Boston, "Boston"

Ken takes us dancing in the streets of Hyannis

Ken’s Pitch:

My first job was at this little mom and pop TV store in Needham, MA.  It was about the size of your average Chipotle, and in addition to the fancy, new 37” projection TVs that were housed in a massive wooden case, we sold stereo equipment, an assortment of boomboxes, some small kitchen appliances, and we even had a section where you could rent VHS tapes without fighting the crowd at Blockbuster.  On weekends, the owner’s son and I would take the company minivan and deliver all the TVs, stereos and air conditioners that had been sold throughout the week.  It was backbreaking work, even for a young, svelte, 17 year old.  My reward for being such an incredibly strong yet nimble servant was a whopping $4.25 an hour.  After Uncle Sam took his cut, my weekly paycheck for working 15-20 hours was usually between $45-$70.  And I looked forward to it every single week!  For me, it was freedom.  It meant my 1977 Dodge Diplomat had gas, it meant I could go to the movies or grab some food with my friends, but it also meant I could head to the record store and feed my obsession.

Having said all that, averaging $55 a week still meant that you had to budget; it was about priorities, so no wasteful spending.  One of the things I struggled with most around that time, a time when the compact disc was replacing LPs and cassette tapes at lightning speed, was whether or not to purchase music in CD format that I already owned on vinyl or tape.  Sometimes I’d bite, like when I bought Jimi Hendrix’s Smash Hits to replace a very worn cassette.  Sometimes I wouldn’t, figuring that money in my pocket was better than having Frampton Comes Alive in digital. 

Then there were the very few monumental albums that I bought in all three formats…and I wasn’t alone.  My music collection included a couple of Hall of Famers that sat on a shelf in my room in LP, cassette, and CD.  A proverbial fortune spent buying the same thing over and over.  They were Rubber Soul, Led Zeppelin IV, Some Girls, and a debut album by a local outfit simply titled Boston.

The story of Boston’s first album is a strange one, with bandleader Tom Scholz making a demo album in a basement in Massachusetts, only to have the record companies think it was the finished product.  There were fights over redoing some of the tracks in a studio in LA vs finishing up in the basement (which record people thought to be a wholly pedestrian task, one well beneath their status).  There were personnel issues and arguments before and after the release about virtually everything.  When the album reached the shelves of the record stores in the mid-’70s though, there was no doubt Scholz, Brad Delp and everyone else involved had struck gold.

Spending $7.99 on a vinyl record, then $8.99 on a cassette, and finally $15.99 for the CD was a financially irresponsible thing to do, but that’s what those songs do.  Everyone I knew growing up in MA owned that album, most of us in multiple formats. We knew every lyric to every song, we knew every iconic guitar riff, solo, and fill.  This was OUR band from OUR city and we fucking loved everything about them. 

From their radio staples “More Than A Feeling” and “Peace of Mind” to deeper cuts like “Something About You” and “Hitch A Ride”, we hung on every note and took great pride at lyrics like “Well we were just another band out of Boston, on the road we’re trying to make ends meet.”  If you were a struggling high school band, “Rock and Roll Band” was the dream you sought every time you got together in your drummer’s basement to rehearse.

With hindsight, the $32 and change I spent seems well worth it.  Eight songs, all of which got significant radio play, three of which became huge hits.  I’d be proud to display my Boston record, cassette and CD on the shelves of the Newbury St. Collection, and I’m sure you’ll agree.

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Mitch’s Response:

Tom Scholz is from Ohio, not Boston.

Therefore, the most Boston Boston band isn’t Boston.  Nope, the most Boston Boston band is the New Kids on the Block, led by the EGOT-worthy talent of Donnie Wahlberg. Sure, Mark may be more famous, and Paul may cook a better burger, but Donnie is truly the pride of Boston. He sings like Sinatra, dances like Astaire, acts like Olivier, bleeds Celtics green, and even married the woman of our dreams. We love you Donnie.

But, somehow, Bostonian transplant Tom Scholz made the most Boston album ever made with Boston’s Boston. Perhaps his outsider perspective allowed him to see things invisible to the native population? Perhaps only I can see what Tom saw because I am also a Bostonian transplant?

Boston is confident. A little city that always elbows its way onto the main stage, Boston’s debut album sounds like a mature effort by a professional band with incredible songs, performances, arrangements, and production, even though it was recorded in Tom’s studio by a band that wasn’t really a band. Tom believed in himself, had a vision and made it reality.

Boston is futuristic. Boston always had a vaguely sci-fi feel, which fits an innovation city like Boston quite well. Tom invented his own guitar technology to get exactly the sound he heard in his head, and the layering of the guitars, the production sound, and even the spaceship cover make Boston feel unique, and sound like the future.

Boston is cold. While there’s warmth and kindness under the surface, Boston can feel cold to outsiders, as does this album. The love songs don’t bring a tear to the eye, and even the “bitching about the music industry” song is a party. There might be some emotion here, but it’s buried deep beneath the surface.

Tom Scholz may be no Donnie Wahlberg, but he did Boston proud with this legendary album.

• Pitch Successful (Brad Delp is wicked pissah)

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CJ’s Response:

I went to the second show and my brother Dan went to the eleventh, and final, show.

It was the summer of 1987 and Boston played an unthinkable eleven straight sold-out concerts at The Worcester Centrum (site of my infamous forgotten phone call at the Bon Jovi concert the previous year) in support of their album Third Stage. Everybody I knew went to at least one of those shows. And I’m not generalizing when I say everybody. It would be easier for me to name the people who didn’t see Boston that summer than to list all the people who did.

Larry Bird was at the show I went to. (So were Scott Wedman and Conor Henry for you NBA buffs out there.) The mayor of Boston, the governor of Massachusetts and various emissaries from the Kennedy family also made their way to the “city of seven hills” that August. Not to mention all the local celebrities.

And why not?

Boston was OUR band. They were the third part of the improbably successful local triumvirate along with the Cars and the J. Geils Band that dominated the soundtrack of our wonder years. We had waited eight years for Third Stage following their second album Don’t Look Back in 1978 and they could have played a hundred shows in a row as far as we were concerned.

Was the rest of the world as anxious for Third Stage as we were? Well, the album sold about 4 million copies and I’d wager 3.75 million were purchased in the greater New England area.

When we first heard Boston back in 1976, it was such a “Bah-ston” album with its references to Hyannis and Rhode Island (a Massachusetts colony/satellite office). And then came the stories of the DIY demo tapes in Tom Scholz’s basement and Scholz making Brad Delp sing the falsetto on “More Than a Feeling” over and over and over again until he thought it was perfect. If you were making a mixtape for a crush, “Something About You” had to be on it. Or, if you were feeling more confident, “Let Me Take You Home Tonight”. There was a time when you couldn’t turn on a rock radio station in this town and not hear a song from this album within the first ten minutes. And none of us minded one single bit.

When I woke up this morning, the sun was literally gone. Yesterday, I was lounging on the beach in 85º glory. Today is barely cracking 70º with a cold, steady rain. My children are back at work or school and I found myself dreaming, slipping away. When I turned on some music to start my day, this was the album I chose.

• Pitch Successful (Who cares if Tom Scholz is from Ohio? The Standells were from LA and they still play “Dirty Water” at Fenway.)

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Ken’s pitch was successful and Boston’s Boston has come home to the Newbury St. Collection, conveniently located in Boston’s Back Bay.

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It’s easy to hitch a ride to the comments section and let us know if Boston’s Boston leaves you feeling’ satisfied or if they should cool the engines. Can’tcha say?

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Please join us next week as CJ finally gives up on trying to win the hearts and minds of his jamband buddies with a pitch for Metallica’s Ride the Lightning.

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