Thursday, August 15, 2013


When I saw Rich Nesin’s note about Allen Lanier this morning I had to do a double take. Been keeping the RIP’s in check lately but this one resonates. Blue Öyster Cult made a big impression on a 15 year old me and opened the door to pretty much everything. They were punk rock at the time before the term was corporate-ised. Often lumped with the metal albatross, the band was closer to something like the MC5 but the songs were really something else. The concept of “stun guitar” was an exciting prospect and it all made some kind of sense when they claimed “we’re pain, we’re steel, a plot of knives...”. It still does. Listen to any of these early records and they stand up to the test of time far more than anything by The Clash. Actually the best album those guys made were with BÖC’s producers. Go figure.
 
And of course those same producers were responsible for something by the name of The Dictators Go Girl Crazy. Indeed HDM mentioned today that Lanier played some keyboards on there, presumably he was Alan Glover? Don’t think I was ever aware of that.

RIP - Allen Lanier