#6 Boston Hitch a Ride 1976
More than any other band, Boston reminds me of High School. Although my love for le rock du classique had its roots in exploring Dad's torn and frayed records as I have said before...it really wasn't cemented until around the age of 15 1/2 or so...smack dab in my sophomore year of high school. I have to say that this band was a huge part of it.....when people who wear glasses and stay out of the sun and write about music without ever having playing a note of it...Criticize classic rock....Boston always comes up along with maybe Bad Company, Journey, Aerosmith, Bachman Turner Overdrive and a long list of others...who got lumped into a much despised genre called Arena Rock. Oh no..they filled arenas! Everyone had a good time and tickets were like $7.00 a piece and their songs are still being sung 30 years later. They must really suck!
Close your eyes and try to picture anything by Vampire Weekend or Wolf Parade or Hot Chip sticking in your head 30 years from now.......yeah, I thought so.
Strangely enough, We didn't call it "Classic Rock" in the 80s. Most of everything we rocked out to in the basement bars...in the backs of cars...in the barns and the woods, blaring from ALPINE Car Stereos and Fisher Components was...merely 10 to 15 old at the time, practically New!
First Tier: Zep, Beatles, Stones, Who, Bruce ,Eagles,Fleetwood Mac, Allmans,Doors and even Genesis
Second Tier: Boston, Aerosmith, Bad Company,Police, Talking Heads, Journey, Rush, Steve Miller Band, Frampton,Deep Purple, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty
Third Tier: Foreigner, Triumph,Head East, Duke Jupiter, Kim Mitchell, Ted Nugent, The Friday Song on WCMF, Aldo Nova, The Babys.
Forth Tier: any band in Rochester, NY that covered those bands like Buxx, Reporter, Cheater and The Park Ave. band.
Hitch a Ride was a deep cut off Boston's debut which sold around 15 million or so. I kept coming back to this song because it really does take me on a ride. A rocky ride through the winding neighborhoods of my suburbia, Alpine in CB Schottland's Pontiac STE BLARING.... looking for the next party or our friend with the fake ID. It has a smooth acoustic start, a soaring vocal, then the organ picked you up and you round the turn.....you notice a cop behind you, a short solo, the chorus....can you shake him....yes, hes gone.......you pull into a church parking lot to celebrate and the solo hits you.......YEAH. The guitar solo in Hitch a Ride is one of my top 5 favorite solos....and for good reason. I will be shot out of a hungover Sunday easy chair to assume my AIR GUITAR position EVERY TIME I hear it. For the folks at home...try it with headphones....and listen for the handclaps! GOOSEBUMP RAWK! It takes you to the end of the song....and drops you off safe at home, but sneak in through the back door so you don't set off the motion lights....
I have a picture of me circa 1984 in a bad sweater and my long locks frosted with a broom handle in my hand as I mimic the solo in HITCH A RIDE. I can still do it today but I might hurt my back with the right headbang.
Let me also give vocalist Brad Delp his props. Sadly we lost Brad last year and he never got the respect he deserved.. to be put up there with Fred, Robert and Steve in the classic rock eschelon where he belongs. You will never forget a Boston song because of his God like pipes and harmonies. Strangely, Boston main man Tom Scholz got all of the glory because he made the album in his basement and had a big organ.
Enjoy Hitch a Ride....its now on to the TOP 5!
but first the Top 5 Boston Songs
1) Hitch a Ride
2) Let Me Take You Home Tonight
3) Smokin'
4) Party
5) Foreplay/Long Time
More than any other band, Boston reminds me of High School. Although my love for le rock du classique had its roots in exploring Dad's torn and frayed records as I have said before...it really wasn't cemented until around the age of 15 1/2 or so...smack dab in my sophomore year of high school. I have to say that this band was a huge part of it.....when people who wear glasses and stay out of the sun and write about music without ever having playing a note of it...Criticize classic rock....Boston always comes up along with maybe Bad Company, Journey, Aerosmith, Bachman Turner Overdrive and a long list of others...who got lumped into a much despised genre called Arena Rock. Oh no..they filled arenas! Everyone had a good time and tickets were like $7.00 a piece and their songs are still being sung 30 years later. They must really suck!
Close your eyes and try to picture anything by Vampire Weekend or Wolf Parade or Hot Chip sticking in your head 30 years from now.......yeah, I thought so.
Strangely enough, We didn't call it "Classic Rock" in the 80s. Most of everything we rocked out to in the basement bars...in the backs of cars...in the barns and the woods, blaring from ALPINE Car Stereos and Fisher Components was...merely 10 to 15 old at the time, practically New!
First Tier: Zep, Beatles, Stones, Who, Bruce ,Eagles,Fleetwood Mac, Allmans,Doors and even Genesis
Second Tier: Boston, Aerosmith, Bad Company,Police, Talking Heads, Journey, Rush, Steve Miller Band, Frampton,Deep Purple, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty
Third Tier: Foreigner, Triumph,Head East, Duke Jupiter, Kim Mitchell, Ted Nugent, The Friday Song on WCMF, Aldo Nova, The Babys.
Forth Tier: any band in Rochester, NY that covered those bands like Buxx, Reporter, Cheater and The Park Ave. band.
Hitch a Ride was a deep cut off Boston's debut which sold around 15 million or so. I kept coming back to this song because it really does take me on a ride. A rocky ride through the winding neighborhoods of my suburbia, Alpine in CB Schottland's Pontiac STE BLARING.... looking for the next party or our friend with the fake ID. It has a smooth acoustic start, a soaring vocal, then the organ picked you up and you round the turn.....you notice a cop behind you, a short solo, the chorus....can you shake him....yes, hes gone.......you pull into a church parking lot to celebrate and the solo hits you.......YEAH. The guitar solo in Hitch a Ride is one of my top 5 favorite solos....and for good reason. I will be shot out of a hungover Sunday easy chair to assume my AIR GUITAR position EVERY TIME I hear it. For the folks at home...try it with headphones....and listen for the handclaps! GOOSEBUMP RAWK! It takes you to the end of the song....and drops you off safe at home, but sneak in through the back door so you don't set off the motion lights....
I have a picture of me circa 1984 in a bad sweater and my long locks frosted with a broom handle in my hand as I mimic the solo in HITCH A RIDE. I can still do it today but I might hurt my back with the right headbang.
Let me also give vocalist Brad Delp his props. Sadly we lost Brad last year and he never got the respect he deserved.. to be put up there with Fred, Robert and Steve in the classic rock eschelon where he belongs. You will never forget a Boston song because of his God like pipes and harmonies. Strangely, Boston main man Tom Scholz got all of the glory because he made the album in his basement and had a big organ.
Enjoy Hitch a Ride....its now on to the TOP 5!
but first the Top 5 Boston Songs
1) Hitch a Ride
2) Let Me Take You Home Tonight
3) Smokin'
4) Party
5) Foreplay/Long Time
 | Boston - Hitch a Ride.mp3 3930K Play Download |
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