Live '81

This is a bit of a puzzling Radio show.
Firstly there's no venue or date from it. Upon intent listening there's also no mention at all in this short set where it may have been recorded. 

The introduction Radio announcer does say 'From the BBC here's BOC' but he has an american accent so I'm 99.9% certain that this was not taken from the so called BBC rock hour as the BBC only used 2 American presenters at this time (Kid Jenson and Paul Gambachini) and the voice is neither of them. 

In fact the BBC Rock hour changed it's name to 'In Concert' which was introduced by English Richard Skinner and the DJ voice is not him either so again it's highly unlikely that it's from the BBC, even though the official BOC site says it is.
And final 'proof' that this is NOT a BBC show is that Eric swears on the intro to 'Godzilla' and the BBC would NEVER have allowed the swearing let alone the 'F' word be broadcasted in 1981. It wasn't until 1985 that Madonna swore LIVE and there were so many complaints at the time, as it wasn't 'expected' from the BBC to allow this, so they had to issue a public apology.

So whilst we potentially part of the riddle solved we can establish that the existing cover artwork is not only crap but wrong.

So I've made my own yet again.
There is an amazing version of  '7 screaming Diz-busters' from this set which clocks in at over 15 mins. 
In it Eric explains in detail how he became a rock 'n' roll star and signed a deal with the devil.
So utlising the old Black Sabbath compilation artwork from 1978 seemed the only right thing to do!!

 Anyway we have a short set here which is either edited for Radio broadcast or was a support slot. I'm having trouble pinning the date down but i reckon from the song choice and the way certain songs are introduced, and that 'FOAUO' had just been released i'm going to go for sometime in June of 1981.And it's got Albert on drums. I do know however that's it's NOT from Bonds or Spit though.

Stellar quality here, just a few mistakes here and there but with the already mentioned extended '7 screaming diz-busters' and an extended '(Don't Fear) The Reaper' clocking in at over 7 and a half minutes, with an extended solo from Buck that is simply superb you can't go wrong.

If anyone does have any information on this show then please let me know and I can update this post and give you credit of course.

Try and get hold of this show, it's definately worth seeking it out.

Track listing:
1. ETI
2. Veteran of the Psychic wars
3. 7 Screaming Diz-busters
4. Joan Crawford
5. Burnin' for you
6. Godzilla
7. (Don't fear) The Reaper

Club Ninja - Remastered 2012

Even though this is a Radio and Soundboard home for BOC, 
I also want to highlight one official album and as I've just reveiwed the radio broadcasts in the 40th anniversary box set which happens to also house every Columbia released album and remastered in 2012 then this seems as good a place as anywhere todo it.

So I’m gonna put my neck out on the line here.

I never used to like this album. I remember it coming out and a friend bought it and we listened to it round at his house and I was gob smacked. It was so poppy and terrible.The cover artwork seemed almost childlike and just didn't work.

I’ve always regarded ‘Extra Terrestrial Live’ as the bands best ever album. Yeah I know that's a live album. so comparing these 2 was the ultimate chalk and cheese.

However I’ve recently started visiting the back catalogue again as I tend to do every once in a while. (First time was 1981, some 30 years ago!!)

Anyway I’ve been playing ‘Club Ninja’ so much recently and really have to announce to the world that this album is AMAZING. 
I feel guilty I didn't rate it way back in '85. Sure it’s not mega heavy but BOC’s studio strength was in their subtle tones. Buck is still all over this album like a rash though. It seems to me that the album has improved with age. I’m not going to go through all the songs. You’ve probably already played the album to death anyways over the years.

Track listing:
1. White Flags
2. Dancin' In The Ruins
3. Make Rock Not War
4. Perfect Water
5. Spy In The House Of Night
6. Beam 'em Up
7. When The War Comes
8. Shadow Warrior
9. Madness To The Method
 

But all that aside I will say that if you’ve NOT played ‘Club Ninja’ for a long time or if you’ve been swayed by the negative reviews over the years or if you’re wary cos Allen and Albert aren’t on it,   

Just cos there’s songs written by other writers on it, whatever the reason....Dig it out and just play it. The new re-master from the box set really does give this album what it needed.It's still not perfect but it has moved up so much in my estimation that I can honestly rank it now as definitely being in my top studio albums of BOC and also one of the greatest Rock albums EVER.

Even the cover artwork seems pretty cool now too.
I love this album.

There I said it!!!!

Complete Columbia 40th Anniversary box set

Please find my full review below. I am very impressed that Blue Oyster Cult have released this box set even though it could have held more interest for the Hardcore fan. 
If you don't want to know a full breakdown of this box set then please do NOT read this review as it does contain 'Spoilers'.

So even though this is an official release I do need to clear up somethings with regards to the Radio Broadcasts in here in particular.
Whilst many of us BOC fans have been waiting for the band to remaster the back catalogue properly I don't think anyone was expecting them to do it all in one go and put out a 17 album box set with 4 downloads.

Firstly I'm not entirely sure who this box is marketed/aimed at.
The causal listener will surely not be wanting to spend the amount required for this, and this amount of material may even be too much to handle for the casual listener. But is it aimed at the hard core BOC fan instead?

Unfortunately not. Because a lot of the 'rare' material has been widely available for many years, and the reason for that? Well apparently the record company don't have anything else they can put out? They simply can't find anything else!!

So onto what we DO have here.
Firstly you get all the albums remastered some with extra tracks,(the extra tracks cease from 1980 onwards mysteriously).
1 rarity disc and 1 Best of the broadcasts disc AND 4 shows to download from the website.
I'm not gonna focus on the regular albums here, I'm gonna save that for another time.

But I am going to focus on the 'rarites' disc, the Best of the Broadcasts Cd and the 4 shows.

So firstly albeit briefly we have the 'Rarities' CD.
Opening with tracks from the 'Commack' show of 1975 (with Black Oak Arkansas) which is already on this site could have been great but we only get selected tracks. This show was the first KBFH show and only 4 tracks were broadcast originally.
Only opener 'Stairway to the Stars' from that original broadcast is on this disc though with 'Dominance and Submission', 'Astronomy' and 'ME262' all criminally missed off. Instead we get 'Red and the Black', Bucks Boogie' and 'Cities on flame'. The quality seems to get worse on these tracks as well as the CD plays on.Each song sounding worse than it's predessor.'Bucks Boogie' for instance has a horrible hiss all over it'.
Whilst it is great that these tracks finally see the light of day it's HUGELY disappointing that with 4 downloadable shows there's no more material that was completely locked in the vaults.
To be honest I am very disappointed with this CD.
There's some tracks next apparently from 'Berkeley 1979' The crowd noise has been added on quite clearly. This is due to the fact that the band played a mini set 'before' the show that was videoed and this is simply the audio of that. It's been on youtube for years.Not exactly rare is it?

Special mention must go the 'The Vigil' from this 'set' as it's already been released on the hard to find 'Setlist album and this version is VERY good and probably the second best track on the whole CD, shame it's not really live though.
So what's the best track I hear you cry. Well after a few dull demo's (sorry, I can see why they were demos though) and a totally pointless mono version of 'Godzilla' we get the highlight of this disc a cover version! of 'The Beatles' 'I want you(She's so heavy)' from Abbey Road.

The band sound excellent on this ,so good in fact that you'd think they'd written it and played it for years. It's a great song and EVERY BOC needs to hear it.
It does raise one question though. If this was recorded on the date specified that means that this was taken from a show in Alabama that has NEVER seen the light of the day.It doesn't exist in trading circles in any quality. So why has only this one song been used for this disc? 

 The whole disc is rounded off with a very short spoken word by author Stephen King for the 'Imaginos' album that never till now, saw the light of day. It's ok, it is what it is.Does it make me want to play this CD again and again? Sadly No. Instead It'll be retired immediately after one play. Not good news.

So moving on...

The Best of the Broadcasts CD is just a compliation of the 4 download shows that come with the box set. So rather than focus on this CD I'm gonna delve a little bit more into the downloads themselves.

Firstly What a wonderful idea. 4 downloads of concerts from different years free when you get the anniversary box set.
So what are the shows? Are they any good? Are they previously unreleased?
So many questions and now...the answers.

Well..the shows for download are as follows:

San Francisco 1980
New York 1981
Pasadena 1983
Santa Monica 1986

 Each of these shows are already featured on this site in depth, so if you're trying to decide if these shows make it worth actually buying this set and shelling out a lot of cash I hope I can guide and inform you.

San francisco 1980.
This show is definately the pick of the bunch. Excellent sound quality and the complete concert. It's a winner. 
For a more detailed review and track listing etc this show is available on this site here .. San Francisco 1980

Next is New York 1981.
Unfortunately this is where things start going wrong. 
This particular version of the show is a travesty and really should not have been included in this set. Previously released on the 'Tales from the Psychic wars' this show is heavily edited from the original broadcast. Each song fades in and out (which is really annoying) and it's not the complete set either.
Seek out the FULL show not this version.
For a more detailed review and track listing etc of the proper show it's all available on this site here ..New York 1981

Pasadena 1983.
Another travesty of a show. Released before as disc 2 of the aforementioned  'Tales from the Psychic wars'. This show has the band going through the motions and is really not a memorable show even though it's been heavily bootlegged.
Sound quality is excellent of course but even that doesn't save it.
For a FULL review check here...Pasadena 1983

And lastly we have Santa Monica 1986.
A really good show this one, one of the best radio broadcasts out there in fact, that is again  criminally incomplete as was the original broadcast, and to be honest I've listened to my original copy of this and it actually sounds a fraction better than the released one. 'The version of 'Dominance and Submission' played on this tour was one of the best but unfortunately it's not on here, as no unbroadcast tracks get selected for this box set. 
Strangely enough another track which is not here is '(Don't fear) The Reaper' which I have on my version of the broadcast as the last track.
The original broadcast is here with an explanation of the inclusion of 'Wings of Mercury'. (Which is also on the Best of the Broadcasts CD). 
So for the FULL review check here..Santa Monica 1986

None of the 4 shows have been touched up, or remastered and unfortunately nothing extra added from the original broadcasts.

So what do you think? Personally I'm terribly disappointed overall with the shows. Sure if I had to pick 4 shows then yes 'San Francisco 1980' would be in there,but even the Santa Monica show from 86 as good as it is wouldn't make the grade as there are far better shows out there.
Whereas the shows selected for inclusion are overall pretty much lack lustre shows and the way they've been left heavily edited is a huge disappointment.

Instead we should have had the full show from the KBFH of 1980 from Poughkeepsie when the band were on fire and officially released 'Dominance and Submission' on 'ETL' from this broadcast.
Or how about the missing songs from the amazing Worcester 1982 gig that was also a radio broadcast. That show in particular was breathtaking.

I'd also like to know what happened to the shows used for the 'ETL' album. Philadelphia 1981,Florida 1981(full show) and Nassau New York 1981, they must exist in full form, why not chose them or the aforementioned unreleased show from Alabama in 1980 from where the 'I want you' Beatles cover was taken for the rarities CD or as they were a lot of radio broadcasts in 1981 why not utilise them?

Or even the complete set from the Hammersmith odeon from 1984 that was only broadcasted in edited version.
Looking through this site you'll see there are so many other options they could or should have chosen.
But if you don't have these now 'official' shows already and can't get hold of the original broadcasts (Most of which are available on the net with a bit of searching) then I'm guessing you may be happy with the shows.
They're not 'bad' as such, I mean it's Blue Oyster Cult' of course they're not bad but it's just a HUGE trick missed.
I can't/don't believe that betwen Eric,Buck and the record company more live shows were available to take from.

However on a positive note, overall the box set is extremely good value with all the albums in as well, you really can't go wrong especially if you don't have them already.
But if you're looking for something to help make the decision of you parting with your hard earned cash,something special, something never before released then I'm guessing these download shows and the Rarities and Best of the broadcasts CD's aren't gonna make you gonna throw your fist in the air and say a big 'Hell Yeah'.
The box set is good, the packaging is great and the quality of music is faultless, how could it not be it's BOC, but like I said at the beginning it's not for Hardcore fans looking for something special or something new but rather for completists only.

A real shame as it was such a good idea.

Palm Springs, California 1993

  

Yet another show that is referred to as a soundboard which is clearly not. however the sound is pretty good for an audience and i've no other shows for 1993,so I've decided to include it in the blog. 
No cover art again so i made my own focussing on the rarely played 'Demon's Kiss' from the Bad Channels soundtrack.
Great setlist with a ton of classics in it and some golden oldies as well.Great show and worth hearing even though it's not essential.

Track listing:
CD1
01 Stairway to the Stars
02 Dr. Music
03 Dominance and Submission
04 Before the Kiss, A Redcap
05 E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
06 Demon's Kiss
07 Teen Archer
08 Joan Crawford
09 Cities on Flame
10 Still Burnin'
11 I Love the Night
CD2
01 This Ain't the Summer of Love
02 ME 262
03 Harvest Moon
04 Burnin' for You
05 Godzilla
06 Don't Fear The Reaper
07 Astronomy
08 Golden Age Of Leather
09 The Red and the Black

The accompanying video? Well it had to be,didn't it?

Ventura, California 1995

Shocking cover artwork for this great sounding soundboard show. So as it's called 'Still Burnin' I've come up with a new cover-bootleg style of course.

One of Chuck Burgi's final shows (he left 4 days later).
Promoting the highly under-rated and brilliant 'Heaven Forbid' album.
Nice sound and the guys are rockin with this teriffic selt list.
The 90's weren't particularly kind to BOC and there's few decent shows around too so this one is a great one to have.

Track listing:
CD1
1.Stairway to the stars
2.Dr.Music
3.O'D on life itself
4.ETI
5.Before the Kiss(a Redcap)
6.See you in black
7.Take me away
8.Cities on flame
9.Astronomy
CD2.
1.In thee
2.ME262
3.Burnin for you
4.Godzilla
5.(Don't fear) The Reaper
6.Joan Crawford
7.Summer of Love
8.Red and the Black

I've attached the studio version of 'Still Burnin' to this post for obvious reasons.

San Juan,California 1995

Great artwork on this one.

This is a new years eve show from 1995 going into 1996.
It's labelled as a soundboard but I highly doubt it. If it is a soundboard then this must be a 5th generation or worst. Personally I think it's an audience, but due to the ambiguity I'll post it here.
Nice little setlist here still featuring the best 2 tracks off 'Heaven Forbid' and nice to see 'Lips in the Hills' resurrected as well.
Power cuts off in 'Dominance and Submission' with curfew broken I suspect.
But this really is one for completists only.

CD 1. 51:20
1. Intro(1:54)
2. Stairway to the stars(3:27)
3. Doctor Music(3:45)
4. O.D.’d on life itself(5:02)
5. E.T.I.(5:23)
6. Harvest Moon(5:32)
7. Before the Kiss(5:28)
8. See you in Black(3:26)
9. Joan Crawford(5:12)
10. Flaming Telepaths(6:21)
11. Cities on Flame(5:50)
CD 2. 49:56
1. Last Days of may(8:19)
2. Auld Lang Syne(3:18)
3. In Thee(4:06)
4. Lips in the Hills(4:17)
5. ME 262(3:26)
6. Burnin’ for you(4:59)
7. Godzilla(6:10)
8. Drum Solo(2:46)
9. Godzilla (reprise)(2:25)
10. (Don’t fear) the Reaper(7:32)
11. Dominance and Submission(2:38)

I've included a nice little version of 'Lips in the hills' here recorded about 2 weeks before the San Juan show.The sound quality is about the same on both shows.

Boston 1976

I've made my own artwork for this part of the 'Marvel' comic 'The Defenders'.
For a full explanation, history and lots of images about this comic strip and it's association with 'Blue Oyster Cult' then just go here...Click HERE

There's 2 versions of this show, that I have. The first is the complete show which is an audience recording and the second which is the one I'm going to focus on here, is a radio show.
Sound quality is very good (as it is with so many recordings thankfully), but this version of the show is incomplete as are so many radio broadcasts.

Clocking in at just a fraction over 30 minutes, things kick off with the heavy classic 'Cities on flame'. Next up is a rare 'Morning final', played on this tour as it was of course the 'Agents of Fortune' tour. The album is represented again twice more, firstly by 'Summer of Love' which is up next and incorporates '5 Guitars'.
Steppenwolf's 'Born to be wild' gets the Cult treatment next and the whole thing is wrapped up by our last visit to the 'Agents of Fortune' album..'(Don't Fear)The Reaper'.

Track listing:
1.Cities on Flame
2.Morning Final
3.Summer of Love
4.Born to be wild
5.(Don't fear)The Reaper

Here's 'Morning final' from New York of the same tour of 1976.

Sweden Rock Festival 2008

Whilst the New York Paladium shows from 1980 are probably the best sounding soundboards I've got, this show recorded off the radio is definately the best quality radio show you'll ever hear.
It's phenomenal.

However in typical fashion no recording is 100% perfect and this release has some problems namely...It's not the complete set unfortunately.
The following tracks are missing from the broadcast:

Before the Kiss
ETI
ME262
Black Blade 

The thing I do like about this show is that it was recorded just 5 days before I was fortunate to see them, so was very similar to that.
The band play great, the songs are great (aren't all BOC tunes great??)

Here's the CD track listing:
1. Red and the Black
2.Burnin for you
3.Harvest moon
4.Cities on flame
5.Bucks Boogie
6.Harvester of Eyes
7.Then came the last days of May
8.Godzilla
9.(Don't fear) The Reaper

For the video choice of this post I've decided to post part of this show but it's just the solos. These normally get neglected and sometimes they're really good.

So Igive you...Danny Miranda and Jules Radino from Sweden 2008

Moscow, Idaho 1992

   
No artwork for this amazing sounding soundboard so I've done my own.

Great tracklisting too featuring some tracks from the awesome,then unreleased and sadly overlooked 'Heaven Forbid' album. I think 'HF' is one of the bands best albums. It has light and shade and can be so heavy at times.
'Heaven forbid' wasn't released until 2 years after this show so it was a nice sneak preview for the lucky crowd.
Also this album features 'The horsemen arrive' and 'Demons kiss' from the 'Bad Channels' soundtrack, hence my cover artwork(which I think came out pretty good!!)
Great setlist,although some major stuff missing in exchange for all the new material.I'm just missing the show closer '(Don't Fear) the Reaper' which was the last number, as apparently the recorder of this soundboard show didn't want to release this!!

CD1.
1.Stairway to the Stars
2.Dominance and Submission
3.Before the Kiss (a Redcap)
4.ETI
5.Demons Kiss
6.Power underneath Despair
7.Take me away
8.Cities on Flame
9.The horsemen arrive
CD2.
1.Astronomy
2.Still Burnin
3.Harvest Moon
4.Burnin for you
5.Godzilla
6.Cold grey light of dawn
7.O'D on life itself

And here is 'The horsemen arrive' from THIS show. Great quality.
Enjoy..

Blue Oyster Cult Cover versions

Many bands over the years have quoted Blue Oyster Cult as their influence etc.
some of these bands have paid hommage by trying to replicate the tracks.In some cases it sort of works, most times it doesn't but whatever you think of the cover versions it's all quite obvious that none of them match up to the originals.

This post simply shows some Youtube videos of Blue Oyster Cult cover versions by various artists.Some versions are ok. Check them out and see what you think.

First up however is a track which Eric guested on and is itself a cover of a Metallica track 'For whom the bells toll'.
It's a great version and Eric's vocals suit perfectly.

 

And now here are the videos of the Blue Oyster Cult cover versions starting with a Metallica double bill of 'Astonomy' and then an acoustic version of 'Veteran of the psychic wars'



Tarot also cover -Veteran of the Psychic wars.. 


Fu Manchu are up next with old 'Godzilla'


Voodoo Screw Machine take a stab at 'Flaming Telepaths'. 



And to close the proceedings..I give you Candlemass' covering '(Don't fear)The Reaper' 

Holmfirth, UK 2008

Whilst this site concentrates on my collection of Live Soundboard and Radio shows occasionally I will post other stuff.

I found this review I’d done of when I saw BOC back in 2008 and thought it would fit here.

If anyone does have a copy of this show in any quality I’d love to hear from you.

 Blue Oyster Cult- Review-Holmfirth 12th June 2008

It's been a long time coming..

I first got into BOC some 26 years ago and due to the band very rarely touring in the UK and concentrating mostly on their home turf of the states the chances to see this band live was  very few and far between.

To be honest they are/were the last band that I really wanted to see live that I never had had the chance to see.

Last night after a long wait I finally got to see the band play live.

The picture dome in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire UK was the setting (A strange one for sure, not exactly the rock capital of the UK) and with a maximum capacity of probably not much more than 1,000 I didn't expect the turn out to be great.

However when I was there I appreciated it so much, and found it to be a perfect venue for the band.

I ended up front row in the gallery overlooking the stage and got an awesome view.

Many bands from the 'classic' eras of rock/metal are still going with varied success, and some of them really need to give it up as they sound terrible and just don't know when to stop.

Turnouts for some of these classic bands when they tour the UK is low or tours cancelled altogether and I feared this may be the swansong in this country at least for BOC and they may be a shadow of their former selves.

After last night I was gladly proved so very wrong.

The place was packed to the rafters, probably not capacity but at worst a minimum of 900+ came out to see this classic band.

Now only Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma remain from the original line up but to be fair to them and BOC they were always the main focal point for me and chief writers anyway.

 

Sure, things have been hugely toned down as the years have passed, and whilst the flashing whip and mirrored guitars are a thing of the past, the band simply let the music do the talking, and it talks..Volumes.

The band kicked off with 'Summer of love' and settled into a slow groove,just testing the audience to gain reaction and to set the tone for the evening. When the song finished and the applause was deafening you just knew you were in for a great evening.

The thing with BOC is that they are ultimate musicians. The band have a huge wealth of albums to choose material from, and they are the only band that I know of that simply can play anything on request from their back catalogue and randomly slot and swap songs night after night.

So far on this UK tour they have played over 30 different songs over 4 nights. And tonight was no different.

The set list was always going to be a problem for me as I’ve got so many fave tracks. To be honest if the band had played for 3 hours it wouldn’t have been enough.

They simply plucked old opener 'Stairway to the stars' up out of nowhere next and really got the crowd going. 'Burnin' for you' is up next one of my all time faves, then 'Teen Archer' and then the shock of the night...

Cultosaurus Erectus was released in 1980 and is my fave studio album of BOC.It was my introduction to Blue Oyster Cult.’Black Blade’ was the first song I EVER heard of BOC. I love this album and rate it very highly even after all these years after.It has stood the test of time. I really wasn't expectin to hear anything from it tonight. So when Eric Bloom simply walks to the mic and just says 'Unknown tongue' you could have knocked me over with a feather. The track is rarely played live at best and to hear it was something I'll never forget.Stunning.

Richie Castellano takes over on guitar from Eric to free him up to sing 'Cities on flame' next. Which has one of the greatest riffs ever written through it. Buck Dharma is on fire tonight too and his solo spot in this song just shows that whilst this band have been going for well over 30 years and they are still a force to be reckoned with.

A 10 minute long 'Shooting shark' is next where again Ritchie shows just how good he is. Eric is now sat quietly down on the keyboards. Not for long though as the 'Secret Treaties' album is now vistied with 'Career of Evil' and then 'Harvester of eyes' with its AMAZING riff takes hold of Holmfirth and the crowd once again is revelling again.

'Last days of May' follows this and comes in at well over 10 mins long with an unforgettable guitar dual battle (for a long time too) from Buck and Ritchie.

Good ole 'Godzilla' is up next and showcases bass player Danny Miranda who is going to be Queen's touring bassist as of next week.

This guy was phenonemal on bass. And his solo spot then drops into a quick Queen medley from the band, featuring 'We will rock you,Another one bites the dust' and the end of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' but not for long before Godzilla reurns and then the place erupts as 'Don't fear the reaper is produced'.

For the encore Eric introduces ‘black Blade’!! I couldn’t believe it, my First BOC song ever is being played!! All i needed now was my all time fave 3 songs playing (Divine wind, Dominance and submission and Red and the Black) when the band launch into a second and sadly encore of ‘Red and the Black.It’s fast, it’s heavy and almost frantic. It’s wondrous and closes the best show I have ever seen and witnessed by ANY band ever. I met Buck after the show (Why didn’t I get a photo?!!) and Eric too. We sat and talked in the dressing room. Words cannot express how i felt.

I've waited years to witness this band, I’d have loved to have seen them more over the years but this really  was worth the wait.

As I left the the building I saw people shakin their heads  in disbelief simply not believing just how good these musicians are.

It was quite simply a master class.

I just wonder if there's any chance of Blue Oyster Cult coming back to the UK after this reaction from the british public, time will tell?
 

I HOPE SO.


Here's the setlist..


1.Summer of love

2. Stairway to the stars

3.Burnin for you

4.Teen Archer

5.Unknown tongue

6.Cities on flame

7.Shooting shark

8.Career of evil

9.Harvester of eyes

10.Last days of May

11.Godzilla

12.(Don't fear) The reaper

13.Black Blade

14.The Red and the black

Sacramento, California 1988

Great show from the 'Imaginos' tour. Not the best but nevertheless a great soundboard with good overall quality. There's some different cover artwork available for this which I have absolutely no idea is the connection to the show or band, if anyone knows can they explain it to me please!!

Here it is.

The setlist would reamin the same for the next year or so it's a standard track listing with no suprises. The suprise on the tour was the band actually played a handful of tracks off the album 'Imaginos'.

 CD1.
1. R.U.Ready 2 Rock
2. Dominance & Submission
3. E.T.I.
4. I Am The One You Warned Me Of
5. Buck’s Boogie
6. Astronomy
7. Take Me Away
CD2
1. In The Presence Of Another World
2. Flaming Telepaths
3. Then Came The Last Days Of May
4. Cities On Flame
5. Joan Crawford
6. Burnin’ For You
7. This Ain’t The Summer Of Love
8. Golden Age Of Leather

(Don't fear) The Reaper is missed from this show.Not sure why.
So to make up for it....
Here is the introduction of the mini series by Stephen King. 'The Stand'
Featuring '(Don't fear) The reaper. This is how it was televised. It fits perfectly.

Marvel Images and History

I've always loved Marvel comics. Ever since I was a kid I used to rush down to the local store and pick up the latest comic books. They used to be so cheap too 'back in the day', cheap enough in fact for me to get most of the titles each month. Hulk, Fantastic Four, Iron Fist, Daredevil,Spidey etc etc.
However one title was always my fave and first choice. That was 'The Defenders'. A super group similar to 'The Avengers' but the difference was they were cool.

Led by Dr.Strange and starring primarily 'The Hulk, Sub Mariner, HellCat, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, and more. I loved the way they dealt with the more mystical and even occult which other comics stayed clear from.

I'll be honest.I don't remember the Blue Oyster Cult references (hell, I was only 10), I actually came across part of it on the official Blue Oyster Cult website itself, but it doesn't show much so, so after a lot of digging I've managed to get some of the pics of these and some more info.
From what I can gather The Blue Oyster Cult refernces started in Marvel spotlight but didn't really come into thier own until they were launched in 'The Defenders'.
Check this out...

Firstly...And this is sooo good.

Defenders issue 58 introduced us to ..'The Cult of the Harvester of Eyes'. They had an 'Agent of Fortune'.

'Vera Gemini' (pictured below in Demon form)was a half human/half demon who wanted to take over the world.

Issue 59 of 'The Defenders' really started running with things.
Firstly here's the front cover...'Tyranny and Mutation'

And the introduction picture..

This page is the best actually Featuring Blue Oyster Cult.

 I just HAD to enlarge this..'Dominace and Submission'!!! gotta love it.

This issue also introduced as well to a demon called 'Belathauzer' (Balthauzer) who was resurrected and took the human form of an Air Force base commander (ME262?!!).

Here's 'Belathauzer/Balthauzer' in true form!

Issue 60 continued with the Cult theme with Vera Gemini even making the front cover!!

and look at this inside title page...

'The Revenge of Vera Gemini'

Unfortunately Vera Gemini was over thrown and the 'Cult of the Harvester of Eyes' also ended up being lost forever.

Here's Vera in human form being stopped by 'Devil slayer' friend of the Defenders.

And that's pretty much it. I think it's great that Marvel did this and to think in my own fave comic series.What a stroke of luck. I always knew 'The Defenders' were the best.