Donald Roeser (born November 12, 1947), known by his stage name Buck Dharma, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the sole constant member of hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967. He wrote and sang vocals on several of the band's best-known hits, including "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla" and "Burnin' for You".
Early life
Roeser was born in Queens, New York City. His father was an accomplished jazz saxophonist, and Roeser spent a lot of time listening to jazz music as a result. Because of this, Roeser developed an interest in the melodic arts at an early age, even playing the accordion for a brief time.
Roeser was influenced greatly by the British Invasion of 1964, and decided to pursue rock-and-roll music. He first started out playing the drums, but had to stop temporarily after breaking his wrist playing basketball. While recovering, Roeser learned to play guitar, and found he enjoyed it more than the drums.
Career
Early career: 1961–1967
During his high-school years at Smithtown Central High School, Roeser played guitar in various cover bands. At this time, he started to develop his own signature sound by imitating his favorite guitarists and combining their sounds with his own style. Roeser attended Clarkson University in New York, and joined a band that included later bandmate Albert Bouchard. The two played together on and off during the rest of their college career. At the end, both musicians abandoned potential degrees (Roeser's in Chemical Engineering), and decided to pursue music full-time. They moved into a band house near Stony Brook University, where Roeser was a part-time student, and started their careers.
Soft White Underbelly: 1967–1971
Roeser, Lanier, Bouchard and Winters formed the band Soft White Underbelly in 1967. Members included singer Les Braunstein, and former music critic Sandy Pearlman (their producer). In 1968, they were signed by Elektra Records after the company's president Jac Holzman saw them perform. The band dropped Braunstein and added new singer Eric Bloom to their lineup - and recorded under the name Stalk-Forrest Group (after a bad gig forced them to change their name) in 1970. Elektra dropped the band because of problems with the personnel, and the album was shelved (it was eventually released in 2001 under the name St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings).
Blue Öyster Cult: 1971–present
Roeser, along with Bouchard, Lanier, Pearlman, Bloom, and new member bassist Joe Bouchard (younger brother of Albert Bouchard) reformed with the name Blue Öyster Cult. They signed with Columbia Records in 1971, and released four albums between 1972 and 1975. By Blue Öyster Cult's fifth album Agents of Fortune in 1976, Roeser proved himself as a songwriter and vocalist with the band's signature song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". As a result, Roeser's songwriting and vocals were more prevalent on the follow-up albums Spectres, Mirrors, Cultosaurus Erectus and Fire of Unknown Origin. Most significantly, he penned and sang on the tracks "Godzilla" and "Burnin' for You".
In 1982, Roeser recorded and released Flat Out, his first and only solo album to date. The tracks were all composed by Roeser (some co-written with Richard Meltzer, Neal Smith and Roeser's wife Sandy), with the exception of "Come Softly to Me", a song originally recorded by The Fleetwoods. The songs on the album were ones Roeser wanted to record with BÖC, but were perceived as too poppy by the other members of the band. Singles from the album were "Born to Rock" and "Your Loving Heart", both of which had music videos made but did not chart. The video for the former was part of an MTV promo along with Blotto's Metalhead clip, in which Buck made a cameo appearance, as well as playing guitar on the song.
Roeser and Blue Öyster Cult subsequently recorded several more albums that flopped commercially, but contained several of Roeser's compositions and many tracks with him on lead vocals. The band's commercial struggles, along with the loss of original members Albert Bouchard (1982) and Allen Lanier (1985), prompted Blue Öyster Cult to break up in mid 1986.
In 1985, Roeser and Bloom participated in Hear 'n Aid, a project created by Ronnie James Dio to raise money for famine relief in Africa. It included many famous heavy metal musicians. Hear n' Aid recorded the song "Stars", which includes a guitar solo by Roeser. Hear n' Aid also released a compilation album which included "Stars", as well as live outtakes from the participating artists.