ALLENTOWN, Pa. — In 1976, in its six-times-platinum biggest hit, rock band Blue Öyster Cult advised listeners "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."
Nearly 50 years later, Blue Öyster Cult still is performing, and this year even released "Ghost Stories," its first album of new material in four years and only second in 23 years.
The group also will open for fellow 1970s rockers Cheap Trick as the grandstand feature for opening night at Allentown Fair at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28.
Tickets, at $32-$52, remain available on the fair website.
"But knock wood, I’m in pretty good shape. But you never know what can happen."Blue Öyster Cult singer Eric Bloom
But that advice about not fearing the reaper comes with a bit more difficulty these days — at least for Blue Öyster Cult lead singer Eric Bloom, who in December will turn 80.
Asked in a recent phone call from Denver, where he was visiting family, whether he ever fears The Reaper, Bloom replied, "Oh, well, yes — every day."
"But knock wood, I’m in pretty good shape," he said, despite a recent battle with COVID-19. "But you never know what can happen."
He noted that Blue Öyster Cult founding keyboardist Alan Lanier passed away in 2013, and during the call relays news that early 1980s rocker Greg Kihn had died.
"I’m a bit of a car guy, so I was just reading about a car auction, and some ex-rockers who had passed, some of their cars are coming to auction," Bloom said. “So you never know what’s going to happen.”
Back to the future
Whatever hesitations there are in life at this point, Blue Öyster Cult found time to look to its past for the new album.
Bloom said "Ghost Stories" is largely comprised of songs the band wrote, but didn't use, for albums from 1978-83.
He said the original tapes came from George Geranios, the band's original audio engineer, who Bloom said had "been hoarding them for years."
"We would rehearse for our albums in his loft, and he would run tape of rehearsals. So any songs that did not make records ... George would have recordings."Blue Öyster Cult singer Eric Bloom
"George had a loft in Brooklyn, so when we were off tour, he got this loft right by the Brooklyn Bridge, and we would pay off his neighbors in the loft to allow us to go make too much noise," Bloom said.
"We would rehearse for our albums in his loft, and he would run tape of rehearsals. So any songs that did not make records ... George would have recordings.
"And we would have infancy tracks from George’s reel-to-reel machine. So basically what these are, are George’s tapes. ... So there would be a tune that maybe you have drum tracks and guitar and no bass, or something like that."
Some of the reel-to-reel tapes had degraded with age, but Geranios used a process in which the tapes are literally baked in an oven to burn off degrading, Bloom said.
“And he came up with these tapes and got together with our management and our people — our people being Richie Castellano, our current keyboardist and guitar player and our resident genius. And he has a home studio — a quite good one.
“And so they all conferred, and they got together and listened to what is available from George’s horde of outtakes. And that’s where this material came from.”
New additions
Bloom said most of the songs required additional work to make them whole.
“Each song has a little something," he said. "Some of it had something done to it, some of it is as it was from that era.
"I don’t think Buck [Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma] did any singing. I know [drummer] Albert [Bouchard] and [bassist] Joe [Bouchard, who left the band in 1985 and 1986, respectively] had to come in because it had deteriorated beat-wise."
One intriguing track is a cover of The Beatles' "If I Fell."
“That goes back to when [bassist] Kasim Sultan was in our band" in 2012-17, Bloom said. "I think we were in L.A. doing some sort of recording thing for our 45th anniversary, … a live event.
"And we did this ‘If I Fell’ thing kind of shooting from the hip, 'cause we said, ‘What can we do that’s kind of special?’ And on occasion, we used to whip out ‘If I Fell.’
"So we just said, ‘Let’s do that.’ We might have run it down quickly once and then did a video of it. And just quickly put it on tape, and so that’s the little bonus track.”
'It was a fun era'
Most of the songs on "Ghost Stories" came from a time when Blue Öyster Cult was at its peak.
The group released its self-titled debut album in 1972, but found wider acceptance with its third album, 1974's "Secret Treaties," which achieved gold sales and hit No. 53 on the albums chart.
It had its biggest success with 1976's "Agents of Fortune," which sold platinum and peaked in the Top 30. It included "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," the group's only Top 10 hit.
It also had platinum sales for its 1978 hit "Godzilla," then, with the birth of MTV in 1981, became a video favorite with its second-biggest hit, the double-platinum "Burnin' for You."
“It’s a very different world than today," Bloom said. "Records don’t sell today like they did back then. It was pre-cell phone, pre-internet.
"And people were picking up on it, and our live show was good. So we were just caught up in all that big rush. It was a fun era.”
'We're pushing forward'
How Blue Öyster Cult has maintained popularity — or even stayed together — for more than half a century is something Bloom explains casually.
"Just put something in front of us and we’ll go — it’s almost that simple," he said.
But it boils down to members getting along, he said.
"We’re going to play until next year at least. And we’re happy to keep playing — it’s always what we wanted to do when we were kids. And I think we’re very satisfied with our career and did what we set out to do.Blue Öyster Cult singer Eric Bloom
"You know, of course, Alan had health difficulties, and we always supported him," Bloom said. "Albert had his problems [and left the band in 1985], but we always now welcome him back for little projects."
[Bouchard has returned for reunion shows and appears on “Ghost Stories.”]
“But Donald and I always got along," Bloom said. "We never had any problems between us. He’s one of the world’s most renowned guitar players and ... we’ve never had any struggles.
“I’ve always wondered about all these bands that have all these personality difficulties, and fistfights in the middle of shows and stuff like that. We never, ever had that.
"We had five guys with five different personalities, and we never, ever had those kinds of problems.”
And even having reached the age where members do, indeed, fear The Reaper, Blue Öyster Cult continues on that path, Bloom said.
“We’re pushing forward," he said. "We’re going to play until next year at least.
"And we’re happy to keep playing — it’s always what we wanted to do when we were kids. And I think we’re very satisfied with our career and did what we set out to do.
“And I’m very happy to get on an airplane and go play some rock.”
