Blue Öyster Cult fans played cowbells during shows after iconic 'SNL' bit

Blue Öyster Cult would never deny the enormous impact that Saturday Night Live's iconic "More Cowbell" sketch had on revitalizing its career in the early-2000s.

But every coin has a flip-side, and as funny as Will Ferrell, Christopher Walken and the rest of the cast was, it primed lots of BÖC fans to take the joke a bit too far.

Guitarist and singer Buck Dharma recently told Q104.3 New York's Ken Dashow that the band is reminded of the sketch at every show.

"We own a debt to SNL," Dharma said. "As crazy and how annoying as the cowbell can be at times, we certainly have made our peace with the cowbell."

But it wasn't always that way. While enthusiasm for the music is welcome at any Blue Öyster Cult show, not many bands in history have ever had to remind their audience that playing the instruments is for the musicians on stage i.e. leave your cowbells at the door, please.

"The thing is, if they've got actual cowbells, it's hard to play a cowbell," Dharma says. "Anybody can play a cowbell for two bars. But the rhythm is hard to do, and they're loud so they can actually intrude into the band's concentration sometimes, the audience cowbells."

Check out the full conversation with Dharma and Eric Bloom in the video player above!

BÖC is preparing to release its first new studio album in 20 years, The Symbol Remains, on October 9.

This article was first published on iheart.com and is republished here with permission