*Post written by James Wethington, senior library assistant at the University Archives and Special Collections.
Are you ready for part four of Guess Who Performed in Evansville? Get ready to go to the late 1970’s in the American rock music scene. This is the first band and we three clues for you. Get ready, guess away!
- Their first album came out in 1976 and had three Top 40 hits.
- Their band logo is in the shape of an UFO.
- Some of their best-known songs are “Amanda” and “More Than a Feeling”.
The answer: Boston.
Boston was formed by Tom Scholz, Brad Delp, Fran Sheehan, Barry Goudreau, and John “Sib” Hashian. Boston started in 1969 when the band members met at MIT and worked on their music. 1976 proved to be their year when Boston released their first album, Boston, selling over 17 million albums. Boston became one of the best-selling debut rock albums in history. Boston released a follow-up album, Don’t Look Back, in 1978; however, by the 1980’s, Boston experienced setbacks from personal and legal issues.
In the meantime, Boston switched record labels because of Sheehan, Goudreau, and Hashian left Boston for solo careers; new members joined Boston and they released their third album, Third Stage, in 1986. On this album, their only number #1 hit, “Amanda” came out. Just as before, Boston experienced more personal and legal issues in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s: Delp left Boston and would return to the band by the early 2000’s. From 1994 to 2002, Boston only released two albums; however, the band wouldn’t be the same after 2007 when Delp continued suicide. In midst of this Delp’s death, Boston continued to work on their latest album, Life, Love, & Hope, which was released in 2013 and featured the vocals of Delp. Boston’s last concert tour was in 2017 and consisted of Tom Scholtz, Gary Pihl, Tommy DeCarlo, Jeff Neal, Tracy Ferrie, Beth Cohen, and Curly Smith. In April 2017, Scholtz stated the band is working on new songs and wanting to produce a seventh album. As of 2019, the album has yet to be released.
Source: Greg Smith Collection (MSS 034-0492), USI.
Boston performed in Evansville on December 9, 1976; however, their concert was not at Roberts Stadium. Their concert was held the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum. Their concert was a month or so after the release of their debut album. Over 4,000 people attended the concert and according to Chapman (1976), the concert was a giant rock party full of drinking and smoking of “various scents”. That sounds like one heck of a party! This is incredible knowing Boston performed in Evansville right at the beginning of their career.
For more information, the Greg Smith collection at the University Archives and Special Collections at the David L. Rice Library at the University of Southern Indiana has over 1,500 photographs of Evansville history available online. Take a moment to explore his photographs of athletic events, local businesses, and many more. Stay tuned for our next addition of Guess Who Performed in Evansville.
Reference Consulted
Boston (band). (2020, April 6). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_(band)
Chapman, C. (1976, December 16). 4050 come to a rock party. The Evansville Press. https://bit.ly/2RCq7id
Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018, June 21). Boston (band). https://www.britannica.com/topic/Boston-American-rock-group
Musicians. (n.d.). Boston (band). Retrieved April 13, 2020, from http://bandboston.com/?page_id=310
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