Blue Oyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard has not-so-fondly reflected on the band’s co-headlining tour with Black Sabbath back in 1980.
In an interview with Full in Bloom, Bouchard admitted there was major tension between Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath throughout the tour.
“It wasn’t OK, it was not fun,” Bouchard revealed.
“I loved Black Sabbath, I idolised Ronnie Dio, but there was a lot of tension, maybe because [manager/producer] Sandy [Pearlman] had talked them into a co-headlining thing where one day Blue Oyster Cult would headline, depending on the market.
“And one day, for instance, we played Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. Now, as big as Black Sabbath were on Long Island, Blue Oyster Cult at that time was a bigger band on Long Island. It was justified.
“But when we played in the city, Madison Square Garden, they were the headliners. Now, what was happening every time was that when we were the headliners, they would come on late and play long – every time.
Bouchard continued, “And we would have to cut our set. I was like, by halfway through the tour, I said to Sandy, ‘Why don’t we just open every show? Just open the show, and they might be more friendly if we let them do that…’
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“He said, ‘No, that’s what the promoters want.’ So, that was the source of tension with those guys.
“And I think that they tried to sabotage us when they would open by going out late and playing long, but there was also an issue with Ronnie Dio, one of our roadies had made some remark that he took offence to.
“And I’m told it was some ‘short’ remark, which is kind of odd because Ronnie Dio is the same size as me – we’re all short, so I don’t know why he would be offended or even why the roadie would say something.
“It seemed a little stupid, so we had to ‘fire’ the roadie – we didn’t really fire him, we just took him off that tour.
He continued: “And I got into some hassle with Tony [Iommi, guitar] too. I was playing my guitar in my hotel room, and he was next door, he was mad, it’s like he’s got a hot date, and I guess I was breaking the mood. I was playing Steely Dan songs, he couldn’t handle it.”
For more on this topic, head over to the Classic Rock Observer.
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