Striking a Chord
Muchísimas gracias por la entrevista con Félix Contreras (“From the Desk of Felix Contreras,” September 13). I discovered AltLatino when I began my career as a Spanish teacher. Hosts Felix and Jasmine welcomed this gringa into a musical world of joy, heartbreak, lust, love, social change, and national pride. I shared an El Tiny concert video of Peruvian band Los Mirlos, and my novice students and I were able to discuss geography, colors, numbers, and our opinions about cumbia. Additionally, I met Jasmine Garsd this summer at a journalism event in New Hampshire, and she is as gracious in real life as on the radio. It felt like seeing an old friend! Quality journalism, whether print or radio, makes our world both more expansive and more connected.
Heidi Wakeman
Gloucester
To Beat the Band
I was a 14-year-old Brookline boy transitioning from pop to hard rock in 1976; from the likes of Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel, and Johnny Nash, to Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and the Stones (“More Than an Album,” September 20). Boston was the album and band (along with Styx) that provided the bridge. (I got the album from a bin sitting next to a cardboard cutout of the album art — which I loved — at Paperback Booksmith). I still get a jolt when my shuffle lands on one of those classic songs. And I still get a little sad listening to Brad Delp knowing of his lonely suicide. . . . He left behind a musical legacy for the indefinite future, which is more than most do.
outsidetheboxSox
posted on bostonglobe.com
Writing and recording virtually the whole album himself in his spare time puts [Tom] Scholz in some rare company. It also helps explain why the “band” was not so prolific. That’s a lot of work for mainly one person.
EliotNessMobTrollHunter
posted on bostonglobe.com
Writer L. Wayne Hicks made my afternoon! I graduated from Colorado College in 1974, and moved to Arlington. It was exciting to read how some of Boston’s early work was done in Watertown, Maynard, and Waltham, the area where I live now.
Doug Swain
Lincoln
The Los Angeles Times writer hit the nail on the head when he/she called it the “apotheosis of corporate rock.”
Stephen DeMarco
Wilmington
I plan to play Boston, on vinyl, nonstop today. It will bring back a treasure trove of memories. It’s more than a feeling.
LeBrongo
posted on bostonglobe.com
In 1978, I recall my friend talking about seeing a band in a bar in Columbus, Ohio. . . . He never heard of them before and his comments were, These guys came out and blew everyone away. They were Boston. I’ve seen them three times and however they transported the sounds from the records to the stage, the live performances were spot on and always incredible. They are part of my playlists today and I still get chills hearing Tom’s magical riffs.
dougroy2000
posted on bostonglobe.com
My first high school dance was just weeks after the album was released. The DJ opened with “Smoke On The Water” and some Elton John song. . . . Nobody danced. Then he teed up “More Than a Feeling” — and the room burst to life! Every kid was foot stomping and hand clapping. The DJ just let the turntable spin all of side one. He flipped it, played side two, then “More Than a Feeling” again to close it down. Everyone was buzzing about the music later. . . . Within a week we all owned the album.
Charles Porter
posted on bostonglobe.com
The band Boston did not “resuscitate” rock in 1976. It was the Sex Pistols, with Anarchy in the UK, released November 1976, that brought back rock.
al9parker
posted on bostonglobe.com
Boston’s music was fine, but . . . the writer is unfamiliar with rock history. Patti Smith’s Horses, from 1975, was a much more influential album on serious rock music.
mightyQuint
posted on bostonglobe.com
[Sounds] like the critics of the time, never understanding the full scope and the creative genius behind what they just heard. There are moments in music history that put a permanent kink in what’s going on; Elvis makes the scene, Phil Spector and the “Wall of Sound,” Boston’s first album, Nirvana’s Nevermind album . . . and it goes on from there. This was created and produced in such a fascinating and groundbreaking way, yet for some, was easily overlooked.
dkcoffee
posted on bostonglobe.com
Great article, however, it skipped over an amazing, groundbreaking device that Scholz invented for guitar players back then, The Rockman. It’s still around today and it produced that amazing Boston guitar sound. . . . The Rockman made stereo guitar sound available to everyone.
londerd
posted on bostonglobe.com
We all have memories of “More Than a Feeling.” Mine is riding the Musik Express at Rocky Point Amusement Park as a young teenager on a warm summer day, the song blaring, eyes closed, wind blowing in my face and hair.
JohnnyBucyk9
posted on bostonglobe.com
“His 1976 debut album with Boston resuscitated rock music.” It might have sold a lot of records. It might even have been a nice record. But most rock and rollers would say that Bruce led the resuscitation of R&R, along with the Allman Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and many, many other great ’70’s rock and rollers.
no-name-
posted on bostonglobe.com
So amazing that Tom Scholz was both an engineer and one of the best performer/musicians in rock history. Love the way he is back into planes and thinking of engineering. Once an engineer, always, no matter where life brings you.
mikeo96
posted on bostonglobe.com
Aerosmith, Boston & The Cars — the ABCs of Boston rock.
JoshyLR
posted on bostonglobe.com
By Land and By Sea
Terrific Connections (“Ferry to the Past,” September 20)! I grew up in Brighton and Boston will always be my hometown, although I’m miles from there now.
Irishmario
posted on bostonglobe.com
We used to take the bus from Norwood to Forest Hills then the Orange Line into the city. We spent afternoons in the bleachers at Fenway. My parents both grew up in the city and encouraged us to explore it. Our suburban neighbors thought my parents were crazy for letting us go into the city alone. But those were some of the best times.
WestCoast Lawyer
posted on bostonglobe.com
Hope For the Future
Being closer to 80 than 70, there are clearly parts of my body that don’t seem to want to keep up (“The Good News About Our Aging Brains,” September 27). Exercise helps, as does daily stretching, but the warranty is close to expiration. That said, the cerebral parts are not only fine, but surprise me at the insight and wisdom they continue to exhibit. The ability to clearly think through problems and develop solutions is better now than ever. Having learned to not jump, but wade carefully, into complex issues has provided answers when problems seemed unsolvable. And this brings a joy and satisfaction I did not achieve in my youth. Onward and upward.
HowieD
posted on bostonglobe.com
When you finally understand that you are not, in fact, going to live forever — and if you don’t respond to that knowledge by going into denial — your priorities can shift. You can let go of a lot of things because you see they just don’t matter very much. You can focus on what does matter, such as your connections with people, animals, and the planet; helping others; trying to make the world a better place; creativity; good health; and gratitude. I believe this refocusing might explain the increase in well-being. Best of all, you don’t have to get old to make this shift.
mostbittern23
posted on bostonglobe.com
I just returned from our Westwood High School class of 1960 reunion; as a group, we may be Exhibit A for each of writer Annalisa Merelli’s points. Some of us are still working — one classmate is still translating plays, novels, and poetry from English to French. Another repairs antique motorcycles. Almost all of us volunteer. Most enjoy our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, continuing to baby-sit. Many of us are involved in the arts, singing in choruses, playing in bands, orchestras, folk and jazz groups. At this year’s reunion we joked about rapidly fading short-term memory. Yet most of us still drive safely (one drives a red Corvette), another still participates in auto racing and pilots his plane. And most of us are optimists. I plan to forward this article to my classmates.
Edith Rees
West Roxbury
Makes sense: you gotta keep those wheels turning inside your head, else they’ll freeze up.
mossyrock
posted on bostonglobe.com
It would be interesting to see if there are differences across socioeconomic groups. Lower income elders certainly have more stress from worrying about meeting basic needs.
rjhalpern
posted on bostonglobe.com
“Crystalized knowledge is information we accumulate as we live — and builds through later adulthood. We learn new words, facts, and techniques, and that knowledge sticks. Think about a young craftsperson at the beginning of their career, and a 70-year-old master who has been working at their trade for a lifetime. Chances are, the latter will be better at what they do.” I am a craftsman of 40 years. I’ve put in my “10,000” hours. And I am amazed at where I am in my work and my perspective of what I do. That is the strength of growing old and building a legacy.
Heymark
posted on bostonglobe.com
This made me recall that, when I told my father the words I didn’t know on the SAT, he knew them all, because, as he put it, “I’m forty years older than you.”
Felicia Nimue Ackerman
Providence
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