Blue Öyster Cult reflect on the impact of SNL's 'More Cowbell' sketch 25 years on
Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser has spoken about the skit
Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser has spoken about the long-term impact of Saturday Night Live’s famous ‘More Cowbell’ sketch almost 25 years on.
First aired on Saturday 8th April 2000, the Will Ferrell-penned skit depicts the recording of the song Blue Öyster Cult’s ‘(Don't Fear) The Reaper’ with Chris Kattan as Buck Dharma, Chris Parnell as Eric Bloom, Horatio Sanz as Joe Bouchard, and Jimmy Fallon as Albert Bouchard.
The hilarious sketch also stars guest host Christopher Walken as fictional music producer Bruce Dickinson (no relation to the Iron Maiden frontman), and Will Ferrell as fictional overzealous Blue Öyster Cult cowbell player Gene Frenkle.
Frenkle plays his cowbell with great gusto much to the annoyance of his band mates, however Dickinson repeatedly demands “more cowbell!”
Christopher Walken has joked in recent years that the sketch has “ruined my life” as people constantly shout “more cowbell!” at him in the street, however speaking to Vulture, Buck Dharma says he’s thankful of the sketch.
Commenting on recording the song almost 50 years ago, Dharma explained that band never intended to use a cowbell on the track, saying: “The cowbell was an afterthought on the part of David Lucas, who was one of the producers of that record.
“He thought that the groove in the verses could use a stead-four on the floor accent, because the drum part didn’t sound quite like that.”
Revealing his initial reaction to the sketch, Dharma told Vulture: “My first feeling was relief — relief that it was funny and relief that it wasn’t too cruel on the band.
“SNL had done some rather cruel things about Neil Diamond and other artists over the years, so I was happy it was actually hilarious. While it poked fun at Blue Öyster Cult, it wasn’t mean-spirited at all.”
Looking back on how it has impacted the band long-term, he continued: “I don’t know if you’d wish it on anybody, but certainly we’ve had to live with the cowbell whether we liked it or not.
“It just overtook the band in a lot of respects in the same way when people come up to Christopher Walken, who’s had such a storied career, and all they say to him is, ‘I need more cowbell.’ I’m sympathetic to that. I have never contested the basic hilarity of the sketch.”
Revealing that they had to incorporate the cowbell into concerts, Dharma said: “The first change was we began playing the cowbell in ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’ live.
“For 20-odd years, we didn’t use a live cowbell for our shows and never considered it. We had to play the cowbell because there was just no getting away from it. I’m grateful that as significant as the sketch is — because after 25 years, it still is — it didn’t kill the song, its original intent, or its original mood.”
He added: “When we play ‘Reaper,’ people still mimic playing the cowbell, and we had to ban people from bringing actual cowbells to the concerts. But, again, it’s a tiny cross to bear.”
Blue Öyster Cult play an exclusive show at London Palladium on Sunday 25th May 2025 with very special guests When Rivers Meet.
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5) Pink Floyd - ‘Comfortably Numb’ (1979)
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4) Lynyrd Skynyrd – ‘Free Bird’ (1973)
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3) Rainbow – ‘Stargazer’ (1976)
The standout song from Rainbow's seminal 'Rising' album, 'Stargazer' sees the inimitable, late-great Ronnie James Dio narrate the ominous story of a wizard whose attempt to fly by constructing a tower to the stars leads to the enslavement of countless people. A musically complex, powerful and majestic heavy metal tour-de-force, 'Stargazer' flaunts the imperious talents of the respective Rainbow band members, from Dio's astonishing pipes to Cozy Powell's titanic drums to Ritchie Blackmore's mercurial guitar playing. Nothing short of a masterpiece.
2) Led Zeppelin – ‘Stairway To Heaven’ (1971)
Number 2 on our Greatest Led Zeppelin Songs poll in September 2018 to mark the band's 50th anniversary, 'Stairway To Heaven' is also at No.2 in our Greatest Rock Song poll. Clocking in at just over eight minutes, every second of 'Stairway To Heaven' is iconic; from the opening, Renaissance-tinged finger-picked guitars and recorders to Jimmy Page's legendary solo and right through to Robert Plant's ultimate, plaintive "and she's buying the stairway to heaven" refrain. A true timeless classic that will be listened to in centuries to come.
1) Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975)
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