As a lot of people know besides being second mic on our radio show and a Comedian, I am also a musician.
I loved music since I was a kid and I wanted to play music as much as being a comic. With all the drama in my life I do still feel blessed I am still able to do both on a regular basis.
One of my first real rock records was Blue Oyster Cult’s Agents of fortune. Right through “This aint the summer of Love” , “Don’t fear the reaper” (the greatest middle break section in rock by the way) and “ETI” and so on. I was hooked.
A year later I meet Joe Cumia. The band he was in would rehearse at my buddy Alex’s house two doors up. I would beg to watch them rehearse and a lot of the songs they would play Blue Oyster Cult. It turns out Joe was a major Blue Oyster Cult fan.
When Anthony Cumia moved back to New York he would hang with the band and he and I would haul gear work lights, and Blue Oyster Cult was the driving force.
When Anthony started to become a Lead singer and I started playing keyboards with Joe and our own bands we still played a lot of Blue Oyster cult.
For Anthony and I, Eric Bloom was and is the coolest guy in rock and our Idol.
He was the major influence on Anthony as a lead singer.
When we would go see them play as the Soft White Underbelly at a local club we would make damn sure we got up to where Eric was standing to see our rock god in action.
A lot of bands I have played in have their one major influence. One band that I have played on and off for years with is a band called Emerald, Why? Because my Buddies Mike and Lou and Mark were major Thin Lizzy fans and were a major influence on them. When we joined and Anthony and I brought in our love for Blue Oyster Cult it made for some live shows.
In Race Odyssey my Guitar players Johnny and Chris are major Kiss fans and are totally Kiss army, but the Kiss army is met by me holding a flag with the Blue Oyster Cult Symbol. I always joke that if how come our influences are Kiss and B.O.C why do our songs sound like Guns and Roses.
Anthony, Joe, and I as a dream always wanted to meet and maybe play with the Cult as any fan would dream. Joe met their guitar player, Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser on several occasions.
Thanksgiving Eve 1993 we had our chance with Rotgut to open for Blue Oyster Cult at a place called the Roxy in our hometown of Huntington on Long Island. It was a dream come true, except Yngwie Malmsteen who was also on the bill brought his own opening act and had us bumped of the bill. Fuuuuck.
Fast forward several years ahead and Joe Cumia auditioned and almost got the bass player gig in the Cult. The result is that Joe got to be an acquaintance of Eric Bloom
Last May Anthony got to meet Eric and I was jealous but happy for Ant that he got to meet to him. I figured my chance to meet him would never come.
Today I go to the Compound to watch Antony’s show live and I pass by three people sitting watching the show, Ant’s brother Joe, My buddy and Sunrise club Alum Dennis, Eric Bloom,,,,,,,,,,,, Holy Shit Eric Bloom. I went into fan boy mode. As the show is live you really can’t talk in the background so I sat in silence and planned what I was going to say like Luca Brasi at the wedding from the God Father.
When the show was over I got to meet him, after Thirty five years I finally got to meet and say hello to the man who has been my idol and hero, All I can say is it was unbelievable and surreal at the same time. Eric is a great guy and a gentleman I got a picture and he hung out for a while and answered questions about the band from a fan and a musician’s point of view as well. It was a day I will never forget and one item off the bucket list.