Biography
Buck Dharma, born Donald Roser, has served as lead guitarist and vocalist for Blue Öyster Cult from the group’s formation in 1967 onward, while also pursuing numerous external endeavors. In 1982 he issued the solo album Flat Out. For the 1992 motion picture Bad Channels he composed several score cues that appeared on the accompanying soundtrack alongside two previously unrecorded Blue Öyster Cult songs. The 2002 four-CD compilation Archive draws on Dharma’s private home recordings dating back to the mid-1970s. He has contributed guitar to projects by Kasim Sulton and Tommy Zvoncheck as well.
Raised as the son of a jazz saxophone player, Dharma began his musical training on accordion. After switching to drums, he suffered a broken left wrist during a basketball game that ended his drumming career. While recovering, he taught himself guitar and discovered his natural aptitude for the instrument.
He refined his technique in a succession of cover bands on Long Island before enrolling at Clarkson College in Potsdam, New York, where he continued performing. There he formed a close association with Albert Bouchard, later Blue Öyster Cult’s drummer; together they played in the Potsdam groups Disciples and Travesty. Although Dharma briefly returned to Long Island and Bouchard to Chicago, the pair reconvened several months later in Stony Brook, New York. Attempting to juggle music with coursework at Stony Brook College proved unsustainable, prompting them to commit fully to the band. They moved into a communal band house and, with bassist Andy Winters and keyboardist John Wiesenthal (soon succeeded by Allen Lanier), established Soft White Underbelly in 1967.
After Elektra signed the band, vocalist Les Bronstein joined for an album that remained unreleased. Following Bronstein’s departure the group adopted the name Oaxaca and began work on another album that also went unissued. The sole release from this period was a single credited to the Stalk-Forrest Group.
Dropped by Elektra, the musicians underwent additional personnel shifts, adopted the name Blue Öyster Cult, replaced Winters with Joe Bouchard, and secured a contract with Columbia in late 1971. Although the band’s initial Columbia albums registered only modest placements inside the Top 100, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” sung by Dharma, became their first international hit. That success propelled subsequent releases to consistent gold certification. Dharma again supplied lead vocals for the 1981 Top 40 single “Burnin’ for You.”
Raised as the son of a jazz saxophone player, Dharma began his musical training on accordion. After switching to drums, he suffered a broken left wrist during a basketball game that ended his drumming career. While recovering, he taught himself guitar and discovered his natural aptitude for the instrument.
He refined his technique in a succession of cover bands on Long Island before enrolling at Clarkson College in Potsdam, New York, where he continued performing. There he formed a close association with Albert Bouchard, later Blue Öyster Cult’s drummer; together they played in the Potsdam groups Disciples and Travesty. Although Dharma briefly returned to Long Island and Bouchard to Chicago, the pair reconvened several months later in Stony Brook, New York. Attempting to juggle music with coursework at Stony Brook College proved unsustainable, prompting them to commit fully to the band. They moved into a communal band house and, with bassist Andy Winters and keyboardist John Wiesenthal (soon succeeded by Allen Lanier), established Soft White Underbelly in 1967.
After Elektra signed the band, vocalist Les Bronstein joined for an album that remained unreleased. Following Bronstein’s departure the group adopted the name Oaxaca and began work on another album that also went unissued. The sole release from this period was a single credited to the Stalk-Forrest Group.
Dropped by Elektra, the musicians underwent additional personnel shifts, adopted the name Blue Öyster Cult, replaced Winters with Joe Bouchard, and secured a contract with Columbia in late 1971. Although the band’s initial Columbia albums registered only modest placements inside the Top 100, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” sung by Dharma, became their first international hit. That success propelled subsequent releases to consistent gold certification. Dharma again supplied lead vocals for the 1981 Top 40 single “Burnin’ for You.”
Albums
