"Burnin' for You" is a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American Rock music, rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla ( ...

. It was released as the lead single from the band's eighth studio album, ''

Fire of Unknown Origin ''Fire of Unknown Origin'' is the eighth studio album by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on June 22, 1981. It was produced by Martin Birch. The album, which included the Top 40 hit "Burnin' for You" (#1 on Billboard's A ...

'', released in June 1981, where it was the album's second track. The song was co-written by guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser and rock critic songwriter

Richard Meltzer Richard Meltzer (born May 10, 1945) is an American rock critic, performer, writer and songwriter. He is considered by some rock historians to be the first to write real analysis of rock and roll and is credited with inventing "rock criticism". B ...

, who wrote lyrics for several of the band's songs. Roeser sang lead vocals on the song (as he also did on the band's biggest chart hit, 1976's "

(Don't Fear) The Reaper "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult from the band's 1976 album ''Agents of Fortune.'' The song, written and sung by lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, deals with eternal love and the inevitabili ...

") in lieu of Blue Öyster Cult's usual lead vocalist

Eric Bloom Eric Jay Bloom (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist, guitar and keyboard/synthesizer player for the long-running band Blue Öyster Cult, with work on more than 20 albu ...

. The song hit No. 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart, and the single spent three weeks in the Top 40 (peaking at No. 40) on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It was aided by a popular early

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

music video.

Composition

"Burnin' for You" was written by Blue Öyster Cult lead guitarist

Buck Dharma 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 ...

and rock critic

. Meltzer wrote numerous songs for the band, with many in conjunction with Roeser. Dharma wrote his parts of the song in his garage studio. Dharma originally planned to keep the song for release on his 1982 solo debut album ''Flat Out''. However, Blue Öyster Cult's manager

Sandy Pearlman Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...

convinced him to give the song to the band.

Reception

The song reached No. 40 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, becoming the band's second and final top 40 hit after "

" reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 in 1976. It was Blue Öyster Cult's third song to ever chart on the Hot 100 and it would be their second to last after " Shooting Shark" peaked at No. 83 in 1984. "Burnin' for You" also became Blue Öyster Cult's first song to chart on Billboard's newly-created

Top Tracks Classic Vinyl is a Sirius XM Radio channel focusing on classic rock music mostly from the late-1960s to the mid-1970s, with the channel's name meant to indicate that it consists of music that first appeared on vinyl records. This encompasses musi ...

chart (now known as Mainstream Rock Songs). It reached No. 1 on the chart dated the week of August 22, 1981, in its eighth week on the chart. It was the seventh song to ever reach No. 1 on the chart, and it stayed at No. 1 for two weeks. "Burnin' for You" remains Blue Öyster Cult's only number-one hit on the rock charts, and one of two top ten hits (" Dancin' in the Ruins" reached No. 9 in 1986). The song stayed on the chart for 23 weeks.

Personnel

– backing vocals * Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser – lead guitar, lead vocals *

Allen Lanier Allen Glover Lanier (; June 25, 1946 – August 14, 2013) was an American musician who played keyboards and rhythm guitar. He was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult. Lanier wrote several songs for Blue Öyster Cult albums, including "T ...

– keyboards *

Joe Bouchard Joseph J. Bouchard (; born November 9, 1948) is an American musician. He was the bassist and one of the lead singers of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult during their most successful period. He is the younger brother of original Blue Öyster ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Albert Bouchard Albert Thomas Bouchard (; born May 24, 1947) is an American musician. He is a founding member and the original drummer of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult and current drummer of The Dictators. He is the brother of former Blue Öyster Cult ...

– drums, backing vocals

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1981 songs 1981 singles Blue Öyster Cult songs Songs written by Buck Dharma Songs written by Richard Meltzer Columbia Records singles

Composition

Reception

Personnel

Chart performance

See also

References