The Quintessential Song of the 70s

It started as a conversational gambit at a party where I know all but one or two guests in only the vaguest ways, and most not at all. What s the quintessential 70s song? I asked. Not the best song, not the biggest song, but the song that is most fully of the decade, but at the same time does not transcend it.

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BOSTON shows, myths, and truths

In spite of recent misleading ads claiming BOSTON appearances and even reunions of original members, BOSTON is not touring or performing this year. While we're off this summer, several of our members are involved with other projects that are worth catching if you can:

Michael Sweet is touring with Stryper this fall in support of Stryper's new album "Murder by Pride." The tour marks their 25th Anniversary. Gary Pihl and I hope to catch up with them to sit in at some point. http://www.michaelsweet.com/

Also, Gary Pihl is compiling a series of good quality video clips from live shows soon to be available here on bandboston.com, watch for it!

We are hoping to embark on another major BOSTON tour next year. Meanwhile, I am finally back working to complete the next BOSTON studio album with some help from the gang, and I think you are really going to like it!

But I'm telling you it's not BOSTON...

As many of you know, numerous dates have been announced for the band Cosmo, but have been promoted using the name, logo, or even the recorded music of BOSTON, which may have confused some as to whether BOSTON would be performing.

Fran Cosmo has explained that he was unaware that BOSTON's name, logo, or music were being used by his agent to promote Cosmo as BOSTON. While most of it has stopped, there are still some problems with unauthorized use of the name BOSTON in connection with some scheduled Cosmo performances.

Cosmo's extensive covers of older BOSTON songs recorded prior to Fran's involvement raised some eyebrows, but as long as these shows are not promoted in a misleading way using BOSTON, we see no problem with their performance of a few BOSTON songs, and wish them luck with their summer tour.

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Ten Famous People You Didn't Know Were Engineers

Herbert Hoover Before he was a reviled US president, Herbert Hoover was an engineer. That's right, Hoover was a US president who was also an engineer. Hoover started out at Stanford in 1891, before there were such awesome things like the 1900s. He then got down to work, getting a job as a mining engineer in Australia. The bad-ass factor doesn't stop there: he then went to work in the Chinese mining industry, reportedly becoming China's leading engineer and learned to speak Mandarin! He started a few mining companies and became a well-regarded consultant. He even wrote the book on mining, 'Principles of Mining', published in 1909. Afterwards, he got more and more involved with government work, before finally becoming president (after helping to feed millions of starving people during and after World War I). It's not quite as good as, say, community organizer, or alcoholic failed businessman, but it got him the job. It just goes to show, the presidents of yesteryear could kick the asses of the current crop ten times before they hit the ground.

Scott Adams This one is perhaps the most obvious one, but the man that entertains millions of cube monkeys in soul crushing jobs with comics about a group of engineers was himself once an engineer. While theoretically he received degrees in economics and an MBA, Adams worked as a software engineer from '79-'86. He published his first Dilbert comic strip in 1989, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Neil Armstrong That's right, the first man on the moon was an engineer! Now you have something to bring up on dates and at dinner parties. Armstrong majored in aerospace engineering at Purdue University, which he followed up with a master's in aerospace from the University of Southern California. What did he do with his engineering degree? He joined the navy and trained as a pilot. What happened next? The Korean war happened. Armstrong was shipped out and promptly shot down. While making a low bombing run his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire, shearing off an estimated six feet from his wing. He managed to nurse the aircraft back to friendly territory and ejected. Now that's engineering. He later became a test pilot, and finally an astronaut before landing on the moon and uttering one of the most repeated and quoted phrases in human history.

Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter was a US president and a nuclear engineer. Carter went to the Georgia Institute of Technology and the US Naval Academy. In the navy, he focused on submarines (the ships, not the sandwiches, although we can't rule out the occasional submarine sandwich as part of his regimen). He was chosen for the nuclear submarine program and did graduate work in reactor technology and nuclear physics. Apparently he was also part of a team that cleaned up a nuclear accident in Canada's Chalk River Laboratories. Maybe if he used his nuclear engineering prowess to create an army of nuclear powered robots to rescue those embassy hostages, he would still be president today.

Alfred Hitchcock Before he was a film director,Hitchcock studied mechanical and electrical engineering at St. Ignatius' College and the University of London. His first job out of school was as an estimator for the Henley Cable and Telegraph Company in London. But it was not to be. Soon after, he saw his first motion picture and, inspired, start taking art classesat night. The rest is history as he moved up the ranks to directing pictures. It is said that Hitchcock's meticolous attentiont to detail and obsessive planning of all sets and takes stems from his training as an engineer.

Rowan Atkinson You might not guess it from his role as the inept Mr. Bean (and the even more inept Black Adder), but Rowan Atkinson finished electrical and electronics engineering at Newcastle University before getting his Masters in engineering at Oxford! (Now pause to imagine Mr. Bean designing the circuits in your computer ... or Mr. Bean working at Boeing ... why didn't they do sketches about that?). So what happened? Well, the call of comedy was too much. Atkinson performed in plays and comedy sketches throughout school. This led to his first TV gig in 1976 and he ran with that career. So there you have it, Rowan Atkinson is probably the smartest celebrity you'll see on TV.

Tom Landry One of the most famous coaches in the NFL was an engineer. You can use that fun fact the next time the football team is giving you a swirly in the bathroom! Landry got his degree in industrial engineering from the University of Texas - Austin, although he had to briefly interrupt his studies to be a bomber pilot in World War II! After that, he became a player in the NFL before starting his coaching career in 1956

Tom Scholz Ever heard of a little band called Boston? Yep, Tom Scholz, the guitarist and songwriter, has an engineering degree. Before he got famous, he finished both his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT! He then worked for a while at Polaroid as a product design engineer. While working for Polaroid, he started recording music in his basement, and eventually got a record deal. Oh yeah, while he was touring the world and all that, he invented and developed the Rockman guitar amplifier, which is still being manufactured and sold today (and his signature is still on the unit).

Montel Williams Not only does he have the shiniest head on television, he also has an engineering degree. He may be all touchy-feely on the tube, but Montel started off his career by enlisting in the Marine Corps! After a while he got into the United States Naval Academy and graduated with a degree in 1980. After that he went to work as a cryptology officer and spent 12 years in the navy. So chances are, he can kick your ass, but at least he can probably also help you deal with the emotional pain afterwards.

Ashton Kutcher This one is controversial, since Kutcher didn't actually finish his degree. Then again, we are talking about Kelso here. He majored in biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa. We'll also give him props for his motivation for going: apparently he was inspired by a desire to cure his brother's heart ailment. Although, in his own words, he was like totally drunk the entire time, so we can't be sure how seriously he took his quest. But there you have it, before he was Mr. Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher was a biochemical engineer.

(Honorable Mention) Cindy Crawford This barely deserves a mention, but before she was a supermodel, Cindy Crawford attended Northwestern Univeristy to study Chemical Engineering. She attended on a scholarship too. She dropped out after a semester to go into modelling full-time, which worked out pretty well, I guess. And to think of all the dating opportunities she missed out on by not sticking with engineering.

Bad blood lingers for locals in  Boston band feud

SWAMPSCOTT - Brad Delp, the former lead crooner for the band Boston took his own life two years ago on March 9, 2007, but his death hasn t healed old wounds.

Former band member and founder of the group Donald Thomas Scholz has filed a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court alleging Delp s ex-wife Micki and her sister Connie Goudreau of Swampscott, made defamatory statements against Scholz regarding Delp s death.

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Kyle Rae Sweet 1956 - 2009

MARCH 6, 2009 - Kyle Rae Sweet has passed on after losing her battle with ovarian cancer at the age of 52. She passed away at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 5, 2009.

We ask that if you wish to express your sympathies within an e-mail that you send them to the following e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Kyle was diagnosed with with stage 4 ovarian cancer in February 2007.

Kyle's life was dedicated to caring for her husband and home-schooling their two children Michael Jr., 22, and Ellena, 18. Her heart's desire was for their children to attend college. To best honor Kyle's work as a home-school mom there has been a fund set up called The Sweet Children's College Fund.

A private funeral service will be held in the coming days.

Michael Sweet is a well-known musician and vocalist, best known as the co-founder and frontman of the band Stryper. Sweet is also a guitarist and vocalist for BOSTON.