The Great 70s

Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. Boston's best-known works include the songs "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda". They have sold over 50 million albums worldwide, including 31 million albums in the United States. They had two major albums in the 70s, their self-titled LP, and the "Don't Look Back" album

The debut album, Boston, released in August 1976, was an enormous success. The record ranks as the best-selling debut album in U.S. history with over 17 million.

During the summer and fall of 1976, Boston attracted much publicity when they toured with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Foghat and others. The band then embarked on a headlining tour in the winter & spring of 1977 to support the album. This helped establish Boston as one of rock's top acts within a short time.

The album spawned one Top 10 single, "More Than a Feeling" and two other Top 40 hits, "Foreplay/Long Time" and "Peace of Mind". Additionally, the album peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts. Eleven years later, Boston would reappear in the Billboard Top 200, reaching #101.

Despite much bickering between CBS President Walter Yetnikoff and Scholz, the second Boston album had the finishing touches put on it two years after the debut album's release. Album #2, Don't Look Back, was officially released by Epic in August 1978.

At the time this was considered a long gap between albums, but Scholz still considered Don't Look Back to be a rush job and was unhappy with the album's second side in particular. This was confirmed on the Third Stage episode of the popular radio program In the Studio with Redbeard when he said that "CBS had no confidence in a second Boston record and were trying to cash in on the success of the debut album". Although it sold four million copies in its first month, overall Don't Look Back sold less than half as well as the extraordinarily successful first album.

Another tour followed, and the album's title track became a Top 10 hit, peaking at #4. Additionally, two other singles, "A Man I'll Never Be", and "Feelin' Satisfied" went Top 40 and Top 50 respectively.

Wikipedia contributors. Boston (band). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. January 19, 2009, 21:51 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boston_(band)&oldid=265162446. Accessed January 23, 2009.