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Boston
1975-
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Artistfacts:
| Their debut album sold over 15 million copies, the top selling debut until Hootie and the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View in 1995. |
| Scholz formed the band. He is from Toledo, Ohio and is an Ottawa Hills High School graduate of the class of 1965. He won a full scholarship to MIT, where he obtained Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering, graduating with a GPA of 4.8 on a 5.0 scale. He later worked at Polaroid, where he became a senior product design engineer, helping develop their instant film system. |
| Delp sang all vocals (lead and harmony/backup) on the first 3 Boston albums. Before Brad joined the group, he was working in a manufacturing plant making heating coils for Mr. Coffee machines while singing in various Boston-area clubs at night. After former band-member Barry Goudreau brought Brad to the attention of Tom Scholz, Brad began singing on Tom's demo tapes. (thanks, Ted - Loveland, CO) |
| Scholz produced the group. He is a perfectionist who took years to produce albums. |
| Boston's debut album was quite possibly the greatest by a band that "Never really was." The band was formed after the album tracks were finished. Tom Scholz produced the album himself, and he played every instrument for every song on it. The band was then formed so "Boston" could tour. (thanks, John - Kansas City, MO) |
| They went 8 years between their 2nd and 3rd albums, Don't Look Back and Third Stage. |
| Their albums continue to have huge catalog sales. |
| They switched labels to MCA after a lawsuit with Epic was settled out of court. Epic sued Scholz for breach of contract when he would not put out more albums. |
| Goudreau, Sheehan, and Sib Hashian all sued Scholz, claiming they were under compensated for their contributions to Third Stage. As a result of this lawsuit, a sticker was affixed to Third Stage acknowledging Sib Hashian's contributions to the album. |
| Tom Scholz founded the company "Rocktron" and was the principle designer for many of the sound processing units they sold. (thanks, Eric - Atlanta, GA) |
| Delp sang in a Beatles cover band called BeatleJuice. |
| Scholz is a skilled 6'-5" tall basketball player, and still loves to play. Boston had to cancel a tour in 1996 after Scholz injured his hand playing basketball. (thanks, Ted - Loveland, CO) |
| They were nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy in 1976. They lost to The Starland Vocal Band, who had one, and only one hit, "Afternoon Delight." |
| Scholz injured his back during the recording of Third Stage and had record many of his parts while lying flat on a surfboard. |
| Their record company decided to advertise their first album as "Better Music Through Science." |
| Though Scholz named the band Boston, he is the only member of the original lineup not from Boston. (thanks, matt - Lee's Summit, MO) |
| Delp committed suicide in 2007. After Delp's death, Scholz told Yahoo News: "It went from a guitar lick that didn't mean a thing to a real song as soon as he opened his mouth. That was always the case. We had a very, very close working relationship. I swear it was like we were hooked up by a cable. We didn't even have to talk most of the time." The Boston Website called him the "Nicest guy in Rock and Roll." (thanks, Gina - Paradise Valley, AZ) |
| The band toured in 2008, one year after the death of Brad Delp. Michael Sweet from Stryper was brought in along with Tommy DeCarlo, a Boston fan who was recruited after posting some of his covers of Boston songs on MySpace. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France) |
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Comments:
| Although 70's era Boston had an image as "heavy metal" or "hard rock," this is extremely deceptive. In my opinion, Boston was totally a soft rock band... even during their loudest moments. "More Than A Feeling" "Peace of Mind" "Long Time" are ballads in disguise. - Barry, New York, NC |
| When I was about 11 or so years old, my older brother had bought a big shiny new Technics stereo system (big dogs in their day!) and when I went up to hear it he was playing Foreplay/Longtime.....he took the covers off the speakers and I watched in amazement as the woofers pumped out the bass line....actually moving back and forth....first time I had ever seen this phenomenon.....and I was hooked on Boston right then and there! Later, as I learned to play drums, I remember very distinctly that breakthrough moment when I could make my right hand and right foot do two different things at the same time....I was playing along with Rock and Roll Band at the time (Thanks, Sib!)......and....just a couple of weeks ago I bought a new drum kit (first I owned in many years)...and to knock the rust off and get back to where I was playing years ago, I have a song list of about 14 songs I am trying to learn again.....5 of them are Boston tunes!!!! - Mike, Halifax, NS |
| but it wasn't Sid or the other musicians on the first album... it was only Tom and Brad. Tom played EVERY instrument and Brad sang lead and all of the background (and on each album after it was just Brad's voice). Then T.S. spliced them together - john, springdale, PA |
| "Don't Look Back" by Boston was No. 1 in top albums in Oct 1978, source; Billboard Oct 8, 1988-the ten years ago list. - Donna, College Station, TX |
| Check out the brad delp tribute on youtube by teddy z...9 year old kid...it will bring tears to your eyes, I cannot stop watching it...then come back and let me know what you think!
John Kovel
Springdale, PA - john, springdale, PA |
| Brad Delp commited suicide in March of "07" - William David Snyder, Phoenix, AZ |
| Tom Scholtz is a genius. And Brad Delp sings like an angel. - Scott, Honolulu, HI |
| what a loss to the greatest band on earth. one of things i wanted to do before i left this earth was see boston, and 3 days later i saw they were appearing in atlantic city in 2004. yes, i saw boston. i'm very sick over the loss of Brad, the voice of BOSTON. THE BEST ROCK EVER. iTS more than a feeling, its BOSTON. ROCK ON!!!!
Mary Jo from Philly, Pa. - mar;y jo, philly, PA |
| Farewell..... ~1951 - 2007~ Such a sad way to pass on. - D, Somewhere, FL |
| Fairwell Brad. I won't forget about you now that you are gone!!!! - Ed, Los Banos, CA |
| So long Brad your great voice will be missed. Rest in Peace - Paul, Ontario, CA |
| As a drummer/percussionist since age 6, I was more than a little taken with Sib Hashians work on the first two Boston albums. Now I'm 39, and realize just how great his work really was! Although others have kept the clock for the band,
nobody ever had that bands style to more of a science than Sib did. Sib Hashian, where are you? Come back! - Bruce, Edison, NJ |
| If it's just Tom Scholz and Fran Cosmo now, and they only play guitar, keyboards, and vocals, then who plays bass and drums? - Mike, Germantown, MD |
| Boston are sort of a cult band of limited overall importance. They came at a time when the rock revolution of the sixties was descending into Disco Hell. The first album had some nice pop songs, the second one was basically a rehash of the first, as is everything from then on. Sholz is a talented musician, but his claims to technological brilliance are about as credible as Jimmy Page's sometime claim to have invented the power chord, and Page is much more influential.
All of the effects used by Boston had already been done better by other people long before, but Tom just combined them into what was a pleasing tone but one which wears thin with constant repetition in the absence of innovation. The real "Boston" would of course be Aerosmith, especially since Tom is from the Toledo, OH area. The keynote of Boston's and Tom's prescience is the condemnation of the contemporary corporatocracy as in "Peace of Mind." If only the Yuppies had listened to the words... - Jim, Columbus, OH |
| Hoping Boston does their 30th year anniversary tour this year (2006).
Just started a Boston fan site - Come on by !
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Boston_rocks/ - george, Newport Beach, CA |
| i dont understand how their debut album can be considered the best selling debut album until hootie and the blowfish sold more.
last time i checked, a certain album called "Appetite for Destruction" by a semi-wellknown band called Guns N' Roses is the best selling debut album of all time. :shrugs: - Josh, New York, NY |
| I know many other bands used electronics with great effect before Boston (Pink Floyd comes to mind immediately) but in my humble opinion Boston changed the way rock sounded (for better or worse). - Bill, Philadelphi, PA |
| Boston's lyrics to "Smokin'" were used in an anti-drug video I saw in 1983. At my high school, it had the reverse effect when someone yelled out, "Boston ROCKS!!!" We all made a bunch of noise and had to be quieted down. It was one of my favorite Boston experiences, other than attending one of their concerts in LA. - James, Windsor, CA |
| Foreplay/Longtime is a GREAT song. :) - Brittany, Wood River, IL |
| great band! Their songs are great, and i really like the vocals too! - Stefanie magura, Rock Hill, SC |
| Boston is a great band. I have all of there albums and they are all great. ROCK ON!! - Chris, Rock City, SD |
| I started listening to Boston when I was only 7 years old. Boston had just come out with their first album. One day while camping with my family I told my mom I wanted to listen to some music. She put the new Boston on 8-track and 27 years later I'm still listening. - Jerry, Phoenix, AZ |
| when i first heard More then a Feeling , new instantly what a great song it was so... went out and bought the single cost me $1.10. GREAT SONG - pete, nowra, Australia |
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