The movie monster they’re most associated with—namechecked in the title one of their most recognizable tunes—is Godzilla. But the new studio album from venerable Classic Rockers Blue Öyster Cult takes inspiration from a different sort of cinematic creature: Frankenstein.

With their latest release, Ghost Stories (Frontiers Music) these cult members have resurrected a series of incomplete, unused, or only-played-informally-live songs recorded during the period of 1976-83. And then stitched them together with partially newly recorded instruments and vocals to finish or update the job.

As a result, listeners can hear contributions on Ghost Stories from original, classic, former, and current members of the band, making it sort of a family reunion.

“I didn’t even know those pre-production recordings still existed. I had kind of forgotten about them!” Founding BÖC singer/guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser says over Zoom. “It’s great that they did. We didn’t record a lot of extra stuff in the studio, so to even have that material available was great. Remember in the vinyl era, you could only fit 20 minutes or so of music on each side.”
The project’s genesis came from the band’s current label, Frontiers Music. They wanted to build on the success of the 2020 release The Symbol Remains (Cult's first new studio effort in nearly 20 years). But given the band’s schedule and level of activity, it would have been quite a wait.

Longtime BÖC agent/road manager/associate Steve Schenck then toyed with the idea of taking some of the band’s archival tracks which hadn’t seen the light of day and making something of them. As he explained in a video with his Ghost Stories co-producer (and current Cult guitarist/singer) Richie Castellano, they reached out to George Geranios, the band’s original audio engineer, for potential material. Which he indeed had.
The fragile original audiotapes had to then actually be “baked” in high temperature ovens to preserve them before being transferred to digital audio. They featured performances by original members Roeser, Eric Bloom (vocals/guitar), Allen Lanier (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Joe Bouchard (vocals/bass/keyboards) and drummer Albert Bouchard as well as his replacement, Rick Downey. Not all of the material was salvageable.

All but Lanier (who died in 2013) and Downey then added new or “reimagined” parts, as did Castellano, for the final product. The producers called the process “demixing and remixing,” using some AI components.

Songs run the gamut from their trademark spooky/ethereal sound (“So Supernatural,” “Don’t Come Running to Me”), near-rockabilly (“Cherry”), funk (“Soul Jive”), hard rock (“Late Night Street Fight,” “Shot in the Dark,” “The Money Machine”), and more romantic-type fare (“The Only Thing”).
Covers include their take on the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” (Dharma also throws in a guitar quote of their tune “Rambling Rose”) and the Animals; “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.”

The album ends with the only non-reimagined song, an intimate and informal cover of the Beatles’ “If I Fell” performed by the group’s 2016 lineup. Roeser says “’So Supernatural’ came the most way from the original demo. The animated video, put together mostly by self-professed computer nerd Castellano, features many BÖC "Easter eggs."

As mentioned, BÖC’s last proper studio record was The Symbol Remains. And though it was well-received by critics and fans, it was ignored by both earthbound and terrestrial radio. Unfortunately, that the usual fate among Classic Rock bands who choose to stay creative and put out new music. Why play something from the new record when you can spin the well-worn hits for the gazillionth time?

“When we approached recording that record, we worked very hard to make it comparable to the legacy records. But us and other bands of our era are not the current big thing anymore, so it’s hard to get potential people to hear it. And of course, you can stream it for nothing,” Roeser offers.
That said, he still thinks that streaming—where someone today on Spotify can hear 50+ years of the band’s music at the click of mouse—is “great.” He does say “I think it’s killed the album as a thing, and it’s back to singles dominating like it did in the 1950’s."

To celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary in 2022, Blue Öyster Cult booked a series of three consecutive evening shows at New York City’s Sony Hall. The setlist included an opening set performing their first three studio albums in their entirety on subsequent nights (1972’s Blue Öyster Cult, 1973’s Tyranny and Mutation, and 1974s Secret Treaties, followed by a second set of hits, fan favorites, and deep cuts.
The first release, 50th Anniversary Live—First Night came out last year on Frontiers, and Roeser says that the next two should be out by the end of 2024. He notes that the band played a number of songs that they had either not performed live in decades or even at all.

“I had to woodshed to play the way I did when I was 23 years old! I had a different mindset and a different muscle set back then!” Roeser laughs. “I had to go back to the gym with my fingers. I don’t play as fiery now as I did back then. My style had changed, and that was a realization for me. But it was fun to come up with the parts!”

Looking at the discography of Blue Öyster Cult, one sees that Roeser (or “Buck Dharma”—he goes back and forth between names) alone wrote “Godzilla” and “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” and co-wrote “Burnin’ for You” with Richard Meltzer. He sang lead on the last two, and the trio are probably the band’s most recognizable and popular tunes.
In 2017, Eric Bloom told The Houston Press that the band had to sign away some of the publishing rights and royalties for “Godzilla” in perpetuity to Japan’s Toho Films, which owned the film copyright on the green scaly monster and had threatened a lawsuit. But Roeser remembers it a bit differently.

“It wasn’t Toho, it was the U.S. company holder that had a license, A.A. Wonderland Records. They owned the audio rights [to Godzilla], but we only had a song with that title. I think we could have actually pushed back on it at the time, but we thought it might not be worth the effort. So, our manager, Sandy Pearlman, gave them a piece of it to go away,” he recalls.

“But I would doubt if that’s still in effect, unless it comes off the top from Sony and they don’t tell us about it. In retrospect, we should have put our foot down. We did hear from Toho when we had a Godzilla T-shirt, though!”
The band appears in other pop culture references, notably in the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High when a kid approaches ticket scalper/virgin deflowerer Mike Damone at a mall and asks “Got any Blue Öyster Cult?”

“NO. I don’t have any Blue Öyster Cult! I had 34 pairs last time around. Where were you? I was that close to working at 7-11, you know?” Damone says indignantly.

“I found out about that just be seeing the movie!” Roeser says today. “I’ve gotten a kick over just the oblique kind of ways that Blue Öyster Cult has assimilated in the culture. There are horror movies and of course, the [Saturday Night Live] ‘Cowbell’ sketch!” Ah, yes, the band has now even worked the infamous exhortation "More Cowbell!" into their live shows.
Donald Roeser is equally at home being called by his birth name or “Buck Dharma.” In the early days of the band, manager Sandy Pearlman thought it would be good if each member had an eccentric stage name and bestowed upon each man one he created. Only Roeser accepted his, and uses it to this day. So, the question must be asked: Does he remember any of his bandmates’ discarded monikers?

“You’d have to ask them! I don’t want to say what the rejected or tattle on them!” Roeser offers. “I liked mine because I think I had a good one!”

The band’s current lineup includes original members Roeser and Bloom, Castellano (guitar/vocals), Danny Miranda (bass) and Jules Radino (drums). Roeser—as Buck Dharma—has a solo single and video, “The End of Every Song,” coming out later this year.

Finally, when asked if he had any particular memories about Houston, Roeser says there’s a very current connection. And it has to do with Major League Baseball.

“My nephew works for the Houston Astros, so I’m a fan by long distance,” he laughs. “He’s the guy who watches six video screens and tells the manager when to dispute a call on the field. He travels with the team. It’s a very important job!”

For more on Blue Öyster Cult, visit BlueOysterCult.com