Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia • Page 48

C4 Daily Press, Friday, Sept. 4, 1987 oston some mystery about it to them. It's a classic." Perhaps the response will keep Boston from nodding off-and allowing another half a decade to wander by before tacking together some new wax. Delp doesn't want to discuss the idea. "Well," he begins guardedly, "Tom is very enthused with the tour and the last record and all and I know there's some uncompleted material that we've got recorded we'll just have to see." will perform at 8 p.m.

Sunday at Norfolk Scope. Tickets are $17.50, available at all E-Z Tiks outlets. To charge tickets, call 1-800-448-9009. For more information, call 463-1940. become more important than ever.

In covering all our musical bases, everyone has to be very involved. On the road, Boston is an equal partnership." The road has been good to this five-way partnership. The tour originally was scheduled for nine weeks, but the overwhelming response has prompted the addition of eight more weeks. Original fans, converted in the era of Jimmy Carter and disco, rub elbows with new devotees bored with rap and Max Headroom. "The mix we get at the shows is incredible," observes Delp.

"But everybody knows all the words to our songs. The young kids really get into the stuff from our first album. I think it has If the record's reading material seems slightly out of touch, the grooves explain why. Listening to "Third Stage" is like standing under a three-ton hair blower on high speed. There's enough swoosh to turn even the weightiest of brains into doughy globs caught in a hurricane wind.

The ever-tinkering Scholz produces an even mightier gush of guitar, thanks to his own invention, the Rockman, a sandwich-sized amplifier able to turn a strum into a rocket lift-off. With that kind of artillery on hand, "Third Stage" isn't all bad. "Cool the Engines" sounds like "Born To Be Wild" bucked off a Harley-Davidson and onto a Saturn-scrapping space scooter. Better still, "We're Ready" introduces the band's whomp to children's choir-styled vocal harmonies, making for good, catchy pop fun. Five for the road Not surprisingly, studio hobbits like Scholz and friends shunned MTV and high-profile cinematics.

"We're just not interested in videos," Delp explains. "We're interested in making music." So, it was onto the road. But wait, who was going to make all that glorious Boston in-studio racket? Scholz and Delp were the only original Boston members left by the time "Third Stage" made its bow. So, very quietly, the duo conducted auditions for a touring band. "We didn't want to hire studio musicians who would stand onstage with sheet music and very coldly learn each part," says Delp, who is banging on a keyboard this tour.

"We wanted people who liked each other and who played well together, and that's what we got. "We also paid real close attention to the vocal blend that's slipped out of the studio and into the hands of a few radio stations across the country. So one day I'm in my car, and 'Amanda' comes on the radio, I thought, 'Hey, something's not right But it was a good test-marketing for the new stuff 'Amanda' became the most requested song on every station that sneaked it in." Public response aside, "Third Stage" is one of the dopiest records ever to hit the racks. The liner notes discuss the number of light bulbs blown out in the studio during five years worth of recording sessions, plug organizations like Greenpeace and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and encourage fans to follow in the footsteps of Scholz and Delp and go vegetarian. FANTASTIC WEEKEND ft Continued from Page CI some flat fizzes (Toto's "Hold the as well as moments of laser-powered sharp-shooting (Styx's "Grand With Scholz guiding the control board knobs, Boston beat the best of the quasi-operatic rockers by infusing an airtight laboratory sound with a likable party spirit.

The sonic scope of songs like "Smokin' and "Rock and Roll Band" could decimate car stereo speakers even as the band's enthusiasm brought smiles to drivers, passengers and hubcaps. The tidy fusion of proficiency and spunk charmed radio programmers as well as the public. "Boston certainly shook up the rock world," says Bill Lord, disc jockey at WOFM in Chesapeake. "They sort of followed George Martin and the 'wall of sound' he brought to Beatles' production. Boston played and produced with the 'wall of sound' in mind.

That set the standards for rock musicians, definitely." "The influence was definitely in the sound rather than the style of songwriting," Delp agrees. What the Boston legacy boils down to, then, is a huge tower of guitar amplifiers whitewashed into a smooth ooze. In the hours just before the punk rock fallout, big noise was the only thrill rock had to offer. A decade's wait After releasing a second album, "Don't Look Back," Boston's headlights abruptly switched off. Almost a decade would pass with no word except Scholz's occasional promise that a third album was on the way.

The band's peers Kansas, Styx, Toto eventually crumbled, seemingly burying Boston's future in the rubble. But when everyone had turned his head to catch the wily antics of Madonna and the Talking Heads, Boston rose from the ruins and gave birth to one of 1986's most fawned-over records, "Third Stage." No. 1 spots awaited both the album and its single, "Amanda." This was the moment a bulging gaggle of fans had been eagerly anticipating for almost a decade. "When the record was almost Delp says, "we had a suspicion it would do OK. Somehow, a bootleg of "Amanda" had THIS FRL, MON.

ONLY ALL REMAINING SPRING SUMMER DRESS CASUAL SHOES 1 Roll Call. New stores are opening every day at Patrick Henry Mall. lots of big surprises are in store for our Grand Opening on Oct. 1. Mark the date.

because it will mark a revolutionary new era in shopping on the Peninsula. mm mm Select From These Famous Makers: DEXTER PENALJO LIFE STRIDE CALICO ENNA JETTICKS HURRY! LAST DAY SEPT. 7th NIGHT GOWNS SIZE 1 -4 $4.29 2 PIECE JOGGING SUITS, 1 -4 6.99 INFANT 1 PC. SLEEPERS 3.99 GERRY DIAPER BAG SALE 7.99 LARGE SELECTION OF CRIBS BEAUTIFUL BEDDING ENSEMBLES CAR SEATS HIGH CHAIRS STROLLERS 1 jT---- jar GIFTS Mon, -Sat. 826-4432 919 W.

Mercury Hampton Intersection Mercury Armittead PATRICK HEVRY MALL Jefferson Ave. at 1-64 SALB COMING TO A SIDEWALK NEAR YOU. CHIC JEANS DENIM AND CORDUROY RAYON SHIRTS BRIGHT PRINTS I $997 REGULARLY $30.00 11.97 REGULARLY $38.00 $40.00 Look for the Save a Lot ALL RED DOT SHOES NOW KNII bKIKIb COTTON AND ACRYLICS $00 $300 00 $J00 ARCYLIC SOLIDS AND JACQUARDS 12.97 REGULARLY $36.00 797 REGULARLY $36.00 Values to $30 Values to $50 Values to $60 Values to $100 WE CARRY HARD TO FIND SIZES-NARROW WIDE WIDTHS TAKE AN ADDITIONAL OFF ALL RED DOT CLOTHING DEPARTMENT STORE PRICE $39.00 PERFECT PAIR PRICE $21.90 60 OFF FINAL COST $8.76 Save up to 70 Off Regular Retail Every Day! Newmarket South Mercury 8lvd Newport News 245-3801 Janaf Shopping Center Norfolk Monday-Saturday Visa MC Choice Discover Layaways Gift Certificates PERFEC Loehmann's Plaza Virginia Beach 431-0666 10 am to 9 pm Coming Soon to Richmond Coliseum Crossing Hampton 825-0666 Open Monday-Saturday Coming Soon to Norfolk PAR PRICES GOOD THRU LABOR DAY, SEPTEMBER 7.