Tommy DeCarlo will be performing at Glen Burtnik's 19th Xmas Xtravaganza, according to Tommy's official site.

Glen Burtnik's XMAS XTRAVAGANZA is an annual holiday concert which benefits area food banks and other worthwhile charities. The show has grown larger each year, evolving into a New York-New Jersey area tradition not to be missed.

It features a colorful cast of characters which changes from year to year, but in the past has included such luminaries as Patty Smyth, John McEnroe, Phoebe Snow, Marshall Crenshaw, The Patti Smith Band, Fred Schneider (B-52's), Jill Sobule, Idina Menzel, Jeffrey Gaines, Freedy Johnston, Dan Bern, John Waite, Curtis Stigers, STYX, Mary Lee Kortes, and Willie Nile, among others. Last year's show featured over 100 performers.

Glen Burtnik's 19th Xmas Xtravaganza
Saturday, December 19, 2009 - 7:30 PM
Count Basie Theatre
99 Monmouth Street
Red Bank, NJ 07701
732-842-9000

More Info: xmasxtravaganza.org

For a limited time, you can download the latest single by Stryper for free.

Stryper, which is led by Boston vocalist Michael Sweet, is giving away their latest single for free on their official site. Between December 03 and 13 at 9pm EST, you can  download the song Alive, which is from their latest album Murder By Pride. To get the song, go to www.stryper.com/alive/index.htm

It will ask for an email address and access code (the code is 777).

Well Christmas is around the corner and Tommy DeCarlo has recorded a song for the holidays.

I Can't Wait Till Christmas Day! is an original recording by Tommy DeCarlo and The M Players.  You can hear this tune by playing the YouTube video.

If you're a regular visitor to this site, you may have noticed some changes. This site has undergone many changes over the years, some good and some I'd rather forget. While the most obvious change is the appearance, there is much more than that that has changed.

The navigation has not changed too much. The general layout has been kept the same as it has been for a long time, but more of the content has been grouped together to make it easier to get to what you want. The links to pages are now easier to understand. Instead of a bunch of numbers, you can actually see by looking at the link what the page is about.  While the links have changed, if you follow an older style link (ie /content/view/348/54/) it will take you to the updated link. The notable exception is the RSS feed. If you currently subscribe to the News Feed via RSS you will need to use the updated link. Just click on the "RSS News Feed" link on the main page.

Commenting is now enabled (again). If you recall when this site was relaunched in June 2007, commenting was enabled, however due to some issues, I disabled it.  The commenting system is now powered by Disqus. This service also allows commenters to manage comments posted across many sites (any site that uses this service).

The videos have undergone a change as well. I've spent many hours going through the archives and reprocessing all the videos. The videos, which were previously offered as Windows Media, are now in the Flash Video format. This means that anybody who has the Flash plugin on Windows, Mac or Linux can watch the videos.  The videos are now available with two options -- "Normal Quality" and "High Quality". The normal quality is similar to what was offered in Windows Media format, while the high quality has a higher resolution and bitrate. The audio section has also been changed. The audio is higher quality and as with the video, now uses Flash.

Hope you like the changes.


Mike

Wolfgang's Vault has made some classic Boston shows available for purchase online. The shows can be purchased as mp3 or FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). There are currently three shows available, all from the King Buscuit Flower Hour recordings:

Live @ Spectrum - Philadelphia, CA (Dec 18, 1976)
Live @ Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA (Mar 16, 1977) - Early Show
Live @ Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA (Mar 16, 1977) - Late Show

The FLAC versions cost more, but will give you better quality than mp3. If you don't have the ability to play FLAC files, you can get the CODEC at flac.sourceforge.net

Tom Scholz appeared as a guest host on Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock on October 19th. You can listen to the podcast at http://paulshaffersdayinrock.com/blog/?p=782

musicradar.com has compiled a list of 29 music legends who use Les Paul guitars. Tom Scholz was featured in the second part of this list:
www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/29-les-paul-legends-part-2-221943/3#content

Tom Scholz was just your average MIT graduate and senior product design engineer for Polaroid when he recorded some demos in his basement with a little band he called Boston.

That group (and their self-titled album) would enjoy one of the biggest debuts in music history. Key to their sound is a 1957 Les Paul goldtop Scholz bought for $300.

While Scholz also became famous for inventions such as the Rockman and Power Soak, his dense, multi-tracked rhythms and soaring solos would be unthinkable without his goldtop (which sports a Mighty Mouse decal) and a '68 model he purchased as a backup.

Scholz keeps P-90s in the neck position of his Les Pauls, but he installed DiMarzio Super Distortion humbuckers at the bridge to minimize RF interference from stage lights. In addition, the bridges are outfitted with "gang tuning wheels" to allow for accurate pitch during outdoor shows.

Once a tinkerer, always a tinkerer.

Tom Scholz & Gary Pihl of BOSTON will be featured on television spots promotion the New Bostonians Community Day Sept. 23rd.

If you're not able to watch these PSAs on Ch. 7 and Fox locally, here's a clip to enjoy.  Tom and Gary appear at the end.

Melodic Rock Concerts, a site that features concert reviews, photos and interviews, is having their first contest. You can enter to win a T-shirt autographed by BOSTON member Tommy DeCarlo.  For details on how to enter, head on over to their site.

Deadline to enter is August 31, so don't wait!

If you missed the extensive interview with Tom Scholz on Lost 45s, you can catch it in on the Interviews page.