Boston is a rock band from Boston, Massachusetts.  Tom Scholz met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea when they played together in the band, Freehold.  In 1970, they found vocalist Briain Delp.  They began recording and submitting demos, seeking a record deal, but received repeated rejections.

Boston

Writing, arranging, and recording Boston music day after day is frustrating, exhausting, and lonely, yet strangely enticing.  My dad used to ask me, “If the song is 4 or 5 minutes long, why doesn’t it take 4 or 5 minutes to record it?”  The catch is, figuring out what should happen for every second of that 4 or 5 minutes for all the individual tracks on song, and trying the hundreds of variations on each instrument or vocal takes me typically 4 or 5 months.

The Early Years

Boston is a rock band from Boston, Massachusetts.  Tom Scholz met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea when they played together in the band, Freehold.  In 1970, they found vocalist Briain Delp.  They began recording and submitting demos, seeking a record deal, but received repeated rejections.  It was not until 1975 that they finally landed a contract with Epic Records.  However, Epic demanded that Masdea be replaced.  

Their debut album, Boston, released in 1976, became the best selling debut album in U.S. history, selling over 17 million copies.  They opened for Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, and Foghat, then embarked on their own headlining tour to promote their album.  They are the first and only band in history to make their New York City debut at Madison Square Garden.  The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and stayed there for 125 weeks.

Building on a Solid Foundation

In 1978, Boston released their second album, Don’t Look Back.  The album sold seven million units, which although robust, paled against the success of their first effort.  Boston embarked on another tour to promote the album.  Don’t Look Back peaked at #1 on the Billboard Top 200.  The album was one of the first commercially released CDs.

While fighting over contractual issues with their manager, the band disbursed to work on solo projects.  Eventually, they came together again despite continued legal troubles and released their third album, Third Stage, in 1986, on the MCA Record label.   Another #1 Billboard Top 200 album, the release spawned the singles. Amanda, We’re Ready, and Can’tcha Say.  Four million units were sold in the United States.  

Uncertainty and Tragedy

Brian Delp left the band again to pursue other endeavors, but worked with Sholz to write the song, Walk On, before he left; this would be the title of the next album.  Walk On was released in 1994, with a new lead singer and a new sound.  The album went platinum, but did not hold up against the success of their previous work.  Their 2002 album, Corporate America, did not certify with the RIAA.

Boston’s albums have been remastered and released digitally, so the tracks are available for mp3 download.  In the spring of 2008, Tom Scholz and Michael Sweet introduced a new Boston lineup; the band toured with Styx over that summer.

Did you know . . .

• Boston’s bassist, Tom Scholz, is the only founding member still a part of the band, and he does almost all of the songwriting and production for the band.

• Former lead singer, Brian Delp, committed suicide in 2007.

• Tom Scholz holds a masters degree in mechanical engineering from MIT.

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