RIP, Mr. Delp

When Young Blonde Chatterbox was 3, his mom used to play several albums while cleaning the house. YBC would sit on the living room floor get his first music lessons from Heart, Fleetwood Mac and Boston.

When Fifth Grade Fatty was 9, he sat in the back of his folks' old black cadillac when they put in an eight-track of Boston's first album.

"I've heard this before," FGF said from the backseat.

"Funny, I played this album all the time when you were little," said his Moms.

So everyday for the next year, Lead Singer Dreamer would go out to the car for a little bit to play the eight-track of Boston. More than A Feeling. Hitch a Ride. Let Me Take You Home Tonight. Rock 'n Roll Band. The whole thing.

When Still Fat Munch was 13 and a tad scared sh*tless to fly to Germany, his Nan told him not to worry, that God would send him a sign.

It may sound corny, but SFM used to sleep with the radio on all night, and at 2 a.m., Tired Chub Scaredy-Cat woke up to More Than a Feeling. Sign. Check.

Same thing happened five years later, on the night before a class trip to Rome. Growth-spurt Teen Still-not-getting-any woke up to More Than A Feeling. He immediately knew everything would be OK.

So when OMS woke up this morning, the sun was literally gone. It's cloudy, but that's beside the point. He read this, from the AP:

ATKINSON, N.H. - Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston, was found dead Friday in his home in southern New Hampshire. He was 55.

Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. and found Delp dead. Lt. William Baldwin said in a news release that there was no indication of foul play.

"There was nothing disrupted in the house. He was a fairly healthy person from what we're able to ascertain," Police Chief Philip Consentino told WMUR-TV.

Delp apparently was alone at the time, Baldwin said.

The cause of death remained under investigation. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday.

Delp sang on Boston's 1976 hits "More than a Feeling" and "Long Time." He also sang on Boston's most recent album, "Corporate America," released in 2002.

Mr. Delp had fantastic range. His vocals were looped over and over on each album. The band infused this with dueling arena rock guitar licks among sweet synthesizer solos. Everything meshed in perfect rock goodness.

They touched on themes about chicks ("Now I'm not like this, I'm really kind of shy, but I get this feelin' when ever you walk by"), smoking ("Smokin! Smokin!" -- seriously, what a f*cking jam on that one), keeping your head up ("Can't you see there'll come a day when it won't matter, come a day when you'll be gone") and making it as a band ("Playin' all the bars and sleepin' in our cars yeah we practiced right on out in the street").

Man the Old Man loved him some Brad Delp and Boston.

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Currently listening to: Hitch a Ride, Boston.