Tom Scholz

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Tom Scholz
Born	March 10, 1947 (age 60) Toledo, Ohio, USA
Genre(s)	Rock
Affiliation(s)	Boston
Notable guitars	1968 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop
Years active	1975 - present
Official site	Boston

Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947 in Toledo, Ohio, USA) is a guitarist best known as the founder of the rock band Boston.

1 Before Boston
2 Musical success, hiatus, and return
3 Electronics
4 Personal life

[edit] Before Boston

Tom Scholz grew up in Toledo, Ohio, the son of a house builder who garnered considerable wealth from his designs.(Toledo Blade, 1999; Boston Magazine, 2006). Scholz had a penchant for tinkering with everything from go carts to model airplanes, and was always building or designing. A top student and a member of the Varsity basketball team; he graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1965.[1] Prior to his musical career, Scholz received a Masters degree in Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969. He would go on to work for Polaroid as a senior product design engineer.

[edit] Musical success, hiatus, and return

Scholz had a keen interest in music and began recording demos in his makeshift basement studio. These demos attracted the interest of Epic Records who would sign Scholz to a recording deal. Scholz believed his demos were good enough to be the released album, but Epic told him to rerecord the tracks. The first Boston album was recorded by Scholz and a group of studio musicians that he assembled for the project. Most of the guitar, organ, and bass on the album were performed by Scholz (bassist Fran Sheehan and second guitarist Barry Goudreau are on two tracks). Most of the record was recorded in Scholz's basement studio. It was there that he crafted his trademark guitar sound, which became very popular, and also "Top Secret Space Pedals". Epic didn't want the album recorded entirely in Scholz's home, as Scholz intended; they suggested a typical recording studio. But most of what ended up on the album was recorded by Scholz in his basement. The album, released in 1976, would become the biggest selling debut album by any artist up to that time. Scholz's reputation as a perfectionist would delay the followup release for two years. Scholz was unhappy with the second album, Don't Look Back, and claimed it was released under pressure from the record company. Scholz declared he would not be forced to release any more music unless he was completely satisfied with the final product. Consequently, a third Boston album did not appear until 1986. The album entitled Third Stage was a success and featured the high charting single, Amanda. By this time, only Scholz and original Boston vocalist Brad Delp remained from the group that had recorded the band's debut.

Boston played the National Anthem at the Fiesta Bowl in 2002.

[edit] Electronics

In 1980 Scholz formed his own company, Scholz Research & Development, to design and build effects for musical instruments, specifically guitar. His first product called a Power Soak was a success. In 1982 Scholz Research & Development introduced the Rockman - a small "headphone amplifier" which would be a huge commercial success. Over the next 25 years, Scholz would patent 24 electronic and mechanical designs. In 1995 he sold all rights to his products, including the Rockman line, to Dunlop Manufacturing.

[edit] Personal life

Scholz, a vegetarian for 25 years, has been a supporter of many organizations including PETA and Greenpeace. He set up his own charitable foundation in 1987 to help support such causes as: homeless shelters, food banks as well as animal rights and children's rights. Through his work with his foundation he has raised millions of dollars and was a recipient of the Mahatma Gandhi Award in 1987. The National Hospice Organization presented Scholz with their Man of the Year award in 1988.