First, they had their beginning, and their name, none other than Boston, Massachusetts. The original members of the Boston band included Tom Scholz on guitar, Brad Delp as vocalist, Barry Goudreau on guitar and Jim Masdea on drums. Current members of the group include Tom Scholz, Gary Pihl, Michael Sweet, Tommy DeCarlo, Kimberley Dahme, and Jeff Neal. Delp contributed vocals and co-wrote songs on the debut album, but returned to Boston and recorded vocals on Boston's third album.
Goudreau left Boston in 1981 with Scholz stating that they had ended their relationship on good terms during an interview with Third Stage. A combination of brilliant instrumentals and infectious stage characters make Boston an even more appreciated live act, as they dominate a stage with ease. The label increased pressure to deliver a third Boston album by recklessly squeezing its flow of royalties from the two previous albums. Subsequently, with RTZ stuck at the box office, Delp chose to rejoin Boston just in time for the band's Walk On tour, sharing the lead vocal with Fran Cosmo.
Delp's achievements had cast a long and impressive shadow over the years, but at least this movement gave the impression that things were kept in the Boston “family”. Released in August 1976 (although the UK would have to wait until January 1977), Boston exploded out of the box, becoming the best-selling album of the decade, further driven by the single More Than A Feeling. However, according to Cameron Crowe in Rolling Stone, there was a conscious effort to downplay Scholz as the total brain behind Boston. In addition to playing with electronics, he also enjoyed music, having played in a number of bands in the city of Boston with names such as Middle Earth, Freehold and Mother's Milk.
The album generated three singles, More Than a Feeling, Long Time and Peace of Mind, all of which hit the national charts. Scholz was the only founding member of Boston to play on the tour, although former member Gary Pihl was also part of the band, and Dahme and Neal returned to bass and drums, respectively. However, in 1980 Boston had crashed, and his former bandmates embarked on a bitter war of words that still continues 30 years later. They worked and created the songs that made up Boston's first album, although some of them had different names.
Despite having trouble with manager Paul Ahern, getting caught in the middle of a fight between Ahern and his business partner Charles McKenzie, and doing most of the recording work alone, Scholz completed Boston's second album two years after the release of the debut album. It was a move that prompted Scholz to launch more lawsuits, this time directed at Micki and the Herald, citing defamation and significant emotional distress. The Don't Look Back tour lasted almost two years, starting in the US. And, for the first time, it came to Japan and Europe.
