In 1975, with singer Brad Delp and drummer Jim Masdea, I finished my final demo recording number six of my songs that were recorded, arranged, played and produced the way I wanted to hear them.  I wasn’t expecting any success.  My demos had been universally rejected for years - now I was just making one last recording of my best songs before I threw in the towel at age 29.  

I was not surprised when almost every record company rejected them again - including Epic.  By now, I figured my musical tastes were just a lot different than most people’s, but surprisingly, after Epic had a good listen to “More Than a Feeling,” Brad and I received a contract offer. (Thank you Tom Werman at Epic for having ears!)

Still, I had no reason to expect any serious success after so much rejection, but it was exciting to make a real record (even though still in my basement!).

Imagine my surprise when real music listeners - all of you - responded with an avalanche of appreciation!  After six years of discouragement, BOSTON suddenly blanketed the radio airwaves!  The ultimate success was the result of you, our listeners and fans.  

 The variety of stories I’ve heard of people who were helped through hard times by this music (I’m one of those stories!), and the number of lives that have been saved by the donations made possible, have all made the enormous work effort more than worth it.  

Everyone is familiar with the recording of "More Than a Feeling" Brad and I performed in 1976, so now, 50 years later, I'd like to offer one of the last available recordings of the song performed live by the band BOSTON in 2017.  This is not a studio remix of a multitrack recording, but the actual stereo feed from the mixing console to the sound system speakers.  The mistakes (mostly mine), and oddities of a live mix in a large venue are all there.  Gary Pihl has edited some actual video footage from the show.   Enjoy! 

 Thank you all for an amazing run!

Tom Scholz

PS. A Day Late...

On Tuesday, August 25, just as I was about to put up my post about the 50th Anniversary of "More Than a Feeling," I learned of the passing of Dolly Parton. I'm not a country music fan, but I have the deepest admiration for Dolly as a person and entertainer. It didn't seem right for me to make a celebratory post on such a somber occasion, so I waited. I'm now a day late posting my note for the 50th anniversary of my song, but then, my being late for anything shouldn't surprise anyone. 

Remastered, Special Editions Include

Rare, Original “Lost” Demos

“I looked out this morning and the sun was gone. Turned on some music to start my day. I lost myself in a familiar song. I closed my eyes and I slipped away.” 

BOSTON’s “More Than A Feeling” 

In late summer of 1976, a self-titled album from Tom Scholz’s basement studio was quietly released on CBS’s Epic Records label under the name BOSTON. Listeners across the country quickly embraced the bright, punchy BOSTON sound, with its relatable lyrics, meticulously double-tracked guitar tracks, and singer Brad Delp’s powerful, crystalline lead vocals. The sheer assertiveness of the writing, performances, and sonics—coupled with the album’s joyfulness—helped thrust the band and their debut into the stratosphere. Within three months of its release, BOSTON was awarded both gold and platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while nearly every song from the album was in constant rotation on pop and rock radio.

It has become a legend how MIT grad Tom Scholz arduously wrote and recorded nearly all of the album’s tight, ultra-polished tunes in his apartment house basement at night while working as an engineer at Polaroid by day. He relentlessly pursued the sound he envisioned in his head, even modifying gear and creating custom instrumentaleffects to realize it. In so doing, Scholz paved a new way for artists to produce and record their music. His painstaking work introduced an innovative blend of a forceful, non-blues-based rhythm section, blistering guitar solos, space-age riffs and effects, and spacious, powerful sound that created an era of big, dazzling arena-rock and power ballads. The colors, rhythms, textures and tones integrated into a productionthat quickly captured the zeitgeist of mid-1970’s America, whose young people were looking for escapist excitement outside the political and economic troubles of the time.

BOSTON continues to inspire today! Since its release in August of ’76, it has sold tens of millions of copies, been certified 2x Diamond by the RIAA and (until 1986) was the best-selling debut album in history. More importantly, it’s become a touchstone for multiple generations, at once fresh and timeless. It continues to speak of and to a very special moment in pop culture history, where pop and hard rock merged into an FMradio culture that continues to inspire musicians. The band’s signature hit “More Than A Feeling” entered The Billboard’s Hot 100 on September 18, 1976 and peaked at Number 5 on Christmas Day, spending 19 weeks on the chart. The single also reached Number 4 on Cash Box’s singles chart. The album’s second single “Peace of Mind” was released on January 7, 1977 and peaked at Number 22 on The Billboard’s Hot 100.

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary Edition of BOSTON, Tom Scholz and Impex Records are excited to announce, this definitive vinyl LP and SACD/Hybrid reissue of his masterpiece. Tom Scholz is personally supervising all aspects of the production, ensuring fans the most authentic version of this oft-reissued classic!

Wishing to offer something truly unique to the millions of BOSTON fans who’ve supported the band through the years, Tom has—for the very first time—dug deep into his massive archive of recordings to find the longlost, previously-unreleased demos he famously shopped to the labels before being signed by Epic Records. He painstakingly restored and remastered these elusive treasures with the help of producer/digital expert/

BOSTON guitarist Gary Pihl, exclusively for this 50th anniversary release. With these demo versions, music historians and fans can now “peek inside” Tom’s basement studio to trace how the creative process unfolded during the production and polishing phases of this time-honored classic.

2-LP black vinyl edition featuring the original LP (33-RPM), LP mastered and lacquer cutting by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood PLUS

 • A bonus 12” EP with the legendary “lost demos,” mastered from one of last remaining Tom Scholz demo reels

 • A stylish 12 x 12 booklet, integrated into the gate-fold jacket and featuring an in-depth essay about the making of the album by noted reissue producer and music historian Charles L. “Chuck” Granata from first-hand interviews with Tom Scholz, plus historic photos by Ron Pownall and others

2-LP limited-edition metallic PEARL GOLD VINYL (33-RPM) featuring all the value-added material from the black vinyl edition PLUS:

 • Exclusive Poster

 • Tom Scholz signature guitar pick

 • Individually numbered to 2,500 copies

• Modified notes with a deluxe digital download booklet

 • All the Lost Demos from the LPs

 • Hybrid layer plays on all CD players

Scholz has put his all into creating this monumental reissue and his selection of Impex Records, one of the most highly-regarded high-end labels in the business, as his production partner guarantees this anniversary release will reflect and enhance the artistic and sonic brilliance of his most critically-acclaimed album. This definitive audiophile edition is more than a feeling: it’s an event that truly reflects and defines the artist’s vision—one that will remain an essential and cherished musical reference recording for decades to come.

IMPEX RECORDS founder Abey Fonn will serve as Executive Producer. Guiding the team is Tom’s wife Kim Scholz, as well as close friend Gary Pihl. Chuck Granata and Bob Donnelly will supervise the lacquer cutting for LPs with mastering by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood. Tom’s longtime publicist, Gail Parenteau of Parenteau Guidance, is handling publicity and promotion.

PREORDER at Elusivedisc.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

GAIL PARENTEAU | parenteauguidance@gmail.com

www.impexrecords.com

www.elusivedisc.com

Sitting on a folding metal chair in a basement in 1976, I was tweaking the mix of a demo that Brad Delp, Jim Masdea and I had recorded in my home-brew studio. The possibility that anyone would be listening to this song, "More Than A Feeling," thirty years into the future was incomprehensible. In fact, the thought of keeping someone's interest for thirty minutes was a long shot!

After years of knocking on doors with tapes in hand, I had heard "not interested" expressed in every possible combination of words from the English language. Initially, I made these demo tapes in frighteningly expensive studios that cost more per hour than I could save in a week at my day job. Simultaneously there were numerous attempts to play the songs live in hopes of being "discovered." My friends Barry Goudreau and Jim Masdea played lead guitar and drums respectively, and after a long and painful search, Brad Delp finally saved the day as vocalist.

But somehow the music in my mind was not making it onto the demo tapes, and the only thing discovered playing live was that no one was really listening.

So using technology I acquired working at Polaroid, I built a crude multitrack tape machine and sequestered myself in my basement. There I could experiment alone, playing all the instruments myself one track at a time until I was satisfied with the result. The only exception was the drumming, which was all done by Jim since I only played air drums at the time.

Something magical happened when Jim and I got together to work on my songs; the basement walls disappeared and were replaced by a huge arena filled with screaming fans... as long as the headphones were loud enough. Alone later, as I played the bass, organ and guitar parts to the rolling tape with eyes closed, the same vision reappeared, inspiring a far better performance than this lonely space deserved. Then just a fantasy, it proved to be a vision of things to come.

After creating what I thought was a symphony of rock with the instruments, it was Brad's turn with the tape. Methodically he would overdub a one-man-vocal-orchestra that relegated my first chair musical efforts to the second row! Listening from the back seat, Brad's voice clearly brought the music to life.

This six-song demo and subsequent album turned the disco-crazed music industry on its head, and broke all the known rules for succeeding in the world of rock and roll. Boston's perceived "instant" stardom obscured six years of abject failure, and irritated critics whose customary involvement was rendered moot. Simultaneously the style was abducted and imitated by marketing executives to mass produce what became known as radio-friendly "corporate rock."

Guilty only of stumbling onto the secret formula of pop music success while performing musical experiments in the basement, we would eventually be smeared with that same label. It was ironically vindicating when I was sued shortly after for being creatively "uncooperative" with the corporation. Such a rebel.

Nothing about Boston was done by the book. The strangest twist was caused by the label's refusal to allow the original six-song demo to be used as the actual album; the material had to be recorded over again in a "professional" studio exactly the same way!

But I had completely adapted to playing and engineering alone in my basement; I knew I couldn't duplicate those performances without the solitude which had become both a blessing and a curse.

In a gutsy move, Epic producer John Boylan made me an offer: I record the multitrack masters in my basement myself, while he decoys the company recording a couple of Brad's songs in L.A. with Barry, Sib and Fran. Then I join him in L.A. for vocal overdubs and mixing. Oh, and we split the producer's royalty! You mean I even get paid? Deal.

So after laying down Sib and Jim's drum tracks, I settled in for the lengthy ordeal of reproducing a band's worth of bass, guitar and organ performances on the new, nearly identical, recording. Barry joined me to play the awesome lead guitar on "Long Time," and Fran to play the bass track for "Foreplay." In L.A., Brad's "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" was recorded in its entirety, and its the only song to embody performances of all five musicians that eventually ended up on stage for the first ever "Boston" concert in 1976.

This morning Tommy lost his fight with cancer. Everyone who has heard Tommy sing on stage, or on BOSTON albums, knows what a gifted artist he was, but few know how hard he worked to fill that role of BOSTON’s lead vocalist, and to turn himself into a top-tier live performer – or more importantly, what a dedicated father he was to his children. Tommy was a competitive athlete, and yet a gentle soul who is remembered by by his son and many others as a sweet man who did not deserve to be cut down at such a young age. It’s not surprising that one of his favorite BOSTON songs to sing was “To Be a Man.”

While many people will remember Tommy giving his audience amazing live performances, I will remember him as the incredible singer who appeared out of nowhere to rescue BOSTON in 2007, and gave all of us with the band 10 additional years of performing our most memorable live shows. Rest in peace Tommy, you did know what it took to be a man.

Tom Scholz, for BOSTON

photo: Jon Viscott