Hailing from New York, hard rock pioneers Blue Öyster Cult initially garnered huge critical acclaim and a dedicated fanbase built on songs like “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” “Godzilla” and “Burning For You.” Relevant as ever, among the artists – spanning all sorts of popular music genres and eras – that have performed, recorded ans sampled the music of Blue Öyster Cult are Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica, The Goo Goo Dolls, L7, moe., Lisa Marie Presley, Mike Watt, Sebastian Bach, Racer X, Fatman Scoop, System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And that is without factoring in how “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” inspired Stephen King to write “The Stand,” or how that very same song inspired one of the most famous “Saturday Night Live” sketches ever.
But Blue Öyster Cult – which consists of Eric Bloom (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (guitar, vocals), Richie Castellano (keyboards, guitars, vocals), Danny Miranda (bass guitar, vocals) and Jules Radino (drums, percussion) – has never been a band to rest on its laurels or prior successes. “The Symbol Remains” is the band’s latest album, its first full-length in 20 years. 4 music videos for tracks from “The Symbol Remains” have already been filmed and released. This comes on the heels of the August 2020 release of “45th Anniversary Live In London,” as available through CD/DVD, Blu-ray and vinyl offerings.
On October 22, 2020, I had the pleasure of speaking with Blue Öyster Cult lead singer Eric Bloom via Zoom, as embedded below. Among the topics we discussed:
- The new album “The Symbol Remains”
- How and when the band made its latest music videos
- Where in New York BOC is actually from
- Using lasers in concert before it was the norm
- Being part of the legendary Hear ‘N Aid recording sessions
- Knowing Ronnie James Dio before Dio was famous
- Future plans in spite of COVID-19
More on Eric Bloom and Blue Oyster Cult can be found here and here.
