BOC: Eric on WotT and other things (long)

[Rudich, Robert A]

Here is some real grist for the mills.   The interview follows the short
review.  It has some very interesting questions, many of which have been
brought up here..
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     Blue Oyster Cult - Workshop of the Telescopes

     While Deep Purple and Black Sabbath were reigning as the frontrunners
     of the British proto-metal scene, there was one American band that was
     merging the melodic intensity of Purple and the heavy riffs of Sabbath
     across the Atlantic. That band is Blue Oyster Cult. When Deep Purple
     and Black Sabbath were disintegrating both as a group (due to lineup
     changes) and status wise (due to the rise of punk), the same band's
     beautifully terrifying Don't Fear the Reaper was becoming a cult
     classic and the Oyster boys were at their peak.

     It's 1996, and Blue Oyster Cult are still swimming in the seas of Rock
     and Metal. They have been a profound influence on many bands today and
     there's a new compilation out, containing some of their best
     recordings. Workshop of the Telescopes contains 32 digitally
     remastered tracks that enables Blue Oyster Cult to lay claim to being
     one of the pioneering proto-metal bands. Radio favourites such as
     (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Godzilla, and Burnin' Up are all here, along
     with some all time greats like Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll, The
     Red and the Black, and the title track. This is an interesting
     collection in that when you listen to it, it becomes more clear who
     Blue Oyster were influenced by and who they influenced. This is
     evident not only from their aggressive cover of Steppenwolf's Born to
     be Wild, but also from the doomy Sabbath-type riffs in Cities on Flame
     and the punkish feel present in Kick out the Jams and Dominance and
     Submission. Conversely, This Ain't the Summer of Love brings to mind
     Midnight Oil, Veteran of the Psychic Wars reminds me of a cross
     between Styx and Queen (not just for the drum beat), and Mike Watt
     (formerly of fIREHOSE) has made it clear on record that Blue Oyster
     Cult have had an impact on his music. Veteran of the Psychic Wars was
     also featured in the cult (no pun intended) movie Heavy Metal, which,
     incidentally at time of writing, has been released in a "louder and
     nastier" version. It looks like the same thing has been happening with
     Blye Oyster Cult, and I can't wait for their next studio release!

     The album contains three previously unreleased tracks, and is
     definitely worth getting if you want to have a complete Blue Oyster
     Cult collection of music, or as a starter if you want to hear more of
     their music.

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     Interview with Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult

     I asked Eric Bloom a bunch of questions about Blue Oyster Cult, their
     current label situation, the current state of music, and future plans.
     Here they are, along with his responses.

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     I just got hold of Worskshop of the Telescopes, and my first question
     is: why another compilation album?

     Because Sony (CBS) wanted to put it out. We are no longer signed
     there. I imagine they did it for economic reasons, cause they own the
     stuff, including the artwork. It is selling well, and I think it's a
     decent representation of the material.

     Why not release a studio or live album?

     Easier said than done. This has become a bit of a soap-opera for us,
     I'm afraid. We were signed to Atlantic a couple of years ago. One of
     the factors for signing us was the Reaper being in Stephen King's "The
     Stand" on TV. They were promised a new (acoustic) version of the
     Reaper that would appear in the movie that they could use in our new
     album. Stephen King agreed, but the Director said no. So, Atlantic
     reneged on our already signed contract, finding a clause somewhere to
     invoke. We are involved right now in negotiations with a European
     label, and hope to have some new material for sale before the summer
     of '97.

     What was the track selection process?

     We didn't have much to do with it, but thought the selection was fair.
     Some people might think certain songs should have been on it and
     others think something else, but I think the most obvious tunes are
     there.

     An interactive CD-ROM or live video in support of Workshop would be
     really cool. Are there any plans for that?

     No current plans to do interactive CD-ROMS. Although there is a game
     out now, RIPPER, with The Reaper used in the soundtrack.

     Given your experiences with Sony, what do you feel about the whole art
     vs. business issues in music?

     There's not enough space [here] to discuss artist vs. company. There
     have been several books written about it and most major artists find
     huge [amounts of] dollars hidden by the companies when they have an
     audit. It's the nature of the business. In general, CBS was straight
     with us, when we had fans working inside the company. We were there so
     long, 3-4 different Presidents of the company came and went...

     The PR stuff I got didn't mention the current lineup. What is the
     current lineup (I know you, Buck Dharma, and Alan Lanier form the core
     group)?

     Currently, the band lineup is Buck, me, Allen, Danny Miranda on bass,
     and John O'Reilly on drums. We are very happy with the current band. I
     think it's the best the band has ever been. For more info on other
     opinions, you ought to check out the BOC BB at AOL. I can provide you
     with some fans' email addresses who come to a lot of shows. The fan
     club has never been more active, with more people joining.

     Is there a chance that you'll ever reunite with the Bouchards?

     Unlikely there will ever be a reunion. There's no reason for it.

     A related question: will there ever a reworking of Imaginos (which is
     one of my favourite BOC albums, BTW) with the complete package being
     released?

     That could only happen with Pearlman's input, as he would be the
     godfather of such an idea. The public didn't buy Imaginos, which is a
     shame, and I'm afraid the record company didn't really promote it's
     existence too well. It's an interesting album that deserved more
     listening than it got.

     I saw you play with Chuck Burgi and I thought he fit in very well. Why
     didn't that work out?

     Chuck got an offer he couldn't refuse from Blackmore. Don't know what
     he's up to right now.

     There will be a sequel to Heavy Metal, the movie. Do you plan to do
     any of the music for it?

     If they ask us, we would love to do some more music for it. Listen to
     the soundtrack of "Bad Channels".

     I've heard statements that the album Fire of Unknown Origins was
     recorded in order to be used as the Soundtrack, and that didn't work
     out later (for some reason). Is this true?

     What you heard about Fire of Unknown Origin is not true. In the middle
     of recording it, we were asked to write a song for Heavy Metal. I
     think Albert got the movie script and wrote tunes especially for Heavy
     Metal. When the movie people didn't buy them, and chose Veteran
     instead, we used the song he wrote for Heavy Metal on our album.

     What was the music scene like when you guys started out? Were bands
     like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple looked upon as competitors, or were
     they influences, or both?

     I would say, vis-a-vis, our influences... Black Sabbath was certainly
     the prototype for all Metal that came later, as is Deep Purple. Gotta
     include Ted Nugent and MC5, too. We sorta took a different path,
     especially lyric-wise.

     What music do you currently listen to?

     I personally listen to all kinds of stuff. Biohazard, Prong,
     Machinehead, Deftones, love the White Zombie album of last year, Rage
     Against the Machine, Pantera, etc. I like very little of what is
     called Alternative, except maybe Stone Temple Pilots.

     I guess that bands like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath are also
     struggling in this "alternative" world; do you think heavy metal music
     will ever rise in popularity?

     I don't know. I know that the Rainbow album Blackmore put out for
     Europe and Japan did well there, but [he's] having trouble getting it
     out over here.

     There's a strong underground metal scene, which focuses on
     death/thrash metal. Do you like any of that at all?

     I like some of the "Underground" metal bands; the music , that is. The
     current trend of harmonized unintelligible vocals is a mystery to me
     though. I like Life of Agony cause you can hear what he's
     saying---good band.

     What gear are you using these days? Does Buck still play the
     Steinberger?

     Buck still plays Steinberger, yes. I play ESPs. Great guitars. They
     have custom-made me a terrific ESP Custom with the artwork from 'Cult
     Classic' on it. We (BOC) recently began using Ampeg (bass) and Crate
     (for guitars and keyboards). Ampeg just sounds great, and the Crate
     amps we are using crank! They have really done their homework and we
     are very happy with the Crate Blue Voodoo amps and cabinets. John uses
     TAMA drums.

     Stephen King has said that he likes your music a lot. Do you like his
     writing? If so, what's your favourite book by him?

     Buck reads all his stuff. I am more into fantasy and sci-fi, than
     horror. I also like techno-thrillers. Looking for a good read? Try
     'Hyperion' or the William Gibson books.

     In general, what's a day being in BOC like?

     Typical day on the road, is travel. A lot of it. Flying, driving,
     hotels, motels. I take a laptop with me and spend time online in the
     rooms. Playing a long show and next day doing much the same. We play a
     lot. That's why we have the saying OTF---On Tour Forever. I designed a
     T-shirt that Onliners can get: BOC OnTour/Online, and we can be
     reached through the fanclub at bocfanclub at aol.com. I post all tour
     dates and band news at the BOC BB in the music message center there
     [AOL]. I know of a couple of BOC websites that friends of the band
     have created, which can be found using a browser, and at least one
     newsgroup, alt.music.blueoystercult.

     And what do you do outside of BOC?

     Online a lot at AOL. Too much, probably. :) I am very involved in
     Gemstone III, a text-based role-playing game at AOL. I do monthly BOC
     online live chats at AOL the 2nd Tuesday of every month, in the
     'Nightclub' at 10pm Eastern.

     What can we expect in the future from BOC?

     We are very up about recording soon, and we should be in the studio
     this summer into the Fall, playing a few shows on weekends. We have a
     lot of good new material, some of which we play live now. Most of our
     shows are selling out and we all have a good time. That's what it's
     all about. :)

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     Amen! I definitely recommend seeing them if they come to a town near
     you---they put on a tremendous live show, and it's one of the few
     opportunities where you can listen to new material by them.