Thursday video - Boston

Yesterday I did 80's hair metal and today I'm going back another decade to 1970's stadium rock.  Specifically, the song that I would vote as the #1 All-Time Summer Rock Anthem of All-Time -- Boston's "More Than a Feeling."

I mean, you cannot argue with me about that.  The album from which the song came was released on July 25, 1976, which was our nation's Bicentennial and the album went on to sell, by 2003, 17 million copies.  Every single person in America has since 1976 listened to this song over the car radio with the windows rolled down, or perhaps while lounging 1) poolside, 2) lakeside, 3) riverside, or 4) on a boat, or maybe they heard a cover version by a local band at the State Fair.  Or maybe even at the State Fair by Boston itself!  Every aspiring guitar player learns the opening lick within a week of picking up his or her instrument.  And every guy wants to grow a mustache like Brad Delp.*  As far as it being a summer anthem, there is no arguing here.  There is no debate.  When you think of this song, you do not think of fall, or winter, or even spring (well, OK, maybe late spring).  It is summer, all the way.**  

There is one enduring mystery, however, for which I still have not seen a satisfactory answer.  How did "More Than a Feeling" not make it into the soundtrack for Dazed and Confused, the essential period piece for former and wanna-be post-hippies?  It was the movie that defined a generation!***  I mean, it was set in 1976!  The year Boston's first record**** was released!!  Should it not stand to reason that this huge hit would have dominated the soundtrack of every American teenager that summer?  The fact that "More Than a Feeling" didn't make it on to the soundtrack is a miscarriage of justice.  There should be an investigation.  What a travesty!***** 

*  Well, maybe that's just me.
**  And, ironically, I really hate summer.  Especially our recent global-warming summers.  Since I graduated from the last of my educational institutions and recognized that "summer vacation" didn't carry over into the grown-up universe, summer has no longer held any appeal to me.  It is just too freaking hot and humid here in the South.  This is a testament of how much "More Than a Feeling" trumps all other summer anthems: that it represents the season I like the very least, yet still I love it so.
***  Even though it was released in 1993.  At least the director, Richard Linklater, was 16 years old in 1976, so he had some point of reference.
****  For those kids out there, this is what a record is.
*****  Aha!  Trick question!  I totally smoked you, dude!.  I win, one-to-zero!  Ha ha!  See, D&C was about the last day of school in 1976 and if you had been reading this blog post closely, you would have noticed that I noted the day the record was released, which was in late-July!  Yep, you see it now, homie?  Its all about chronology!  The annoying guy Ben Affleck played and McConaughey's pervy dude and that Ukrainian chick would not have known about "More Than a Feeling" yet because it wasn't in record stores yet on the last day of school of 1976.  So there you go.  Mystery solved!