Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston's best-known works include the songs "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda". They have sold over 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million are their self-titled debut album and 7 million are their second album, Don't Look Back.
History
Before debut album
Tom Scholz first started writing music in 1969 while he was attending
MIT, where he wrote an instrumental, titled "Foreplay". While attending MIT, Scholz joined the band "Freehold," where he met guitarist
Barry Goudreau and drummer
Jim Masdea, who would later become members of Boston. Vocalist
Brad Delp was added to the collective in 1970. After graduating with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, Scholz worked for
Polaroid, where he used his salary to build a recording studio in his basement, and to finance demo tapes recorded in professional
recording studios. Scholz however insisted that Masdea be included in some way in the future record. Because Scholz recorded most of the tracks on the newer demos, playing live shows that resembled the sound on these demos was impossible without a second guitarist. The band added Goudreau as a second guitarist,
Fran Sheehan on bass, and later
Sib Hashian on drums.
During the summer and fall of 1976, Boston attracted much publicity due to the unprecedented record sales by an unknown act, its unique sound, and singer Brad Delp's vocal abilities. However, there was "a conscious effort to deemphasize Scholz as the total mastermind behind Boston." After opening for Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Foghat and others, the band embarked on a headlining tour in the winter & spring of 1977 to support the album. This helped establish Boston as one of rock's top acts within a short time, being nominated for a Grammy award as a "Best New Artist". Boston was the first band in history to make their New York City debut at Madison Square Garden.
Don't Look Back (1978)
Despite having problems with manager Paul Ahern, being caught in the middle of a fight between Ahern and his business partner Charles McKenzie, and doing most of the recording work alone, Overall
Don't Look Back sold about half as well as the debut album, eventually shipping over 7 million records.
Another tour followed, and the album's title track became a Top 5 hit. Additionally, two other singles, "A Man I'll Never Be", and "Feelin' Satisfied" went Top 40 and Top 50 respectively. Delayed by technical renovations to his studio, Scholz eventually began the process of working on Boston's third album, determined to complete the album at his own pace and up to his demanding standard.
Solo projects and CBS lawsuit (1979–1985)
In late 1979, Scholz began writing new material, but Boston's former co-manager, Paul Ahern, argued that, according to an agreement Scholz had signed years earlier with Ahern, Ahern owned a percentage of all songs Scholz wrote from that point on. Scholz objected to the ad copy, but it became irrelevant when
Epic dropped promotion on Goudreau's album citing lack of interest. Goudreau ended up leaving the band in 1981, and forming the band
Orion the Hunter. Delp contributed vocals and co-wrote songs on their debut album, but returned to Boston and recorded vocals on the third album. In 1985, guitarist
Gary Pihl left
Sammy Hagar's touring band to work with Scholz as both a musician and an
SR&D; executive. As CBS v. Scholz played out in court, CBS opted to withhold royalty payments to Scholz, hoping to force him to settle on unfavorable terms.
Third Stage was the strongest charting Boston release to date. The album and lead single "Amanda" both went to #1 on Billboard, and subsequent singles, "We're Ready" and "Can'tcha Say" were Top 10 and Top 30 respectively. With Delp's departure, Scholz was now the last remaining original member. Before he left, Delp co-wrote the song "Walk On" with Scholz and David Sikes, which eventually became the title track of the new album.
Delp subsequently joined Barry Goudreau's new band, RTZ.
The group, with Delp now back in the band, toured in the summer of 1995 with both Cosmo and Delp combining vocals. By this time drummer Huffman had been replaced by Curly Smith, who was previously with Jo Jo Gunne.
Scholz headed back to the studio in 1998 to begin work on a fifth album, which eventually turned out to be Corporate America. The title track of "Corporate America" was uploaded by Tom Scholz to MP3.com under the pseudonym of "Downer's Revenge" in early 2002 in order to test the album's appeal to a younger demographic. The song reached #2 on the progressive rock charts on the website for two weeks. Police found Delp dead in his bathroom, along with several notes for whoever would find him. Delp was alone at the time of his death according to the police report. Delp was found by his fiancée, who saw a dryer hose attached to his car.
All of the living members of Boston were invited to perform in the concert. The singers for Boston included Michael Sweet of Stryper, former band member Curly Smith, band member Kimberley Dahme, and a Boston fan from North Carolina named Tommy DeCarlo, who was chosen to sing based on his performances of Boston cover songs on his MySpace page. Another former Boston vocalist Fran Cosmo was unable to sing because of a ruptured blood vessel in his throat but did play guitar. Jim Masdea, Fran Sheehan and even Barry Goudreau joined Scholz and the rest of the band on stage for the finale, "Don't Look Back". Curly Smith and Kimberley Dahme split the lead vocal on the finale.
Present day (since 2008)
The ongoing conflicts between the surviving band members spilled over to the
2008 Presidential campaign. Barry Goudreau appeared with
Mike Huckabee and played with him at some rallies in New Hampshire. Huckabee used "More than a Feeling" as a
campaign theme song. sent an open letter to Huckabee in February 2008 stating that the band had never endorsed any candidate, and that he had never authorized the use of "More Than a Feeling" as Huckabee's theme song.
Innovations and style
Boston's genre is considered by most to be
hard rock, while combining elements of
progressive rock and
heavy metal into their music. Former singer
Brad Delp was well known for his extended vocal ranges, shown on hits such as "
More Than a Feeling".
Guitarist and primary song writer Tom Scholz' blend of musical styles, ranging from classical to 1960s English pop, has resulted in a unique sound, most consistently realized on the first two albums (Boston and Don't Look Back). This sound is characterized by multiple lead and blended harmonies guitar work (usually harmonized in thirds), often alternating between and then mixing electric and acoustic guitars. Scholz and Brian May are well regarded for the development of complex, multi-tracked guitar harmonies. Another contributing factor is the use of handmade, high tech equipment, such as the Rockman, used by artists such as Journey guitarist Neal Schon, the band ZZ Top, and Ted Nugent. Def Leppard's album Hysteria was created using only Rockman technology. Scholz' production style combines deep, aggressive, comparatively short guitar riffing and nearly ethereal, generally longer note vocal harmonies. A heavier, lower and darker overall approach came in the next two albums (Third Stage and Walk On). The original track, "Higher Power," on the Greatest Hits album exhibits a near Germanic, almost techno influence with its sequencer-sounding keyboards, a sound most fully realized on Corporate America's title track.
Singer Brad Delp, who was strongly influenced by the Beatles, is also credited for helping to create Boston's sound with his signature vocal sound.
Band members
Line-up for first two albums
Tom Scholz (1976-present)
Brad Delp (1976-1989, 1994-2007)
Barry Goudreau (1976-1981)
Sib Hashian (1976-1983)
Fran Sheehan (1976-1983)
Current members
Tom Scholz: Lead and Rhythm Guitar, Bass, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals (1976–present)
Michael Sweet: lead vocals, Rhythm Guitar (2008–present)
Tommy DeCarlo: lead vocals, keyboards, percussion (2008–present)
Gary Pihl: Rhythm and Lead Guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1985–present)
Kimberley Dahme: Bass, Guitar, Vocals (2001–present)
Jeff Neal: drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002–present)
Past members
Brad Delp (deceased): lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, percussion (1976–1989, 1994–2007)
Jim Masdea: drums, percussion, keyboards (1983–1988)
Barry Goudreau: guitars, backing vocals (1976–1981)
Sib Hashian: drums, percussion, backing vocals (1976–1983)
Fran Sheehan: bass (1976–1983)
David Sikes: vocals, bass, keyboards (1987–1997)
Doug Huffman: drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (1987–1994)
Curly Smith: drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals (1994–1997)
Fran Cosmo: lead vocals, guitar (1993–2006)
Anthony Cosmo: guitar, backing vocals, songwriter (1997–2006)
Anthony Citrinite: drums (2001–2002)
Tom Hambridge: drums (2002)
Discography
Studio albums
References
External links
Official Site
Category:1970s music groups
Category:1980s music groups
Category:1990s music groups
Category:2000s music groups
Category:2010s music groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1976
Category:Musical groups from Boston, Massachusetts
Category:Epic Records artists
Category:Rock music groups from Massachusetts
Category:American rock music groups
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