How Boston fooled the music industry with their debut album
“This is where I managed to get my start. And it was, you know, it was humble beginnings,” said Tom Scholz of the rock band Boston when standing outside an unassuming house. American rock music comes in a variety of tones, but the one consistent factor is the live energy it possesses, packed and ready for the stadium the moment the recording stops. As such, it’s shocking to see Scholz walk into the basement of the house and admit that Boston’s entire debut album was recorded there by him, in isolation.
Scholz started working on Boston’s debut shortly after graduating from MIT. He had a promising job working in tech for Polaroid but ignored his duties with the company a fair bit as he became obsessed with this figurative record. He admitted that he was never an ideal employee. “There were days when I didn’t make it into Polaroid on time,” he said. “Most days, actually. I was a horrible employee.”
His tech skills were being used elsewhere, though. Granted, it was rare for people to record independently in the ‘70s, but not unheard of. The difference was that those who worked on their own tended to prioritise that feeling of working in isolation, and their music became incredibly one-note and intimate as a result. Scholz didn’t do that.
He was adamant about creating a big live sound, even if that sound was being made in isolation. The equipment to create this kind of sound didn’t exist at the time, and as such, he had to use his experience with tech to create the recording equipment necessary to produce it.
He would have to use his imagination when recording, as it wasn’t enough to have music that sounded like it was being played in front of a crowd, but Scholz had to play with that live energy, too. There is rigour heard in guitar solos and riffs that feel as though they have come directly from the stage, not from a basement. “I would literally imagine I was in front of thousands of people,” he said, “Playing this rock ‘n’ roll music, and it worked.”
His demos got the attention of CBS Records, who assumed it was a full band playing on the tapes rather than just one man. When they came to his house and saw the basement he had been working in, they were adamant that he had to get into the studio with a live band to make the album conventionally. Scholz refused, and after some back-and-forth, it was agreed he could make the album in his basement.
Boston’s debut has since become a staple in American rock music, as the big sound has inspired stadium bands since its creation. It has to be said that there is something profoundly enticing and energy-infused with that album; it’s almost transportive in how it plants you in the middle of a live show, so knowing it’s all recorded in a basement is truly a testament to Scholz’s innovative nature.
