Song#: 0712
Date: 08/15/1981
Debut: 87
Peak: 40
Weeks: 14
Genre: Rock
Pop Bits: Formed in 1967 as Soft White Underbelly, this group from Long Island floundered around and won/lost deals with record companies until Clive Davis took them on at Columbia Records. They finalized their name as Blue Öyster Cult and issued their self-titled debut album in 1972. It did well and each successive album topped the last culminating in their platinum hit "Agents of Fortune" (1976) which featured their classic #12 song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." They had difficulty following up that major success, but this single from "Fire of Unknown Origin" gave them another rock radio classic and their second (and last) Top 40 entry.
ReduxReview: BÖC were a strange group with their odd poetic, science-fictiony lyrics and oddball comedic songs like "Joan Crawford," in which the actress comes out of the grave to haunt her daughter Christina. It can be a hoot n' a holler on occasion, but I never really connected with them. Except for "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (cowbell!!) and this song. Both are excellent rock radio jams and find the band at its most focused best.
ReduxRating: 8/10
Trivia: BÖC's manager, Sandy Pearlman, provided the group with lyrics to several of their songs through his poetry. One of his poems, "Imaginos," featured the Blue Oyster Cult, which was a group of aliens that were secretly guiding Earth's history. The poem would also be the basis of the group's 1988 album of the same name.
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