Fight the power

Epic knew they had a hit and encouraged Scholz to quickly get back in the studio and do a follow up. Epic expected the band to release an album a year, but Scholz had not yet let loose of the second album, and it was now 1978, two years after the debut was released.

Epic pushed Scholz to get the product to market, but Scholz again rebelled. Eventually, Scholz succumbed to the pressure and released Don’t Look Back, a decision he still regrets.

“The album wasn’t done,” says Scholz. “The album was only 29 minutes; it had to be the shortest album that was released in 1978. I drew the line at that point. I could see all these people around me making lots of money. I was putting in most of the time and recording most of the tracks myself. That really annoyed me. It is one thing to do most of the work — I was engineering it, producing it, providing the studio, writing the songs and recording all of the parts. I wasn’t necessarily getting paid for all of that. That was one thing, but it was another thing to truncate my creative possibilities by deciding that we were going to stop, because they could make the most money if it was released now. I made a mental note to self that I was not going to do that again.”

The band went on the road in support of Don’t Look Back, pushing the album to #1 on the charts. Instead of being a time of celebration, both Scholz and Delp became disillusioned with the music business.

“We had gone on a horrible tour in 1978-79,” says Scholz. “It was long, and when I got off the road, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to ever go on tour again. I was going to hang it up and just record. I took a little time off after Don’t Look Back. I was drained. I was more than drained; I was demoralized. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the music business. I didn’t like what I had seen. Brad and I had made a lot of money for a lot of people, and I didn’t like what they were doing. I began to feel guilty about enabling people to do things that I didn’t approve of. I considered leaving the music altogether and going back to being an engineer.”

Epic waited for Scholz to release the third Boston album, but weeks turned into months and months into years and no music was delivered. By 1983, Epic ran out of patience and parent company CBS sued the musician for failing to deliver the new album.

The court case dragged on and was not resolved for more than two years. Among its tactics, CBS withheld royalty payments to Scholz in an effort to put pressure on him and make him cave to their demands. Scholz recounts the ugly events.

“I basically got pennies on the dollar and they had most of it,” says Scholz. “I was living in a teeny little house. I was happy, but I certainly was not well off. I think part of the misconception on their part was that they thought they could force an album out before I was finished with it. They were trying to squeeze blood from a turnip. I am sure that they did not know that those records they had released were made in my basement. They thought they were holding the purse strings to me for recording when the machine was in my basement. I knew as long as I could keep the machines running and put tape on them, then I could record forever.”

Eventually, Scholz walked away victoriously from the case. He now had the freedom to change record labels and negotiate his demands to avoid repeating the same situation. One major issued remained. By the time the third album was released, nearly a decade had passed. The popular music culture had changed. While he may have had his freedom, he could not be sure the fans would still be there for him.

Scholz restructured the band, bringing back original drummer Jim Masdea and ex-Sammy Hagar guitarist Gary Pihl. The band forged ahead with a new set of songs hoping they would still be found revelvant by the record-buying public. They signed with MCA records and, in 1986, released Third Stage.

The band’s fears were quickly erased as the album was a huge hit, largely due to the song “Amanda.” Both the single and the album raced to the top of the charts. Boston was back. The next challenge was to take the band on tour. 

Previous Boston tours had been criticized, as the band was unable to recreate all of the sounds on the first two albums in a concert setting. Scholz sets the record straight on early Boston tours and how the Third Stage tour changed the band’s live reputation.

“It wasn’t that great back in the day,” says Scholz. “It was 30 years ago, and I don’t think anyone was doing things as well then as they are now. Back in the ’70s, the audiences were so stoned that they didn’t know if we were playing or not. In ’87, we had Third Stage, and that was much more difficult music. The entire band was on the album. We turned a corner for performing at that point. We had some good vocalists and some extremely confident musicians on stage. It was the start of being technically really good live as opposed to being really good in the studio. I don’t want to take anything away from the guys who played in the ’70s; they are all very good musicians, but it was a different time. You basically plugged in your amp and wailed away. Unfortunately, some of the tapes I have heard [from that time period] sound like that.”

A back injury and resentful memories of the past made Scholz question whether he even wanted to tour in support of the new album. Gary Phil was the catalyst that got Tom and Boston back on the concert circuit.

Photo ©2008 Jon Viscott - All Rights Reserved.

“That was an amazing tour. I have never seen crowds like that,” says Scholz. “We set attendance records at stadiums. We played shows at a venue near Boston, and we set the record with nine shows in a row that were all sold out. We had a long set, and we did all of the sounds that were on the album, including all the harmonies and harmony guitars. It was a technical and an artistic success.” 
It was not an easy ride, however, as Scholz still had enemies in the music business who were trying to sabotage his success.

“Part of the whole trauma of going through that period is that I had to beat an injunction to release the album,” says Scholz. “They tried to block the release of Third Stage. I had to beat the lawsuit to even see anything from it. I had run up incredible legal fees. It was an enormously high risk — much bigger than using your down payment money to buy a house.”

The risk paid off as the album went four times platinum. Third Stage also introduced new themes into Boston’s lyrical content. Scholz had grown up a lot over the past 10 years, and his experiences seeped through into the album’s message.

“It is about a lot more than adulthood,” says Scholz. “Adulthood is about being old enough to drink, have sex and get married. It is a different thing. I considered the third stage in life the next step when you are supposed to get a better car and buy a house, which isn’t really what’s important in life. The intent with the Third Stage message is when you cross over that point and really realize what is going on around you and that the rest of the inhabitants of the earth are what is important.”

Rebel with a cause

True to his message, Tom Scholz has been an activist for causes in which he strongly believes. Scholz, while remaining mostly out of the spotlight when it comes to his charities, feels passionately about them.

“In the early ’80s, I realized that if I could channel money into hands that would do something good then that would be great,” says Scholz. “It was a revelation. It was because of this that I knew I shouldn’t quit music. If I had quit, then I knew that everyone who was into Boston or had been inspired by Boston — I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but the music was intended to be inspirational and to make people feel better in some way — I thought that I would lose that if I quit. I decided to try to make it as successful as it could be, and I decided to do something good with the money — in the back of my mind that is when the idea for a charitable foundation started.

“Primarily it was set up as a vehicle for me to give my money away. I don’t solicit donations for it. It has received some donations from some people who found out about it. Brad contributed a lot to it. The charitable foundation basically funds other charities that Brad and I were trying to support. They are mostly anti-cruelty and anti-suffering programs and vegetarian organizations trying to enlighten the public about vegetarian lifestyles and why they should consider it. Brad, Gary and I are longtime vegetarians. I think that is one of the things that sort of kept us in tune over the years. I don’t think we have made any monstrous difference, but there are plenty of people who have thought about things that they would not have thought about if Boston didn’t exist.”

While Scholz has come to terms with the past and has been able to take control of his own destiny, there is still one thing that gets his ire up.

“The whole ‘corporate rock’ thing really bugs me,” says Scholz. “Here is a guy that wrote songs and fought every record company he was ever with and fought every manager he ever had and who didn’t make a ton of money because he was trying to make some good records in his basement — how can you slap a corporate label on him? How can you pick that band to put that label on? How can anybody who has been in so much trouble with so many giant corporations be called ‘corporate rock?’”

In fact, Corporate America became the title and theme of Boston’s 2002 release. Scholz wanted to see if his message would be accepted but didn’t want to rely on his past success with Boston as a means of promoting the song.

He decided to call the band Downer’s Revenge and release it on the Internet.

“Alternative was taking over the Internet as the method of delivery,” says Scholz. “The song ‘Corporate America’ is one of my few songs that has something to say that is critical to the point, and while it is not uplifting, it is important. I wanted to get that out there. It was shocking to see what happened. It was the #1 download at the time. That is one of the songs that I am planning to re-release with the new album. People in this country, and around the world, are starting to feel the effects of keeping their eye off of ‘Corporate America.’ We had better start paying attention; it may be too late now.”

Survival of the fittest

At the end of the day, Scholz remains a rebel. He fights for what he believes in both on stage, in the studio and in his private life. He is not afraid to take risks, whether it be spending his down-payment money for a house on recording equipment, taking on one of the industry’s major record companies or hiring a guy who works at Home Depot to sing for his band.

At the heart of it all, Tom is a visionary who wants to make a difference in the world.

As outspoken and determined as he is, the death of Brad Delp nearly put an end to Boston. Scholz admits he thought of walking away, but what happened after Brad’s death changed his mind.

Photo ©2008 Jon Viscott - All Rights Reserved.

Boston has survived the greatest tragedy to ever be bestowed upon the band, and this is not taken lightly by Scholz. He is keenly aware that the current lineup came together effortlessly, without his own involvement.

“I am not a mystical sort of person, but it is almost as if Brad is up there pulling some strings,” says Scholz. “These two guys were left on our doorstep. We didn’t go out looking for anyone, and we didn’t do auditions for new singers. We didn’t even know about either of them. Both of them, through their own efforts, showed up. They are both easy to get along with, and they are both really talented. It was the most serendipitous set of circumstances that I have ever experienced. I think this tour will have the best-sounding Boston performances of all time. I think Brad had something to do with it. For the way that things happened and all of the circumstances that came together, it was just uncanny.”

July 17, 2008 by  Jeb Wright

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