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Tom Scholz Says Boston’s Emergence ‘Really Pissed People Off’
Boston mastermind Tom Scholz reflected on his early career, calling himself an “outsider” whose emergence as a ‘70s rock giant “really pissed people off.”
“I wasn’t part of a scene, not part of the crowd that recorded or played in L.A. or New York,” the multi-instrumentalist told Rock Candy, looking back at the band’s self-titled 1976 debut. “I wasn’t part of the drug culture; I didn’t know anything about it. I wasn’t at the parties. I didn’t do any of those things.
“I was like this enigma that came out of no place, and it really pissed people off,” he continued. “There were a lot of people, and there still are today, who just totally resent me and Boston music. They will never understand what went into that music or what was behind it, or, once it became successful, what I intended to do with it. That part was not pleasant.”
Boston, which Scholz largely recorded in the basement studio of his Massachusetts home, wound up a multiplatinum smash — spawning signature classic rock tunes like “More Than a Feeling,” “Peace of Mind” and “Foreplay/Long Time.” But the songwriter had a practical mindset about the project, assuming it probably wouldn’t go anywhere.
“I was going to send demos out,” he said. “And assuming I got nothing but rejections, which is what I thought would happen, I was going to dismantle all of the equipment, sell everything off and recover what little I could from the money I’d spent.”
In 2020, Stryper singer Michael Sweet recalled his short-lived tenure with Boston, joining in 2007 following the death of singer Brad Delp. “The first Boston album changed my life,” Sweet noted. “Mostly due to the voice of Brad Delp.”
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