Someone’s comment somewhere has stuck with me: “Blue Oyster Cult’s Buck Dharma is the Edgar Allan Poe of rock.” “I Love The Night” is often interpreted as a great vampire song, and I concur. It’s also one of the most perfect ballads I can think of; I’ve loved it since I was a kid. One of those songs whose legend grew through AOR radio, as I don’t think the single – in the shadow of “Godzilla” – even charted.
Buck doesn’t sing most of the band’s songs, just the best ones. And few can match his talent for tasty, tasteful licks – never too much, no Malmsteen/Van Halen histrionics – just appropriate punctuation in the arrangement. One of the most underrated, yet simultaneously legendary figures in rock n roll.
My late wife was a big BOC fan, for obvious reasons. We once went to see them at the fair; she was so excited. But Mr. Dharma was sick and laid up! The band forging ahead without him was a complete disaster. Such was our luck. Here’s to you, my best friend.
