Has Tom Scholz Gone Around the Bend?
Boston founder Tom Scholz deserves respect. Great songs, distinctive new guitar sound – my hat’s off to him for that. But he’s gone a little Howard Hughes over the years, from taking for-freakin’-ever to gets sounds, songs and albums done (worse than Eric Johnson!), to preaching about animal rights all over CD booklets.
And then there’s the whole Brad Delp thing. After Brad committed suicide in 2007, several news stories were published about how Scholz was suing or threatening to sue Brad’s wife and Connie Goudreau (Brad’s wife’s sister and the wife of ex-Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau) over allegedly malicious statements made about Tom regarding Brad’s death.
Most recently, a fan who started Boston-related chatrooms/forums received a note from Tom’s legal eagles basically amounting to a “cease and desist” because other fans allegedly posted things on the site Scholz found offensive or hurtful. According to a musicradar.com article, Scholtz’s attorney said he’d seek “substantial monetary damages” unless all references to Scholz and his wife were removed from the forums.
It looks like the site in question was taken down even though technically, under libel and “public figure” criteria, Scholz mostly likely had no legal standing. (You don’t have to be legally right to sue, or threaten to sue. In most legal-type disputes, the well-known adage is, “He who as the most money, wins.”)
Why?
I’ve never understood why famous people get bent about things like the National Enquirer or chatroom gossip. Who cares? Why should they care? Why on Earth would they pay attention to it?
It’s not like they’re special in that regard anyway. People – relatives, neighbors, even friends – are going to say crap about you whether you’re famous or not, or whether you’re successful or not. It’s just human nature.
I honestly could care less about all the drama. Just give people music, Tom. Whine about your feelings to your therapist, your bartender, whoever. Just give us the tunes.
As Guitar Player said, “Tom Scholz is one crazy dude.” Maybe a hamburger would help him feel better.
Articles About Scholz-Related Lawsuits
Category: Tom Scholz/Boston
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