Amanda (Boston song) explained

Amanda
Cover:Amanda single cover.jpg
Caption:The sleeve of the "Amanda" single.
Type:single
Artist:Boston
Album:Third Stage
B-Side:My Destination
Studio:Hideaway and Blue Jay Recording Studios
Genre:Rock
Label:MCA
Producer:Tom Scholz
Prev Title:Feelin' Satisfied
Prev Year:1978
Next Title:We're Ready
Next Year:1986

"Amanda" is a power ballad by American rock band Boston written by Tom Scholz. The song was released as the first single from the band's third album, Third Stage, in 1986, six years after it was recorded.

Although the song did not have a promotional music video, "Amanda" became the band's highest-charting single in the United States and Canada. In the United States, the single entered Billboard Hot 100 on September 27,[1] and topped the charts in November 1986 for two consecutive weeks (the band's only number one on the Hot 100),[2] and also reached number one for three consecutive weeks on the Mainstream Rock chart, in October of the same year,[3] [4] while in Canada, the single topped RPM magazine's Top Singles and Adult Contemporary charts.[5] [6]

It was the band's first officially released single since 1978 and their first released by MCA Records. The 12-string guitar parts are played by Scholz.

Background

Guitarist Tom Scholz recorded the demos in 1980, including the guitar solo that would later be featured in "Amanda". Between then and 1981 Scholz had to rework the song to finish it. He stated:

"Amanda" was not a real woman. Instead, the name was chosen because it flowed well with the lyrics.[7]

Reception

In early 1984 a raw demo of the song was leaked to radio stations via a syndicated satellite feed. Despite the poor audio quality the first new studio Boston song to be heard in six years became the most requested song at AOR (album-oriented rock) stations that played the bootleg. "Amanda" is a relatively rare example of a song that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in or after the 1980s without having a performance music video made for it.[8] An interview for British television, made while the band was promoting the Third Stage album, does show a couple of minutes of a music video near the end. The band does not appear in that video, which intersperses shots of a model smiling for the camera with special effects footage of the band's spaceship logo flying over the Boston skyline. One shot shows the animated spaceship almost colliding with the John Hancock Tower. Despite being released in that country, the single failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart.[9]

The song was eventually certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association with sales of over 50,000 units.[10]

Cash Box called it a "romantic ballad that features...Tom Scholz' trademark guitar" and a "pretty and memorable song."[11] Classic Rock critic Paul Elliott rated "Amanda" as Boston's 5th greatest song.[12]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1986–1987)Peak
position
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report)[13] 25
Japanese Singles (Oricon)[14] 98
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[15] 29

Year-End charts

Notes and References

  1. Boston chart history. .
  2. Web site: Boston Chart History: Hot 100. Billboard Magazine. 2019-10-16.
  3. Web site: Boston Chart History: Mainstream Rock Songs. Billboard Magazine. 2019-10-16.
  4. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn . The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits . 9th . 2010 . Originally published in 1983 . . 978-0-8230-8554-5 . 81.
  5. November 29, 1986 . Adult Contemporary . . 45 . 10 . PHP . 0315-5994 . July 10, 2011 .
  6. December 6, 1986 . 100 Singles . . 45 . 11 . PHP . 0315-5994 . July 10, 2011 .
  7. Web site: The Story of BOSTON's "Amanda". My Rock Mixtapes. October 14, 2016 . July 25, 2021.
  8. Web site: The Top 10 Hits the Band Wishes Didn't Exist . 2010-06-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100625151956/http://www.spike.com/blog/top-10-hits-band/96886 . 2010-06-25 . dead .
  9. Web site: Boston singles. officialcharts.com. 2013-09-27.
  10. Web site: Gold & Platinum Database Results . Music Canada . . ASPX . July 10, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120323092618/http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Amanda&ica=False&sa=Boston&sl=&smt=0&sat=-1&ssb=Artist . March 23, 2012 .
  11. Single Releases. Cash Box. September 20, 1986. 2022-08-04. 9.
  12. Web site: The 10 Greatest Boston Songs Ever. March 10, 2016. Elliott, Paul. 2022-06-17. Louder Sound. Classic Rock.
  13. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6.
  14. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9. ja.
  15. Web site: SA Charts 1965 - 1989: Songs A-B . 17 January 2018.