Albert Bouchard (; born May 24, 1947) is an American

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. He is a founding member and one of the first and most prominent drummers of the hard rock band

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967. They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. ...

and current drummer of The Dictators. He is the older brother of former Blue Öyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard.

Early years

Bouchard was born to Robert Bouchard and Francis Ryan. He was born in

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River, about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the t ...

, and grew up in

Clayton, New York Clayton is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 5,153 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John M. Clayton, a federal political leader from Delaware. The town contains a village also named Clayton. ...

. He is the older brother of BÖC member Joe Bouchard by 18 months.

Career

Blue Öyster Cult

He was a founding member of the hard rock band

and a driving force through the band's first decade. In 1981, Bouchard left Blue Öyster Cult. He began to work on an intended solo album that would become the album '' Imaginos'' (1988) released under the BÖC name.

Later works

He has also played on records for Mike Watt (a version of BÖC's "Dominance and Submission" for the flip side of Watt's 1995 single "E Ticket Ride"), and Richie Stotts (

Plasmatics The Plasmatics were an American punk rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1978. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous thea ...

), Gumball and Fabienne Shine. Bouchard has produced records for many other musicians, including Maria Excommunikata, Heads Up! and David Roter. Until 2006, Bouchard's main musical project had been

Brain Surgeons Brain Surgeons were an American rock band featuring Albert Bouchard formerly of Blue Öyster Cult and vocalist Deborah Frost. Guitarist Ross the Boss was a later member of the band. The Brain Surgeonsat Allmusic They formed in 1994 and origi ...

, with whom he released several CDs on his own Cellsum Records label. Cellsum grew to host a number of other artists, including Les Vegas, The X Brothers, David Roter and Helen Wheels. In 2007, Bouchard formed Ünderbelly with original Soft White Underbelly singer Les Braunstein,

bassist David Hirschberg, and guitarist Adrian Romero. They were featured on the 2008

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

tribute CD ''Sheep in Wolves' Clothing'', and released the songs "Critical Mass" and "Astronomy" in 2011. In 2008, Bouchard formed the band 'Blue Coupe' with his brother Joe and original

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

bassist

Dennis Dunaway Dennis Dunaway (born December 9, 1946, in Cottage Grove, Oregon) is an American musician, best known as the original bass guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper. He co-wrote some of the band's most notable songs, including "I'm Eighteen" and ...

. Originally an Alice Cooper/Blue Öyster Cult cover act, 'Blue Coupe' has released three albums of original material: ''Tornado on the Tracks'' in 2010, ''Million Miles More'' in 2013, and ''Eleven Even'' in 2019. In 2014, Bouchard released his first solo record, ''Incantation'', which was followed in 2017 by a second album, ''Surrealist''.

Recent years

Bouchard released a new album in November 2020, titled ''Re Imaginos'', a mostly acoustic version of the album ''Imaginos'', and released a follow-up ''Imaginos 2: Bombs Over Germany (Minus Zero And Counting)'' in 2021. In 2023, Bouchard released the third and final album of his Imaginos trilogy, ''The Mutant Reformation.'' Bouchard joined the reunited proto-punk band The Dictators, featuring original members

Ross the Boss Ross Friedman (born January 3, 1954), also known as Ross the Boss, is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of both the Punk rock, punk band the Dictators and the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Manowar (band), Manowar. Hist ...

and Andy Shernoff, along with new lead vocalist and Ozzy's Boneyard host Keith Roth. The band released their first album in 23 years, ''The Dictators'', on September 6, 2024.

References

External links

Albert Bouchard's web page2012 Audio Interview with Albert Bouchard from the Podcast "I'd Hit That"Blue Coupe web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchard, Albert American heavy metal drummers American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters Blue Öyster Cult members Living people 1947 births People from Watertown, New York People from Clayton, New York 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) The Dictators members Drummers from New York (state)