New England

New England were an American hard-rock band from Boston, Mass., that released a self-titled album on Infinity in 1979, followed by two albums on Elektra during the early 1980s. Members: John Fannon (guitar, vocals), Hirsh Gardner (drums, vocals), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards, vocals), Gary Shea (bass) Discography: New England (1979) Explorer Suite (1980) Walking Wild (1981) […]

Boston

Boston are an American symphonic/hard-rock band that released two albums on Epic between 1976 and 1978, followed by three further albums at eight-year intervals over the ensuing quarter-century. A sixth album, released in 2013, upheld the band’s post-’70s album-per-decade schedule. Members: Tom Scholz (guitar, bass, keyboards, organ, percussion, vocals), Brad Delp (lead vocals, guitar, percussion, […]

Face to Face

Face to Face were an American New Wave/modern-rock band from Boston that released two albums on Epic in 1984 and 1985, followed by a third on Mercury in 1988. Members: Laurie Sargent (vocals), Stuart Kimball (guitar, keyboards), Angelo Petraglia (guitar, keyboards), John Ryder (bass), Billy Beard (drums) Discography: Face to Face (1984) Confrontation (1985) One […]

The Cars

The Cars were an American New Wave/modern-rock band that released six studio albums on Elektra between 1978 and 1987. Their first two albums, The Cars (1978) and Candy-O (1979), spawned a slew of radio-rock evergreens, including “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Good Times Roll, and “Let’s Go.” A turn toward icy modernism […]

Earth Opera

Earth Opera were an American psych-rock band from Boston that released two albums on Elektra in 1968/69. Members: Peter Rowan (guitar, saxophone, vocals), David Grisman (mandolin, keyboards, saxophone, vocals), John Nagy (bass, cello), Paul Dillon (drums, guitar, percussion, vocals), Bill Stevenson (keyboards, vibraphone, 1967-68) Discography: Earth Opera (1968) The Great American Eagle Tragedy (1969)

Appaloosa

Appaloosa were an American chamber-folk band from Boston that released a self-titled album on Columbia in 1969. Guitarist/vocalist John Compton and violinist/vocalist Robin Batteau released one further album together as a duo in 1970. Batteau’s younger brother David was briefly a member of Appaloosa but didn’t play on the album. The brothers later released an […]

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic were an American avant-rock band from Boston that released two EPs and the album Magnetic Flip on small-press Ace of Hearts between 1983 and 1985, followed by a string of discs on Cuneiform between 1989 and 2006. Members: Erik Lindgren (piano, synthesizer, Farfisa organ, sampling, percussion, drum programming, trumpet), Roger Miller […]

The Stark Reality

The Stark Reality were an American jazz-rock/psych band from Boston that released the double-album …Discovers Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop on Ahmad Jamal‘s AJP label in 1970. Guitarist John Abercrombie subsequently became a leading light on the international jazz-rock scene. Members: Monty Stark (vibraphone, vocals), Phil Morrison (bass), Vinton Johnson (drums), John Abercrombie (guitar) Discography: …Discovers […]

Cynara

Cynara were an American band from Boston that released a self-titled album on Capitol in 1970. Members: Jeffrey Watson (vocals, percussion), Michael Tschudin (keyboards), Cal Hill (bass), Les Lumley (percussion), Chip White (drums) Discography: Cynara (1970)

Phluph

Phluph were an American psych-rock band from Cambridge, Mass., that released a self-titled album on Verve in 1968. Members: Lee Dudley (vocals, drums), Ben Blake (vocals, guitar), John Pell (vocals, bass), Joel Maisano (vocals, organ) Discography: Phluph (1968)

Orpheus

Orpheus were an American psych-rock band from Boston that released three albums on MGM in 1968/69, followed by a fourth on Bell in 1971. Members: Bruce Arnold (vocals, guitar), Jack McKenes (vocals, guitar), Eric “The Snake” Gulliksen (bass), Harry Sandler (drums) Discography: Orpheus (1968) Ascending (1968) Joyful (1969) Orpheus (1971)

Chamaeleon Church

Chamaeleon Church were an American pop-psych band from Boston that released a self-titled album on MGM in 1968. Drummer Chevy Chase later transferred into comedy, achieving fame as a member of the original cast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live during the 1975–76 television season. He ultimately became a big-screen funnyman in a series of screwball […]

The Freeborne

The Freeborne were an American psych-rock band from Boston that released the album Peak Impressions on Monitor Records in 1968. Members: Bob Margolin (guitar), Nick Castoln (guitar, keyboard, vocals, recorder, cello), Dave Codd (recorder, harpsichord, percussion, vocals, bass), Mike Spiros (keyboards, chimes, bell tree, trumpet, percussion), Lew Lipson (drums, percussion) Discography: Peak Impressions (1968)

David Roberts

David Roberts (born Sept. 13, 1958) is a Boston-born/Canadian-raised musician and songwriter who released the album All Dressed Up on Elektra in 1982. The album was produced by Jay Graydon and features appearances by Bill Champlin, David Foster, and members of Toto. Discography: All Dressed Up (1982) Better Late Than Never (2008) The Missing Years […]

Guns & Butter

Guns & Butter was an American sax-rock/psych band from Boston that released a self-titled album on Cotillion in 1972. Members: Peter Cohen (bass), Lenny Federer (violin, viola), Jeff Lyons (vocals), Richard Ploss (flute, saxophone), Peter Tucker (drums), Paul Cohen (guitar) Background Guns & Butter had its roots in a musical partnership between singer Jeff Lyons […]

Eden’s Children

Eden’s Children were an American psychedelic rock trio that released the 1968 albums Eden’s Children and Sure Looks Real on ABC. Members: Richard “Sham” Schamach (vocals, guitar), Larry Kiley (bass), Jimmy Sturman (drums) Eden’s Children hailed from Boston and were part of the local psychedelic scene dubbed the “Bosstown Sound,” a late-sixties marketing catchphrase applied […]

Aztec Two-Step

Aztec Two-Step were an American folk-pop duo from Boston that issued a self-titled album on Elektra in 1972, followed by sporadic releases on RCA and assorted labels during the ensuing 14-year period. Members: Rex Fowler (guitar, vocals), Neal Shulman (guitar, vocals) Discography: Aztec Two-Step (1972) Second Step (1975) Two’s Company (1976) Adjoining Suites (1977) The […]

Wilkinson Tri-Cycle

Wilkinson Tri-Cycle was an American hard-rock band that released a self-titled album in 1969 on Date Records. Members: Richard Porter (vocals, bass), David Mello (guitar), Michael Clemens (drums) Wilkinson Tri-Cycle was active in the Boston area in 1969, where they opened for the Velvet Underground on a three-night stand (March 13–15) at the Boston Tea […]

The Beacon Street Union

The Beacon Street Union was an American psychedelic rock band that released the 1968 albums Eyes of the Beacon Street Union and The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens on MGM. Four-fifths of the band morphed into Eagle for the 1970 Janus release Come Under Nancy’s Tent. Members: John Lincoln Wright (vocals, percussion), Paul Tartachny (guitar, […]

Orchestra Luna

Orchestra Luna were an American art-rock/operatic ensemble from Boston that released an eponymous, Rupert Homes-produced album on Epic in 1975. Members: Rick Berlin (keyboards), Scott Chambers (bass), Randy Roos (guitar), Don Mulvaney (drums), Lisa Kinscherf (vocals), Liz Gallagher (vocals), Peter Barrett (vocals), Steven Paul Perry (guitar), Chet Cahill (bass), Bob Brandon (keyboards), Ace Holleran (drums, […]

Ultimate Spinach

Ultimate Spinach was an American psychedelic rock band that released three 1968–69 albums on MGM. Members: Ian Bruce-Douglas (vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass, recorder, theremin, vibraphone), Barbara Hudson (guitar, vocals), Keith Lahteinen (drums, percussion, vocals), Ted Myers (guitar, vocals), Richard Nese (bass), Geoffrey Winthrop (guitar, vocals), Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (guitar), Mike Levine (bass), Tony Scheuren […]