BEGINNERS ONLY was a Boston-based band that flourished from 1983-1986. They were one group of first-time original rockers from the suburbs in a big, sprawling scene. Post-punk was dominant and popular in town, and Beginners Only were duly influenced by The Neighborhoods, R.E.M., Husker Du, and The Replacements, and other heroes of the day.

The group had a classic Boston-scene experience and left a legacy similar to that of other local bands of the time. 72 local club gigs saw them improve and rise from weeknight openers to, ah, weekend openers. The usual milestones were achieved: basement tapes, live-radio broadcasts, increasingly accomplished studio recordings, better bookings, and notices in the local music press.

Only one recording was properly published. When It Strikes made its way onto a compilation LP of mostly local acts, None Whatsoever on young, start-up label Vacant Lot.

As is the story with so many young, inexperienced bands, along came the eventual line-up changes, frustration, and disbandment. But, listening back to the tapes, twenty years later, the music sounds good, like it deserved a better chance.

Early supporters in local college radio were WUML (then WJUL), now celebrating the 20th anniversary of their live-music broadcast show Live from the Fallout Shelter (originated by Chris Porter and Bob Weston who, respectively, managed the band and later played in it) with a two-CD retrospective taken from those many sessions. Beginners Only has the lead-off track, as they were the first band to perform on the show. That inaugural transmission was on April 1, 1985. On June 10 of that year, Beginners Only became the first band to play for a second time on the show. Twenty Years in the Fallout Shelter came out in July 2010, also including BegO's wobbly rendition of Me and the Government.

This inspired some original members to reform for a recording project, hoping finally to do those tunes a bit of justice. The resulting album on CD, Beginners Only Songs by Ad Boc & Paul Cerqua, was released in September 2011 on Crimson Spiral Records.