The soundtrack of my life: Brad Delp, RIP
By now, you’ve probably heard that Brad Delp, the iconic voice of Boston, is dead at 55. It’s a little hard for me to find the right words to mark his passing, although I feel compelled to do so. May I be forgiven if I sound defensive, but the fact is that if you’ve tracked the musical path I have you’ve spent a lot of time in critical circles where Boston wasn’t taken very seriously. As a result, my obituary is probably going to read like an apologia. But I don’t care. I’ve earned the right to say that I liked Boston. So deal with it.
On the one hand, Boston was never my favorite band, although I am responsible for two of the 17 million sales of their 1976 debut (first the vinyl and later the CD, which I’m playing right now). If you didn’t have a copy of Boston at Ledford High School in 1976, you were either
- engaging in an active boycott of what the intelligentsia saw as Tom Scholz’ slick corporate premeditation, or
- a loser.
I wasn’t yet the music connoisseur I would later become; I lacked the inner self-confidence required to cast myself as any kind of a rebel and I sure as hell didn’t want to be seen as more of an outcast than I already was. And let’s face it – Boston was a great exercise in stadium-sized guitar power rock/pop, so the bandwagon was a safe enough place to be. Strength in numbers, if you’re an uncertain high school kid from Wallburg, NC.
On the other hand, I’d be lying if I tried to go all revisionist on you, play the cool, and pretend I didn’t/don’t like their music. Sure, I noticed when the second release sounded a whole lot like the first one, and I give props to sirpaulsbuddy (and classmates like Bobby Porter, who I haven’t seen in 20 years) for predicting that it would happen. But you have to understand – there is no soundtrack of my high school years that doesn’t have Brad Delp’s voice all over it. If I remember a homecoming dance, I’m sitting there dateless with my buddy Randy Pope and the band is covering “Let Me Take You Home Tonight.” If we’re heading up to the bowling alley in Winston-Salem on Saturday night because we don’t have dates or money, but Randy’s brother works there and will let us shoot pool for free, “Smokin'” is on the 8-track. If my brain slips into one of these hazy montages of high school that I suspect we all have stored in our brains somewhere, it’s Delp’s voice and Scholz’ guitars and organs that are usually playing in the background.
I envy those whose high school soundtracks are permeated by the Beatles and Stones and Who and Kinks, but you play the hand you’re dealt, don’t you?
I used the term “iconic” above, and it’s true – nobody sounded like Brad Delp, who had some of the most distinctive, pure tenor pipes in rock history. Sure, some of that was a function of Scholz’ studio wizardry, but that also points to Delp’s importance in the genre. See, Scholz took a studio technique – overdubbing – and explored its possibilities with an enthusiasm never before imagined (except perhaps by the likes of Queen). When you hear Delp’s voice on “More Than a Feeling,” “Rock & Roll Band” and “Foreplay/Long Time,” you’re often hearing several layers of his voice, as he sings multiple lead tracks and all the harmonies. Thanks to technology, he was less the lead singer than he was the lead choir.
As a result, Delp was critical to the pioneering of some highly influential studio advances. You want to argue that these contributions weren’t necessarily in the best interests of rock, go ahead – if Scholz didn’t himself attain the level of “wretched excess,” he certainly helped pave the audiobahn for bands like Asia (another of my guilty pleasures – I’d like to thank my junior year suite-mates for not ripping that one off my turntable and burning it on my bed, btw). But before you stomp Boston too hard, let’s understand that “studio pioneer” is a piece of some other very important legacies – The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Frank Zappa – and Boston was following in the footsteps of some pretty accomplished technical pioneers.
Let’s also acknowledge that there were other things going on in the world of music right about then, and compared with most of what was finding its way onto the airwaves (see the charts for 1976, 1977 and, the gods help us, 1978 – nothing like a little context to make you appreciate ’em more than you thought you did, huh?) Boston wasn’t half bad.
I have the first Boston CD on my iTunes/iPod “Classic/Mainstream” playlist, and sometimes I like to click over and listen to the album top-to-bottom. The CD spends more than its share of time in my truck, as well – along with stuff like Molly Hatchet’s Flirtin’ with Disaster, it stands as one of the all-time great driving-around-with-the-windows-down-and-stereo-blasting-on-a-cool-summer-evening albums.
I’m sorry you were never taken more seriously, Brad, but I imagine those truckloads of money they backed up to your house every week probably took some of the sting out of the critical snark. And for what it’s worth, thanks for the soundtrack. Despite the hell that I know high school really was, when that montage plays in my head and you’re belting out “Peace of Mind,” I realize that I’m usually smiling.
:xpost:
lullaby pit 
I think “Third Stage” came out my senior year in highschool and it was at least part of my sound track. I liked em before that, but I was excited when it came out. I remember thinking “its about friggin’ time!” That, and cranking it up before track and cross country meets.
At the time, I had all their stuff…my step-dad had their first two albums on LP, too. Admittedly, I didn’t buy the albums again when I switched to CDs. I’m not exactly sure why. I guess I just never really think about em when I’m looking for “new” stuff. I’m going to have to fix that. 🙂
I think “Third Stage” came out my senior year in highschool and it was at least part of my sound track. I liked em before that, but I was excited when it came out. I remember thinking “its about friggin’ time!” That, and cranking it up before track and cross country meets.
At the time, I had all their stuff…my step-dad had their first two albums on LP, too. Admittedly, I didn’t buy the albums again when I switched to CDs. I’m not exactly sure why. I guess I just never really think about em when I’m looking for “new” stuff. I’m going to have to fix that. 🙂
In the name of anything you hold sacred, Sam, please remove those links to the charts from those three years.
In the name of anything you hold sacred, Sam, please remove those links to the charts from those three years.
Not pretty, is it? Especially that last one.
Not pretty, is it? Especially that last one.
Although I didn’t malign the band, Boston was never my flavor. As with the soundtrack of your youth, Boston would likewise be heavily featured on any movie dealing with my high-school days. Foreplay/Long Time was actually my senior class song (in the Year of Our Dread – 1978), which caused a fair amount of chagrin on my part at the time, but it certainly could have been worse. Some things either click with you, or they don’t – and Boston just didn’t with me. I have more than enough Journey and Styx in my music collection to disprove any claim of anti- “corporate rock” sentiment. I bought the first two albums because: a) everyone else did; and b), the production was amazing – but I never bothered to replace the vinyl with CDs.
Still, I’m sorry to hear of Delp’s passing. By all accounts, he was truly a nice guy, unaffected by his stardom, and completely in love with music. I think he probably had a very rewarding life – and that’s a heavy compliment in my world.
Excellent piece, Sam. I enjoy reading you a great deal.
Although I didn’t malign the band, Boston was never my flavor. As with the soundtrack of your youth, Boston would likewise be heavily featured on any movie dealing with my high-school days. Foreplay/Long Time was actually my senior class song (in the Year of Our Dread – 1978), which caused a fair amount of chagrin on my part at the time, but it certainly could have been worse. Some things either click with you, or they don’t – and Boston just didn’t with me. I have more than enough Journey and Styx in my music collection to disprove any claim of anti- “corporate rock” sentiment. I bought the first two albums because: a) everyone else did; and b), the production was amazing – but I never bothered to replace the vinyl with CDs.
Still, I’m sorry to hear of Delp’s passing. By all accounts, he was truly a nice guy, unaffected by his stardom, and completely in love with music. I think he probably had a very rewarding life – and that’s a heavy compliment in my world.
Excellent piece, Sam. I enjoy reading you a great deal.
Thanks. I think Journey may be for me what Boston was for you, from the sounds of it, but I was a big Styx fan. Well, let me qualify that. I was a Styx fan up until I heard “Boat on the River.”
Thanks. I think Journey may be for me what Boston was for you, from the sounds of it, but I was a big Styx fan. Well, let me qualify that. I was a Styx fan up until I heard “Boat on the River.”
I want to apologize. In the middle of a serious entry, I laughed outloud at the term 8-track.
I want to apologize. In the middle of a serious entry, I laughed outloud at the term 8-track.
When you’re 45, tell your kids that you used to listen to “Compact Discs.”
Also, try to explain the haircut when they find your HS yearbook.
When you’re 45, tell your kids that you used to listen to “Compact Discs.”
Also, try to explain the haircut when they find your HS yearbook.
Funny how Boston was a major part of my high school years in 1998-1999.
Funny how Boston was a major part of my high school years in 1998-1999.