Text and photos by John Davisson
Boston is on the road, and they played the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.
It was like entering a time machine as they rolled out hit after hit from the late '70s ebony porn
and early '80s. Back then, Boston's songs were in heavy rotation on the radio, and you could not help but know the songs if you listened to rock stations. Boston's debut album sold 17 million copies (only Guns and Roses has sold more copies of a debut album). The second album sold 7 million a sophomore slump to be sure, but who can complain about 7 million? The next three albums only sold 7 million total.
Tom Scholz, the Boston mastermind, is the only member remaining from the original line-up, but the sound was unmistakable. Tom singlehandedly changed the sound of rock music. An electronics whiz with a master's degree from MIT, he created effects boxes (like the Rockman he developed later and marketed) that enabled him to create an arena-rock sound in the studio. Without stacks of Marshall amplifiers, he had a sound with a full, clean sustain that became a hallmark of the band's sound.