In the late 70's and early 80's, many bands were characterized as "faceless" meaning they did not have individual performers who stood out. Of this category of bands, there were three bands that formed a sort of "Holy Trinity" of Arena Rock: Journey, Foreigner and Boston. According to their critics, these bands were not meant to be enjoyed as performers or musicians but as a brand name. Like Levi's for Jeans or Kleenex for tissue paper.
Yesterday, Brad Delp who sang most of the lead vocals for Boston passed away. Though I never met him, or many other musicians for that matter, I am still saddened by his death. Boston has long been one of my favorite rock bands. Brad Delp was a big part of the reason why I liked their music. Though music critics derided Delp's singing (I read one review that referred to his vocals as "bionic yelping") the fact was his multi octave vocals had soul. Delp's voice had emotion and a sense of joy in everything he sang, whether it was with Boston or other bands. Even on sad songs, Delp's voice carried a sense of hope.
Delp's impact on Boston's music became evident when he was replaced as Boston's singer in the mid 90's. Boston still sounded sharp and technically impressive, but came across more mechanical with other singers. To me, Brad Delp will always be that frizzy haired tambourine shaking guy who can sing with power and elation. A good guy looking for a good time. Brad Delp may not be known at face value to much of the general public, but the voice of Boston that brought excitement and happiness to millions of rock music fans in songs such as "More Than A Feeling" and "Amanda" is gone. He will be missed.
1 comment:
In that strange, six-degrees-of-separation way, I knew Brad Delp. When I was in my late teens (early 70's, this was) I lived in Danvers, Mass. and worked at a factory. Brad worked there too. We'd also gone to the same high school but he was four years ahead of me. Everything people said about him being nice to everyone and just a great guy, is true. I saw him every day but never even knew he was in a band. He saved all his energy and volume for the stage and recording studio. I am devastated by the news that his death was in fact a suicide, that he was troubled beyond what anyone knew.
I enjoyed reading your blog post about Brad.
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