Sunday, July 22, 2007

Blue Öyster Cult: Logo #9

Designed by Bill Gawlik in 1972, this symbol's level of simplicity mirrors Blue Öyster Cult's key innovation: the umlaut. The band's umlaut was suggested by either Blue Öyster Cult keys player Allen Lanier or scribbler Richard Meltzer - ironically, two occupations least associated with maximum weight. And yet for all the controversy that dogs the 35 years of this group, it virtually bleeds tradition: their folkish yet deific subject matter, about Titans as diverse as Kronos and Godzilla, harks back to the days of the wandering troubadour. The hooked cross holds alchemical significance as a logo for lead, one of the heaviest of all possible metals - just as the barber's pole signified the earliest of all possible frontier surgeons, or the giant shoe signified the shortest of all possible cobblers.

1 comment:

ShrallSeb said...

Not to mention one can see it as a combination of three exclamations marks with a single question mark.
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