In 1969, Boston’s Tom Scholz was holed up in a flooded basement in Watertown, Massachusetts, making music on equipment he engineered himself. Little did he know, the rough notes he was crafting on a homemade two-track recorder would become the first recording ever made for Boston — and years later, part of one of the bestselling debut albums in rock history.
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At the time, Scholz was a student at MIT in Cambridge, working on his bachelor’s then master’s in mechanical engineering. After being enchanted by the Yardbirds and the Kinks, however, the music bug bit him, and over the next few years he quietly began pounding out what would become the foundation for Boston’s self-titled debut.
Years of tinkering, demos, and basement recording delivered “Foreplay,” a kinetic instrumental that builds slowly and features a Hammond organ riff with driving drums and layered intensity. The piece was later structured as the introduction for the main track, “Long Time,” which opens into soaring vocals, acoustic-to-electric shifts, rich harmonies, and stacked guitar solos. Together, they form an iconic two-part rock suite hailed by fans and music experts alike.
“The longest and most complex track on Boston’s debut was in two parts: the proggy instrumental intro piece 'Foreplay' followed by the grandstanding rock anthem 'Long Time,'” Classic Rock wrote. “Together, it made for what one critic described as ‘a perfect marriage of Yes and Led Zeppelin.’”
Released in August 1976, the multipart masterpiece peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, enjoying 10 weeks on the chart. But the album did even better. Peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, the record spent a total of 138 weeks bobbing around the survey.
From “Foreplay/Long Time” and “More Than a Feeling” to “Peace of Mind” and “Let Me Take You Home Tonight,” Boston swiftly became a staple of classic rock radio, and the band quickly went on to sell out arenas.
Just months after forming, Boston even nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. According to music journalist and radio host Eric Alper, they lost to one-hit wonder Starland Vocal Band (“Afternoon Delight”) — and then went HAM on album sales.
“Boston went on to sell 17 million copies of their debut in the United States alone, went Diamond, and placed every single song on the album into permanent classic rock radio rotation,” Alper wrote. “The Grammy voters have had 50 years to think about that one.”
Today the band’s catalog is brimming with an iconic mix of arena rock, hard rock, and AOR. Their signature sound continues to resonate across the airwaves, including “Foreplay/Long Time.” And to think it all started in that “hideous” waterlogged basement.
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