Monday 8/23/2021 11pm ET: Feature LP: Boston (1976)

Boston is the eponymous debut studio album by American rock band Boston. Produced by Tom Scholz and John Boylan, it was released on August 25, 1976, in the United States by Epic Records. Scholz had studied classical piano in his childhood and became involved in the Boston music scene in the late 1960s. He subsequently started to concentrate on demos recorded in his apartment basement with singer Brad Delp; they had received numerous rejection letters from major record labels in the early 1970s. By 1975 the demo tape had fallen into the hands of CBS-owned Epic Records, who signed them.

Epic wanted the band to record in Los Angeles with a record producer, but Scholz was unwilling and wanted to record the album in his basement studio, so he hired Boylan to run interference with the label. In an elaborate ruse, Scholz tricked the label into thinking the band was recording on the West Coast, when in reality, the bulk was being tracked solely by Scholz at his Massachusetts home. The album’s contents are a complete recreation of the band’s demo tape, and contain songs written and composed many years prior. The album’s style, often referred to as the “Boston sound”, was developed through Scholz’s love of classical music, melodic hooks and guitar-heavy rock groups such as the Kinks and the Yardbirds, as well as a number of analogue electronic effects developed by Scholz in his home studio. Scholz would later found Scholz Research & Development, Inc. to market many of his inventions that he used in developing the sound on the album.

Besides Scholz, who played most of the instruments on nearly all of the tracks, and Delp, other musicians appear on the album. Drummer Jim Masdea worked extensively with Scholz during the writing, arranging, and demo process and plays drums on one song on the final album, “Rock & Roll Band”. Sib Hashian plays drums on the rest of the tracks. Guitarist Barry Goudreau and bassist Fran Sheehan, who joined the band after most of the tracks had been recorded, contribute some overdubs to “Foreplay/Long Time” and appear in the final track on the album, “Let Me Take You Home Tonight”, which was recorded separately from the rest of the album.

The album was released by Epic in August 1976 and sold extremely well, breaking sales records, becoming the best-selling debut LP in the US at the time, and winning the RIAA Century Award as best selling debut album. The album’s singles, most notably “More Than a Feeling” and “Long Time”, were both AM and FM hits, and nearly the entire album receives constant rotation on classic rock radio. The album has been referred to as a landmark in 1970s rock and has been included on many lists of essential albums. It has sold 17 million copies in the United States alone and 25 million worldwide.

1. “More Than a Feeling” 4:46
2. “Peace of Mind” 5:02
3. “Foreplay/Long Time” 7:47
4. “Rock & Roll Band” 3:00
5. “Smokin'” 4:20
6. “Hitch a Ride” 4:12
7. “Something About You” 3:48
8. “Let Me Take You Home Tonight” 4:44

Tom Scholz – electric guitars, lead guitar, acoustic guitars, clavinet, organ, bass guitar, design consultant, remastering, liner notes, production, engineering
Brad Delp – lead and harmony vocals; acoustic guitar on “Let Me Take You Home Tonight”
Sib Hashian – drums all tracks except “Rock & Roll Band”
Jim Masdea – drums on “Rock & Roll Band”
Barry Goudreau – rhythm guitars, lead guitars on “Foreplay/Long Time” and “Let Me Take You Home Tonight”
Fran Sheehan – bass guitar on “Foreplay” and “Let Me Take You Home Tonight”

Wednesday 5/12/21 7pm ET: The Rock Show

This week music from Foo Fighters, Noel Gallagher, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Grace Slick, Bryan Adams, Staind, Tool, Doors, Alice Cooper, Dirty Honey, Boston and more . .

Thursday 11/26/2020 3pm ET: Feature LP: Boston – Live, Love & Hope (2013)

Life, Love & Hope is the sixth studio album by American rock band Boston. It was released on December 3, 2013 by Frontiers Records, making it their first studio album in eleven years. It is the first album released following the death of Brad Delp in 2007, whose vocals are posthumously featured on the songs “Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love”, “Sail Away”, “Someone”, and “Te Quiero Mia”, the last of which being a re-arrangement of “I Had a Good Time”, from Corporate America.

1. “Heaven on Earth” (All instruments, harmony & backing vocals: Tom Scholz) 3:37
2. “Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love” 5:13
3. “Last Day of School” 2:02
4. “Sail Away” 3:42
5. “Life Love and Hope” 3:57
6. “If You Were in Love” 4:10
7. “Someday” 3:44
8. “Love Got Away” 4:28
9. “Someone (2.0)” 4:00
10. “You Gave Up on Love (2.0)” 4:05
11. “Te Quiero Mia” 3:38

Tom Scholz – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, vocals
Brad Delp – vocals
Gary Pihl – vocals, guitar
Kimberley Dahme – bass guitar, vocals, flute
Tommy DeCarlo – vocals
Curly Smith – harmonica
David Victor – vocals
Louis St. August – vocals
Jeff Neal – vocals
Jude Nejmanowski – vocals
Beth Cohen – vocals

Thursday 6/11/2020 12am ET: Feature LP: Boston – Greatest Hits (1997)

Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by the American rock band Boston. The album, released on June 3, 1997, features songs originally released on both the Epic and MCA labels, as well as three previously unreleased recordings (“Tell Me”, “Higher Power” and “The Star-Spangled Banner”). Tom Scholz, the band’s leader, felt that the album’s sound quality was not up to his standards, so a remastered version of the album was released in 2009 with a slightly different track listing. Boston embarked on a tour for this album both times it was released.

The album was certified double platinum by the RIAA on December 4, 2003, and it has sold 2,234,000 copies in the United States as of August 2014.

The cover features the guitar-shaped spaceship flying low over a planet with turquoise rocks and a turquoise tower in the distance. The backside shows a personification of New York City. To this day it is still a mystery why they choose NYC instead of Boston, the city they are named after and which they usually show on their artwork.

1. “Tell Me” 4:04
2. “Higher Power” 5:06
3. “More Than a Feeling” 4:45
4. “Peace of Mind” 5:05
5. “Don’t Look Back” 5:57
6. “Cool the Engines” 4:35
7. “Livin’ for You” 4:55
8. “Feelin’ Satisfied” 4:11
9. “Party” (Scholz, Delp) 4:08
10. “Foreplay/Long Time” 7:48
11. “Amanda” 4:15
12. “Rock and Roll Band” 3:00
13. “Smokin'” (Scholz, Delp) 4:20
14. “A Man I’ll Never Be” 6:32
15. “The Star-Spangled Banner/4th of July Reprise” 2:44
16. “Higher Power [Kalodner edit]” 3:52

Monday 8pm ET: Feature Artist: Boston

Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, which had its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on multi-instrumentalist founder and leader Tom Scholz, who played the majority of instruments on the debut album, the band is a staple of classic rock. Boston’s best-known works include the songs “More Than a Feeling”, “Peace of Mind”, “Foreplay/Long Time”, “Rock and Roll Band”, “Smokin'”, “Don’t Look Back”, “A Man I’ll Never Be”, and “Amanda”. The band has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million were from its self-titled debut album and seven million were for its second album, Don’t Look Back, making the group one of the world’s best-selling artists. Altogether, the band has released six studio albums over a career spanning over 40 years. Boston was ranked the 63rd best hard rock artist by VH1.

Past members of the band include; Brad Delp, Jim Masdea, Fran Sheehan, Sib Hashian, Barry Goudreau, David Sikes, Doug Huffman, Fran Cosmo, Anton Cosmo, Anthony Citrinite, Michael Sweet, David Victor, Kimberley Dahme

Wednesday 4pm: Sounds of The 70s

This week on Sounds of The 70s we feature music from:  Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Donna Summer, Spinners, Chicago, Barry Manilow, Marshall Tucker Band and more . . .

Wednesday 4pm: Sounds of The 70s

This week on Sounds of The 70s we feature music from:  Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Foreigner, Steely Dan, Clint Holmes, Redbone, Elton John, Selector, Robert Gordon, Freda Payne, Toto, Diana Ross and more . . .

Wednesday 2pm: Sounds of The 70’s

This week we feature music from; Beach Boys, Tavares, Olivia Newton-john, Electric Light Orchestra, Tubes, Elton John, Dan Hartman, Police, Eagles, Hot, Dire Straits, Badfinger, Cat Stevens, Boston, Chic, Bad Company and more . . . 

Tuesday 2pm: Sounds of The 80’s

This week on Sounds of The 80’s:  Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Murphy, Kenny Rogers, Dire Straits, Robert John, Prince, Ramones, Air Supply, Steely Dan, America, Boston, Elton John, Poison, Stevie Nicks, Queen, Men At Work and many many more .. . 

Saturday 12pm ET: Brit Rock with Dominic Forbes

On Brit Rock this week music from Gary Moore, AC/DC, Jeff Lynne, Extreme, Billy Idol, Faith No More, Fish, Aerosmith,Quireboys, Black Crowes, Stranglers, Boston, Deep Purple, Killers, The Eagles, Chris Cornell, The Fray, Kings Of Leon, U2, The Scorpions, Genesis, Dire Straits, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, Frijid Pink, Queen, Cinderella, Foreigner, Russ Ballard, Peter Gabriel, Gun, The Hooters, ZZ Top, Richard Marx, Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis, Rainbow.  Join Dominic Forbes 12pm ET on RadioMaxMusic.  Encore at 12am Sunday morning.

Sounds of The 70s with Dan Varroney 7pm ET

Sounds of the Seventies Live with Dan Varroney tonight at 7:00 pm ET. This week it’s “Top Hits of the Seventies.” We’ll feature Dire Straits, Bee Gees, Cheap Trick, Grand Funk Railroad, Raspberries, Robert Palmer, Bob Welch, Boston, Chi-Lites, and John Paul Young.

Artist Countdown: Donna Summer Top 45 6p ET @RadioMax

LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), known by her stage name, Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the late 1970s. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Summer was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the United States Billboard album chart and charted four number-one singles in the United States within a 13-month period. Summer has sold over 150 million records worldwide.

Born into a devoutly Christian middle class, African American family in Boston, Massachusetts, Summer first became involved with singing through church choir groups before joining a number of bands influenced by the Motown Sound. Also influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, she became the front singer of a psychedelic rock band named Crow and moved to New York City. Joining a touring version of the musical Hair, she spent several years living, acting, and singing in West Germany, where she met music producer Giorgio Moroder. Also while in Europe, she married Helmut Sommer, an anglicized version of whose surname she adopted as her stage name.

After returning to the United States, Summer co-wrote the song “Love to Love You Baby” with Pete Bellotte. Moroder convinced her to sing it herself, and it was released in 1975 to mass commercial success, particularly on the disco scene. Over the following years Summer followed this success with a string of other hits, such as “I Feel Love”, “Last Dance”, “MacArthur Park“, “Hot Stuff”, “Bad Girls”, “Dim All the Lights”, “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)“, and “On the Radio”. She became known as the “Queen of Disco” and regularly appeared at the Studio 54 nightclub in New York City, while her music gained a global following within the gay and non-gay communities. She struggled with depression, and subsequently she became a born-again Christian in 1980.

Diagnosed with lung cancer, Summer died on May 17, 2012, at her home in Naples, Florida. She was posthumously described as the “undisputed queen of the Seventies disco boom” who reached the status of “one of the world’s leading female singers.” Moroder described Summer’s work with him on the song “I Feel Love” as “really the start of electronic dance” music. In 2013, Summer was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

1	No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (with Barbra Streisand)
2	Hot Stuff
3	I Feel Love
4	Bad Girls
5	Love to Love You Baby
6	She Works Hard for the Money
7	MacArthur Park
8	On the Radio
9	This Time I Know It’s for Real
10	Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)
11	The Wanderer
12	Last Dance
13	Dim All the Lights
14	I Love You
15	Heaven Knows (with Brooklyn Dreams)
16	Could It Be Magic
17	Dinner with Gershwin
18	Winter Melody
19	Rumour Has It
20	State of Independence
21	There Goes My Baby
22	Unconditional Love (featuring Musical Youth)
23	Stamp Your Feet
24	I’m a Fire
25	Theme from The Deep (Down, Deep Inside)
26	Fame (The Game)
27	Love’s Unkind
28	The Woman in Me
29	I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt
30	Love’s About to Change My Heart
31	Spring Affair
32	Cold Love
33	Try Me, I Know We Can Make It
34	Love Is the Healer
35	I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)
36	Breakaway
37	The Power of One
38	It’s Only Love
39	Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)
40	Love Has a Mind of Its Own (with Matthew Ward)
41	Lady of the Night
42	Who Do You Think You’re Foolin’
43	Supernatural Love
44	Walk Away
45	When Love Cries

Artist Countdown: New Kids On The Block Top 25 6pm ET

New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) are an American boy band from Boston, Massachusetts, assembled in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr. The bands’ original name was Nynuk. The band consists of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have sold 80 million records worldwide. They won two American Music Awards in 1990 for Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo, or Group and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. After having disbanded in 1994, several attempts were made to get the group back together, all of them unsuccessful.

After secretly reuniting in 2007 and recording a new CD, the group released that new album and embarked on a concert tour in 2008. The album, entitled The Block, was released on September 2, 2008. New Kids on the Block was listed as number 16 on Rolling Stone’s Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments. The group was on tour with the Backstreet Boys in 2011–2012 as NKOTBSB. The supergroup first performed live together on November 21, 2010 at the American Music Awards on ABC and again on 2011 New Year’s on ABC’s Dick Clark/Ryan Seacrest show. Along with the Backstreet Boys, the group is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013.  (Source: Wikipedia)

1	You Got It (The Right Stuff)
2	Step by Step
3	I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)
4	Hangin’ Tough
5	Tonight
6	If You Go Away
7	This One’s for the Children
8	Cover Girl
9	Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind)
10	Let’s Try It Again
11	Dirty Dawg
12	Games
13	Summertime
14	Call It What You Want
15	Dirty Dancing
16	Please Don’t Go Girl
17	Single (featuring Ne-Yo)
18	The Whisper
19	2 in the Morning
20	Remix (I Like The)
21	Be My Girl
22	Stop It Girl
23	My Favorite Girl
24	Valentine Girl
25	We Own Tonight

 

Artist Countdown: Boston Plus Top 30 7:15pm ET @radiomax #artistcountdown

Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston’s best-known works include the songs “More Than a Feeling”, “Peace of Mind”, “Foreplay/Long Time”, “Rock and Roll Band”, “Smokin'”, “Don’t Look Back” and “Amanda.” They have sold over 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million are their self-titled debut album and 7 million are their second album, Don’t Look Back.

Orion the Hunter was a 1980s rock combo and offshoot of the popular band Boston. It featured former Boston members Barry Goudreau on guitars and Brad Delp on backing vocals, as well as future Boston lead vocalist Fran Cosmo. The band was originally known as simply “Orion”, but the name was changed to “Orion the Hunter” in deference to pressure from Orion Pictures. The group’s self-titled album in 1984 on Portrait/CBS Records, which yielded a hit single “So You Ran,” featuring the sky-high vocals which prompted Cosmo’s entrance to Boston in the early 1990s. Orion the Hunter charted at #57 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart after its debut on May 9, 1984. “So You Ran” managed to make the Top Ten on rock radio and was a mid-chart hit on mainstream pop radio. Orion the Hunter featured Bruce Smith on the bass and ex-Heart drummer Michael DeRosier. The album also included Brad Delp, former lead singer of Boston. Brad sang background vocals on numerous tracks. The influence of Goudreau’s Boston sound is evident on the album. The band is commonly thought to be similar to Boston, Heart, the Scorpions, Journey, and Triumph.

RTZ (stands for Return to Zero) was an American rock band that featured Boston band members Brad Delp and Barry Goudreau. The band were formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1994.

Barry Goudreau (November 29, 1951) is a musician, best known as one of the original guitarists for the rock band Boston. In 1980, Goudreau recorded his first solo LP titled Barry Goudreau, using Brad Delp and Fran Cosmo (who would join Boston in 1991) on vocals, and Sib Hashian (then drummer for Boston) on drums. The record company sought to cash in big time with this “almost Boston” line-up. The LP successfully hit the airwaves with the songs “Dreams” and “Mean Woman Blues”. The album was promoted as a kind of “Boston-lite” and when Scholz caught word of this he was furious. Ultimately, it was this album that triggered Scholz to ask Goudreau to leave Boston.

In 1984, Goudreau formed the band Orion The Hunter and released a debut LP. This time, Fran Cosmo appeared as lead vocalist, while Delp provided backing vocals and co-wrote five of the album’s songs. The album included the single “So You Ran”. The band then added keyboardist and backing vocalist Brian Maes and toured in support of Aerosmith in 1984 but ultimately broke up in 1985.
In 1990 Goudreau formed the band RTZ (Return to Zero). Delp left Boston to join the band. RTZ experienced some success with the hit “Until Your Love Comes Back Around”, which was written by Brian Maes. Delp and Goudreau felt that the record company was not supporting the band to the best of their abilities and asked to be released from their contract. They later signed with MTM Records; however, Delp departed shortly after to rejoin Boston.

Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Boston. Delp was known for his high vocal range. Delp committed suicide on March 9, 2007, aged 55. He was found dead in his home on Academy Avenue in Atkinson, New Hampshire, from the smoke of two charcoal grills he lit inside his sealed master bathroom. Delp was found by police and Delp’s fiancee together, lying on a pillow on his bathroom floor. Delp left 4 private notes to his family members plus a public note paper-clipped to his shirt which read: “Mr. Brad Delp. “J’ai une ame solitaire”. I am a lonely soul.”

(Source: Wikipedia)

1	Amanda
2	More Than a Feeling
3	Don’t Look Back
4	We’re Ready
5	Long Time
6	I Need Your Love
7	Can’tcha Say (You Believe in Me)/Still In Love
8	A Man I’ll Never Be
9	Peace of Mind
10	Cool the Engines
11	Hitch A Ride
12	Party
13	Walk on Medley
14	It’s Easy
15	Until Your Love Comes Back Around (RTZ)
16	Feelin’ Satisfied
17	Rock and Roll Band
18	Used To Bad News
19	Something About You
20	Smokin’
21	Face the Music (RTZ)
22	Sandra
23	Hollyann
24	I Had a Good Time
25	With You
26	Rockin Away (Brad Delp & Barry Goudreau)
27	All Those Years (Orion THe Hunter)
28	Dangerous  (RTZ)
29	Hard Luck (Barry Goudreau)
30	Life Is What You Make It (Barry Goudreau)

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• Defamation suit reinstated for founder of Boston (seattletimes.com)
• Rock Band Lawsuit: Boston Founder’s Suit Reinstated (theepochtimes.com)

Great Soul Performances Motown Remakes with Bobby Jay 7pm ET

I want to say hello and wish a blessed Saturday to all my friends in New England.  To Boston, Watertown and Cambridge, you were in our thoughts and prayers all throughout the most horrific week anyone should endure.  As you try to get back to some sort of normal life again, I invite you to join me this evening for “Great Soul Performances.”

It’s time once again for “Motown Remakes.” A look at the tracks that Motown passed around between the artists on the roster; remaking the songs in the catalog, and the tracks that other Pop and Soul acts chose to re-record or cover.

Also we have the Motown talent remaking and covering the hit of artists outside the company. We always have a lot of fun with this special feature, which we present about four times a year.  So join me at 7PM ET, with an encore performance on Monday evening at 10PM ET, for “Motown Remakes” on RadioMaxMusic.com.