Boston
Johnny Marr is an English musician, songwriter, and singer (born Johnny Martin Maher) in Manchester in October 1963 and at the age of 13 formed his first band, the Paris Valentinos. He played in several bands, the most recent being Freak Party. But by early 1982, after losing their singer, Marr approached Rob Allman, the singer with White Dice. He showed little interest and instead suggested Steven Morrissey, the singer with the Nosebleeds. In May, and through a third-party it was arranged for Marr to meet Morrissey at his home. They seemed to hit it off and with Marr’s first bass player, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce on drums they formed the Smiths.
Within months they signed to Rough Trade Records and in May 1983 released their first single “Hand in Glove.” Now with an ever-growing fan base they recorded their first album, which was released in early 1984 and reached number two in the UK Chart. This was quickly followed by their second album, the controversial, “Meat is Murder.”
Their third album “The Queen Is Dead” was awarded the accolade by Spin magazine as being one of the greatest albums ever made. This resulted in the NME dubbing the Smiths the most important rock band of all time.
Marr's guitar sounds are instantly recognisable, with his jangly Rickenbacker and Fender Telecaster and synonymous with the Smith’s sound. Marr said, when performing with the band, he wanted to play a music which was pop. "100% of my focus was on providing interesting guitar hooks and putting some kind of space-age twist on the guitarist's role. The pop guitarist crossed with the mad professor. That's how I thought of myself."
In early 1986, Rourke was fired by the band for his use of heroin, but within weeks he was reinstated. But other problems were already looming and despite their continued success, personal differences within the band and the increasingly strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr created a huge problem.
Marr left the group in July 1987, and despite auditions to find a replacement no one was considered suitable. So, by the time their next tranche of music was released the band had long split.
One of the reasons given by Morrissey was the fact that Marr was working and recording with other artists, however, he later told Tim Samuels, a BBC journalist, that it was due to the lack of a managerial figure and business problems.
Marr's guitar playing had a massive effect on many of the Manchester bands that followed the Smiths including: John Squire - Stone Roses, Noel Gallagher - Oasis, and no doubt many more. He has since performed with numerous other bands and singers including: the Pretenders, Pet Shop Boys, collaborating with Hans Zimmer, on film soundtracks, Talking Heads. Joss Stone, Bryan Ferry and so many more.
In 2010 in a poll conducted by the BBC, Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years and Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of Mojo described him as "arguably Britain's last great guitar stylist." In 2013, the NME, honoured Marr with its "Godlike Genius" award: "Not content with rewriting the history of music with one of the world's greatest ever bands, the Smiths, he's continued to push boundaries and evolve throughout his career, working with some of the best and most exciting artists on the planet."
Despite several attempts at reforming the Smiths it seems very unlikely.
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BY-------Graham Sclater
I was in the CBS Records office in Soho Square in 1976 and heard the Boston debut album for the first time. It was a revelation, and I wanted to know more.
Although it has been quoted that the band formed in 1975, it started as several tracks by Boston-based Tom Scholz. He played most of the instruments on the tracks; he needed a vocalist, and Brad Delp joined him to complete the 1976 self-titled debut album.
Sadly, Brad Delp died in 2007. Police found him dead in his master bathroom, along with several notes for whoever would find him. Since then, various singers have taken his place on future albums.
The theme of the band’s album covers is based around the presence of a guitar-shaped spaceship designed by Paula Scher, illustrated by Roger Huyssen, with lettering by Gerard Huetra of Epic Records – their record label. Their debut album, “Boston,” sold more than 17 million copies worldwide and immediately put them on the world stage. The most successful single lifted from the album was “More Than a Feeling,” which is still heard on radio stations worldwide.
Although the band’s releases have been somewhat sporadic, they have released six studio albums over a 50-year period including: “Third Stage, Walk On, Corporate America” and most recently in 2013, “Life, Love and Hope.”
Tom Scholz started writing music in 1969 while at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his first song was an instrumental entitled “Foreplay.” He then joined the band Freehold where he met guitarist Barry Goudreau and Drummer Jim Masdea. Each of them would eventually become members of Boston. In 1970 they were joined by vocalist Brad Delp.
Following graduation, Scholtz worked for Polaroid and used his salary to set up his own recording studio in his basement. collective in 1970. When Freehold disbanded by 1974, Scholz subsequently worked with Masdea and Delp to produce six new demos, including “More Than a Feeling” and several other tracks that would form the basis of their debut album. Scholtz played all the instruments using self-designed pedals to create the desired guitar sounds with Masdea playing drums and vocals by Delp.
Epic Records was interested in their demos, and Scholtz and Delp signed the recording contract with the label. However, having signed the contract, the label wanted to see them play live. Following hurried rehearsals with additional musicians, things progressed. The audition was a success, but there was yet another issue: Epic wanted the tracks to be rerecorded in a professional studio.
However, Scholz wanted to record them in his basement studio so that he could work at his own pace. Scholz and producer John Boylan came up with a plan. They sent the rest of the band to Los Angeles to keep the record label happy, while Scholz recorded most of Boston's debut album at home. The multitrack basement tapes were then taken to Los Angeles, where Delp added vocals, and Boylan mixed the album. The band was named "Boston" at the suggestion of Boylan and engineer Warren Dewey. Their debut album, Boston, released on August 25, 1976, is one of the best-selling debut albums in U.S. history.
After opening for Black Sabbath and the Blue Oyster Cult, the band embarked on a headlining tour in the winter and spring of 1976–1977 to support the album. This helped establish Boston as one of rock's top acts, and within a short time, it was nominated for a Grammy Award as the Best New Artist. Boston was the first band in history to make its New York City debut at Madison Square Garden.
Their debut album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and remained on the charts for 132 weeks.
Like so many artists in the music business, success does bring lawsuits, and Scholtz was no different. While Scholz and Delp were recording new material for the third Boston album, CBS filed a $60 million lawsuit against Scholz, alleging breach of contract for failing to deliver a new Boston album on time. The legal trouble slowed progress toward the completion of the next album, which took six years to record and produce. Delp and Jim Masdea joined Scholz in the album's development again and in 1985, guitarist Gary Pihl left Sammy Hagar's touring band to work with Scholz. musician and as CBS v. Scholz played out in court, CBS opted to withhold royalty payments to Scholz, hoping to force him to settle on unfavourable terms. However, the lawsuit's first round was eventually decided in Scholz's favour. The CBS case took seven years to run its course, and in April 1990, Scholz won and he then signed to MCA Records. Boston released a compilation album in 1997, titled “Boston: Greatest Hits.”
In the spring of 2008, Scholz introduced a new Boston lineup, which subsequently did a North American summer tour, playing 53 dates in 12 weeks (on a double bill with Styx, Scholz was the only founding member of Boston to play on the tour.
What of future releases from Sholtz?
In an August 2024 interview with MIT Technology Review, Scholz revealed that his Analog studio equipment needs repair. "Unfortunately, there's almost no one left locally that can repair or maintain analogue equipment." Scholz also stated, "I'm still writing music, believe it or not, with what's left of my brain. It's very frustrating not to be able to go in and record what I hear."
Who knows when the next Boston tracks will be released?
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