CLAYTON, N.Y. -- There's stories you do that you forget and there's those you'll always remember.
Back in 2009, our former photographer RD White and I traveled from Watertown to Clayton to meet up with the Bouchard brothers. They were starting a new rock band called 'Blue Coupe' and were performing at the Clayton Opera House.
Most people would know Joe and Albert Bouchard from 'Blue Oyster Cult. That band sold tens of millions of albums.
In fact, it was the band depicted in the famous Saturday Night Live skit where Christopher Walken is producing a 'Blue Oyster Cult' album and calls for 'more cowbell' as the band plays perhaps its most famous song, 'Don't Fear the Reaper'.
If you want to laugh yourself into tears for a few minutes, you can watch that skit here. If you want to see the story RD and I did back then, in which Joe and Albert talk about that skit, you can do that here. (Jimmy Fallon played Albert and Horatio Sanz played Joe.)
In that skit, Walken plays the role of Bruce Dickinson. Yes, that Bruce Dickinson.
That character was based on Sandy Pearlman, the man who produced the album that song is on, 'Agents of Fortune'.
(David Lucas produced the actual song and is credited with the idea to use the cowbell. He actually played the cowbell on it.)
(Also, there actually is a real Bruce Dickinson. He was the lead singer for the band Iron Maiden. Believe it or not, he actually did some producing for the reissue 'Blue Oyster Cult' albums and their greatest hits kind of albums.)
Sandy Pearlman died Tuesday. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in December that left him “unable to walk, talk or fully comprehend his circumstances,”
You can see Sandy Pearlman talking about seeing that skit and a lot more here.
Photo of Sandy Pearlman is courtesy Robert Duncan's Facebook.