The group first formed in the mind of Tom Scholz, who had long expressed interest in melodic rock and the fine particulars of recording technology. Even as a child, he tinkered with just about anything mechanical or electronic that he could get his hands on. Prior to his musical career, Scholz received both a bachelor's degree, in 1969, and a master's degree, in 1970, in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then began working for the Polaroid Corporation as a senior product design engineer. Scholz would then reside in Boston.
Creating demos in his own home, inspired by contemporary 70s progressive rock and what came to be known as "album oriented rock" ("aor"), Scholz attracted the interest of Epic Records, who signed Scholz to a recording contract. Vocalist Brad Delp, who was born in Peabody, Massachusetts in 1951 (Scholz is about four years older) to French-Canadian immigrants and was inspired to sing after seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, served as a sort of not-so secret weapon for Scholz's project. Delp's "golden voice" has inspired numerous later rock artists to take up the microphone.
Scholz believed that his demos were good enough to be the released album but Epic told him to rerecord them. Most of the guitar, bass, and keyboards were performed by Scholz, although other players were involved sporadically throughout the recording of the album. Epic did not want the album recorded entirely in Scholz's home as Scholz intended (they suggested using a recording studio), but most of what ended up on the album was ultimately recorded by Scholz in his basement.
'Boston' was first released by Epic Records on August 25, 1976. Few industry insiders thought a guitar-heavy rock record could make much of a dent in the charts as disco ruled the airwaves at the time. The album broke out of Cleveland first, and the following week it had been added at 392 stations. Scholz, then 29, still worked at Polaroid during the first few weeks of the record's success and felt wary, changing his mind when the album quickly sold 200,000 copies. Critical praise also came to the band; for example, Rolling Stone wrote that Boston's "affinity for heavy rock & roll provides a sense of dynamics that coheres magnetically with sophisticated progressive structures."
The album was certified gold just two months after its release, and it sold another 500,000 copies within 30 days, going platinum for the first time in November 1976. With songs that became rock anthems such as the evergreen "More Than a Feeling", 'Boston' is the second best-selling debut album of all time in the United States, falling just short of Guns N' Roses' 'Appetite for Destruction'. Many critics have named it as one of the best American albums of all time. Its popularity was not only huge, but also durable: into the 2000s it was believed to be the only 1970s album that still had every single track in regular rotation on classic rock radio.
With a touring unit coming together around the line-up of Barry Goudreau, Tom Scholz, Sib Hashian, Brad Delp, and Fran Sheehan, the band played to a wide variety of crowds big and small, receiving strong fan support. Feeling an essentially unbearable amount of pressure to come up with another commercial mega-hit, Scholz still desired to experiment with his sound and had a growing sense of perfectionism. 'Don't Look Back' came out on August 2, 1978, viewed by Scholz as a hurried effort but picking up widespread success. It's been certified as multi-platinum, and its title track has become a classic rock staple.
Acrimonious fighting with label Epic Records, which soon became a long, drawn-out legal fight, left the future of the band stalled. Their next work, 'Third Stage' , came out in September 23, 1986, quite a while after their sophomore work. Bad luck and ill-will seemed to trail the group, with floods and power failures halting many studio sessions. Still, the album went to #1 on the Billboard 200, where it stayed for four weeks.
In addition, 'Third Stage' was only the second album to ever be certified triple-platinum in its first month of release, in November of 1986. As stated before, the first was Lionel Richie's 'Dancing On The Ceiling', which did it one month earlier. Nonetheless, Boston seemed to have gotten stuck.
On March 9th, 2007, Brad Delp (vocals) committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. He was 55. Delp sang all the lead and harmony vocals on Boston's first three albums. Though well known for his "golden" voice with soaring vocals and range, Delp was also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, harmonica and keyboards. Additionally he wrote or co-wrote several songs for Boston and many other artists.
More than 10 years in the making, Boston came out with a new studio album, "Life, Love & Hope" in 2013. Founding member, Tom Scholz stated, "These are songs from the heart, each of them taking many months of effort to write, arrange, perform and record, always up to the demands of Boston's harshest critic, me. They have all been meticulously recorded to analog tape on the same machines and equipment used for Boston's hits for the past 35 years."
The band, with Scholz and a new lineup, toured extensively in 2016-2017.
Boston's web site is at www.bandboston.com
03-It's Easy
Boston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've got no place to be
And no one I'd rather see
I won't mind if you can find
The time to stay with me
Oh hey
I've got no time for wastin'
I Got to live a life while I can
To let me be your man
Cause when I get close to you, not much to say
I get that same old feeling I had in my younger days
And I can show you the way
It's just a game we play
It's easy, takin' it day by day
It's easy, easy, easy, yeah yeah yeah
Hey
You know I would concede
And I think we both agree
You and I can testify
That love is what we need
Oh hey
Just take a look around you, livin' for the future is blind
I believe what we achieve will soon be left behind
The things that I try to say are so hard to find
When you doubt what your love is about let me ease you mind
And I can show you the way
It's just a game we play
It's easy, takin' it day by day
It's easy
Hey
I've got no place to be
And no one I'd rather see
I won't mind if you should find
That you're in love with me
Oh hey
We got no time to worry
Gotta live a life while we can
I won't hide if you decide
To let me be your man
Cause when I get close to you, not much to say
I get that same old feeling I had in my younger days
And I can show you the way
It's just a game we play
It's easy, takin' it day by day
It's easy, takin' it day by
The lyrics to Boston's song "It" speak to the simplicity of love and living in the present moment. The singer expresses that they have no place to be and no one they'd rather see, emphasizing the importance of being with the person they love. They encourage taking life day by day and focusing on the present instead of living for the future, as they believe achievements will soon be left behind. The singer also assures their partner that they can show them the way and that love is just a game they play, highlighting the ease and simplicity of their relationship.
Through the lyrics, it is apparent that the song was written during a time when society was grappling with the uncertainty of the future. The lyrics provide comfort in the idea of focusing on the present moment and enjoying life despite this uncertainty. The song's upbeat tempo and catchy melody also add to this mood by providing listeners with an uplifting beat to dance and sing along to.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey
I am addressing you and starting a conversation.
I've got no place to be
I have no specific plans or commitments right now.
And no one I'd rather see
I would like to spend my time with you above anyone else.
I won't mind if you can find
The time to stay with me
If you choose to spend time with me, I would appreciate it greatly.
Oh hey
I've got no time for wastin'
I Got to live a life while I can
I value my time and want to make the most of it by living fully and without regrets.
I won't hide if you decide
To let me be your man
I am willing to be vulnerable and show my true self to you if you choose to enter a romantic relationship with me.
Cause when I get close to you, not much to say
I get that same old feeling I had in my younger days
Being near you brings up feelings of excitement and nostalgia from my past experiences with love.
And I can show you the way
It's just a game we play
It's easy, takin' it day by day
I am confident in my ability to guide you in a relationship that takes each day as it comes, without putting too much pressure on ourselves.
Hey
You know I would concede
And I think we both agree
You and I can testify
That love is what we need
We both recognize the importance of love and are willing to make compromises for each other's happiness.
Oh hey
Just take a look around you, livin' for the future is blind
I believe what we achieve will soon be left behind
Focusing too much on the future is shortsighted and we should enjoy the present moment while we can.
The things that I try to say are so hard to find
When you doubt what your love is about let me ease you mind
Expressing my feelings in words can be difficult, but I am here to reassure you and help you feel secure in our relationship.
Hey
I've got no place to be
And no one I'd rather see
I won't mind if you should find
That you're in love with me
Once again, I express my desire to spend time with you and my openness to the possibility of romantic feelings developing between us.
Oh hey
We got no time to worry
Gotta live a life while we can
I won't hide if you decide
To let me be your man
We have no time to waste on worrying and should focus on enjoying life to the fullest. I am willing to show my true self and be your partner if that is what you want.
And I can show you the way
It's just a game we play
It's easy, takin' it day by day
It's easy, takin' it day by day
Once again, I reiterate my belief in taking things one day at a time and enjoying the journey of our relationship together.
Lyrics ยฉ Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DONALD T. SCHOLZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@peterlyon2796
If you don't love BOSTON, you don't know what Rock and Roll is, this is Rock and Roll. It is a sad shame that people don't think this is the GREATEST rock band. I challenge anybody to say different
@teamster9413
Better than Zeppelin in my opinion. You slap a Boston record on and youโre transported into a 70s summer where everything is great and thereโs not a care in the world. Just your Leviโs, converse and a band shirt with the windows down.
@trevordodd995
100%๐๐
@rdfab3
I won't even mention the obvious band because that would be too easy...How bout the Eagles, Cars, The Who, The Stones, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Chicago, Steely Dan, U2, ACDC, The Police...Should I continue? All Great in their own way...All Equal if not better in some ways than Boston...But Boston is great and worthy to be right in the mix with them all
@ZeFrenchiestFry69420
โ@Ron DiFabbio none come close to Boston in my opinion. The best rock band of all time is EASILY Thin Lizzy. Absolutely nobody comes close. But 2nd place ain't so bad for Boston
@fabriziovita3
Few are the rock songs that make me cry with joy ;) The first Boston of the 70s, the compositions of Tom Scholz, the generous voice of Brad Delp, wonderful hair and percussion of Sib Hashian, the nice faces of Barry Goudreau, the ballets and scales of Fran Sheehan, a set of people and musicians passionate and full of energy, elegant musical compositions, songs with many different musical phrases, put together harmoniously, as if telling a story beyond the text, a path of emotions that make you imagine beautiful situations... they are songs that raise the spirit, the soul of those who listen to them...
We know that music stirs emotions and changes the mood of the listener, first Boston had the "magic" of creating and playing uplifting music, like maybe 2 or 3 other bands of the 1970s... Perhaps in those years people had unleashed a very beautiful spiritual energy, full of life and inner light, intersection of various situations, which I believe will be repeated in a few years ;)
Grazie Boston ๐ฅฐ
@BobbyHair-tq4wc
Jan. 19 1979 Greensboro NC Sammy Hagar opened for Boston I was there the best concert of my life!!! Very very few singers could hit the notes Brad did!!! Iโm 63 now and music has always been a part of my life, Boston has got to be one of the top all time BANDS PERIOD!!!
@patrmiller7
Should be in Rock Hall of Fame
@mikesobeski9644
Pat, they should be in the rock and roll hall of fame. These guys walked out onto the stage, plugged in their guitars, bass, and just rocked the entire stadium. No auto tune crap, just playing actual live music that everyone loved. Not in the hall of fame. But if you put a kitchen clock on a chain and run around the stage screaming "Yeah Yeah Yeah" and then up follow that up with more"Yeah Yeah, Yeah," with a baseball cap sideways on your head and huge clock around your neck and call yourself Flava Flave, that gets into the rock and roll hall of fame. Boston not in, but this clock idiot in the hall of fame? What? Makes no sense
@cherylcollins1917
I love Boston