----------------------- Feature • Fran Cosmo --------------------- Life Beyond Boston By Deborah Kennedy py with their performance. He always wants to make it better. He’ll have an incredible night, the crowd is Imagine, if you will, 1980. It was the year of The jumping up and down for him, and he’ll turn to us and Empire Strikes Back, Raging Bull and Nine to Five. worry, ‘Did I sound okay?’ Also of Mt. Saint Helens and the Post-it® Note. That “Fran doesn’t have a technical background, but if same year, we found out who shot J.R. We also discovered that 24-hour news, courtesy of CNN, could lead to some pretty ridiculous programming. Another noteworthy happening from that rich period in our country’s popular culture was the fact that Fran Cosmo, otherwise known as the former lead singer of Boston, got his first big music business break. In 1980, Cosmo (a.k.a. Francis Cosmo Migliaccio) was approached by Barry Gou- dreau, guitarist for Boston, about working on Goudreau’s debut solo album. Cosmo jumped at the chance to work with Goudreau, and three years later their collaboration led to the forma- tion of a new act, Orion the Hunter. The self-titled debut Cosmo and Goudreau released shortly thereafter might not have made Orion the Hunter a household name, but it did give radio listeners the hit single “So You Ran” and scored the group a tour of the U.S. with Aerosmith for their Back in the Saddle tour. Cosmo’s collaboration with Goudreau also got his foot in the door with Boston, at the time an unstoppable force in the world of classic rock, and seven years later Cosmo was invited to join Boston as lead singer, Brad Delp hav- FRAN COSMO ing left the band w/PARADISE to pursue other projects. (One Thursday, Sept. 27 • 8 p.m. of those proj- DeKalb County Free Fall Fair ects was fronting Main Stage, Downtown Auburn Goudreau’s new band, RZT. Small Admission: Free world, ain’t it?) www.dekalbcountyfair.org Cosmo, who will take the stage Thursday, September 27 at the DeKalb County Free Fall Fair, took the helm on Boston’s fourth studio album, Walk On, which dropped in 1994. And while the album did not chart as high as previous Boston efforts, it produced the single “I Need Your Love” and helped Cosmo solidify his status in the band. For the he says he’s hearing something wrong with a speaker next 10 years he toured with Boston, sharing vocal du- on the other side of the stage, we go check it out. He’s ties with Delp who returned to the group in 1995 in got super hearing. Dogs ask him, ‘Did you hear some- preparation for its Livin’ For You tour. thing?’” Delp, who killed himself in 2007, was widely In 2006, Cosmo teamed up with his son, Anthony credited with helping Boston achieve its unique blend (who also became one of Boston’s rapidly rotating of hard and progressive rock. Big shoes to fill, in other slate of guitarists), to form the band Cosmo, along words, but Cosmo was undaunted, and threw himself with Bernie Garzio, Rusty Fouke, Mick Brooks and into his new role, both as solo frontman and as Delp’s Tom Moonan. The group soon put out the noisy, me- vocal partner. lodic rock record Alien and has been touring ever Tom Scholz, the brains behind Boston and the since. band’s lead guitarist since its formation in the early Cosmo, who also sings with the World Clas- 70s, said of Cosmo, “Fran has a really good ear for sic Rockers, is currently hard at work on a new solo recorded and live sound.” album and basking in the glow of the raves over the According to another of Cosmo’s former Boston recent reissue of Orion the Hunter from Rock Candy bandmates, that’s understating it just a bit. Records. Classic Rock AOR Magazine gave the al- “Fran’s an easy going guy with a big heart,” said bum a coveted nine out of 10 stars, which is saying Gary Pihl, Boston guitarist for the albums Third Stage, something. The rag is notoriously hard to please. Walk On, Greatest Hits and Corporate America. Cosmo, on the other hand, has a reputation for be- “Nothing seems more important to him than family ing a pretty laid back guy. He lives with his wife and and friends … He was born with such musical in- daughter in upstate New York. He gets to play along- stinct. You can’t learn it. You can’t teach it, he’s just side his son in an internationally known rock band. got it. But Fran is one of those guys who is never hap- And soon, he’ll be playing in our own backyard. September 20, ’12 ------------------------------------------------------------- www.whatzup.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------5.