Brad Delp
Haven’t posted in a while. Have about 6 false starts saved up (everything from Deval Patrick fulfilling all my prophecies to work-related bullshit), but I decided I’d finally post a little note to say goodbye to Brad Delp.
The lead singer of the band Boston, I met Brad when I was working in radio in the city of, coincidentally enough, Boston. Working Marketing/Promotions for a Classic Rock station just when Classic Rock was experiencing a revival means that I met a lot of artists. Some were funny (Meatloaf’s response to a hot saleswoman asking if she should call him Meatloaf or Mr. Loaf: “You can call me Meat”), some were assholes (Joe Perry of Aerosmith was an arrogant ass who treated the radio station staff like his personal bitches) but Brad was genuinely a nice guy. There were other nice guys (Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was friendly as could be, unlike his guitarist buddy), but only Brad came across as completely genuine. I can only nod my head in agreement at the message on Boston’s website: “We’ve just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll.”
Tom Scholz is the technical genius of the band, but Brad was the heart. When I met Brad, Boston had just released their “Best Of” album with a couple of new songs, but Brad was focused on his Beatles-tribute band, Beatle Juice. They played several gigs for our radio station and they’ve continued to play at all kinds of venues for longer than the last decade. They are generally considered the best Beatle’s cover band around, and you could feel Brad’s love of the Beatles every time he stepped up to the mic. Just the other day, I’d heard an ad on the radio for an upcoming Beatle Juice show in my neck of the woods.
Brad wouldn’t recognize me or remember me, we weren’t friends or even acquaintances, we’d met only on business, but he’s always stayed in my mind as one of the few rock personalities I’ve met who I liked. It struck me that he wasn’t hung up on his fame or attempting to recapture some lost past, he was just happy because he could sing the songs of his favorite band for an appreciative audience. He was a true fan and a great musician. Goodbye Brad.
March 14th, 2007 18:33
A few years ago, Bravo had a reality show about making a sitcom, and were having a contest to try to get into the final 2.
I had talked about writing a pilot for many years about my experiences in grad school and how fucked up the whole thing was to me, but the contest was the impetus that actually got me to start writing it.
On the first page of my script when talking about the intro with theme music, there was only one song that I would allow to be the centralized theme to the show.
That was Boston’s “Peace of Mind”. I think something that gets lost in all the sadness is the fact that the man could really hit the high notes, basically in sync with Scholz’s screaming guitar sounds.
The solo for More than a Feeling was the first solo I ever learned on a guitar, but I will never be able to hit those notes, and even if I could, I couldn’t with his clarity.
Truly sad.
March 14th, 2007 23:22
He had an amazing voice and even as age and use took away his ability to hit the high notes (much as it was taken from Robert Plant and Roger Daltry), he managed to joke about the loss of his range. I read about him saying how great it was to tour with Boston and the other Boston vocalist from “Walk On”, Fran Cosmo. Yet Fran Cosmo couldn’t reach Brad Delp’s vocal prowess, as evidenced on “Walk On”.
The saddest thing is that appears Brad Delp committed suicide. I caught a moment of news-ticker on NECN tonight and found the article on boston.com…truly sad indeed: http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/03/14/family_rocker_brad_delps_death_was_suicide/