying tapes from people who are only in it for months before this actually happened). The song was met with a strong the quick money should always be boycotted. Most of the time they reception from the people. don’t even know what tapes they are supplying, which of course is an Astronomy was Buck’s highlight of the evening as he shone through his insult to both the artist as well as their customers. so I recommend staying parts with that Magic he sometimes displays on a tune such as this. away from the profit makers of Bootleg tapes. Following and ending the show were “Joan Crawford,” “Take Me Away,” Audience recordings often vary in sound quality, but most of the time, “Burnin’ For You,” “Godzilla,” & “The Reaper.” The band came back for a you can count on fairly good sound on tapes from clubs, of course there strong three-song Encore, playing “Let Go” are tapes that sound as if they came from paranoid tapers with too-well with “Hot Rails To Hell” following, and before ending the night with hidden recorders and microphones, but luckily enough this is more an “Cities On Flame.” They ask people what they want to hear, and the oddity than the rule. band plays “Let’s Spend the Night Together” for about ten seconds, and Here’s a look at some shows taped at the L’Amour Club in Brooklyn in just leaves us wanting to hear more...but, more had to be postponed until late 1984 through late 1985. These are shows I would otherwise know six months down the road, when the band returns for yet another S.W.U. nothing about, but thanks to some hard core fans, I now enjoy listening to show on June 29th, featuring not Blue but New Öyster Cult: with new three shows from the winter, summer and again winter prior to the release drummer Jimmy Wilcox, and new Keyboard player Tommy Zvoncheck. of Club Ninja. For this new chapter of The Cult, they had a new Intro tape with a fu- There should have been a fourth tape to complete this history as The turistic theme to fit the Ninja Line-up more. The theme, “S-Scape” from Cult played a fourth show at L’Amour on August 2nd of 1986, but so far Larry Fast’s 2nd Synergy album provided a perfect intro feel for these no luck in finding a taped copy of the show, so I can only deal with shows. “R.U.Ready 2 Rock” opened the set, and “E.T.I,” followed by three-fourths of the whole story. Out of the three shows, the first is the “Buck’s Boogie,” led into Ninja material “Spy In The House Of The Night” best sounding, given a 90% rating, with each one following with lower intro’d by Eric, who once again talks of their 13th release, to be out in a sound quality. couple of months... “Rock Not War” is once again presented, this time On December 14th of 1984, Soft White Underbelly went out on a pre- one step closer to the album version, with Jimmy playing the drums in the Press the Eject…con't. Into the Night with BÖC by Bolle mold of Thommy Price’s on the recording. “Take Me Away” interrupts the almost-trilogy of songs from this new album. But, “Beat ‘Em Up” comes on strong, and takes some of the audience fists in their face. Some fans knew this song from the Canadian Songstress Lee Aaron’s Ahh, Then came the First days of May... and on the 8th day B.Ö.C. record, put out in 1983, so it was like a cover tune to a few. “Last Days created a special reason for watching Television. KABC-TV Los Angeles Of May” & “Joan Crawford” were both followed by “Wings Of and Rick Dees invited the band to become guests for Channel 7’s night- Mercury,” promised to be on the album, but it never saw the light of time competition with Arsenio Hall and Johnny Carson—one time KIIS-FM day. Most people would have forgotten about this hip boogie tune DeeJay Rick Dees’ Into The Night. (that is very close musically to New York Doll’s “Jet Boy”) had it not Just in time for the spring ratings, Rick has the good taste of bring- been on the Bisquit Flower Hour in 1986. The rest of the show was sim- ing on the ultimate heroes of underground music. The band played two ply standard and almost the same as the previous show, with only “Let specially edited tunes: “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and “Godzilla,” and we Go” missing from the repertoire of the New Öyster Cult. were also offered a little chat with Buck & Eric who were being very Five months later the band returned to this same stage, and as on polite, answering Rick’s very inane questions. previous shows, the billing was for Soft White Underbelly. Warming up In all, it was a typical TV show performance with a lousy sound mix for an upcoming Tour of The United Kingdom the set list was expanded and wrong camera angles. The picture producer shows the keyboards and the new guys had broadened their cultövated vocabulary, Open- when there’s a , and the drummer when there’s a crucial line ing up the show was the forever flying from the singer... “Messerschmitt 262”, and setting the pace for the rest of the night to I was invited to come and see the show taped and be a part of show who’s the boss “Dominance & Submission” had re-entered The the audience, which gave me a better insight as to how these kind of Cult’s shows. shows are made. What baffled me was that they set up The Cult for one “E.T.I,” and “Buck’s Boogie” were tearing the place apart before a song and the interview, then struck the stage for the appearance of a surrender of “White Flags” was announced, a small mistake as Buck comedienne, and after that set up all monitors and micing again for the comes in too soon, almost screws up the band, but these guys know 2nd song. Now, wouldn’t it be better if they’d done the band stuff all how to stay in Power, and White Flags turns out to be the coolest song together in one go, and for the broadcast of the show edit the different of the night. “Take Me Away” and “Veteran Of The Psychic Wars” had segments into their planned spots? the audience capitulate completely, and the band just went “Dancin’ It is all pre-rehearsed but then run and taped as though it were In The Ruins” before finding “Joan Crawford” had indeed risen, and live on the air, with perhaps just one short re-take in between commercial then took off once again Riding The “Wings Of Mercury”. “Burpin’ For breaks, and pausing during ads for fresh make-up and fixing hair or a You” and then Eric was pleading for the audience to give him a break, quick review of anything needing to be edited; or in a worst case sce- saying “You don’t want to hear this story again for the 8th Billionth nario re-shot. On this particular show Rick Dees had to redo one thing Time???!!” He proceeded to tell it anyway and continued with the because of a faulty mic-line, but apart from that the show seemed to run usual ending of the show. The band came back for 2 more songs, smoothly. “Cities On Flame” and specially for the upcoming English tour “We We arrived at The ABC studios in Hollywood around 2pm where Gotta Get Out Of This Place” left nothing more to be said. we were directed straight to the “Green Room” a hospitality room for the This third show was about 95 minutes, and the sound only gets a rat- guests of the show, to hang around, eat some snacks, and watch nine ing of 80% there, as it appears to have been recorded almost by the monitors with the different camera angles displayed. I talked to some of bar, where a bunch of people are constantly talking, not paying any the guests, and went almost immediately up into the audience to watch attention to what’s going on in the house. Annoying, but the band the whole show, we were seated at the very back, so that we basically makes up for it with their varied set list. wouldn’t show up on anyone’s camera whenever audience was filmed. This made it easy for us to leave when we wanted to, because officially, once you’re seated, you can’t leave the studio until somebody shouts..It’s A Wrap!