Had an amazing time at our little work party last night. Lots of fun people there and really good conversation about all kinds of social/cultural/musical phenomena.
Of course, my favorite part of the evening was the hour or two I go to spend talking to Sandy Pearlman — rock criticism cornerstone and renowned producer/manager — about everything from Lovecraftian reflections in rock to how they arrived at the pindrop mix on Blue Öyster Cult‘s “I Love the Night.”
It seems somewhat narcissistic to say this, but the vast majority of my personal/professional interests are mirrored in Sandy’s own C.V. And clearly, we’re both eminently weird fuckers. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that if 98 percent of the world’s population were to have stumbled into our conversation last night, they’d have found it utterly incomprehensible.
An aside: did you know that Sandy was one of the individuals rumored to have authored The Necronomicon by Simon? (He didn’t.) He also might be the person who coined the term “heavy metal.” (He probably didn’t.)
When I asked Sandy whether his BOC “Imaginos” mythology (Desdinova, Secret Treaties, etc.) was fully ripe at the time of the band’s first three albums, he replied, “as ripe as an autumn pear fermenting on the tree.”
Love it.
There’s a hidden history of weird fiction influencing rock music, and BOC explored occult/metaphysical concepts in their psychedelic biker rock well before they started writing songs about giant Japanese lizards with radioactive breath. Sandy had a huge hand in all of this, from the band’s arcane “cross of confusion” symbol to the equally enigmatic (and often comically obtuse) lyrics. It’s no coincidence that Blue Öyster Cult started sucking after he stopped working closely with them.
Our conversation inspired me to make my next batch of songs relate to the Lovecraftian Mythos somehow. This will prove difficult to do in a non-cheesy, non-metal way, but I think I’m up for the challenge. (My previous record, Northern Lights, was inspired by an anti-religious childrens’ fantasy series called His Dark Materials.)
Now I gotta go interview Sandy officially for a work-related thing. (Technology and music.) Fun!
I read this while drinking a bottle of Ichor Steam.
[...] or “indie” or anything. I call it “haunt-rock.” Basically, I took the Sandy Pearlman challenge: no one in the last couple of decades has written and recorded a legitimate record that [...]
This is one of the best things I have found on the Net regarding Mr. Pearlman. I certainly wish you had transcripts of the conversation available. “An Autumn pear fermenting on the tree?” What a shameful waste.
Thanks, Ellen. I’m actually hoping to write a book about Sandy, or at least one of his historic projects. Maybe a 33 1/3 series book about “Secret Treaties.”
I should probably tell Sandy. 
Actually, it was Albert Bouchard’s departure that got BOC sucking….
No argument there.
That was just the final blow. Thank Heaven it was the catalyst for the better late than never release of the long awaited unveiling of the mysteries that “Imaginos” was. What could it have been if the concept had been realized at the proper time? We’ll never know now, will we?
[...] while back I was gabbing with one of my heroes, Sandy Pearlman (manager/producer, Blue Öyster Cult, etc.), when the topic of conversation turned to HP Lovecraft. [...]
After stumbling on your site and reading your conversation with Sandy I found myself reliving the lazer days at Asbury Park convention hall! I would love to read more, but for the record despite the bands drop off with out Sandy or Albert there was always a little cult in every disc since. To this day I still wish the boys could find a way to burn one more disc!
Thanks for bringing back some good memories
Whoa, I didn’t know about the His Dark Materials connection. I’ll have to listen to your album again and pay more attention to the lyrics. (I typically pay very little attention to lyrics when I listen to music — a tendency I doubt I’ll ever cure. Just how my mind works.)