They dominated the 70's with tunes like Don't Look Back and More Than A Feeling. Get the inside look at the musical genius of Boston.
Churning out their first album in 1976, Boston was an instant success. Their album (by the same name) contained legendary classics such as More Than A Feeling, Peace of Mind and Long Time. But in truth, Boston had been a long time in the making.
Keyboardist Tom Scholz was actually the driving force behind the melodic lyrics. Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1947, Scholz had spent years writing songs in his basement while pursuing a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduation, he joined up with local guitarist Barry Goudreau and began learning the guitar while setting up his own recording studio in the basement of his home.
By 1975, Boston was starting to take shape and had added drummer Jim Masdea and singer Brad Delp. Although their first set of demo tapes had fallen short, Scholz had quickly mastered the guitar and created a second set of demos featuring his newfound talent. The tapes caught the ears of execs at Epic Records and after a change in drummers (Epic didn't like Masdea and replaced him with Sib Hashian), Boston was ready to go. They added bassist Fran Sheehan and re-recorded the tracks, producing their debut album, Boston in 1976.Just two years later, Don't Look Back hit the record stores but met with limited success. While the title track gained instant notoriety, there was discord among band members and between Scholz and Epic. Boston went on tour to promote the album and Scholz began to work on Boston's third release, but Epic and some of the other band members felt Scholz's perfectionistic attitude was delaying the process.
In 1979, Goodreau sought to complete his own solo project with the help of Delp and Hashian. Supposedly, Scholz had agreed that the other band members were free to pursue solo projects while he worked on Boston's third release. But when Epic picked up Goodreau's album, titled Barry Goodreau, Scholz took offense and allegedly tried to undermine the project with Epic executives. Goodreau, Hashian and Sheehan later sued Scholz for back royalties and the original Boston was no more.
Scholz then filed a lawsuit against Epic, alleging that Goodreau, Hashian and Sheehan had tried to remove Scholz from the band and done so with the help of Epic. Scholz won but Epic/CBS fired back with a lawsuit of their own alleging breach of contract. While the lawsuit was going on, Epic withheld royalty payments to Scholz, delaying the third Boston album even longer. Scholz turned to his own ingenuity and designed guitars for the likes of ZZ Top and Journey's Neal Schon. Partnering with Delp, Masdea and Gary Phil (Sammy Hagar), Third Stage was released in 1986 under the MCA Records label. Amanda quickly became another Boston hit.
Delp left Boston in 1991 to fulfill his commitment to Goodreau and his band, RTZ. Scholz brought in singer Fran Cosmo and produced Walk On. It met with limited success. In 1998, Scholz began production of Boston's fifth album, Corporate America, which was released in 2002 by Artemis Records. This fifth release featured Scholz along with returning band members Delp, Cosmo and Phil along with a new drummer, Jeff Neal, Cosmo's son Anthony on rhythm guitar and Kimberly Dahme on bass. After touring in 2003 and 2004, Scholz went back to the studios again to begin work on Boston's sixth album.
On March 9, 2007, singer Brad Delp passed away at the age of 55. To honour his pasing, Boston's website displayed only a single line "We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll".
