Blue Oyster Cult Hanging Around Yankee Stadium For Song Royalties

Bronx, NY – Sources within the New York Yankee organization report that current members of 1970’s heavy metal/power rock group Blue Oyster Cult have been hanging around Yankee Stadium in an attempt to collect song royalties for the team's use of their 1977 mega-hit "Godzilla."

The song is played whenever Yankees’ Japanese left fielder Hideki Matsui, nicknamed "Godzilla" from his days on the Yomiuri Giants, comes to bat.

"We’re getting screwed, man," said lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, who wrote "Godzilla" for the 1977 album Spectres. "Every time they play it we should be getting a big, fat cut. But Steinbrenner won’t pony up the bread, man."

Roeser added: "Speaking of bread, I’m really, really hungry. Do you have a couple of bucks so I can grab a Yankee dog or something?"

Forming on Long Island in the late 60’s as "The Soft White Underbelly," the band eventually changed its name to Blue Oyster Cult and became one of the premier power-guitar concert bands of the 1970’s, reeling off a string of hits including "Burnin’ for You" and "Don’t Fear the Reaper," the latter opening the door for one of the more under-utilized instruments in hard rock, the cowbell.

But it is the spine-shaking chord progression on "Godzilla" that the Yankees use to introduce legendary Japanese superstar-turned-MLB rookie Matsui.

And according to BOC lead singer Eric Bloom, this usage is completely unauthorized.

"With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, he pulls the spitting high tension wires down," said Bloom. "Helpless people on a subway train, scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them. Oh no, there goes Tokyo. Go go, Godzilla, yeah-ah-ah!"

"I think that sums up my position on the matter," Bloom added.

As of press time, the Yankee organization has refused to pay the band – no matter how long they continue their stubborn parking lot vigil, which is going on 27 days – but team officials claim they’re not using the Blue Oyster Cult version of the song.

"What you hear blaring over our public address system whenever Matsui comes to bat is ‘Godzilla,’ yes, but it is not the Blue Oyster Cult version recorded in 1977 for Spectres," said Yankees PR Director Kristen Erlich. "It is the version recorded in 1980 by Rahway, NJ-based Blue Oyster Cult tribute band, Fearful Reaper. For the legal differences, you’ll have to speak to our attorneys."

Erlich added: "But off the record, Ted Nugent kicked Blue Oyster Cult's ass in concert."