Album Notes

Joe Bouchard - A Brief Biography

Joe Bouchard has been a gigging musician since the age of 10. He performed from a very early age on street corners, backyard parties, and tourist cottages in the 1000 Islands in upstate New York. He hooked up early on with his brother Albert on drums and they had a very successful high school band, called the Regal Tones, in Northern NY. The Bouchard Brothers later became the driving rhythm section and two of the creative forces behind the world famous Columbia artists Blue Oyster Cult.

Joe studied classical piano at Ithaca College from 1966 to 1970 and played guitar and bass in various college bands. After graduating from Ithaca, he moved to Long Island and became a founding member of Blue Oyster Cult. The group became a smashing international success in the late 70s and over the years was awarded nine gold and two platinum awards.

When Joe Bouchard was a music student at Ithaca College in the 1960s, his brother Albert was a struggling musician living with rock group called Soft White Underbelly. During school breaks Joe would take the bus to New York and spend a week or two living with the group in their communal band house. Often there were extended jam sessions that would go until the sun came up.

Two years later in 1970 Joe was invited to become the band's bassist. After only a year of club gigs and demo sessions, they passed an audition for Columbia Records president Clive Davis. Clive signed them on the spot to a seven record contract. They felt poised for the big time, but they decided they needed a new name. After months of intense arguments they threw the naming process into the hands of their manager, Sandy Pearlman. The name, taken from one of Sandy's writings about a fictitious biker gang, was Blue Öyster Cult.

Blue Öyster Cult was not an overnight success. From constant touring they built a growing "cult" following. They opened shows all over the United States for groups such as Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and many more. Their first breakthrough album was the 1975 live set, On Your Feet or On Your Knees, which delighted the intense hard rock fans they had won over the years.

In 1976, BÖC recorded one of their most popular numbers Don’t Fear the Reaper which in now an all-time favorite on classic rock radio. It was used in several movies including the original Halloween, and Stephen King's The Stand. In 1977, they recorded another classic, Godzilla, on their Spectres album for Columbia. In the early days of MTV, the BÖC video, Burnin’ for You, was a staple on the fledgling cable TV show. That song became a big hit also. In 2000 Don’t Fear the Reaper was immortalized on a Saturday Night Live Skit with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken. The “More Cowbell” skit has become iconic in status rating as one of the top funniest SNL skits of all time, and opened the group music to whole new generations of young fans.

In 1986, Joe decided to retire from Blue Öyster Cult and left the band to pursue other goals. Over the years, Joe was a teacher in a private school, and worked in a music book publishing company. In 1986 he performed as a touring organist and pianist with Spencer Davis of the Spencer Davis Group. In 1998 he released his first self-produced CD for The X Brothers, entitled “Solid Citizens” on Cellsum Records.

He is the author of four educational music books. He also performed in two instructional videos: Rock Bass for Beginners and Bass No Reading Necessary distributed by Alfred Publishing.

In 1998 one of the most popular hard rock group of our time Metallica recorded Joe's song Astronomy on their CD "Garage Inc". This CD was immensely popular and ended up selling over 5 million units. The Metallica CD as of this writing has gone five times platinum!

The Blue Öyster Cult catalog continues to thrive as we enter the 21st century. Many of the early BÖC songs have been repackaged in recent compilations on Sony/Legend records like Workshop of Telescopes and The Best of Blue Öyster Cult. The catalog of original songs recorded by Blue Oyster Cult continues to be very popular and is used in television, movies and most currently the widely popular video games, Guitar Hero and Rockband.

Joe just finished his first solo CD, Jukebox in My Head, which will be released in 2009. For more information see WWW.JOEBOUCHARD.COM.

Discography with Blue Oyster Cult Albums

1972 Blue Oyster Cult
1973 Tyranny & Mutation
1974 Secret Treaties
1975 On Your Feet or on Your Knees
1976 Agents of Fortune
1977 Spectres
1978 Some Enchanted Evening
1979 Mirrors
1980 Cultosauraus Erectus
1981 Fire of Unknown Origin
1982 Extraterrestrial Live
1983 The Revolution by Night
1986 Club Ninja
1987 Career of Evil: The Metal Years
1988 Imaginos
1989 (Don't Fear) the Reaper CBS Special
1990 On Flame with Rock & Roll CBS Special
1994 Live 1976
1995 Workshop of the Telescopes
2000 The Best of Blue Oyster Cult, Don't Fear the Reaper

Albums with other groups:
1989 Deadringer: Electrocution Of The Heart

Albums Produced by Joe Bouchard:

1997 The X Brothers: Solid Citizens
2001 Bouchard Dunaway & Smith: Back From Hell
2002 Bouchard Dunaway & Smith: Live in Paris
2004 The X Brothers Hot Time in Hell (Live in Florida) unreleased
2006 The X Brothers Beyond the Valley of the X
2009 Joe Bouchard Solo Album Jukebox in My Head

Books Alfred Publishing
Rock Guitar for Beginners
Beginning Rock Keyboards
Intermediate Rock Keyboards (with Seth Zowader)
Bass for the Absolute Beginner
The Complete Rock Keyboardist

Educational Videos Alfred Publishing
Bass for Beginners
Bass No Reading Necessary

MTV Videos and Movies
The Marshall Plan
Burning for You
Joan Crawford
Shooting Shark
Take me Away
Dancin' in the Ruins
The Black and Blue Movie (with Black Sabbath) theatrical release
Blue Oyster Cult Live in Florida, Blue Jean Network
Live 1976, Castle Communications

Various YouTube Video Clips including:
Orleans featuring Joe Bouchard "Don't Fear The Reaper"
Joe Bouchard & Friends "I Love The Night" with Larry Hoppen
Don't Fear The Reaper ASPCA Day 2007
Bang Camaro sings Godzilla with The X BROTHERS
Astronomy by The X BROTHERS - Simpleman Cruise 2009
Cities On Flame with Rock and Roll - The X BROTHERS - Simpleman Cruise 2009