The Cars were an American new wave band that released six albums between 1978 and 1987 on Elektra. Their first two, The Cars and Candy-O, spawned the radio-rock evergreens “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Good Times Roll,” and “Let’s Go.” Singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek formed the band in Boston with bassist/singer Ben Orr. […]
Donna Summer (December 31, 1948 — May 17, 2012) was an American soul-funk singer. She began performing in the late 1960s with soul and R&B ensembles before relocating to Europe, where she joined the Munich-based musical Hair cast and recorded her early solo work. Her breakthrough came with the 1975 single “Love to Love You […]
Tony Williams (1945–1997) was an American jazz drummer who emerged in the second Miles Davis Quintet. As Anthony Williams, he cut the 1965/66 Blue Note albums Life Time and Spring. After Miles, Williams formed Lifetime, a pioneering jazz-rock band that cut the 1969–72 Polydor albums Emergency!, Turn It Over, Ego, and The Old Bum’s Rush. […]
Andy Pratt is an American singer/songwriter from Boston, best known for the song “Avenging Annie” as his acclaimed 1976 album Resolution. Background He was born Andrew S. Pratt on January 25, 1947; the youngest of four children borne to educator Edwin Howard Baker Pratt (1913–1975) and Monte Carlo-born Aileen Kelly (1915–1976). The elder Pratt served […]
Ultimate Spinach was an American psychedelic rock band that released three 1968–69 albums on MGM. Formed in Boston by singer–guitarist Ian Bruce-Douglas, the group emerged as part of MGM’s so-called “Bosstown Sound,” a marketing campaign aimed at positioning Boston as a rival psychedelic hub to San Francisco. Their self-titled debut introduced a dense, effects-driven sound […]
Earth Opera was an American psych-rock band from Boston that released the 1968/69 Elektra albums Earth Opera and The Great American Eagle Tragedy. 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) Background Earth Opera formed in […]
Band X was an American jazz-rock/space-rock band from Massachusetts that released an album titled The Best of Band X in 1976 on Broken Records before evolving into the Craig Peyton Group. Members: Craig Peyton (vibraphone, vocals, percussion; b. 1953; New Canaan, Connecticut), multi-instrumentalist Alan Grzyb (bassoon, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, backing vocals), bassist/trombonist […]
Peter Ivers (September 20, 1946 — March 3, 1983) was an American musician and songwriter from Boston who released the 1969 Epic album Knight of the Blue Communion, followed by the 1974–76 Warner albums Terminal Love and Peter Ivers. As a songwriter, he co-wrote “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” for the 1977 David […]
Appaloosa was 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 […]
The Freeborne was an American psych-rock band from Boston that released the 1968 album Peak Impressions on Monitor Records. Formed by five classically trained teenage multi-instrumentalists, they blended baroque pop, blues, acid rock, and jazz into a studio-driven sound reflective of the “Bosstown Sound” scene. Members: Bob Margolin (guitar), Nick Castoln (guitar, keyboard, vocals, recorder, […]
Listening was an American psychedelic rock band from Boston that released a self-titled album in 1968 on Vanguard. Members: Michael Tschudin (keyboards, organ, vocals), Peter Malick (guitar), Walter Powers (bass), Ernie Kamanis (drums, vocals) Background Listening emerged as part of the Bosstown Sound, a nomenclature for Boston-area psychedelic talent. Bassist Walter Powers hailed from The […]
The Stark Reality was an American jazz-rock/psych band from Boston that released the 1970 double-album …Discovers Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop on AJP, a label launched by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. Vibraphonist Monty Stark led the project, which reinterprets selections from Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop, a 1950s educational program that Carmichael composed for children. Stark arranged […]
Ford Theatre was an American psychedelic rock band behind the 1968/69 albums Trilogy for the Masses and Time Changes on ABC Records. Members: James Altieri (bass), Arthur Webster (guitar), Robert Tamagni (drums), John Mazzarelli (keyboards, vocals), Joe Scott (vocals) Background Ford Theatre formed in 1966 in Milford, Massachusetts, from the lineup of local garage band […]
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 […]
New England was an American hard-rock band from Boston that released a 1979 self-titled album on Infinity, followed by the 1980/81 Elektra albums Explorer Suite and Walking Wild. Members: John Fannon (guitar, vocals), Hirsh Gardner (drums, vocals), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards, vocals), Gary Shea (bass) Background New England formed in the Boston music scene during the […]
Face to Face was an American modern-rock band from Boston that made the 1984/85 Epic albums Face to Face and Confrontation, followed by the 1988 Mercury release One Big Day. Their first album spawned the video hits “10-9-8” and “Under the Gun.” Members: Laurie Sargent (vocals), Stuart Kimball (guitar, keyboards), Angelo Petraglia (guitar, keyboards), John […]
Quill was an American psych-rock band from Massachusetts that released a 1970 album on Cotillion. Drummer Roger North played in a later edition of the Holy Modal Rounders. Members: Dan Cole (vocals, guitar, trombone), Norm Rogers (guitar, bass, cello, vocals), Jon Cole (bass, guitar, vocals), Phil Thayer (keyboards, bass, saxophone, vocals), Roger North (drums, vocals) […]
The Remains were an American garage-rock band from Boston that released a self-titled album on Epic and scored a 1966 regional hit with “Don’t Look Back,” later anthologized on the original Nuggets. Members: Barry Tashian (lead vocals, guitar), Bill “Billy” Briggs (keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Vern Miller (bass, guitar, vocals), Rudolph “Chip” Damiani (drums, vocals, 1964–66; […]
Wilkinson Tri-Cycle was an American hard-rock trio that released a self-titled album in 1969 on Date Records. Members: Richard Porter (vocals, bass), David Mello (guitar), Michael Clemens (drums) Background Wilkinson Tri-Cycle formed in 1968 in Long Island as a powertrio of bassist/vocalist Richard Porter, guitarist David Mello, and drummer Michael Clemens. They played club dates […]
Phluph was an American psychedelic rock band that released a 1968 self-titled album on Verve. Members: Lee Dudley (vocals, drums), Ben Blake (vocals, guitar), John Pell (vocals, bass), Joel Maisano (vocals, organ) Background Phluph formed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the late-60s “Bosstown Sound,” a short-lived marketing push that positioned Boston’s psychedelic scene (Chamaeleon […]
Orchestra Luna was an American operatic art-rock septet from Boston that released a self-titled album in 1975 on Epic, produced by Rupert Homes. 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), […]
Marianus was an American symphonic-rock singer and multi-instrumentalist who released the 1981 album Visions From Out of the Blue on private label Jupiter Phonodisc and fronted the Invisible Light Band. Members: Marianus (lead vocals, Mellotron, synthesizers, saxophone), Joe Fazio (guitar, vocals), Jeff Pevar (guitar), Steve Perry (guitar), Jack Petrycki (keyboards, vocals), Joseph Blair Mudarri (bass, […]
Chamaeleon Church was 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 […]
Orpheus was an American psychedelic rock band behind the 1968/69 MGM albums Orpheus, Ascending, and Joyful, followed by a 1971 eponymous fourth album on Bell Records. Members: Bruce Arnold (vocals, guitar), Jack McKenes (vocals, guitar), Eric “The Snake” Gulliksen (bass), Harry Sandler (drums) Orpheus emerged in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Orpheus Orpheus released their self-titled […]
David Batteau (born June 25, 1949) is an American singer/songwriter from Boston who recorded an album apiece with the bands Batteaux and Nómo. As a solo artist, he released the album Happy in Hollywood on A&M in 1976. Discography: Happy in Hollywood (1976)
Jeff & Jane Hudson are an American husband/wife minimal wave duo from Boston that cut two 1979 singles as The Rentals on self-press Rent/Rental. Under their own names, they issued two 1981 shortplayers on Manhattan small-press Infidelity. One further single and the 1983 album Flesh appeared on eponymous-press J & J Records. Members: Jane Hudson […]
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, […]
November Group was an American new wave band from Boston, named after the 1910s German expressionist group. They made the 1982/83 synthpop EPs November Group and Persistent Memories, followed by the 1985 A&M mini-album Work That Dream. Members: Ann Prim (vocals, guitar, songwriter, arranger), Kearney Kirby (synthesizer, bass, backing vocals, songwriter, arranger), Alvin Long (drums), […]
The Year of the Ear was an American jazz-rock band that released a 1975 eponymous album on the self-operated Bent Records, followed by the 1978/79 Arista Novus titles Looking for That Groove and Have You Heard. Their leader, former Swampgas guitarist Baird Hersey, made the 1980 solo electronic album ODO OP8 FX. Background The Year […]
Mad Cliff — alternately spelled Madcliff — is the moniker of an American soul-funk project released as a 1977 album on the tax-scam label Guinness Records. Background Mad Cliff entered the discographic record in 1977 as the name attached to a self-titled Guinness album centered on singer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Hills (b. July 18, 1946), […]
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic were an American avant-rock band from Boston that released two EPs and the 1984 album Magnetic Flip on Ace of Hearts. They reappeared in 1989 with Faultline on Cuneiform, which carried followups and solo titles through the 2006 disc Extreme Spirituals. Members: Erik Lindgren (piano, synthesizer, Farfisa organ, sampling, percussion, drum programming, […]
Cynara was an American post-psych rock band from Boston that released a 1970 self-titled album on Capitol. Members: Jeffrey Watson (vocals, percussion), Michael Tschudin (keyboards), Cal Hill (bass), Les Lumley (percussion), Chip White (drums) Background Cynara formed in 1970 when keyboardist Michael Tschudin, formerly of the Boston group Listening, assembled vocalist–percussionist Jeffrey Watson, bassist Cal Hill, […]
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 […]
Prince Charles & The City Beat Band were an American synth-funk group that released the 1980 album Gang War on Solid Platinum Records, followed by the 1982–84 Virgin albums Stone Killers! and Combat Zone. Members: Prince Charles Alexander, Kim Davis Background Prince Charles & the City Beat Band formed in Boston in 1979 when manager […]
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 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 […]
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, […]
