Boston (band)

Boston

Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston's best-known works include the singles "Smokin'," "More than a Feeling," "Peace of Mind," "Foreplay/Long Time," "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda". They have sold over 50 million albums worldwide, including 31 million albums in the United States.

History

Early Years (pre-1976)

Boston began when Tom Scholz, an MIT engineering graduate who worked at Polaroid, began composing songs and recording demos where he played all of the instruments, except the drums. He was joined by Jim Masdea, who played drums, and singer Brad Delp who methodically overdubbed the vocals. This was all done in Scholz’s home studio.

The roots of the first album were created in these early demo sessions with songs such as "More than a Feeling," "Hitch a Ride," "Peace of Mind," "Foreplay/Long Time" and "Rock & Roll Band". Scholz soon became frustrated with the limitations of the technology at the time and his inability to capture the sound he wanted, so he began building and designing his own equipment.

The first tapes Scholz sent out were rejected by the record labels. A second set of tapes drew the attention of executives at Epic Records, a division of CBS. The label was dissatisfied with Masdea's performance though, so he was replaced, first by David Currier, then by Sib Hashian. The label also insisted that Scholz re-record the demo tapes in a professional studio with a full band, which led to the hiring of bassist Fran Sheehan and guitarist Barry Goudreau, the latter of whom had played in a band with Scholz and worked on earlier demos with him. With the exception of "Let Me Take You Home Tonight", which was recorded in California under the direction of producer John Boylan, Scholz re-recorded the other seven tracks in his home studio with only Delp & Hashian (with Goudreau making an appearance on "Foreplay/Long Time"). CBS also insisted upon the name change to Boston. Up to this point the group had been calling themselves Mother's Milk.

It should be noted that only Tom Scholz and Brad Delp were signed to the record contract with Epic.

This debut album turned the disco crazed music industry on its head and broke all the known rules for succeeding in the world of rock n' roll. Its seemingly sudden and relentless success belied six years of abject failure and quickly made it the model abducted, imitated and used by marketing executives to mass produce radio friendly "corporate rock."

Boston (1976)

Brad Delp

The debut album, Boston, released in August 1976, was an enormous success. The record ranks as the best-selling debut album in U.S. history with over 17 million copies sold, a rank it still holds.

During the summer of 1976, Boston got much publicity when they toured with Black Sabbath and Moxy. The band then embarked on a worldwide tour to support the album. This helped establish Boston as one of rock's top acts within a short time.

The album spawned one Top 10 single, "More Than a Feeling" and two other Top 40 hits, "Long Time" and "Peace of Mind". Additionally, the album peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts. Eleven years later, Boston would reappear in the Billboard Top 200, reaching #101.

Don't Look Back (1978)

Despite much bickering between Epic President Walter Yetnikoff and Scholz, the second Boston album had the finishing touches put on it "just" two years after the debut album's release. Album #2 Don't Look Back, was officially released by Epic in August 1978.

At the time this was considered a long gap between albums, but Scholz still considered Don't Look Back to be a rush job and was unhappy with the album's second side in particular. This was confirmed on the Third Stage episode of In the Studio with Redbeard when he said that "CBS had no confidence in a second Boston album" and "Epic/CBS was trying to cash in on the success of the debut album". Although it sold four million copies in its first month, overall Don't Look Back sold less than half as well as the extraordinarily successful first album.

Another tour followed, and the album's title track became a Top 10 hit, peaking at #4. Additionally, two other singles, "A Man I'll Never Be", and "Feelin' Satisfied" went Top 40 and Top 50 respectively. Despite the success, Scholz's relationship with Epic continued to deteriorate steadily. Scholz eventually began the process of working on Boston's third album, determined to complete the album at his own pace.

Boston Disintegrates (1979-1983)

In late 1979 Scholz began writing new material and recording in the studio. But a lawsuit filed by Boston's former co-manager, Paul Ahern, slowed things down. In the meantime, at Scholz' suggestion, Goudreau decided to record a solo album which featured Boston members Delp and Hashian. The album, release in 1980, was titled simply Barry Goudreau and featured a minor charting single "Dreams". There was a bit of tension when CBS marketed the album as "The guitar sound heard on the million selling Boston album". Scholz objected but the label eventually dropped Goudreau's album citing lack of interest. Goudreau ended up leaving the band in 1981. Delp went along with him to work on some material but was soon back with Scholz helping to record the third album.

In the mid-80s Scholz claimed that Hashian and Sheehan had brought a lawsuit against him in an attempt to wrest the Boston name away and continue on without him. He also claimed that this attempt to remove him from Boston was done with the knowledge and assistance of Epic/CBS who also sued him for failing to deliver the third Boston album in the time they thought it should be delivered. The case later went to trial and Scholz would eventually emerge victorious over the record label. Sheehan and Hashian settled their suit out of court. Scholz has stated on numerous occasions that this process left him extremely jaded and wary of record labels and outside musicians.

CBS Lawsuit (1983-1985)

In the course of recording new material for the third Boston album, CBS, tired of waiting for Scholz to finish, filed a 60 million dollar lawsuit alleging breach of contract by Scholz. Regardless, the legal trouble experienced by Tom further slowed progress toward the completion of the next album which was now being recorded in much the same way the original tapes were: in Scholz' home studio. Joining Scholz in the album's development again were singer Delp and drummer Masdea, plus former Sammy Hagar guitarist Gary Pihl who joined by 1985 and remains a member to this day.

As the lawsuit played out in court, CBS opted to withhold royalty payments to Scholz in an attempt to leave him without funds to hire a lawyer to fight the lawsuit. However, Scholz rallied by starting what became a successful musical technology company, Scholz Research & Development, Inc. The first item brought to market was the "PowerSoak". Sitting inbetween the amp head and the speakers, it allowed guitarists to turn the amp volume all the way up to get a great distortion sound but regulate the volume to a quieter level. SR&D sold enough of these units allowing Tom to hire lawyer Don Engel to represent him against CBS. SR&D manufactured many guitar related products, the most notable of which was the Rockman amplifier.

Tom was able to show that in fact, he never stopped working to produce the album for Epic, even though a severe back problem should have sidelined him. The lawsuit was decided in Tom's favor. This allowed Tom to shop around the third album to other record companies. Even though Walter Yetnikoff warned other record companies to keep their hands off it, MCA was selected to release the album entitled "Third Stage". However it came with a price - MCA needed to fork over to Epic, a "per unit" cost for each album sold. CBS would settle for $900,000 and $.25 an album.

Third Stage (1986-1988)

Despite the adversity, progress continued to be made on the third Boston album. A tape of one of the songs, "Amanda", leaked out of the studio in 1983 and was widely bootlegged throughout the fan community who were eager for new material. The song was even played by some radio stations too before CBS ordered them to "cease & desist".

"Amanda" became the lead single when Third Stage was finally released in September 1986, after Scholz signed a new contract with MCA Records. The album is loosely built around the theme of life's "third stage" (the onset of middle age). During Boston's subsequent tour, the new album was played in sequence in its entirety. 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 20 respectively. Despite the strong start, sales of Third Stage were below the first two albums with fewer than five million copies sold to date.

The group headed off on tour to promote Third Stage in the summer of 1987, with Canadian dates added in the fall of 1988. For the tour the group was joined by David Sikes (ex-Aldo Nova) on vocals, bass & keyboards and Doug Huffman (drums, keyboards, backing vocals)

Boston also participated in a local charity concert sponsored by Tea Party Concerts to benefit AIDS awareness. This move was lauded by local radio personalities, owing to the stigma attached to AIDS at that time. Boston has continued involvement in a number of charities, including anti-domestic violence groups and local homeless programs. (Boston Herald, 1988; Boston Globe, 1988; bandboston.com).

Delp Departs & Walk On (1989-1995)

In the wake of Third Stage, Scholz headed back to the studio to work on an album tentatively titled Boston IV. This was the first album without Delp because of his prior commitment to Barry Goudreau's band RTZ. The departure of Delp in 1989 officially reduced Boston to a one-man band and left Scholz as the last original member.

In 1990 a jury ruled in favor of Scholz in the CBS lawsuit, and the court awarded him 1.6 million dollars in punitive damages.

With Scholz working at his usual slow pace, eight years passed before Walk On was released (in June 1994). Walk On included vocalist Fran Cosmo who had previously performed on Goudreau's solo album and his band, Orion the Hunter, a project that also featured songwriting and backing vocals from Delp. Like its predecessors, Walk On went platinum but only reached #7 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. It failed to reach the usual multi-platinum level or chart in the Top 5 like all their previous albums. It produced no hit singles, although "I Need Your Love" was widely played on rock radio and did enter the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart.

Eventually, RTZ faded away and Delp was invited by Scholz to rejoin Boston for two Christmas season benefit shows at the House of Blues on December 12th, 1994 in Boston where the band handed checks of $5,000 to Globe Santa and another $5,000 to Operation Christmas in Fall River. Unfortunately there was a problem. Delp put so much effort and zeal into the first show he blew out his voice by the end of the night. With the second nights' crowd unaware, the show started out with Fran Cosmo singing "Rock and Roll Band". People in the crowd, sandwiched together, could be heard to say, "Isn't it nice of Brad to give up that song to Fran?". At the end of the song, Brad comes to the microphone and squeeks "I'm sorry to tell you I blew out my voice from last night . ." Attendees say you could hear a pin drop at that point, it became so quiet. The show went on to a still enthusiastic crowd with even Dave Sikes stepping to the mic singing "Amanda".

The group, with Delp now permanently back on board, toured in the summer of 1995 with Delp sharing lead vocal duties with Cosmo on stage. By this time drummer Huffman had been replaced by Curly Smith (ex-Jo Jo Gunne)

Greatest Hits & Corporate America (1996-2006)

On the heels of the Walk On tour, Boston released their first ever Greatest Hits package in 1997, titled simply Boston: Greatest Hits. The album has sold over two million copies since its release. The album featured all of the charting classics, except "We're Ready", along with three new songs, including "Higher Power," the first new Boston song with Delp on vocals since 1986 and featuring a harmonica solo by Curly Smith (the drummer during the Walk On tour and the Summer 1997 Greatest Hits tour). The album also included "Tell Me" with bassist David Sikes on vocals and an instrumental version of the "Star Spangled Banner."

Tom Scholz

Scholz again headed back to the studio in 1998 (minus Sikes and Smith) in order to work on their fifth album. Fran's son, Anthony Cosmo began helping out on the album as well. Three songs were leaked prior to the release of the album: "Someone" (featuring Delp on vocals) and "Turn It Off" (featuring Cosmo) were aired on the Rockline radio program in 1999. "Corporate America" was uploaded by Tom Scholz to MP3.com under the name "Downer's Revenge" in early 2002 in order to test the album's appeal to a non-biased (college) demographic.

On New Year's Day 2002 Boston sang the Star Spangled Banner at the opening of the Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona. The lineup was now Scholz, Delp, the Cosmos and Pihl plus new members Kimberley Dahme (vocals, bass, guitar) and drummer Anthony Citrinite. The latter was replaced later that year by Tom Hambridge for a short time before Jeff Neal joined at the tail end of 2002.

August 2002 marked the official release of Corporate America on the independent label Artemis Records. This album featured the largest Boston lineup ever; returning members included Delp and Cosmo on guitar and lead vocals, Scholz on lead guitar and organ, Gary Pihl on guitar, Curly Smith on drums for a live cut (from 1997) of Living for You, along with the new members: Anthony Cosmo on rhythm guitar and Kimberley Dahme on bass and vocals. Dahme contributed lead vocals to "You Gave Up on Love" and a country flavored song she wrote, "With You", and Anthony Cosmo wrote and produced three songs, "Stare Out Your Window", "Cryin'" and "Turn it Off". The group embarked on a national tour in support of the album in 2003 and 2004.

In 2006, Anthony and Fran Cosmo departed from Boston and formed the band Cosmo, which left Delp as the sole remaining lead vocalist in Boston. Tom Scholz later sued Anthony Cosmo for allegedly performing live billed as Boston.^[1] The lawsuit was later dropped by Scholz.

Another significant piece of news for Boston was that Scholz and guitarist Barry Goudreau overcame their previous differences and rekindled their friendship; both have expressed regret for their past actions. (Boston magazine, 2006)

In 2006 Scholz supervised and released the first two Boston albums in their remastered form.

Death of Brad Delp (2007)

Boston lead singer Brad Delp took his own life March 9 2007, at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. Police found Delp dead in his bathroom. Police Lt. William Baldwin called the death "untimely" and said that no foul play was indicated. Delp was alone at the time of his death according to the police report. According to a New Hampshire TV website, Delp was preparing for a summer tour. The Associated Press reported that his death was a result of suicide and that he was found by his fiancée. The AP also reported that, according to the New Hampshire medical examiner, Delp's death was the result of suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning as evidenced by carboxyhemoglobin.

Tribute to Delp (2007)

A concert in honor of Delp named Come Together: A Tribute to Brad Delp occurred on August 19, 2007 at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston, MA. The concert included, in order of appearance, Ernie and the Automatics, Beatlejuice, Farrenheit, Extreme, Godsmack, RTZ, and finally Boston.

All of the living members of Boston were invited to perform in the concert on August 19. Although he was invited to join the ultimate highlight of the tribute concert, Sib the drummer, who has done nothing significant since leaving BOSTON over a quarter century ago, dramatically refused to take the stage with other former members of the band that Brad Delp was best known for. The lead 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 on Boston cover songs on his MySpace page.[2] Barry Goudreau, Jim Masdea, and Fran Sheehan joined the band on stage for the finale, "Don't Look Back". Another former Boston vocalist Fran Cosmo was unable to sing because of a ruptured blood vessel in his throat but he joined the group onstage for a high energy, fan pleasing rhythm guitar performance. Curly Smith and Kimberly Dahme split the lead vocal on the finale.

The Future of Boston (2008-)

The ongoing conflicts between the surviving band members spilled over to the 2008 Presidential campaign. Barry Goudreau and Fran Sheehan endorsed Mike Huckabee (who is a musician himself) and played with him at some rallies in New Hampshire. Barry held himself out in a YOU TUBE endorsement to be currently "of BOSTON" and said "We Like Mike" implying that WE was the current BOSTON. Huckabee used "More than a Feeling" as a campaign theme song. After Scholz's representatives were unable to receive return phone calls or emails from the Huckabee campaign, Scholz, a self-described "Obama supporter," sent an open letter to Huckabee stating that the band had never endorsed any candidate. Scholz made a point of setting the record straight again noting that he, and not Goudreau or Sheehan, "actually played all the guitars on that BOSTON hit as well as most of BOSTON’s songs, not the person holding a guitar in your promotion." [3] [4] Laura Huckabee, Gov. Huckabee's daughter-in-law, called on behalf of the Huckabee campaign to apologize to Tom Scholz. She assured BOSTON that the campaign person in New Hampshire who mislead the campaign about the song and the status of who was presently in Tom's band BOSTON was no longer associated with the Huckabee campaign. It was a cordial resolution.

Tom Scholz has announced on the band's website that he is remastering the Greatest Hits album for compact disc, and is preparing to mix an album of live Boston performances. [5] He also hinted that the band Boston may continue on with a new unnamed vocalist, stating on the website that he is currently working on new Boston studio material [6].

In late January 2008, Michael Sweet of the band Stryper said that he had been recording with Tom Scholz, and that he might be touring with a new version of Boston soon. [7]. On February 29, 2008, a Canadian web site stated that Boston would be playing in Thunder Bay, Ontario on June 6, 2008. The show would be in conjunction with the worldwide "Great Race 2008" auto rally (a centennial celebration of the 1908 New York to Paris Race), which stops in Thunder Bay on that day. [8].

In late March, Scholz released a list of approximately thirty more scheduled dates, beginning with the June 6 Thunder Bay event. The touring band will feature Stryper guitarist and vocalist Michael Sweet as well as Tommy DeCarlo. Longtime band member Gary Pihl will be joining Scholz and Sweet on guitar.

Innovations and style

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.

The late 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, one that associates him with Boston as closely as Freddie Mercury is with Queen, Steve Perry with Journey, Dennis DeYoung with Styx, Peter Cetera with Chicago and Steve Walsh with Kansas - all fellow classic rock bands.

Boston's albums are played on heavy rotation on Classic Rock radio stations, with an emphasis on the earlier works.

Band members

Main article: List of musicians in the band Boston

Current members

• Tom Scholz: founding member; lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals (1969-present)
• Michael Sweet: lead vocals, guitar (2008-present)
• Tommy DeCarlo: lead vocals, backing vocals (2008-present)
• Gary Pihl: guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (1985-present)
• Kimberley Dahme: bass guitar, guitar, vocals (2001-present)
• Jeff Neal: drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002-present)

Past members

• Brad Delp (d. March 9, 2007) lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, percussion (1970-1989, 1994-2007)
• Jim Masdea: drums, percussion, keyboards (1969-1975, 1983-1988)
• Barry Goudreau: guitars, backing vocals (1969-1981)
• Sib Hashian: drums, percussion, backing vocals (1975-1982)
• Fran Sheehan: bass guitar, backing vocals (1975-1983)
• David Sikes: bass guitar, keyboards, vocals (1987-1998)
• Doug Huffman: drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (1987-1994)
• Curly Smith: drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals (1994-2001)
• Fran Cosmo: lead vocals, guitar (1992-2006)
• Anthony Cosmo: guitar, vocals (1998-2006)
• Anthony Citrinite: drums (2001-2002)
• Tom Hambridge: drums (2002)

Discography

U.S. chart data: Billboard 200, Billboard Hot 100. UK chart data: UK Singles Chart, UK Albums Chart.

Albums

Year	Album	U.S.	UK	RIAA Certification
1976	Boston	3	11	17× Platinum
1978	Don't Look Back	1	9	7× Platinum
1986	Third Stage	1	37	4× Platinum
1994	Walk On	7	-	Platinum
1997	Greatest Hits	47	-	2× Platinum
2002	Corporate America	42	-

Singles

Year	Single	Hot 100	Mainstream Rock	Album
1976	More Than A Feeling	5	-	Boston
1977	Foreplay/Long Time	22	-	Boston
1977	Peace Of Mind	38	-	Boston
1978	Don't Look Back	4	-	Don't Look Back
1978	A Man I'll Never Be	31	-	Don't Look Back
1979	Feelin' Satisfied	46	-	Don't Look Back
1986	Amanda	1	1	Third Stage
1986	We're Ready	9	2	Third Stage
1987	Cool The Engines	-	4	Third Stage
1987	Can'tcha Say You Believe In Me	20	7	Third Stage
1994	I Need Your Love	51	4	Walk On
1994	Walk On Medley	-	14	Walk On

See also

• Best selling music artists
• List of bands named after places

External links

• Official Site
• Rockman.fr : all about Rockman. Detailed information about SR&D and Rockman products
• Boston: Heaven is a Reel to Reel Tape, originally published in Goldmine magazine, written by columnist Chuck Miller
• GonnaHitchaRide.com Only fan site listed on Boston's homepage
• Interview with Tom Scholz at JUST CAUSE Magazine.