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Home , Albert Bouchard, Allen Lanier, Black and Blue (video), Buck Dharma, California Tour, Crafty Hands

Morning Final No. 5 hot air by melne IN BRIEF “On Tour Forever” is the motto of our hard-working band, and throughout their career they have ceaselessly schlepped around the world trying to bring their to the uninitiated. Blue Öyster Cult has made good on the “Cult” of Ever wonder How To Make It In The Music Business? their name by inducing a frenzied fanaticism rivaled (in sheer number only) by better to tell you than and ? Grateful Dead’s faithful. As with most cult things—be they bands, movies, or The Cultured duo will be holding a seminar in City books, they are held as a zealous secret among the devoted, and rarely heard of by the masses. Which, in BÖC’s case, means they are more often than not through the Learning Annex covering this subject. They will preaching to the already converted, and that doesn’t allow for much expansion be the featured speakers and that will be followed by a of audience and leaves this creative and talented band slugging it out in the question and answer session with the guys. This is the time clubs while other, less interesting bands are top of the pops. to find out if they really do wear leather underwear.... With this, the first issue of the second year of Morning Final, we thought To register for the class, call 212-580-2828. The class we’d like to bring you some tales of touring with Blue Öyster Cult from the fans is from 6:30-9 pm on Tuesday, April 23, and it’s course num- point of view—a portrait of the undying devotion of the fan willing to also be “on ber 425, section D. Cost is $24 for one person, and $29 for tour forever” with our boys. Thanks to all who lent their talents and time to this

NEWS two people. So call now, Eric and Allen are are expecting issue, and to all our new members…Enjoy!—melne you!

Albert Bouchard has been keeping himself very busy over the past 6 months, with new projects coming up all the time, and it seems as if our man is getting himself back in good action again. During the Christmas season he produced a five song EP for the David Cassidy and Blue Öyster Cult together? band Heads Up and this year has been working with a new band he dis- Well, sort of. Both are present in the movie Spirit of ‘76, a satirical view of covered in New York called Maria Excommunikata. Next month Albert is the 1970s pop culture which is currently playing around the country. Blue going to begin producing their first for Megaforce Records. Their Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper” is one of the 27 songs from 1976 on two-song demo (produced by Albie) combines soaring vocals slightly the soundtrack. David Cassidy stars in the film, along with Leif Garrett reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins with a textural rock twist, with music and appearances by Devo, Barbara Baik, Moon Unit Zappa, Rob Reiner, somewhere between Love and Rockets and Kate Bush: music that will fit Sophia Coppola and BÖC fan club member Jessica Livingston. perfectly into the college/alternative department. It’s kind of campy, tacky, but fun. It should be in video stores soon. In the meantime, he’s never resting, he’s written a bunch of new songs and as we know with this very prolific writer, almost all of all his songs are great. Let’s all hope that soon he’ll be able to put out a prod- uct of his own playing and his music.

The Red and The Black have recorded a new demo in NYC re- cently. It includes a revamped version of “Andrea,” one of the songs on Hey Tattoo Vampires!! their previous demo, plus three other songs, one a collaboration with Apparently lots of fans have gone to the pain and trouble to have Bruce Abbott, who worked with Buck on “Golden Age of Leather.” BÖC related tattoos put on their bodies…and we want to see them! So The R'n'B boys are also playing an "in-store" at East Coast Music in send those photos-preferably clear and in colour, and don't forget to association with Steinberger Sound on April 11. include your name, address and age to: BÖC Tattoos and the Cult Brothers have been playing a bit as well, P. O. Box 4981 they just played a show for 2000 people in at the Syria Mosque, Berkeley, CA 94704-4981 headlining over Humble Pie and Leon Russell. They also had an appear- ance in Monticello, home of Jefferson. As you read this, they are playing a return Spring Break engagement at the club Rockburger in Myrtle Tonight, I'm gonna see some Beach S.C., a week of hard work playing 3 hours of music a night. Rock Burger has been improved since they played there last, with a new stage, and expanded to twice the previous size. The Cult Bros. have also fin- ished a couple tracks, “Deadman Walkin’” and “On Fire With Love” and ! they are hoping to record an album this summer for a possible autumn release…keep your fingers crossed. Joe is working on a second “Cult yeah, my favorite group is playin’ …’70s shows by melne Brothers Bootleg Video,” chronicling their trip to Montana. Joe is also working very hard on his education, currently studying music history and composition. He recently had the honour of having his After I discovered Blue Öyster Cult in 1976 at the young age of 15, I was thrilled first self-penned classical piece, a work for and oboe, performed! when they were to appear in , 70 miles from where I lived in Colorado. Because of my age, my parents disapproved of my going to rock and roll concerts, so by the time I convinced them that I’d die if I didn’t get to see my favorite band, all the good tickets had been sold, and my seats were on the top balcony on Joe’s side of the stage, with a flying PA cabinet blocking my view of Albert. Either due to my inexperience with rock concerts or the fact that I didn’t know any better, I still had a mystical experience regardless of the seat location. Just thrilled that they were there—live—and playing that music…and that I was ErrÐHeads? there to listen to it! This was the only time I’d see their laser show, which, although interest- ing for a few moments was certainly not the big deal that they had written about in the a few corrections from our last ish… press. It did, however, provide some entertainment during the drum solo. One small disap- pointment for me was that they failed to play my favorite song, “I Love The Night” from their latest release, Spectres. But I’d get used to this, since this would happen on every tour I Eric called us up and informed us that we’d mixed up our informa- would see, save one. tion about his side projects...so here’s the real story... The next time I saw them was at the outdoor Red Rocks Amphitheatre the follow- In 1984 Eric and Richie Cannata, Billy Joel's original sax player, ing year. This place opened up in the afternoon so people could come in and leisurely wait started the B.C. Project (Bloom/Cannata). Cannata had been working for the show. Making a day of it, I arrived early to assure close seating. This was the Some Enchanted Evening Tour, and the night was enchanting under the stars with The Stars. The on songs that he wanted to publish, so Eric and he demoed the songs thrill of the night was when threw his sticks into the audience, and one and submitted them to CBS. CBS was very interested in the project, but in came right to the person who needed and wanted it the most—ME! During the “Godzilla” the end wouldn't sign the project when they decided "Eyes On Fire," one drum solo, Albert leaned back and when he sat up again he had a papier maché Godzilla of the songs, should be recorded by BÖC instead of Bloom/Cannata, head on. It was funny and made me think that Albert must have a great sense of humor, which I later found to be true. and due to contractual obligations their hands were tied for presenting They brought their Mirrors tour to Denver in the summer. I didn’t know at the time, the material to other labels. but living in Colorado doesn’t allow you as many chances to see bands as the Coastal cor- In 1987 Eric got together with drummer Chuck Bürgi and guitarist ridors, so with my insatiable appetite for Blue Öyster Cult and my fortune of being the child Bob Kulick of Meatloaf and bassist Dennis Feldman from Heaven, all of of an airline pilot, I took the next logical step. When informed of a BÖC appearance in Minneapolis, my childhood turf, I made plans for a flight. Having never traveled alone whom also once played in the band Balance. They formed the Eric before it was a major adventure, even though friends would provide me with transportation Bloom Band and played a few gigs around the New York area, playing from the airport and to the show. They had been kind enough to get me a ticket, and mostly original material and a few old Öyster gems. Eric ceased working because I was attending alone, it was in the 11th row!! This show was fabulous, BÖC played with them when Bob Kulick decided to make it a trio, which had a short half the songs from Mirrors, a feat they never seemed to realize in later years. For once, I was allowed the pleasure of seeing my favorite song,“The Vigil,” performed. (This would life as Skull. never happen again). It was the first of several times I would make a thousand mile journey A few lucky fans also got to see Eric and Richie guesting onstage to experience a few hours of BÖC. with Robbie Krieger when he toured the NYC area! The next year, when the band came around for the Cultösaurus () tour, I planned a similar pilgrimage to both Denver and Minneapolis, and it was well worth it. These are probably my favorite two shows ever. The band was awesome, and Cultösaurus Also, a corrected piece of information on the song "Dead House," Erectus was such an excellent album, and they played almost all the songs off of it. (As which was talked about in last issue’s Covert Cult. usual, though, my favorite song from the album, “Deadline” was omitted from the set). But The Song was written by Les Braunstein and was part of an at- the boys more than satiated me with “Divine Wind,” “Lips In The Hills,” “Hungry Boys,” “The tempt for him to get back in the music business in 1973. Marshall Plan,” “Unknown Tongue,” and “Black Blade.” Two days after the Minneapolis show they played Denver, and we were treated to a “No Show” from the Sabs…GREAT He had written three songs that were recorded under Albert’s pro- NEWS…BÖC played an even longer set!! (I never liked them Sabs anyway) duction supervision and had Albert on drums, Buck on , Les on I didn’t know it then, but the future would hold many more “Culture” trips such as vocals and John Trivers on bass. these, and a long-enduring fandom of this very special band. neighborhood, so consequently, city officials were stationed in residential areas around the arena with db meters reading volume levels. The results for a BÖC fan Burning Down The House were five small bodies in a huge stadium, sounding as though there was a pillow over With Blue Öyster Cult in the ’80s • photo and text by The Quicklime Girl your head. Two weeks later, BÖC returned to for some Soft White Underbelly There are certain advantages to living in California if you’re a Cult fan, like the shows at the Old Waldorf in . It was only a 400 mile drive, so I packed a dense population that provides a lot of markets so by the end of the ‘80s I had bag, charged my tickets by phone and made my first BÖC road trip. It was not long attended almost 50 BÖC shows, traveling about 9000 miles without leaving the state. after that the Old Waldorf was closed—a trend that continued for all clubs in San Many of the shows were unique and I luckily began when I did, since that first show Francisco that BÖC played in the ‘80s. was only a month before Albert departed. July ‘83. A whole year since the Cult had played California, but many of my July 1981, Sports Arena was my first Blue Öyster Cult concert. It was Sunday afternoons were spent at the rock and roll swap meets in L.A. collecting old a last minute decision to attend—the only BÖC album in my collection was Mirrors, so press and photos, trying to recapture that lost decade. This is when I realized I’d I was prepared for a somewhat pop music show. It’s probably a combination of missed the entire laser era! The band would be playing some SWU shows at a new being female, born in the sixties, and raised in suburbia that sheltered me from the first club in San Francisco, Wolfgang’s. So again, I charged those tickets, packed my decade of BÖC live, but after 90+ minutes of black leather, a motorcycle on stage bags and drove 400 miles north…and on arrival discovered that late shows had been and some hot rock and roll—I set aside my Barry Manilow records and began my added both nights…and were sold out. Road Manager Tony Cedrone was kind adventure as a serious BÖC fan. hearted enough to let me stay for the second shows. This is where I first met BÖC’s #1 fan Ché Quicksilver. BÖC outdid themselves during this series of concerts. The second night’s first show is still my favorite concert of all time by any artist or group. These are the shows where we first heard “Take Me Away” and “Feel the Thunder,” which Eric announced would be on their upcoming album Night Makes Right, later renamed Revölution By Night. A few days later BÖC was back in Pasadena-this time at Perkin’s Palace for a taping of the TV show Rock at the Palace. Unfortunately the video jinx that has plagued their career struck again and the TV series was cancelled. BÖC went ahead and played the show as a regular concert. November ‘83. BÖC hits California for a large arena tour to support Revölution By Night. I met up with them in the night before Thanksgiving. The next show was in San Francisco on Friday, which left me driving almost 600 miles on Thanksgiving Day, and experiencing my first snowfall in route. (Needless to say the next time they toured in Winter, I took a plane). Then it was back down to Southern California for San Bernadino and Long Beach shows. Much of the set consisted of material from the new album. At the time, no one knew how unique these shows were. It was only years later I discovered that “Shadow of California” was not played everywhere. I traveled 1800 miles that week, a record I’ve since broken. It was the last tour on which I saw Tony Cedrone. More than a year passed before I saw BÖC again. In December 1984 I flew to BÖC with Rick Downey at the Country Club December 15, 1981 San Francisco to see two nights at the Kabuki Theatre. (Shortly afterwards it was closed down). This was the first tour I’d been on with the band playing clubs and the- 15 December ‘81, Country Club, Los Angeles. This show was publicized only on aters under the BÖC name as opposed to SWU. I much prefer mid-size venues over KMET radio, who also held all of the tickets. Since I lived fairly close, it seemed worth the large arenas and small clubs. They finished the string of Southern California shows the gamble to try to get in. The past six months had been spent buying the entire at an old converted movie palace in San Bernadino on December 10. It was the last BÖC record collection and I was anxious to see them live now that I knew the songs. California show that Rick Downey played drums for BÖC. While loitering in the parking lot with other ticketless fans I had my first interaction with Due to the tour in December I postponed my annual holiday brunch until an Öyster up close… was hanging around outside the stage door. He February. So, there I was one Sunday afternoon, watching 30+ friends munching was really nice about signing autographs and talking to fans. For a mere $15 some- away on my cooking when one guest mentioned how surprised he was that I wasn’t one scalped me their ticket, and I saw not only my first BÖC club show, but Robbie on my way to Fresno for that BÖC concert. Could it be possible that BÖC snuck into Krieger came out to play “”—which is the version that appears on California without my knowledge?? (It’s one of those times when you wish there was ETL. This was the beginning of a new era for BÖC, with Rick Downey now on drums. a fan club around to keep you up to date). I encouraged people to eat fast and July 18 1982, Rose Bowl, Pasadena. It was a strange bill: , Triumph, take lots of leftovers, and coerced a friend into driving me those 200 miles to Fresno. BÖC, and Journey. The residents of Pasadena did not want rock concerts in their (He’s a Deadhead, so the concept did not seem strange). By the time we found Fresno, and the venue, the show was half over. By the time we talked our way in we caught only the last two songs. Amazingly, Albert was by Rick "C.C. Voodoo" Carroll on drums. I’d only seen Albert once before, and never since. Eight hours of driving to Into the nineties see 15 minutes of BÖC…but we were glad we’d done it. Here we are again, almost six months since my last review of BÖC, ironi- A few months later when BÖC played Magic Mountain Amusement Park it was cally at the same venue, the World Stage in Spring Valley, New York. The tem- Three Ö C. This was California’s introduction to keyboardist Tommy Zvonchek and perature outside was an unbelievable 3000° below zero but BÖC really heated up drummer Jimmy Wilcox. By this time I was showing up at gigs with my luggage in the the crowd inside, made up of mainly hardcore fans like myself that you recognize car as traveling to BÖC shows had become a way of life. Amusement Park shows from other tours and shows. are always a little controlled and distant. No matter how well a band plays it rarely Three bands opened the show I got there too early and caught com- sounds good in this environment. plete shows by two of the three bands. Both bands were lousy—not even deserv- The next night at the Keystone in Palo Alto (A little south of San Francisco—it too ing to play the same room as the Cultö boys. The Cult finally hit the stage at the has closed down) was my first close-up look at these new guys and their hairdos of ungodly hour of1:05 am. the ‘80s. The following two nights brought us back to Wolfgang’s in SF for the final The song selection gets better each time. All of the standards were there time. It was destroyed by fire the next year. and the semi-standards: “Stairway,” “Red and Black,” and “Flaming Telepaths,” The following spring we were down to Two Öyster Cult, with Joe’s departure. which has one of my favorite keyboard solos but Allen spaced totally, finally When I dropped in at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on March 19, 1986 Jon Rogers noticing it in the middle. He never really recovered the fumble. Other than that had joined the band only days earlier and this was his first Blue Öyster Cult show. It they were very tight as usual–almost flawless. Allen, you’re forgiven (this time)! was also the first show I saw women’s lingerie fly on stage—right at Jon no less. He They played a few gems which were a nice departure from the songs I’ve seems to attract this, and it’s happened a lot in the years since. been seeing for ten years. “Career of Evil” and “Black Blade” are becoming stan- This tour I dragged Ché along to Bakersfield, Magic Mountain, Stockton and dard in the set, but are still very fresh and excellent songs to hear live. I was very Fresno, It was his first time seeing the band in Southern California. We dubbed it the shocked to hear “Unknown Tongue,” which I haven’t seen them do live since “Civic Center Tour” since most of the venues were of this name. Ronnie Montrose 1984, and was totally floored when they ripped into “This Ain’t the Summer Of was opening some of the shows and joined the band onstage in Fresno for Love” for the encore. “Roadhouse Blues.” The show ended at 2:45 am and the only complaint I had was they didn’t By 1987, it seemed like there would no longer be a Blue Öyster Cult. It’s the only stay and play “alllll night, alllll night!” But they did!! (right Buck?) year in the decade that I didn’t see them. They made up for it in ‘88 with three (editor’s note: This was long-time BÖC stage tech Sam Judd’s last show with sweeps across the West Coast. by now I had moved to Northern California and was BÖC—Sam was responsible for all those fabulous introductions over the years, and able to see twelve shows within a 200 mile radius. It was really great to have Allen leader of the “Dominance” choir, as well as a familiar fixture on stage right. Best back in the band. These were the first shows out west with Ron Riddle. Four drum- of luck, Sam, we miss you!) mers in eight years…the parallels between BÖC and Spinal Tap were getting closer. In late March they played three shows on two consecutive nights at large clubs in secondary markets. The Omni in Oakland, a converted church, was special because Rick Downey showed up, although he never went on stage. He was pass- ing though town with Anthrax on the Kiss tour, and stopped by for a visit. A month later BÖC was back again, playing small clubs in small markets, which provided many opportunities to see them, in towns such as San Rafael, Hayward, Auburn, Vallejo, and Modesto. The following six months brought to life and BÖC back to the West. The first show was the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco. The club was severely damaged in the earthquake a year later and remains closed. In 1989 they spent only a weekend in Northern California, playing the same two venues they had in March of ‘88. One of their qualities that always impressed me was how ahead of their time they were. Ten years ago, before any of us heard of Oliver Stone or Val Kilmer, who unearthed Robbie Krieger and invited him on stage? There are still two questions that haunt me. First, will I ever get Albert Bouchard drumsticks for my collection? and two, why are all the clubs in San Francisco where BÖC played in the ‘80s now closed? It never occurred to me ten years ago that I’d still be doing this—or that some- one would want me to write about it. If I’d known there was going to be a test I would have taken better notes! Hey, Buck—great guitar!…nice shirt, too! Ventura Theatre,1991 SINGLES BAR cover, with quotes from the press printed on the back. BY BOLLE The second sleeve was for “Hot Rails To Hell” backed with “Seven Screaming Diz- Busters.” A full color picture of a military General with a studded helmet, and the slo- gan of the year, Buy American graces the front, and the back of the sleeve is the same black & white photo used on the inner sleeve The American single collection might be the toughest of all to com- of T&M, along with a couple of press quotes. plete due to the variety of releases and relative scarcity of them. The next picsleeve is the “Godzilla” Live promo single, which has a American record labels used to release white label demo copies to neat black and white picture of the big green guy on the front and a the radio stations, as well as stock copies, which were the ones that the plain white back. This was Columbia’s second attempt to make public could go out and buy in stores. These stock copies were only “Godzilla” a hit, and they issued this as a radio-station-only 7” and 12”. available for a short period of time (perhaps 3 months at the most) Both contained a live version of the song on before they were returned to the pressing plants for recycling into new the A side, backed with the studio version records. If a single wasn’t a chart success, it can be incredibly difficult to from Spectres. locate a stock release. “Burpin’ For You,” has a color sleeve Thankfully for record collectors there are magazines like Goldmine, which is a detail from the album cover, the DISCoveries, and Record Collector where there is still the occasional offer same on both sides, but with the song titles of rare goods through the adverts. However, the only 7” records usually on each respective side. up for sale are the white labels from raided radio stations. Rarely do you The last picture cover made for B.Ö.C. find stock copies, and the picture sleeve singles are even more scarce. was for “,” and this time Radio station demo copies were usually pressed with the A-side on Columbia made two different sleeves, one both sides of the disc, one with a mono mix and the other in stereo, to for the white label demo copy, and one for provide accurate sound reproduction for radio stations of either persua- the stock copy. The sleeve is black and sion. This also was done to help out DJ’s who were too lazy to read what white with red, the front cover a detail from was on the A-side and the B-side. Some of these discs were released with the back of the LP cover and a plain red different B-sides, but that is more of an oddity than the rule. After 1979, backside with the titles printed. The difference between the two is that all demo releases had the same stereo recording on both sides. the B-side title was added on the back of the sleeve on the stock copy, Between the years of 1972 and 1986, released 18 and the demo copy has “For Demonstration Only” printed on the sleeve. singles, as well as two special Hall-Of-Fame series singles which contained American singles have a few variants in the versions of the songs the hits. contained on them. “Cities On Flame,” For unknown reasons, Columbia re-issued a white label copy of “ (Live),” “(Don’t Fear) The “Cities on Flame With Rock & Roll” on November 26th of 1973. This would Reaper,” “Burnin’ For You” and “Shooting be the first release for The Cult with the new red Columbia logo on a Shark” are all edited versions. “Here’s white label. So, for the hard core collector, there are two different white Johnny” is “The Marshall Plan” of course, and labels of “Cities On Flame” to acquire. The original issue came in a pic- this is also edited. This single serves basically ture sleeve, and the second version comes in a black Columbia stock as a soundtrack for the little film or promo sleeve. video that was included with the Black & Only 6 different picture sleeves were released in the . Amazingly enough the very first single, “Cities on Flame/Before The Kiss” came in a picture sleeve. The sleeve is a miniature of the first album the same mix but different matrix run, so it sounds slightly different from Blue Movie. There are two different white the album pressing. Other cuts on this EP were Rupert Holmes’ “Letters labels of this single for the hardcore collector. That Cross In The Mail,” Tanya Tucker’s “The Man Who Turned My Mama One has a note of “Special Guest Star—Don On” and Colin Blunstone’s “Smooth Operation.” Kirshner,” and the other does not. The most notable single is the rare stu- dio version of “Born To Be Wild,” which can be found hidden on the B-side of the mono/stereo demo copy of “Born To Be Wild.” According to the disc’s label, the sin- gle contains only the live, edited version of THE COMPLETE RELEASES OF COLUMBIA RECORDS the song, but surprise! This is one of the most searched for of all their singles. 7" 45 RPM SINGLES Another single of note is a of “Career of Evil,” where the lyrics were changed to a more Radio-friendly line of “I’d like to do it like you Cities On Flame/Before The Kiss, A Redcap 4-45598 1972 oughta on a dirt road.” The vocal take is completely different, as is the Hot Rails To Hell/7 Screaming Diz-Busters 4-45879 1973 mix. The B-side of this single is “Dominance & Career Of Evil/Dominance & Submission 3-10046 1974 Submission” which sounds as if it came out of Born To Be Wild/Born To Be Wild (Live) 3-10169 1975 (Don’t Fear) The Reaper/Tattoo Vampire 3-10384 1976 a Quadraphonic mix. This same remix of This Ain’t The Summer Of Love/Debbie Denise 3-10560 1976 “Career” is also found as the B-side on the Goin’ Through The Motions/Searchin’ For Celine 3-10659 1977 first Columbia Hall Of Fame release; the A- Godzilla/Nosferatu 3-10697 1977 side of which is “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” Godzilla (Live)/Godzilla 3-10725 1978 Columbia also issued a special series in We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Live)/E.T.I.(Live) 3-10841 1978 the early ‘70s, where we, the consumer, In Thee/Lonely Teardrops 1-11055 1979 could (like record-of-the-month club) sub- You’re Not The One (I Was Looking For)/Moon Crazy 1-11145 1979 scribe to special 7” EPs, that contained four Here’s Johnny/Divine Wind 11-11401 1980 songs each. The project, known as Burnin’ For You/Vengeance (The Pact) 18-02415 1981 Shooting Shark/Dragon Lady 38-04298 1983 Playback, was first introduced in 1971, and Take Me Away/Let Go 38-04435 1983 ended in 1975. The idea behind this was to Dancin’ In The Ruins/Shadow Warrior 38-05845 1986 solicit the public’s opinion on the featured Perfect Water/Spy In The House Of The Night 38-06199 1986 artists and their new songs before they were released on the market. Two of these four-cut 33rpm EP’s contained Blue Öyster Cult songs. HALL OF FAME SERIES The first Playback with BÖC was released in 1972 and contained an edited “Cities On Flame.” The record came in a special Playback Logo (Don’t Fear) The Reaper/Career Of Evil 13-33348 1976 sleeve. Other songs on this disc were Loggins Burnin’ For You/(Don’t Fear) The Reaper 13-03137 1981 and Messina’s “Listen To A Country Song,” Jake Holmes’ “Trust Me” and REO COLUMBIA PLAYBACK SERIES (4-TRACK 33 1/3 RPM) Speedwagon’s “157 Riverside Drive.” Some confusion has come of this single because of Cities On Flame + 3 Others AS7-1033 1972 its being listed in Phonolog under Blue Öyster ME-262 + 3 Others AS-70 1974 Cult releases as “Cities On Flame/Trust Me.” The second Playback EP with our Boys SPECIAL RADIO STATION PRESSINGS ONLY was released two years later, in 1974. The song featured this time was “ME-262.” It has Godzilla (Live)/Godzilla w. Special Picture Sleeve AE7-1156 1978 The Cult's New Pulse A profile of sticks and strings with Ron and Jon B.Ö.C. have a new these days, although they ther developments of music with a bunch of various projects. He played have been in the group since July of 1987(not exactly new), when the on Gary Windo’s album “Dog Face” released by Rounder Records in band resumed touring, starting off in Greece of all places. 1980, and years later got himself involved with The Burns Sisters, writing, ar- Drummer Ron Riddle was recruited by Buck Dharma, who had by ranging and playing on two , both on Columbia Records. Their chance seen Ron playing with a band in upstate New York. Buck was first album from 1986 was called Burn Sisters Band, and the second, fin- taken by his style of playing, and asked Ron to play on his second solo ished and released in 1989 was called “Endangered Species”. project. With the departure of Jimmy Wilcox, the fill-in drummer for the Since 1987, though, Ron has been “On Tour Forever” with The Cult Club Ninja tour, and with the plan of a European come back tour, Ron and during these last few years has done a couple of European Tours as was asked to join The Cult. well as extensive gigging in the United States. Born on November 20th, in Dayton At first Ron was playing a drumkit Ohio where he also grew up, Ron started to looking much like the one played by his develop a feel for playing drums at age 7, predecessor Jimmy Wilcox, it consisted of a and by 8, he had his first drumkit. bass drum, two rack toms and a floor tom, His early musical influences were mostly surrounded by a handful cymbals. Then he the pop music of Paul McCartney and The added some Roto-toms to give a wider Beatles, but for drumming, he found himself range of sounds to his playing, particularly for listening to a harder edged jazz drummer by his drum solo in Godzilla. the name of Elvin Jones, and through Elvin For the Imaginos tour of 1989, Ron discovered people like Jack Du Johnette. At rebuilt his set up around a double bass drum, the ripe age of 19 he moved to for a this time with three rack toms and two floor one year hard core study of percussion at toms, and a new set-up for cymbals. The Berklee School of Music, He is now using this set-up with both Trying out all styles of drumming, he The Cult as well as when playing with Donald later on found himself playing at The Washing- & Jonald in The Red & The Black. I think with ton Hilton in the house band there, when one this perfected , Ron has finally found night he went to the famous Cellar Door and himself in a very comfortable situation and is heard a band who had taken their name now doing a great job with The Cult. after an obscure singles cut by the British The other “new guy” in the group— band Genesis, called . Blown the face behind the bass—is Jon Rogers. Jon away by this very musical band, Ron joined Blue Öyster Cult in March of 1986 short- befriended them, and when it came time for ly after Joe called it quits following a particu- them to record their second album, the origi- larly disastrous European tour. nal drummer left and Ron was asked to join How Jon got involved was through them. He went to California with them and his friend Tom Zvonchek, who was the interim the mission to record an album in a week. keyboardist for BÖC during Allen Lanier’s ab- Without a doubt he saddled up for the gig sence. Jon was playing at the time with a and played on this band’s critically local New Jersey act called The Nines, that acclaimed album , released on played a mix of new wave dance music. Arista records in 1977. This was however poor After the departure of Joe, Tom informed Jon timing for a band of this calibre, as the punk of the opening, believing Jon had the quali- and new wave had just entered our civilization from the English shores, ties they were looking for in a bassist. Jon headed up to New York for an and it was no longer happening to play clever music. audition, and when he returned home he discovered there was already So Ron departed from the band and got himself involved in fur- a message on his answering machine informing him that he had the gig if Ron and Jon tell it like is

Although he plays "hard rock" in his bands, his listening covers a broad range of styles. His current favorites are the Sisters of Mercy, King's X, (good choice!—m.) and Toy Matinee. The later line-up of also thrills him, especially since it includes his all-time favorite bass player, Tony Levin. Besides the Red and the Black, Jon is also recording at the Power Station with New York-based Brotherhood of Thieves, under the production wing of Jimmy Bralower (, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton). This band includes Jimmy Clark on drums, Stan Steele on guitar, and vocalist Larry Baud. he wanted it! With BÖC, Jon plays a Spector bass and BÖC was due in California in just acquired a Steinberger 5 string, both are a week for a tour, so, Jon was forced powered by Crown and Roland amplification. to leave his other group on short notice. “I flew to California, and with two days of rehearsal I was playing the Santa Monica Civic Center...” says Jon. Jon was born on April 28 in Paterson, NJ, and spent his child- hood divided between Florida and New Jersey, where he now resides. Jon's interest in music led him first to the violin but as a teen he switched to guitar. He played throughout high school in rock bands covering a plethora of popular songs, but specializing in renditions of Grand Funk Railroad. At one point the bass player of the combo quit, and with the bass playing chores up for grabs, Jon gladly jumped on the opportu- nity. Citing Grand Funk's bassist Mel Schacher as his inspiration, he fell happily into the rhythm of playing bass, and found it a job better suited to him than guitar. size arena, unlike The Warehouse, which in actuality was a small, run- Touring the South down old warehouse on the banks of the Mississippi, so the band’s laser show was on full display. During Albert’s drum solo, it was laser wars between the red and the green on Le Centre’s ceiling. The laser high- in the ’70s light came on the “All Praise” chorus of ETI, when Eric shot a beam towards the heavens from a ring on his finger. by Eric L. Reiner Spectres had just been released and they played three songs from that album: Celestial the Queen, R. U. Ready 2 Rock and Godzilla. The band rocked with a sequence of This Ain’t the Summer of Love/The 5 Blue Öyster Cult toured extensively during the 1970’s, frequently /Born to Be Wild. The encore consisted of Dominance & Submis- gigging in the deep South. The following article recounts several Cult sion followed by (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. concerts attended by the author from early 1977 to late 1979 (who drove Cheap Trick, in support of their In Color and In Black and White over 1000 miles to see these shows). The information contained in this album, opened the show. As one of my LSU friends disdainfully said, article has been cultivated from deep, black diaries kept by the author. “They were a cheap trick.” Mardi Gras weekend, 1977, and Blue Öyster Cult was in New In the spring of 1978, the 15,000 seat Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Orleans for 2 sold out shows at The Warehouse. (The Warehouse was to Mississippi, opened and Blue Öyster Cult played the first concert ever held what East was to New York. When the Dead in that venue on April 16. Check your Some Enchanted Evening liner sang about being “busted, down on Bourbon Street”, it was after a show notes and you’ll see that this show took place the same week they re- they did at The Warehouse. And ZZ Top recorded the live side of their corded most of that album. Fandago album at The Warehouse.) And just like the album, Cult opened with R. U. Ready 2 Rock, fol- It was my first BÖC show, and it opened with an explosion and the lowed by ETI. In fact, they played every song from that record except Öyster Boys tearing into Stairway to the Stars. Immediately obvious was We Gotta Get Out Of This Place. On Astronomy, a green laser was shot that Eric was dressed in black, while Buck sported and all-white tuxedo. onto a revolving mirror ball during Buck’s extended solo at the end, spin- This was the Agents of Fortune tour and not long into the set Albert sang ning a thousand points of light into the arena. Sinful Love. The other selections from the “new” album were This Ain’t the In August of 1978, BÖC returned to New Orleans. A local radio Summer of Love, ETI, and of course, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. My diary station helped promote the show by announcing they would hide 100 indicates the harmony vocals on ETI were extremely impressive, with Joe oysters (painted blue of course) throughout the auditorium; lucky con- doing an outstanding job. cert-goers who found these colored crustaceans could redeem them at During the show, Eric reminded the audience that newly-elected the station for a free copy of the band’s latest album, Some Enchanted President Carter had promised in his campaign to make marijuana legal Evening. You guessed it folks, my copy of that record is a promo. Sorry but that so far he hadn’t done this, and the activist Eric encouraged the Öyster guys... crowd to keep the Prez honest and write him to make good on this prom- This time they managed to play all seven Some Enchanted Eve- ise. And Albert, who must have been overcome by Mardi Gras Madness, ning songs (again opening with R. U. Ready and ETI) but somehow Cities at one point came out from behind his kit and danced crazily around the on Flame was left out of the set. This show marked the first time I saw the stage for several minutes! Cult play Golden Age of Leather. I can still picture Buck, Eric and Allen all Some of the other songs in the set were Last Days Of May, Cities flailing away on guitar. on Flame, Buck’s Boogie, ME-262, and Harvester of Eyes. The concert Opening acts for this show were UFO and British Lions, a group ended with Joe singing Hot Rails to Hell. featuring three former members of . Demo Grafix respondents (see last ish) will be ecstatic to know The summer of 1979 got rockin’ with an all day fest at the Louisi- that the opening act was Rush, in their first-ever appearance in the Cres- ana Superdome. (Heart, Boston, and Van Halen were the main attrac- cent City; their current album was All The World’s A Stage. They were tions.) Of the seven bands playing that day, the Cult curiously performed indeed great, playing 1 hour 10 minutes! last, appearing on stage after 2 AM. Eight months later, the Cult played in Lake Charles—in the heart of As it turned out, it was well worth the wait. This was the best Cult Louisiana’s Cajun country—and a couple of my LSU friends made the 2 concert I have ever attended! And much different in several respects hour trek west with me to Le Centre Civique. This turned out to be a full- from the two shows I’d seen the year before. First, Buck wore black. Until then, every time I’d seen him live he place where it had all started nearly three years earlier. The song list was had dressed in white, and all the pictures I’d ever seen of him performing exactly the same as the one in Baton Rouge the night before, with one also showed him clad in white (see, for example the photos on the inner notable exception. When the band returned for the encore, Eric an- sleeves of and Some Enchanted. Second, BÖC nounced they were going to play a song they hadn’t performed in was no longer using its laser show, of which I had grown rather tired and about 9 or 10 years. The band then broke into a great version of Sea didn’t think was that terrific to begin with. Cruise. I suppose New Orleans’ musical ambience was the catalyst for A third difference I appreciated this night was the change of the this rare treat! song list. Stairway to the Stars was back as the opener, followed by Eric’s vocals that night were particularly strong on Astronomy and Harvester of Eyes, and the reappearance of Cities on Flame. The Cagey The Great Sun Jester. DFTR ended the show—and with it the decade Crustaceans then introduced two songs from the not-yet-quite-released that saw Blue Öyster Cult’s constant touring take them from a local Long Mirrors album, both of which impressed me and really refreshed the set. Island band to an internationally acclaimed rock attraction. Dr. Music was the fourth song of the night, followed by the Great Sun Jester, on which Joe walked over to Allen’s keyboards and played the riff in the intro. Despite the affects you might expect an indoor stadium to have on a band’s sound, the vocals were excellent, and on ETI the Öyster Boys sang perfect harmonies. My diary also notes that when Albert was fin- ished jamming on the 5 Guitars, he “balanced his Telecaster of the palm of his hand, and the roadies had to take it away from him before he hurt himself!!” The only negative aspect of this otherwise great show was its length. The Cult’s performance was cut (due, perhaps to the lateness of their start) to 1 hour 10 minutes. The show closed with a one song en- core, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. Ten days later, the cry “Damn the gas shortage and full speed Albert Bouchard ahead!” took on new meaning as I drove east nearly 150 miles to Mobile, up and at ’em for the small town in Alabama made famous by Captain Farragut for its the five guitars mine-cultivated bay. This show was originally scheduled for June 14 but 1979 was postponed to June 21. BÖC played a full 1 hour 35 minutes and performed four songs from the Mirrors album: they featured at the Superdome plus the title track and Buck Dharma’s The Vigil. Selecting only Godzilla from Spectres, the Cult concentrated on earlier material, rocking the crowd with such favorites as Hot Rails to Hell, Last Days of May, and of course the Summer/5 guitars/Born to be sequence. Albert, ever up to his old antics, performed a solo terpsichore for a minute or so upon the band’s return for the DFTR encore. The ‘70s closed with a weekend of Blue Öyster Cult in my home state of Louisiana. On Saturday, December 1, Cult bombarded Baton Rouge, beating the crowd into Dominance and Submission at the open- ing buzzer, and rockin’ the audience all night long. The band’s latest release was still Mirrors and the Öyster Boys performed the same four songs from that album as they did in Mobile six months earlier. One dif- ference, though, was that at this show Allen played guitar on Mirrors, whereas in Mobile he had played keyboards on it! The next night marked the return of BÖC to The Warehouse, the flame such lucky cities as San Diego, San Pedro (a part of the Los Angeles Soft White Underbelly sprawl), Santa Barbara, and Modesto! On February 9 the band played to a capacity crowd of 500 people at Casa De La Raza in Santa Barbara on Flat Out on tour forever—touring in the '80s by Richard Hayworth perhaps the smallest stage ever made, it wasn’t any longer than 18 feet. Songs performed included “Take Me Away,” an early “Beat ‘Em Up,” “Let In the spring of 1982, the Öyster Boys hooked up with Journey on a mas- Go,” and “ETI.” Albert didn’t sing or play guitar, but did perform a well-re- sive tour of the United States. On July 21 BÖC unleashed the ETL tour line-up ceived drum solo on Godzilla in that unsurpassed Albie style. upon a near-capacity crowd at the world famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena, The band returned to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on March 27, California. 1986. This, the Club Ninja tour of ‘86, was perhaps a big shock to many fans I don’t know how 45 thousand screaming Steve Perry/Journey fans as the band went through some major changes. Rick Downey, Joe appreciated the BÖC set, but compared to Journey’s “Lovin’ Touchin’” and Bouchard and Allen Lanier were no longer with the group. Some fans “Mother Father,” BÖC blew the headliners away with such classic tracks as coined the phrase “Two Öyster Cult” as only Buck and Eric remained. the opening song, “This Ain’t the Summer of Love,” “ETI,” “Veteran of the Tommy Zvonchek on keyboards made an earnest attempt to replace Psychic Wars,” “Cities on Flame,” “Hot Rails to Hell” and four crowd pleasers Lanier but with a lack of guitar skills, Zvonchek couldn’t fill the shoes. Jimmy in “Burnin’ For You,” “Godzilla,” “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and the Harley Wilcox on drums seemed excited to make the big time but the excitement Davidson version of “Born to be Wild.” ended there, never transforming into a return of fan excitement. Jon Rogers This show was the first of over 20 that I was to see in the ‘80s and I believe did, in fact, seem promising with his own monster bass style, and has proven it holds some major milestones in the format of a BÖC show. With perhaps his durability with the band. the exception of the Rainbow tour, this was the last tour the band was to At this point, however, I felt it was the beginning of the end. The band perform in large capacity venues in California and was also the final seemed troubled and the departure of Allen proved to be a disaster live as appearances of the life-size Godzilla, Buck Dharma’s Vulcan guitar and his the performance of one of BÖC’s top hits “Burnin’ For You,” seemed empty moustache! and shallow without Allen’s guitar. On July 24 1983, the Öyster boys arrived in Pasadena once more, only this However, the band turned in a strong show with such songs from Ninja time at Perkin's Palace as the Soft White Underbelly. This show held another as “Shadow Warrior,” “White Flags,” and “Make Rock Not War.” Also per- first for me. Front Row Center!?! I chose Buck Dharma guitar god heaven, in formed at this show was an unreleased track—a little gem that was “Spittin’ front of the idol’s mic, a position I was fortunate to hold over 18 times. Before fire and burnin’ leather.” Yep, BÖC was truly “Ridin’ the Wings of Mercury”— the show began, Buck was going over his thoughts with his guitar tech Dave great song, and, like the Perkin’s Palace show in Pasadena, well worth the Thorpe. As he began a guitar riff, I screamed out “Shred, Burn it up!” Buck search as it is available as a Radio Station tape. was more than happy to oblige and he pulled off one of the fastest riffs I In early 1988, BÖC returned with yet another new line-up: drummer have ever seen him play. It ended as fast as it began and as he departed I Wilcox had been replaced with a riddle: Ron Riddle, that is. Ron brought yelled “Flat Out!” Once again I caught his attention and he turned to with him a fresh style of his own and along with the now-veteran Jon Rogers acknowledge the recognition of his solo LP. He gazed at the crowd from would re-establish a heavy “Feel The Thunder” backbone in the band’s behind mirrored sunglasses as I gave him a thumbs-up. He returned the ges- foundation that the Bouchard brothers had laid down 17 years prior. ture with a big smile on his face and then departed the stage. The most significant change came in the keyboard department. It seems The band then appeared and performed “The Red and the Black,” that Zvonchek couldn’t cut the mustard, and the differences within the “Before the Kiss,” “ETI,” “Cities on Flame,” and Buck Dharma’s “Born to band’s musical direction and Allen Lanier were smoothed over. Allen’s Rock.” All of these songs were to appear later on a radio show of the con- return was hailed appreciatively by old and new fans alike as Allen amazed cert. The searing Dharma riffs at this show are the fastest I have ever heard them with such keyboard tickling frenzies as “Joan Crawford.” And not to him play and the tape is an excellent addition to any BÖC fan’s collection. forget the speedy slick guitar riffs he injected into such tunes as “ETI” and Try to find it, it’s worth the search. Also performed at this show, but unfortu- “Burnin’ For You,” to name only a few of the many immense contributions nately not on the tape, were “I Love the Night," pre-release versions of “Feel this man has made to the band. (Just listen to Tyranny side 2. Most awe- the Thunder,” and “Shadow of California,” pre-dating Revolution by Night some!) by 6 months! I asked Eric about the “next” album at these shows, to which he replied, For reasons unknown to me, Rick Downey made a decision to depart the “It’ll be out in a couple of months,” and the title? “Wait and see” he said. band in late January of 1985, only days before a 10 date California tour. This Well, Eric, perhaps I should have looked to the first album’s insert (this very set the stage for a very historic reunion of the original line-up, setting on rare insert found only in the radio station copies which said “Redeemed” was "a short version of the tune that will appear on their fourth album, an opera entitled “The Scott[sic(Soft) Doctrines of the Imaginos.” A copy of this Upon the edge of chance for twenty insert appeared in Morning Final #1 courtesy of Dave Burns). Imaginos, released in Sept 1988, is one of the greatest—if not the great- years or more… est—albums ever released by the Öyster Boys from , but for up and down the coast of California with BÖC 1991 …by melne Columbia’s lack of foresight the #@*heads didn’t even promote the album in Trade Magazines or in-store at the retail level. There was one little gem of a 4-track CD single of Astronomy issued. There were two versions of the SoCal tour ‘91 started—for us and Blue Öyster Cult—in San Juan Capistrano, a song on the disc, one the regular album version and one with an introduc- town halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego: a two night stand at the Coach tion by horror novelist . These two versions appeared in both House, a funky but neat “dinner theatre.” The hall holds 3-400 people at long ban- album-length and edited versions. This disc was probably a big push from quet tables and booths along the wall. The decor is rustic wood, with ceiling fans the band and Columbia’s acceptance was most likely based on King’s dangling. This was our first of seven shows in seven days. We met up with several other popularity and not the musical content of the song. Too bad, you folks at Cult ‘regulars’, with whom we’d be sharing the next week, and luckily found seats as Columbia deserve Laugh-In’s Lifetime Achievement award of the “Flying the opening music played. The first thing I noticed about the band, since I hadn’t Fickle Finger of Fate.” seen them since 1989 was how much Ron Riddle’s drumming had improved. The The Imaginos tour in 88-89 featured “I Am The One You Warned Me Of,” band encored with “Career of Evil” which has taken on a bit of a swing feel these “In The Presence of Another World,” and the new version of “Astronomy.” It days thanks to Ron and Jon. The next day, as there was no traveling, allowed the band a rehearsal— the results was on this tour that BÖC showed their fans the true durability of the band of which made for a few surprises for the crowd that came the second night. “Seven through the decade of the 80’s by ending it all with a tremendously power- Screaming Dizbusters, “OD’d on Life Itself” and “Transmaniacon M.C.” sounded great ful album. (Crank it up and you’ll know what I mean) A tight professional and refreshing as additions to the set. It was nice to be relieved of “Joan Crawford” live set and an undying spirit to enter the 90’s "On Tour Forever." and “Roadhouse Blues.” This show was even more happening than the last. We sat in Thank you so much for all the great times, guys. They will always be the front row in front of Jon Rogers and had a real good view of the action. cherished. On the road the next day we traveled to Ventura, about 60 miles up the coast from Los Angeles, and 100 miles from the previous day’s venue. The Ventura Theatre is another supper club. As a matter of fact owned by the same folks as the Coach House. This is a real theatre, from the glory days of movies, converted into a music venue and it holds about 1200 people. This show was, for me, the best of the week. The boys were really into it, the highlight of the show was the four song encore, which included “Golden Age of Leather” and “Career of Evil.” There was a lowlight for Mr. Dharma, though, when he stumbled over a monitor and fell flat on stage. Didn't miss a beat though! Next on the list was a 170 mile drive back down the coast to San Diego and a venue called Park Place, a combination Nightclub/Bowling Alley/Video Arcade in San Diego (sounds really Spinal Tap). It was an OK smallish room with less than state- of-the-art facilities. The show was delayed because the stage lights refused to work. But once on stage the band delivered another believable rocking performance. The fans were particularly rabid at this show—a lot of military folks were here, as both the Navy and Marines have bases here, so Eric’s new “Saddam vs. Godzilla” intro went over real well. The very next night was at The Strand in Redondo Beach, a "suburb" of Los Angeles, and 100 miles back up north. This club is probably a good place to see a jazz or pop sort of thing, but not so great for a band like BÖC. In many places the sightlines were obstructed by poles, walls or the bar. The sound system was either overloaded, or the band was just too loud. Also it was an off night for the boys, their set was very rough around the edges and the energy level of the crowd fluctuated along with that. It was unfortunate that this was the only show in the LA area, consid- ering its value in comparison to the the previous night’s greatness. An historic moment—Albert rejoins Eric, Donald, Joe and Allen for a short The next day we boarded a plane for the Bay Area, for a show in San José. tour in California in 1985! Arriving there, we connected again with our tour companion and proceeded to the gig. For some reason none of us made the effort to find out where the club was Between Elektra’s rejection of Soft White Underbelly and Stalk Forrest’s before hand, so we drove in the general direction of San José…and drove and St. Cecilia album is a hazy interim period where our Öyster-boys-to-be did drove and drove...And got completely lost. As it neared gig time, we began to worry some additional demo recording known as either the first Columbia and finally stopped at a record store to ask where the club was. Out of 12 employ- Demo, or simply, The Oaxaca Tapes. ees, only one knew that the club was....only 10 blocks away!! Relieved, we rushed to After Les Braunstein left the band, quickly came up the club with 20 minutes to spare. When BÖC hit the stage they redeemed them- selves fully from the night before. The crowd here was the most crazed yet, and their with the temporary name Oaxaca to replace S.W.U., and the Oaxaca energy level helped the band to deliver a burning performance. Tonight, Jon Rogers tapes were put together in the aftermath of this, with new singer Eric debuted his new 5 string bass, on “Burnin’ For You.” The added low notes were a real Bloom, (aka Jessie Python). Sandy got them into the studio to do this treat—such a small thing made a big difference. recording which was made with Columbia Records in mind. The last tour date for us was Oakland, and the Omni. Once a church, it has been These tapes were recorded under quite stressful circumstances at turned into a rock club. It was big and gymnasium-like, with two huge rooms: one the Elektra Sound Studios in New York between late 1969 and early 1970, and performance area, one a bar area. Somewhat sterile in its lack of decor, and its cav- they also functioned as pre-production for recording the St. Cecilia al- ernous atmosphere was perhaps a warning of another too-loud show. This show was bum. Elektra House Producer Jay Lee, who claimed to have worked with the capper of them all though! Although Ventura ranked higher for me, this one was the Beach Boys, among others, was officially in charge, but he didn’t great for overall vibe and feel, despite the surroundings. The crowd was once again nuts, and we were up front in “the pit”, a sectioned-off area for photographers. The highlight of this show was Buck Dharma singing the Japanese lyrics to "The Red and The Black" (see MF#2), defying Eric’s cry not to do so. A great laugh for all of us, and a great show too. Buck Dharma proved once again that he is unstoppable and the rhythm section has been working together (in and outside of BÖC) long enough to really hold a tight bottom line, and make it groove, which of course is more than half the battle. Eric’s performance at times flirted with ennui, but for the most part kept that fervor we love so well. And it’s just great to see Allen onstage, especially when he straps on a guitar and rocks out with Jon. The return (almost) of five (four actually) guitars up front for the encore of “The Red and The Black” brings back ever so fond memories, as well as being visually striking. As always, lots of interplay between members. Their performances have always proven that great musicians playing great music is all that’s needed for great enter- tainment (no fancy lights, flashy clothes, overpowering stage props or scantily clad dancers needed). Blue Öyster Cult hasn’t sounded better in years. This was a week to remember! show up at most of the sessions, leaving Pearlman the uncredited but actual producer. This demo consists of four songs. Three are Meltzer lyrics, two put to Albert’s music and one to Allen’s, and one cover tune. All are excellent. “A Fact About Sneakers” is the first tune, the lyrics are your typical Meltzer phrases. As for the music, it’s a bit sixties-flower-power flavored, with a lengthy inner section for long improvisational themes from Buck and even a little freedom there for La Verne to throw in a few ivories. Next up is “Betty Lou Got A New Pair Of Shoes,” an old fifties Bobby Freeman song. You can still buy the 7” in the oldies section at record stores that still carry this need for people. Check it out, the song is quite funny and its a typical rocker. “John L. Sullivan” is the song on which Allen wrote the music. This is a short little ditty, a minute and a half in length and is a fast tune with a very catchy theme. It starts with a verse, then Buck throws in an excel- The California On Tour Forever cast: L-R, Ché Quicksilver, Eric, Buck, Bolle Gregmar, lent solo and it returns to the verse on which the same lyric is sung. Melne Gregmar, Allen, Jessica Livingston, Ron and Jon. photo courtesy of Jessica Livingston Meltzer had written two other verses for this song but they weren’t used in the final draft of the song. “Donovon’s Monkey,” another very strange (surprise) Meltzer lyric, is a Workin' at the music store blues… strong uptempo song with almost an MC5 attack in the riff. Eric blasts out A Steinberger clinic at East Coast Music, Danbury three different subjects with equal force, about grooming monkey and featuring Ron, Don, Jon and more! man, about incest between girl and her dad, and finally back to man/ape resemblances when war turns man into a killer machine. It’s almost a four minute song with a few touches of the late sixties growing into the seventies in style. Columbia had first offers on the results, but declined to sign the band. So now with the official name of Stalk Forrest Group, Elektra gave them a second chance, since with their new singer and frontman, it was another ballgame, and the group recorded the St. Cecilia album, which, as we know, Elektra once again rejected and released the band from further

Hey! this ain't the right guy! realize Jon and Ron at the Red & the Black's performance. This is original Kiss guitarist "Space" Ace Frehley! Hope he knew all the songs…!

Club member Cösmö Killeen, wearing his Buck Dharma shirt in hopes of sighting the guitarist at the jam, found instead an amazing likeness in one Oaxaca/Stalk Forrest Group: Eric Bloom, Andy Winters, Donald Roeser. Albert Bouchard, Donald Roeser, and Allen Lanier obligations to the company. Some time later, Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman were contact- ed by David Lucas, whom the band had met at the Camp Swan Lake party. David had been really taken with the band and invited them to record at his studio. They went in, recorded and mixed four songs in one day. These four songs were “Then Came the Last Days Of May” (This is the actual track that was later remixed and used on the first album) followed by a precursor to Cities On Flame, entitled “Siren Sing Along Sing,” and two Allen Lanier compositions called “Sun Comes Up,” and one untitled track, remembered as “She’s So Snide-err-Nice!” This Lucas Demo was the tape that led to the famous live audition for Clive Davis, Harry Nilsson, Bobby Colomby, Murray Krugman, Lisa Robinson and Sandy Pearlman held in a conference room at the offices of Columbia Records, NYC. The end result of the tape and that audition is, of course, what we all consider a classic album, and a long, prosper- ous career of evil.