American singer, songwriter and musician
Eric Bloom
|
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Bloom in 2016
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Birth name
| Eric Jay Bloom
|
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Born
| (
1944-12-01
)
December 1, 1944
(age 79)
Brooklyn
, New York City, U.S.
|
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Genres
| Hard rock
,
heavy metal
,
psychedelic rock
|
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Occupation(s)
| Musician, singer, songwriter
|
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Instrument(s)
| Vocals, guitar, keyboards
|
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Years active
| 1959?present
|
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Labels
| Columbia
,
CMC
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|
Website
| ericbloom
.net
|
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Musical artist
Eric Jay Bloom
(born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist, guitar and keyboard/synthesizer player for the long-running band
Blue Oyster Cult
, with work on more than 20 albums. Much of his lyrical content relates to his lifelong interest in science fiction.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
A native New Yorker, Bloom was born in
Brooklyn
, the youngest of three children, and grew up in
Queens
. His mother was a housewife, active in local charities and family life. His father ran a picture frame and print company in
Manhattan
. Bloom is
Jewish
.
[1]
Bloom attended
JHS 216
(George J. Ryan Junior High School), and then moved on to
Woodmere Academy
and
Cheshire Academy
in
Connecticut
.
[2]
It was there that he purchased his first guitar, a $52 Harmony full-bodied electric.
Bloom, known as "Manny" Bloom in college, attended
Hobart College
in
Geneva, New York
, studying
modern languages
.
Career
[
edit
]
Soft White Underbelly: 1968?1971
[
edit
]
One day in late 1968 some members of the band Soft White Underbelly, Donald Roeser (later
Buck Dharma
),
Allen Lanier
and Andrew Winters, entered the store. One of them spotted a photo that Bloom had put up as a joke?he had placed an 8x10 glossy of his old band Lost and Found up on the wall with all the major bands such as the
Rolling Stones
and
The Who
. One of the SWU members recognized it because Les Braunstein, their lead singer, had also been a Hobart College alumnus, and had told his bandmates about the other college band. As Bloom talked with them about the photo, they struck up a friendship. Bloom ended up doing some sound engineering for them at the
Electric Circus
in
Greenwich Village
, and they mutually impressed each other enough that in November 1968, the band's manager,
Sandy Pearlman
, asked if Bloom would like to become their tour manager. Bloom moved into the group's house in
Great Neck, New York
, in December 1968.
[3]
[4]
Blue Oyster Cult: 1972?present
[
edit
]
In April 1969, when lead singer Braunstein dropped out of the group, Bloom became the band's vocalist. The band went through several name changes, but in 1971 settled on Blue Oyster Cult. Their first album was released by
Columbia Records
in 1972.
In 1976, their platinum album
Agents of Fortune
with its hit "
(Don't Fear) the Reaper
" launched the band into international fame, though that particular song was sung and written by lead guitarist
Buck Dharma
. Both
Creem
readers
[5]
and
Rolling Stone
critics
[6]
voted "Don't Fear the Reaper" as the top single of the year.
Bloom bought his own house in Great Neck in 1976.
[3]
Bloom has been one of the longtime members of the band throughout the decades, along with original member
Buck Dharma
. Bloom is credited as playing "stun guitar" on some Blue Oyster Cult works, a term the band uses for the distortion sound of his
rhythm guitar
.
[7]
[8]
Outside work
[
edit
]
Bloom is known for being an avid reader, especially science fiction and fantasy novels. He once sent a fan letter to English science-fiction author
Michael Moorcock
, and then collaborated with him on three songs. "
Black Blade
" was written from the point of view of Moorcock's
Elric
character, and the other two were "
The Great Sun Jester
" and "
Veteran of the Psychic Wars
", the latter of which was used in the original
Heavy Metal
movie.
Bloom also collaborated with author
Eric Van Lustbader
on the song "Shadow Warrior", and in 1998, 2001 and 2020 with
cyberpunk
author
John Shirley
on the
Heaven Forbid
,
Curse of the Hidden Mirror
and
The Symbol Remains
albums.
In 2006, Bloom began a partnership with artist Philippe Renaudin, to create and sell six elaborately painted custom-made guitars, each one of which interprets a different Blue Oyster Cult song, and each of which was played during BOC performances.
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Blue Oyster Cult Explains the Umlaut"
. April 17, 2013.
- ^
http://www.cheshireacademy.org/uploaded/admissions/56876_lo_res.pdf
Archived
February 21, 2006, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
Knopper, Steve (October 26, 2012).
"Blue Oyster Cult's 40th anniversary CD"
.
Newsday
. Retrieved
January 25,
2020
.
- ^
Konig, Susan (March 12, 2000).
"Blue Oyster Cult Hoping for a Resurgence"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
January 25,
2020
.
- ^
"Creem Magazine Reader Polls (1973?77, 79?80)"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"500 Greatest Songs of All Time"
.
Rolling Stone
. December 11, 2003.
- ^
Sleazegrinder (August 1, 2014).
"Blue Oyster Cult: 'They wanted us to be the American Black Sabbath'
"
.
Louder Sound
. Retrieved
May 3,
2022
.
- ^
Moseley, Willie G. (August 1998).
"Buck Dharma, Regarding the Reaper and Other Recollections"
.
Vintage Guitar
. Retrieved
May 3,
2022
.
- ^
"Art Guitars: Series 1"
. Ericbloomguitars.com
. Retrieved
September 27,
2010
.
External links
[
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]
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Studio albums
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Live albums
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Other albums
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Songs
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Videos
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Related
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International
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National
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Artists
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