The Magic Power

The day after Brad Delp died, I found myself in a hotel ballroom for the induction of Triumph into the Canadian Music Industry Hall Of Fame.

I first heard "More Than A Feeling" on either KMET or KLOS.  They were right next to each other on the FM dial, at 94.7 and 95.5 respectively.  The Blaupunkt cassette deck in my 2002 had no push buttons, I’d just nudge the dial and go from one rock station to the other.

The following spring the track that floored me, had me driving right to the record store, was Foreigner’s "Feels Like The First Time".  But in the waning days of 1976, there was this song that faded up on the radio, that sounded a bit too calculated, a bit too similar to everything that preceded it, but felt SO RIGHT!  So right, that with the radio mania that ensued with the album’s release, I went out and bought it, without ever hearing another track, and discovered…"Foreplay/Long Time" and the second side.

Do you know "Foreplay/Long Time"?  If not, you SHOULD!  Oh, when the screaming guitars in the verses break down into acoustics and handclaps during the choruses you start to smile, you feel alive, you’re EXUBERANT in a way only music can make you feel.

Stunningly, for all the times I’ve played "Foreplay/Long Time", and I can’t name a track I’ve played more, the song that I love most on the debut is now "Hitch A Ride".  When I hear that acoustic guitar intro I’m taken to a place where nothing else matters, where I’m peaceful, where everything is all right.  I’ll be walking down the street on a sunny day, and I’ll hear myself sing "Day is night in New York City…"

Maybe you’re too hip to like Boston.  Maybe you’re too hip to ADMIT you like Boston.  But obviously most music fans disagree, for their debut is the BIGGEST OF ALL TIME!

Music is supposed to sound good, supposed to make you FEEL GOOD, and the Boston debut does this par excellence.  To the point where I kept buying Boston records, looking for another hit, something that RESONATED!

Alas, although I played "Don’t Look Back" and "Third Stage", there was something missing.  I guess you can only be innocent once, can only be an outsider once, and after breaking through stratospherically Tom Scholz seemed to get freaked out, he would release nothing before its time, he would only believe in himself, and somehow he could no longer do it.

But there was a classic on the second album, "A Man I’ll Never Be".

Like all great Boston tracks, "A Man I’ll Never Be" is a showcase for not only Tom Scholz’s arranging skills, his guitar chops, but Brad Delp’s heavenly voice.  We will be hearing that voice no more, at least not live.  But it will live on on record, for eons to come.  Because shit that good survives.

In an era where most stuff is gone before the year on the calendar changes, it’s hard to believe that which was pooh-poohed thirty years ago is now seen as CLASSIC!

Maybe there was too much good stuff, maybe there was so much hip stuff that you could castigate the mainstream, but really, one has to admit it was a golden era.  When it was fun to be a baseball player, cool to appear twenty feet tall on a movie screen, but NOTHING compared to being a rock star, appearing in front of a bank of amps on stage in front of sometimes HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE who loved your music, who were your FANS!

They say to forget the old days, to live in the present.  That there’s great music today.

And there is good music today, but it’s just not the same.  In the seventies, music drove the culture.  If you wanted to know what was going on you didn’t turn on CNN, didn’t surf over to Yahoo, but turned on the radio and listened to the MUSIC!  Shit, isn’t that what the Doobie Brothers told us to do?

And I’m sitting at a table eating rubber chicken with Nile Rodgers and Glen Ballard, watching an endless parade of awards for newbies trying to ascend the music business ladder.  And then Ross Reynolds and Gary Slaight take the stage and start waxing rhapsodic about Triumph.  How they began in Canada, and then broke out of Texas.  And then they went to video…

It was a concert video.  Of three longhaired twentysomethings on stage in front of ZILLIONS of amplifiers.  With lightning bolts and flames jumping on stage, lasers bouncing through the atmosphere.  I recognized the scene immediately, this was a ROCK CONCERT!

Rock concerts used to be religious experiences.  It was like going to church.  And although you might not have gone every Sunday, you didn’t wait a year between shows.  There were so many bands you wanted to SEE!  We were all in it together, assuming you could get a ticket, could get in the BUILDING!  Sure, you wanted to sit down front, but even in the rafters the experience worked.  Because right here was the pulse, right here was where it was at.

I’d like to tell you I’m a Triumph fan, but that would be untrue.

But, all these years later, I have to admit I know the songs.  You see FM radio wasn’t limited to a handful of tracks.  And listening to "Magic Power" on my computer right now (just stolen from Limewire!) I’ve got that old feeling once again.  Sitting in the audience watching these three guys get their award, I got that jolt, that old power of rock and roll.

Turns out they had a bad divorce, hadn’t been in touch in eons.  But Neill Dixon got them back together for this.

They’re in their fifties.  Their lives are over half over.  Gil still looks like the Adonis he always was.  Rik looks like a clean-cut banker.  And Mike Levine…he looks exactly the same, hair beyond his shoulders, in his jeans…

Do we laugh at those who’ve never moved on, or envy them?  Should we give Mike shit for still living in the seventies, or should we adulate him, because he’s managed to give the middle finger to the system.  Yes, music used to exist OUTSIDE the system, it was its OWN system!  The musicians played by their own rules.

Now the musicians play by the corporate rules.  They listen to not only their fat cat bosses, but those on Madison Avenue.  The business has eclipsed the emotion.  The soul is gone.

Oh, not of everything.  There are a lot of independent acts that have the spirit.  But they and their music, in most cases, is just not mainstream.  Is there anything truly wrong with mainstream?  Is it Boston’s fault that their record was SO GOOD it was UBIQUITOUS!

Jay-Z never had the ubiquity of this guy who just died in New Hampshire, not even close.  Oh a dense media TOLD US Jay-Z was a worldbeater, but how many people lost their virginity, got pregnant, MASTURBATED to Boston?  How many got through the night with the mellifluous sounds of the east coast band?  How many drove down the highway with the windows down, hair blowing in the wind, feeling how fucking GREAT it was to be alive while listening to Boston?

And in his brief speech, Gil focused on the band’s fans.  Some of whom had come all the way from Boston for this induction.  He said they should meet him at the side of the stage for tickets to the event at the Hard Rock later today.

That’s why Triumph was successful.  They knew it wasn’t about the execs, the gatekeepers, but the FANS!  Who’d travel long distances to let the power of the music take them away.  These three men presided over a human rite.  One wherein a mass of humanity gets together and says that although one has losses, although life is far from perfect, MUSIC CAN GET YOU THROUGH, it can help you ESCAPE, it’s something worth LIVING FOR!

The world is full of compromise and infinite red tape
But the music’s got the magic, it’s your one chance for escape
Turn me on, turn me up, it’s your turn to dream
A little magic power makes it better than it seems

I’m young now, I’m wild now, I want to be free
Got the magic power of the music in me

31 Responses to The Magic Power »»


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  1. Pingback by Weekend Roundup » The Sly Oyster » Blog Archive | 2007/03/12 at 07:17:02

    […] at songs and their record sales indicated as much.  Steve Morse pays his respects as does Bob Lefsetz. The real question in all of this is: who […]

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  3. Comment by Dan Millen | 2007/03/13 at 08:14:52

    Brad Delp was one of the coolest, nicest and most laid back, unassuming guys I’ve ever worked with.
    Many on this list probably don’t know that he for many years here in the Boston area fronted a Beatles Tribute called Beatlejuice and played my clubs and booze cruises many times. He always brought the house down and always had a kind word for everyone.

    Here’s a guy who could have very easily led an insular existence but instead chose to celebrate life, and music – he played as you say because he "had" to, there was no other option for him, whether it be the arenas with Boston or the clubs with Beatlejuice, Brad was gigging up til the day he passed on.

    We’ll miss him.

    Rest in Peace Brad Delp.

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  5. Comment by Paul Sant | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:08

    Good for you: although Boston songs have been pummeled into sounds I pass by on the radio dial when I actually listen to terrestrial (especially by the most heinous offender here IN Boston: WZLX), I know at some point soon I’ll play that first record again and really get to HEAR it, and FEEL it. Boston so captured the positive vibe you described, probably not in small part because they tried to live it. I shared a stage with Brad a couple of times for charity events, and he was always spot on and always a gentleman. We both loved the Beatles, so that’s what we talked about. It always seemed like Tom put his money where his mouth was, too. It really annoyed me when people professed to be too cool for a record that was really more DIY than most of the so-called hipsters could ever claim to be. They made it in a basement by themselves, for God’s sake, without even having a deal. And the SOUND: those guitars, that voice and those songs.

    Calculated, my ass.

    My heart goes out to Brad’s family and friends.

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  7. Comment by Michael Abbattista | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:26

    still love triumph and have tix to see rik emmet in nyc in may. thanks for this.

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  9. Comment by ricky schultz | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:42

    bob–you probably heard it first on KLOS (because they added it before KMET…)

    i was part of epic’s local staff–i walked the record into KBPI/Denver (jeff pollack & frank cody). jeff heard like 10 seconds of "More Than A Feeling" and lifted the needle up (for a moment i wasnt sure what was happening), until he took the LP, marched into the studio and told the jock on air to play it NEXT!

    kbpi was the first add, klos was the second. within the next 48 hours radio was basically closed out from coast to coast….

    always thought it was amazing that brad delp never joined up with some all stars to create some other great band since Scholz was holed up in his basement for years at a time.

    ricky schultz

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  11. Comment by Gary Slaight | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:57

    I stated playing Triumph when I was PD at Q107 in the late 70’s..have been friends with the three of them ever since..It was great to see them together being honoured…

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  13. Comment by David Munk | 2007/03/13 at 08:16:14

    You make a really good point about the fact that Boston wasn’t really considered cool at the time, although they were hugely popular, but with the benefit of hindsight I realize how much MUSIC was in the MUSIC — before marketing subsumed A&R, before "the beat" steamrolled melody and harmony; when rock bands could have keyboard elements or even be driven’ by keyboards (Kansas); when singers with vibrato were the norm and front men could have soaring, theatrical tenor voices (Freddie, Brad Doelp, Steve Perry, Lou Gramm and on and on).

    Yes — there is good music today, but i would argue that there is far less harmonic content now then there used to be and that is a loss for all of us.

    David Munk

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  15. Comment by Jason Davis | 2007/03/13 at 08:16:32

    Sometimes I really enjoy reading your letter sir.

    You speak straight from the heart. You must really like what you do. Yeah, I remember all those songs from when I was little. My father was a fan and a fan of the older classic rock too. Your younger than him.

    My dad gave me my first record ever. I don’t remember the name of the album, but I know it was zepplin. I can remember that same feeling u describe when I heard stairway to heaven.

    Mr. Lefsetz, you give this 28 year old hope that there is something out there that will make me as happy as you are doing what u do.

    I don’t have all the friends u do. I just write and try my best to force my way in the music industry.

    Thanks for the motivation,
    Jason Davis

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  17. Comment by Mike Bone | 2007/03/13 at 08:16:49

    Mike Levine could have been the V.P. of Promotion at any major record company, back in the day. He was one of the best promotion people I ever met, and he was in a band!

    Mike Bone

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  19. Comment by jeff laufer | 2007/03/13 at 08:17:07

    bob,

    i remember you taking me to see boston at irvine meadows years ago. it was great fun.

    yes, i did beat off to boston.

    jeff laufer

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  21. Comment by TIM from GROOVACIOUS | 2007/03/13 at 08:17:23

    Bob –
    I was devastated by the news of Brad’s death.

    I have always held Boston in a special place in my heart. I am happy to say I was one of those that got to help break that first record in 1976 when I was working at DJ’s Sound City in Portland. A record that definitely made you "feel good".

    In 1986 when Third Stage came out, I was invited backstage at the show. I met all the guys except for Tom who never came out of the dressing room. I actually got to sit and talk to Brad for 45 minutes or so and he was such a great guy! He told me how excited he was for the new record and that he genuinely was just happy to be a part of such a great band, among many other things. That was a wonderful, precious moment that I’ve always remembered.

    People ask me who I think the best vocalist in rock music is. I give them obvious answers like Robert Plant, Dave Grohl, Jeff Buckley, Paul, Jim, Chris Cornell, etc., etc.

    But at the top of the list has always been BRADLEY DELP!!

    I’ve kept track of all of his projects since "Boston" and was a little disappointed that he wasn’t on the last album more, but even the few songs he did sing were the gems of the record.

    He will be greatly missed and I hope he goes down in history the way he should.

    Thanks for the tribute!
    TIM from GROOVACIOUS

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  23. Comment by Chuck Mitchell | 2007/03/13 at 08:17:40

    Hey Bob:

    I take your point here, even though I was never a Boston fan (not too hip, just didn’t care), but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

    I guarantee you, for my two white city kids, now in their 20s, that Jay-Z was definitely a "worldbeater." I’m not about to speculate on their sexual lives, autoerotic or otherwise, but as they grew up, I certainly recognized the passion in them for Jay, and Biggie, and Eminem, and Nas — even as I was shaking my head. My youngest saw them live whenever and wherever he could get the chance. They’re still listening, even as as they both acknowledge that current hip hop is largely crap.

    What did that other old guy say? "Don’t criticize what you can’t understand." Or something like that.

    As for Triumph, don’t make me laugh. Rock high priests? If this is who the Canadians are inducting, I don’t feel so bad about our Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame all of a sudden.

    Best,
    Chuck Mitchell

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  25. Comment by KevinBe | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:09

    Hi Bob,

    Don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll lay it on the line…

    You mentioned you’re not a Triumph fan so I thought I could recommend a couple of tracks you must re-hear if you haven’t heard them in a while.

    Fire up Limewire and find…

    Lay It On The Line
    &
    Fight the Good Fight

    Want to delve a little deeper? Go for…

    Just A Game
    &
    Never Surrender
    &
    A World of Fantasy

    As always, thanks for the great words!

    KevinBe

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  27. Comment by David Wallace | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:24

    If you think people haven’t lost their virginity, masturbated or driven on a highway blasting Jay-Z records you’re crazy. Taking nothing away from Boston’s success, their impact on the culture at large is nominal. Regardless of how popular their debut was. I don’t know that people will be listening to the Blue Print in 30 years or not, but Jay-Z means a whole hell of a lot to a whole hell of a lot of people. I’m not one of them, but his influence is undeniable.

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  29. Comment by Peter Kohan | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:41

    Really nice post Bob. I am a Triumph fan, and that lyric coda to the e-mail struck the perfect note.

    As an almost-37 year-old male the arena rock show was a staple of my teen and young adult years. While my milleu was 80s metal and hard rock for the most part that sense of escape, adrenaline, and community is something I can’t imagine most acts today creating in the live venue… because the music doesn’t take me there the way the music like rock bands of the 70s and 80s attempted to do, and most often succeeded in doing.

    Thanks.

    Peter Kohan

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  31. Comment by anthony j. resta | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:56

    Brad Delp was one of the best rock voices of all time. behind than voice, a guy who could change his tone into any beatle…..close your eyes it was paul. close your eyes it was john… im not kidding. he had this talent as a teen!

    he was in my studio last year singing some backgrounds on Ryan Duponts CD.

    what a consumate pro!!!!! perfect intonation and timing… no pro tools needed.

    and a courteous humble down to earth guy. You would never know in a million years his voice was heard by

    millions unless you found out on your own.

    i’m very sad for the loss. When i first heard " more than a feeling" i thought my god thats the heaviest guitar tone on earth.!!!!!!! all these years later its not so heavy but its every bit as original and relevant.

    kind regards,
    anthony j. resta

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  33. Comment by Larry LeBlanc | 2007/03/13 at 08:19:12

    Gil is and always has been cool. I grew up with Mike Levine. i worked with his uncle at a recreation park. He’s looks ’70s; he ain’t. Don’t forget they run the top studio in Toronto..Metalworks. Great guys.

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  35. Comment by Mike Pisani | 2007/03/13 at 08:19:30

    Yesterday evening, my 12 year old son was on the internet, and said "Hey dad, did you like a band called ‘Boston?’ A guy from that band died today." I felt an immediate sense of sadness. Funny because it’s not a band I ever saw in concert, so there wasn’t that connection of a great night out with friends, but it’s music I’ve never grown tired of. I was in junior high when the first Boston album came out, and I’ve probably heard Foreplay/Long Time close to 1,000 times in the past 30+ years, but if I had heard it on Sirius last Monday, I’d still listen to that song all the way through. Not too many songs are that way for me. If I hear it next Monday, I’ll appreciate it and not take it so much for granted.

    In college at one point, I made a 90 minute cassette of mixed songs that supposedly had some meaning in my life. The last song on the second side was "A Man I’ll Never Be," for a sorority girl I dated. It seemed I was always a little too rough around the edges, and not as polished as the fraternity guys they partied with. You’re right, it’s a classic song. Rest in peace Brad.

    Glad to hear Triumph is getting their due. "Magic Power" and "Fight the Good Fight" exemplified the gospel of rock and roll.

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  37. Comment by Tim White | 2007/03/13 at 08:19:46

    Bob

    Right on! I can’t get over Brad being gone – and I am actually shocked at how this is sticking with me. But then, "Boston" was the first real record I owned that I chose (along with B.O.C.’s Agents of Fortune – another classic gem). I would steal…er…borrow my older uncle’s albums before then, or get K-Tel specials for gifts (which weren’t bad back then).

    The Boston album! Reading the liner notes, seeing those cool guitar space ships – realizing that the earth was blowing up – and the major cities of the world were escaping on space ship guitars!! Slipping those Koss Headphones on late at night when I couldn’t get to sleep because the world was closing in on my pre-teen mind. Becoming entrapped in the layers of guitars and organ of Tom and Barry with the solid rhythm of Fran and Sib (what great names!) – but it was Brad Delp that sold me.

    Those vocals took me away to a better place – a place where my insecurities and unimportance would be obliterated because I was listening to cool music. Even my uncles (from whom I "borrowed" Pink Floyd, Hendrix, Kraftwerk, Rundgren, T-Rex, ELP, etc) thought I was cool! I became important because of my musical knowledge and taste at school. It’s amazing the power that music has, which of course, you already espouse. "…I looked out this morning and the sun was gone, Turned on some music to start my day, I lost myself in a familiar song, I closed my eyes and I slipped away…

    Even now – most songs on the first Boston record I play every month (along with Don’t fear the Reaper) – because of what it represents and what it does for me. It motivates me because Boston (and B.O.C.) represent exactly what music is for me, and what continues to motivate me in owning Fundamental Records, now 24 years old. The thrill of knowing that Fundamental has been a part of bands like the Butthole Surfers, Henry Rollins, Grant Lee Phillips first band, Savage Republic, Camper Van Chadbourne (look that one up), Vigilantes of Love (who’s "Real Downtown" song you wrote about and that got me started on your list a few years ago), Love Tractor, and many great artists – THAT is the SAME FEELING and motivation that I had in 1976!!

    Now that Brad is gone at such a young age – 55 – it completes my self-awareness of my own human frailty and short stay here – that awareness happens daily and I am shocked at the level of how deep and intense it is. If you were to tell me that I would be like this even 5 years ago, I would have laughed at you.

    "So many people have come and gone, Their faces fade as the years go by, Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky…"

    You see, it was my grandmother – long since gone at the age of 63 – who took me into the store and let me choose my own Christmas presents that day. What a cool beloved lady. I hope she meets Brad Delp when he gets to heaven.

    Tim White
    Fundamental Records

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  39. Comment by Jorge | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:02

    In 1981 I was studying to be a catholic priest in a small, upstate NY junior seminary (HS). I was nearing the end of my time there, as my behavior, I was told, "was not conducive to that of a seminarian’s." I swore, I said "goddamn" whenever I could, and, was, generally, just a normal teenager who was somehow hung up on being a priest.

    I was in study hall — where absolute silence was maintained/monitored by the brothers who would walk through the room, sneaking up on unsuspecting nappers, note-writers, sexual fantasizers…and whack us on the shoulders or head with a large, 3ft wooden ruler. The Sony Walkman had just come out. I’d borrowed one from my buddy. I forget the radio station…tho’ i don’t forget the waning days of ‘Cousin Brucie.’…

    "Magic Power" came on. I knew right then, mid-song, just before rik emmit lets loose on a solo….I had to leave, I had mistaken "saving souls" for "rock n’ roll."

    After many, many bands, spec deals gone south, etc., I remain. That ‘magic power.’ I’m the Cuban Cowboy these days…laying down my own rules on my own screwy, Spanglish map.

    The suits, the recoupable coupes can’t touch me. My Little Matadors (i.e., fans) wouldn’t have it any other way.

    Gracias, Bob.

    Jorge
    http://www.cubancowboy.com

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  41. Comment by Ralph | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:22

    Bob,

    you said everything every 30-50 something male or female still thinks.

    Rock or even decent music has been dead since grunge came on the scene. it was ok for the moment but it will never be what the 70’s or 80’s were. do you change the station when Nirvana comes on ? I do! did I like them at the time and own the cd ? sure I did. does it have a place today in my cd collection ? NO, it never gets played and when I once tried to listen to it, it was just weird and out of place, I had to shut it off.

    Triumph is awsome, I personally like Sport of Kings. Boston is my all time fav group that my dad got me into when I was ten. he would be 54 today. he died a couple years ago. when I heard Brad Delp died, my heart broke. I met the guy and still have his autograph on my wall framed with the ticket stub from the show and a small pic of the third stage album. he signed a backstage paper ashtray for me. "Hey Ralph! Brad Delp 87′ Boston" it was the last show at the centrum. he was a super nice guy, unlike Tom Scholtz.

    ya know, these bands still put out good music and alot of older bands still make hits, maybe only one or two on a new album but if they were played. they would be hits.

    if the dixie chicks are the best we have, we are in serious trouble in the music world. its been 14-15 years or more and still there has not been a great album since. all the old guys who still do it are pushed aside for young people who dont pay dues. whats there to write about if you havent experienced anything and it was all handed to you on a platter ?

    the music industry is sad. but I suppose they dont like to make money cause I have seen some real good albums by all the big artists of the 70’s & 80’s pushed aside. these guys dont know what good music is. the world has missed out on good music cause of no promotion.

    I hope Rock comes back. being a Rock star was being untouchable. the look, the showmanship, the melodies and the solo gutar. where is it ? how did it become obsolete ? how can something so attractive become non-existent ?how ?

    you couldnt touch the rock star back then. today they are our neighbors kids. they have no style and no showmanship.

    where are the David Lee Roths ? where are the Robert Plants ? where are the groups that come from your hometown and sell 17million copies of a debut record ?

    where is the rock star ? 15 years and not one? its very hard to believe.

    you said it all. I just wish there was another soundtrack for this part of my life, or the part that doesnt have one from the past 15 years. I am still living in 1984!!!

    Bostons S/T is a great album. but your missing out if you dont think Dont Look Back is equally as good. cause it is. 🙂

    thanks for speaking of the feelings I was having.
    Ralph

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  43. Comment by gil moore | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:38

    Bob…brad was a virtuoso singer and a great guy… i played golf with brad a few years back and really enjoyed him – our agent troy blakely also rep’d boston and got the email while we were all at dinner the day before the hof – really sad..- your comments on that 1st album are so dead-nuts-on…my wife & I think that slice of music is absolutely unique & timeless…all fun all the time without the pretense

    thanks for the kind words on the triumph hof..it was a really memorable night for us..

    your biz commentary is always amazing – keep it comin !!!

    regards
    gil moore

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  45. Comment by Mark Lemon | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:57

    Triumph was the second show I ever saw. They were regular visitors to the Oshawa Civic Auditorium (Where Keith Richards did his Community Service). They had a very energetic, professional live show and they always got the crowd on their side in a hurry.

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  47. Comment by Jason Spitz | 2007/03/13 at 08:21:12

    Hi Bob. Longtime reader, first-time writer.

    In your article, you implicitly ask "where did all the rock stars go?" I think you answer your own question twice — One: hip hop’s ubiquity turned the mainstream’s attention to "da club" instead of the the arena, and two: whereas rock fans (especially kids) used to have to trek to the record store to buy a single, now they can download some software – let’s say, Limewire – and snag it for free in less time than it’d take to get a black ’78 Trans Am halfway down the block.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply in mourning for the loss of the Rock Star, but certainly you can see the economic factors behind the cultural ones. Hip hop claimed a large swath of the white American teenagers that otherwise would’ve been rocking out to Skynrd, Foreigner, or The Nuge. The Kids just ain’t that into rock n roll anymore, and as a result, a band can’t draw the broad young audience it needs to pack coliseums to the rafters anymore. Case in point – The Police were ubiquitous stadium-rockers just a generation ago, and their reunion is drawing their fans out en masse. But those geezers don’t determine what’s hot anymore. Or at least, they’re not the "target market" I keep hearing about.

    I agree with you, though — it’s sad that music has become such a commodity. I work with the Grateful Dead, so I know there are still superfans out there who treasure the music as something sacred and transcendental, but they are the exeptions. Nowadays there’s so much music everywhere, and so much of it mediocre, that it’s hard to invest yourself fully in anything for very long. Luckily, I work at Rhino Records, so I have the chance to dig deep into the good shit of decades past.

    Oh, and if you want the most glorious Boston experience ever, play "More Than A Feelin" on Guitar Hero until you can beat it on Expert. You will FEEL the rock. (Same goes for "Jessica"). Thanks for all the emails…I read every one! Take it easy, Bob.

    — Jason Spitz

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  49. Comment by Anon | 2007/03/13 at 08:21:27

    Bob-

    Nice to see you give props to Triumph! I’ve long since stopped listening to them on any sort of regular basis, but they were "my band" throughout high school in western New York State, and I’ll never forget the words and guitar solos to most of their songs. You might have noted that Rik Emmett has gone on to quite an impressive solo career.

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  51. Comment by Skip Daly | 2007/03/13 at 08:21:44

    BOSTON was among the first music I ever remember hearing. Born in ’71, I still have vivid memories of my parents popping that debut record on the old 8 TRACK at home. It burned into my psyche powerfully. In fact, my dad spilled coffee on the tape and it never played quite right after that (there was a skip in one of the tunes)….but we kept playing it and playing it. And, to this day, when i hear the tune on the radio it doesn’t sound quite right to me WITHOUT that skip!! There IS magic on that record. And I fully agree that "Hitch A Ride" is the true gem on there. Rest in peace Mr. Delp…thanks for the magic.

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  53. Comment by Jeff Jones | 2007/03/13 at 08:23:17

    Dear Bob,
    I grew up in Arlington Mass, a suburb of Boston. I worked at the Harvard Coop in the record department from 73 to 76. At that time the Coop was the greatest record store on the East Coast, we carried everything. I mean EVERYTHING. On a good Saturday we would do 40,000 dollars in biz, when albums were 3.99. We had people whose passions included all kinds of music, Rock to Jazz to Broadway to Blues to Cassical. It was a store where people lived music and they would say, if you like the Rolling Stones have you heard Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters. We not only stocked the major labels, we carried labels like Folkways, ESP, or Yazoo. It was my education it was my coming of age.

    In May of 1976, I was hired as the mailroom guy in the local CBS Records Boston Branch. I’ll never forget, Lennie Collins who was the local Epic promo guy ( one of the sweetest and funniest people in the world, who also won the lottery !! ) giving me the advance cassette to the first Boston record. That summer my friends and I had rented a cottage on Cape Cod. Or "down the Cape" if you’re a local. I can remember it so clearly, the joy, the thrill of playing the tape over and over as loud as the car stereo could handle. Sitting outside the cottage on a hot Friday night with the car doors open yelling at my friends that they have to hear this fucking record, it’s incredible!

    Working for the CBS branch in Boston made that band ours. We took great pride in the amazing success of Boston. We felt we were a big part of breaking that record.

    Everytime I hear the opening chords of More Than A Feeling or Peace Of Mind or Rock N Roll Band, I can’t help but feel that joy of being 20, sitting with the boys, drinking beer, laughing, hearing that music rocking and screaming out into a hot summer night. 35 minutes of pure heaven. Not a care in the world. One moment in time. Forever.
    Thanks Brad.

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  55. Comment by Mark Bradley | 2007/03/13 at 08:23:34

    I know it’s hugely unfashionable to like Boston. I also know I listened to "Hitch A Ride" 20 times in a row when I was in college way back when. It was a great song then; it’s a great song now.

    Mark Bradley
    Atlanta

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  57. Comment by gregg bell | 2007/03/13 at 08:23:51

    bob –

    i’m continually amazed that my musical (i-tunes) library often unfolds in a similar fashion to yours. i purchased both "a man i’ll never be" and "magic power" within the last 8 months. i just turned 40, and remember the tail end of the arena rock days when bands released albums every year and visited your city shortly there-after. i still listen to a lot of this stuff, and find it takes me back all over again to when music was such a powerful force in my young life. i especially like listening after being disappointed by the supposed "next big thing" like the the clap your hands, the shins or mickey avalon. great music is still out there, but it rarely gets anywhere near the mainstream rock press. if a band appears on the cover of spin or rolling stone, it just means that’s something that i don’t have to waste my time with.

    -gregg bell

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  59. Comment by Bruce Eaton | 2007/03/13 at 08:24:10

    Hi Bob –

    One of my all-time favorite music quotes comes from Charles Shaar Murray circa 1977: "If you’re too hip for Fleetwood Mac, I guess you’re just too hip." And to rightfully paraphrase: IF YOU’RE TOO HIP FOR BOSTON, I GUESS YOU’RE JUST TOO HIP.

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  61. Comment by Lukedaddy on Delp | 2007/03/15 at 08:18:00

    Brad was one of the nicest guys I even met. Jammed with him when Van Halen opened the Cabo Wabo club in 1990 when a few of us were invited. I hung with Ed as I was going thru a horrendous divorce and Ed and Al and the guys were there for me and Brad came up to ME and went out of his way to tell mew he dug what I do. It meant a lot to me. It’s kinda funny and fucked up that you have to die to get some respect. Don’t get me wrong…it’s tragic, but all these people NOW come out and say they dig Boston?? How shallow the hipsters are. "More Than A Feeling" is one of the THE classic rock tunes of all time. Like it or not (guilty pleasures guys??) a classic! Scholz had a SOUND, his OWN, thank you, and Brad’s voice was the vibe. man, what range! AND yeah, a really nice man. God bless him and his family and I hope FINALLY people will get their heads out of their asses trying to lick the bungholes of the supposed "new talent" and their 5 minute existence to realize "hip or not’ a great band that has records that EVERYONE knows is more than relevant!

    Lukather


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  1. Pingback by Weekend Roundup » The Sly Oyster » Blog Archive | 2007/03/12 at 07:17:02

    […] at songs and their record sales indicated as much.  Steve Morse pays his respects as does Bob Lefsetz. The real question in all of this is: who […]

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    1. Comment by Dan Millen | 2007/03/13 at 08:14:52

      Brad Delp was one of the coolest, nicest and most laid back, unassuming guys I’ve ever worked with.
      Many on this list probably don’t know that he for many years here in the Boston area fronted a Beatles Tribute called Beatlejuice and played my clubs and booze cruises many times. He always brought the house down and always had a kind word for everyone.

      Here’s a guy who could have very easily led an insular existence but instead chose to celebrate life, and music – he played as you say because he "had" to, there was no other option for him, whether it be the arenas with Boston or the clubs with Beatlejuice, Brad was gigging up til the day he passed on.

      We’ll miss him.

      Rest in Peace Brad Delp.

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      1. Comment by Paul Sant | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:08

        Good for you: although Boston songs have been pummeled into sounds I pass by on the radio dial when I actually listen to terrestrial (especially by the most heinous offender here IN Boston: WZLX), I know at some point soon I’ll play that first record again and really get to HEAR it, and FEEL it. Boston so captured the positive vibe you described, probably not in small part because they tried to live it. I shared a stage with Brad a couple of times for charity events, and he was always spot on and always a gentleman. We both loved the Beatles, so that’s what we talked about. It always seemed like Tom put his money where his mouth was, too. It really annoyed me when people professed to be too cool for a record that was really more DIY than most of the so-called hipsters could ever claim to be. They made it in a basement by themselves, for God’s sake, without even having a deal. And the SOUND: those guitars, that voice and those songs.

        Calculated, my ass.

        My heart goes out to Brad’s family and friends.

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        1. Comment by Michael Abbattista | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:26

          still love triumph and have tix to see rik emmet in nyc in may. thanks for this.

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          1. Comment by ricky schultz | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:42

            bob–you probably heard it first on KLOS (because they added it before KMET…)

            i was part of epic’s local staff–i walked the record into KBPI/Denver (jeff pollack & frank cody). jeff heard like 10 seconds of "More Than A Feeling" and lifted the needle up (for a moment i wasnt sure what was happening), until he took the LP, marched into the studio and told the jock on air to play it NEXT!

            kbpi was the first add, klos was the second. within the next 48 hours radio was basically closed out from coast to coast….

            always thought it was amazing that brad delp never joined up with some all stars to create some other great band since Scholz was holed up in his basement for years at a time.

            ricky schultz

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            1. Comment by Gary Slaight | 2007/03/13 at 08:15:57

              I stated playing Triumph when I was PD at Q107 in the late 70’s..have been friends with the three of them ever since..It was great to see them together being honoured…

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              1. Comment by David Munk | 2007/03/13 at 08:16:14

                You make a really good point about the fact that Boston wasn’t really considered cool at the time, although they were hugely popular, but with the benefit of hindsight I realize how much MUSIC was in the MUSIC — before marketing subsumed A&R, before "the beat" steamrolled melody and harmony; when rock bands could have keyboard elements or even be driven’ by keyboards (Kansas); when singers with vibrato were the norm and front men could have soaring, theatrical tenor voices (Freddie, Brad Doelp, Steve Perry, Lou Gramm and on and on).

                Yes — there is good music today, but i would argue that there is far less harmonic content now then there used to be and that is a loss for all of us.

                David Munk

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                1. Comment by Jason Davis | 2007/03/13 at 08:16:32

                  Sometimes I really enjoy reading your letter sir.

                  You speak straight from the heart. You must really like what you do. Yeah, I remember all those songs from when I was little. My father was a fan and a fan of the older classic rock too. Your younger than him.

                  My dad gave me my first record ever. I don’t remember the name of the album, but I know it was zepplin. I can remember that same feeling u describe when I heard stairway to heaven.

                  Mr. Lefsetz, you give this 28 year old hope that there is something out there that will make me as happy as you are doing what u do.

                  I don’t have all the friends u do. I just write and try my best to force my way in the music industry.

                  Thanks for the motivation,
                  Jason Davis

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                  1. Comment by Mike Bone | 2007/03/13 at 08:16:49

                    Mike Levine could have been the V.P. of Promotion at any major record company, back in the day. He was one of the best promotion people I ever met, and he was in a band!

                    Mike Bone

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                    1. Comment by jeff laufer | 2007/03/13 at 08:17:07

                      bob,

                      i remember you taking me to see boston at irvine meadows years ago. it was great fun.

                      yes, i did beat off to boston.

                      jeff laufer

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                      1. Comment by TIM from GROOVACIOUS | 2007/03/13 at 08:17:23

                        Bob –
                        I was devastated by the news of Brad’s death.

                        I have always held Boston in a special place in my heart. I am happy to say I was one of those that got to help break that first record in 1976 when I was working at DJ’s Sound City in Portland. A record that definitely made you "feel good".

                        In 1986 when Third Stage came out, I was invited backstage at the show. I met all the guys except for Tom who never came out of the dressing room. I actually got to sit and talk to Brad for 45 minutes or so and he was such a great guy! He told me how excited he was for the new record and that he genuinely was just happy to be a part of such a great band, among many other things. That was a wonderful, precious moment that I’ve always remembered.

                        People ask me who I think the best vocalist in rock music is. I give them obvious answers like Robert Plant, Dave Grohl, Jeff Buckley, Paul, Jim, Chris Cornell, etc., etc.

                        But at the top of the list has always been BRADLEY DELP!!

                        I’ve kept track of all of his projects since "Boston" and was a little disappointed that he wasn’t on the last album more, but even the few songs he did sing were the gems of the record.

                        He will be greatly missed and I hope he goes down in history the way he should.

                        Thanks for the tribute!
                        TIM from GROOVACIOUS

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                        1. Comment by Chuck Mitchell | 2007/03/13 at 08:17:40

                          Hey Bob:

                          I take your point here, even though I was never a Boston fan (not too hip, just didn’t care), but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

                          I guarantee you, for my two white city kids, now in their 20s, that Jay-Z was definitely a "worldbeater." I’m not about to speculate on their sexual lives, autoerotic or otherwise, but as they grew up, I certainly recognized the passion in them for Jay, and Biggie, and Eminem, and Nas — even as I was shaking my head. My youngest saw them live whenever and wherever he could get the chance. They’re still listening, even as as they both acknowledge that current hip hop is largely crap.

                          What did that other old guy say? "Don’t criticize what you can’t understand." Or something like that.

                          As for Triumph, don’t make me laugh. Rock high priests? If this is who the Canadians are inducting, I don’t feel so bad about our Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame all of a sudden.

                          Best,
                          Chuck Mitchell

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                          1. Comment by KevinBe | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:09

                            Hi Bob,

                            Don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll lay it on the line…

                            You mentioned you’re not a Triumph fan so I thought I could recommend a couple of tracks you must re-hear if you haven’t heard them in a while.

                            Fire up Limewire and find…

                            Lay It On The Line
                            &
                            Fight the Good Fight

                            Want to delve a little deeper? Go for…

                            Just A Game
                            &
                            Never Surrender
                            &
                            A World of Fantasy

                            As always, thanks for the great words!

                            KevinBe

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                            1. Comment by David Wallace | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:24

                              If you think people haven’t lost their virginity, masturbated or driven on a highway blasting Jay-Z records you’re crazy. Taking nothing away from Boston’s success, their impact on the culture at large is nominal. Regardless of how popular their debut was. I don’t know that people will be listening to the Blue Print in 30 years or not, but Jay-Z means a whole hell of a lot to a whole hell of a lot of people. I’m not one of them, but his influence is undeniable.

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                              1. Comment by Peter Kohan | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:41

                                Really nice post Bob. I am a Triumph fan, and that lyric coda to the e-mail struck the perfect note.

                                As an almost-37 year-old male the arena rock show was a staple of my teen and young adult years. While my milleu was 80s metal and hard rock for the most part that sense of escape, adrenaline, and community is something I can’t imagine most acts today creating in the live venue… because the music doesn’t take me there the way the music like rock bands of the 70s and 80s attempted to do, and most often succeeded in doing.

                                Thanks.

                                Peter Kohan

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                                1. Comment by anthony j. resta | 2007/03/13 at 08:18:56

                                  Brad Delp was one of the best rock voices of all time. behind than voice, a guy who could change his tone into any beatle…..close your eyes it was paul. close your eyes it was john… im not kidding. he had this talent as a teen!

                                  he was in my studio last year singing some backgrounds on Ryan Duponts CD.

                                  what a consumate pro!!!!! perfect intonation and timing… no pro tools needed.

                                  and a courteous humble down to earth guy. You would never know in a million years his voice was heard by

                                  millions unless you found out on your own.

                                  i’m very sad for the loss. When i first heard " more than a feeling" i thought my god thats the heaviest guitar tone on earth.!!!!!!! all these years later its not so heavy but its every bit as original and relevant.

                                  kind regards,
                                  anthony j. resta

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                                  1. Comment by Larry LeBlanc | 2007/03/13 at 08:19:12

                                    Gil is and always has been cool. I grew up with Mike Levine. i worked with his uncle at a recreation park. He’s looks ’70s; he ain’t. Don’t forget they run the top studio in Toronto..Metalworks. Great guys.

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                                    1. Comment by Mike Pisani | 2007/03/13 at 08:19:30

                                      Yesterday evening, my 12 year old son was on the internet, and said "Hey dad, did you like a band called ‘Boston?’ A guy from that band died today." I felt an immediate sense of sadness. Funny because it’s not a band I ever saw in concert, so there wasn’t that connection of a great night out with friends, but it’s music I’ve never grown tired of. I was in junior high when the first Boston album came out, and I’ve probably heard Foreplay/Long Time close to 1,000 times in the past 30+ years, but if I had heard it on Sirius last Monday, I’d still listen to that song all the way through. Not too many songs are that way for me. If I hear it next Monday, I’ll appreciate it and not take it so much for granted.

                                      In college at one point, I made a 90 minute cassette of mixed songs that supposedly had some meaning in my life. The last song on the second side was "A Man I’ll Never Be," for a sorority girl I dated. It seemed I was always a little too rough around the edges, and not as polished as the fraternity guys they partied with. You’re right, it’s a classic song. Rest in peace Brad.

                                      Glad to hear Triumph is getting their due. "Magic Power" and "Fight the Good Fight" exemplified the gospel of rock and roll.

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                                      1. Comment by Tim White | 2007/03/13 at 08:19:46

                                        Bob

                                        Right on! I can’t get over Brad being gone – and I am actually shocked at how this is sticking with me. But then, "Boston" was the first real record I owned that I chose (along with B.O.C.’s Agents of Fortune – another classic gem). I would steal…er…borrow my older uncle’s albums before then, or get K-Tel specials for gifts (which weren’t bad back then).

                                        The Boston album! Reading the liner notes, seeing those cool guitar space ships – realizing that the earth was blowing up – and the major cities of the world were escaping on space ship guitars!! Slipping those Koss Headphones on late at night when I couldn’t get to sleep because the world was closing in on my pre-teen mind. Becoming entrapped in the layers of guitars and organ of Tom and Barry with the solid rhythm of Fran and Sib (what great names!) – but it was Brad Delp that sold me.

                                        Those vocals took me away to a better place – a place where my insecurities and unimportance would be obliterated because I was listening to cool music. Even my uncles (from whom I "borrowed" Pink Floyd, Hendrix, Kraftwerk, Rundgren, T-Rex, ELP, etc) thought I was cool! I became important because of my musical knowledge and taste at school. It’s amazing the power that music has, which of course, you already espouse. "…I looked out this morning and the sun was gone, Turned on some music to start my day, I lost myself in a familiar song, I closed my eyes and I slipped away…

                                        Even now – most songs on the first Boston record I play every month (along with Don’t fear the Reaper) – because of what it represents and what it does for me. It motivates me because Boston (and B.O.C.) represent exactly what music is for me, and what continues to motivate me in owning Fundamental Records, now 24 years old. The thrill of knowing that Fundamental has been a part of bands like the Butthole Surfers, Henry Rollins, Grant Lee Phillips first band, Savage Republic, Camper Van Chadbourne (look that one up), Vigilantes of Love (who’s "Real Downtown" song you wrote about and that got me started on your list a few years ago), Love Tractor, and many great artists – THAT is the SAME FEELING and motivation that I had in 1976!!

                                        Now that Brad is gone at such a young age – 55 – it completes my self-awareness of my own human frailty and short stay here – that awareness happens daily and I am shocked at the level of how deep and intense it is. If you were to tell me that I would be like this even 5 years ago, I would have laughed at you.

                                        "So many people have come and gone, Their faces fade as the years go by, Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky…"

                                        You see, it was my grandmother – long since gone at the age of 63 – who took me into the store and let me choose my own Christmas presents that day. What a cool beloved lady. I hope she meets Brad Delp when he gets to heaven.

                                        Tim White
                                        Fundamental Records

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                                        1. Comment by Jorge | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:02

                                          In 1981 I was studying to be a catholic priest in a small, upstate NY junior seminary (HS). I was nearing the end of my time there, as my behavior, I was told, "was not conducive to that of a seminarian’s." I swore, I said "goddamn" whenever I could, and, was, generally, just a normal teenager who was somehow hung up on being a priest.

                                          I was in study hall — where absolute silence was maintained/monitored by the brothers who would walk through the room, sneaking up on unsuspecting nappers, note-writers, sexual fantasizers…and whack us on the shoulders or head with a large, 3ft wooden ruler. The Sony Walkman had just come out. I’d borrowed one from my buddy. I forget the radio station…tho’ i don’t forget the waning days of ‘Cousin Brucie.’…

                                          "Magic Power" came on. I knew right then, mid-song, just before rik emmit lets loose on a solo….I had to leave, I had mistaken "saving souls" for "rock n’ roll."

                                          After many, many bands, spec deals gone south, etc., I remain. That ‘magic power.’ I’m the Cuban Cowboy these days…laying down my own rules on my own screwy, Spanglish map.

                                          The suits, the recoupable coupes can’t touch me. My Little Matadors (i.e., fans) wouldn’t have it any other way.

                                          Gracias, Bob.

                                          Jorge
                                          http://www.cubancowboy.com

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                                          1. Comment by Ralph | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:22

                                            Bob,

                                            you said everything every 30-50 something male or female still thinks.

                                            Rock or even decent music has been dead since grunge came on the scene. it was ok for the moment but it will never be what the 70’s or 80’s were. do you change the station when Nirvana comes on ? I do! did I like them at the time and own the cd ? sure I did. does it have a place today in my cd collection ? NO, it never gets played and when I once tried to listen to it, it was just weird and out of place, I had to shut it off.

                                            Triumph is awsome, I personally like Sport of Kings. Boston is my all time fav group that my dad got me into when I was ten. he would be 54 today. he died a couple years ago. when I heard Brad Delp died, my heart broke. I met the guy and still have his autograph on my wall framed with the ticket stub from the show and a small pic of the third stage album. he signed a backstage paper ashtray for me. "Hey Ralph! Brad Delp 87′ Boston" it was the last show at the centrum. he was a super nice guy, unlike Tom Scholtz.

                                            ya know, these bands still put out good music and alot of older bands still make hits, maybe only one or two on a new album but if they were played. they would be hits.

                                            if the dixie chicks are the best we have, we are in serious trouble in the music world. its been 14-15 years or more and still there has not been a great album since. all the old guys who still do it are pushed aside for young people who dont pay dues. whats there to write about if you havent experienced anything and it was all handed to you on a platter ?

                                            the music industry is sad. but I suppose they dont like to make money cause I have seen some real good albums by all the big artists of the 70’s & 80’s pushed aside. these guys dont know what good music is. the world has missed out on good music cause of no promotion.

                                            I hope Rock comes back. being a Rock star was being untouchable. the look, the showmanship, the melodies and the solo gutar. where is it ? how did it become obsolete ? how can something so attractive become non-existent ?how ?

                                            you couldnt touch the rock star back then. today they are our neighbors kids. they have no style and no showmanship.

                                            where are the David Lee Roths ? where are the Robert Plants ? where are the groups that come from your hometown and sell 17million copies of a debut record ?

                                            where is the rock star ? 15 years and not one? its very hard to believe.

                                            you said it all. I just wish there was another soundtrack for this part of my life, or the part that doesnt have one from the past 15 years. I am still living in 1984!!!

                                            Bostons S/T is a great album. but your missing out if you dont think Dont Look Back is equally as good. cause it is. 🙂

                                            thanks for speaking of the feelings I was having.
                                            Ralph

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                                            1. Comment by gil moore | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:38

                                              Bob…brad was a virtuoso singer and a great guy… i played golf with brad a few years back and really enjoyed him – our agent troy blakely also rep’d boston and got the email while we were all at dinner the day before the hof – really sad..- your comments on that 1st album are so dead-nuts-on…my wife & I think that slice of music is absolutely unique & timeless…all fun all the time without the pretense

                                              thanks for the kind words on the triumph hof..it was a really memorable night for us..

                                              your biz commentary is always amazing – keep it comin !!!

                                              regards
                                              gil moore

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                                              1. Comment by Mark Lemon | 2007/03/13 at 08:20:57

                                                Triumph was the second show I ever saw. They were regular visitors to the Oshawa Civic Auditorium (Where Keith Richards did his Community Service). They had a very energetic, professional live show and they always got the crowd on their side in a hurry.

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                                                1. Comment by Jason Spitz | 2007/03/13 at 08:21:12

                                                  Hi Bob. Longtime reader, first-time writer.

                                                  In your article, you implicitly ask "where did all the rock stars go?" I think you answer your own question twice — One: hip hop’s ubiquity turned the mainstream’s attention to "da club" instead of the the arena, and two: whereas rock fans (especially kids) used to have to trek to the record store to buy a single, now they can download some software – let’s say, Limewire – and snag it for free in less time than it’d take to get a black ’78 Trans Am halfway down the block.

                                                  Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply in mourning for the loss of the Rock Star, but certainly you can see the economic factors behind the cultural ones. Hip hop claimed a large swath of the white American teenagers that otherwise would’ve been rocking out to Skynrd, Foreigner, or The Nuge. The Kids just ain’t that into rock n roll anymore, and as a result, a band can’t draw the broad young audience it needs to pack coliseums to the rafters anymore. Case in point – The Police were ubiquitous stadium-rockers just a generation ago, and their reunion is drawing their fans out en masse. But those geezers don’t determine what’s hot anymore. Or at least, they’re not the "target market" I keep hearing about.

                                                  I agree with you, though — it’s sad that music has become such a commodity. I work with the Grateful Dead, so I know there are still superfans out there who treasure the music as something sacred and transcendental, but they are the exeptions. Nowadays there’s so much music everywhere, and so much of it mediocre, that it’s hard to invest yourself fully in anything for very long. Luckily, I work at Rhino Records, so I have the chance to dig deep into the good shit of decades past.

                                                  Oh, and if you want the most glorious Boston experience ever, play "More Than A Feelin" on Guitar Hero until you can beat it on Expert. You will FEEL the rock. (Same goes for "Jessica"). Thanks for all the emails…I read every one! Take it easy, Bob.

                                                  — Jason Spitz

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                                                  1. Comment by Anon | 2007/03/13 at 08:21:27

                                                    Bob-

                                                    Nice to see you give props to Triumph! I’ve long since stopped listening to them on any sort of regular basis, but they were "my band" throughout high school in western New York State, and I’ll never forget the words and guitar solos to most of their songs. You might have noted that Rik Emmett has gone on to quite an impressive solo career.

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                                                    1. Comment by Skip Daly | 2007/03/13 at 08:21:44

                                                      BOSTON was among the first music I ever remember hearing. Born in ’71, I still have vivid memories of my parents popping that debut record on the old 8 TRACK at home. It burned into my psyche powerfully. In fact, my dad spilled coffee on the tape and it never played quite right after that (there was a skip in one of the tunes)….but we kept playing it and playing it. And, to this day, when i hear the tune on the radio it doesn’t sound quite right to me WITHOUT that skip!! There IS magic on that record. And I fully agree that "Hitch A Ride" is the true gem on there. Rest in peace Mr. Delp…thanks for the magic.

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                                                      1. Comment by Jeff Jones | 2007/03/13 at 08:23:17

                                                        Dear Bob,
                                                        I grew up in Arlington Mass, a suburb of Boston. I worked at the Harvard Coop in the record department from 73 to 76. At that time the Coop was the greatest record store on the East Coast, we carried everything. I mean EVERYTHING. On a good Saturday we would do 40,000 dollars in biz, when albums were 3.99. We had people whose passions included all kinds of music, Rock to Jazz to Broadway to Blues to Cassical. It was a store where people lived music and they would say, if you like the Rolling Stones have you heard Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters. We not only stocked the major labels, we carried labels like Folkways, ESP, or Yazoo. It was my education it was my coming of age.

                                                        In May of 1976, I was hired as the mailroom guy in the local CBS Records Boston Branch. I’ll never forget, Lennie Collins who was the local Epic promo guy ( one of the sweetest and funniest people in the world, who also won the lottery !! ) giving me the advance cassette to the first Boston record. That summer my friends and I had rented a cottage on Cape Cod. Or "down the Cape" if you’re a local. I can remember it so clearly, the joy, the thrill of playing the tape over and over as loud as the car stereo could handle. Sitting outside the cottage on a hot Friday night with the car doors open yelling at my friends that they have to hear this fucking record, it’s incredible!

                                                        Working for the CBS branch in Boston made that band ours. We took great pride in the amazing success of Boston. We felt we were a big part of breaking that record.

                                                        Everytime I hear the opening chords of More Than A Feeling or Peace Of Mind or Rock N Roll Band, I can’t help but feel that joy of being 20, sitting with the boys, drinking beer, laughing, hearing that music rocking and screaming out into a hot summer night. 35 minutes of pure heaven. Not a care in the world. One moment in time. Forever.
                                                        Thanks Brad.

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                                                        1. Comment by Mark Bradley | 2007/03/13 at 08:23:34

                                                          I know it’s hugely unfashionable to like Boston. I also know I listened to "Hitch A Ride" 20 times in a row when I was in college way back when. It was a great song then; it’s a great song now.

                                                          Mark Bradley
                                                          Atlanta

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                                                          1. Comment by gregg bell | 2007/03/13 at 08:23:51

                                                            bob –

                                                            i’m continually amazed that my musical (i-tunes) library often unfolds in a similar fashion to yours. i purchased both "a man i’ll never be" and "magic power" within the last 8 months. i just turned 40, and remember the tail end of the arena rock days when bands released albums every year and visited your city shortly there-after. i still listen to a lot of this stuff, and find it takes me back all over again to when music was such a powerful force in my young life. i especially like listening after being disappointed by the supposed "next big thing" like the the clap your hands, the shins or mickey avalon. great music is still out there, but it rarely gets anywhere near the mainstream rock press. if a band appears on the cover of spin or rolling stone, it just means that’s something that i don’t have to waste my time with.

                                                            -gregg bell

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                                                            1. Comment by Bruce Eaton | 2007/03/13 at 08:24:10

                                                              Hi Bob –

                                                              One of my all-time favorite music quotes comes from Charles Shaar Murray circa 1977: "If you’re too hip for Fleetwood Mac, I guess you’re just too hip." And to rightfully paraphrase: IF YOU’RE TOO HIP FOR BOSTON, I GUESS YOU’RE JUST TOO HIP.

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                                                              1. Comment by Lukedaddy on Delp | 2007/03/15 at 08:18:00

                                                                Brad was one of the nicest guys I even met. Jammed with him when Van Halen opened the Cabo Wabo club in 1990 when a few of us were invited. I hung with Ed as I was going thru a horrendous divorce and Ed and Al and the guys were there for me and Brad came up to ME and went out of his way to tell mew he dug what I do. It meant a lot to me. It’s kinda funny and fucked up that you have to die to get some respect. Don’t get me wrong…it’s tragic, but all these people NOW come out and say they dig Boston?? How shallow the hipsters are. "More Than A Feeling" is one of the THE classic rock tunes of all time. Like it or not (guilty pleasures guys??) a classic! Scholz had a SOUND, his OWN, thank you, and Brad’s voice was the vibe. man, what range! AND yeah, a really nice man. God bless him and his family and I hope FINALLY people will get their heads out of their asses trying to lick the bungholes of the supposed "new talent" and their 5 minute existence to realize "hip or not’ a great band that has records that EVERYONE knows is more than relevant!

                                                                Lukather

                                                              This is a read-only blog. E-mail comments directly to Bob.