Found Objects: Blue Oyster Cult's "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" (1976)

"The Revenge of Vera Gemini,” by Blue Oyster Cult, is the last song of side A on their 1976 album, Agents of Fortune. It was a good year for BOC. Agents of Fortune contained the hit song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” which almost cracked the top ten, right in the center of side A. I read about "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" and Blue Oyster Cult in Will Hermes’ Love Goes to Buildings on Fire, a book about five pivotal musical years in late-’70s New York City. Reading Hermes' book and listening to the playlist felt like browsing through record store bins, with old album cover dust in your nose. A playlist circulated on Spotify with every song mentioned in Hermes text. It ended being several days' worth of music, including “Vera Gemini," which Hermes mentioned only in passing.

By Michael Hamad

September 21, 2012