During this morning’s workout a classic Boston song started blasting. While lifting and singing I started thinking about the classic argument, “If someone leaves a band, is it the same band?” Why think about it listening to Boston?  Tom Scholz fooled the record industry by recording all the instruments himself and brought on Brad Delp. Many people recognize the bad by Brad’s unbelievable vocal style. Sadly, Brad passed away in 2007. But in 2017, I saw Boston in concert. No Brad. And yet, it’s still one of the most memorable shows I have attended. 

One can argue without Brad it is not Boston, but I was fine going to see them. I can list dozens of other bands I have gone to see that had a member lineup change.  Some due to death of a member, some to disagreements etc. Some of my favorite bands of all time spent their whole existence in constant flux of members.  Asia’s lineup diagram: 

A four-member band should not have this many lineup changes, but I can say I have seen them with many of these configurations.  

I can see the hate comments already and giving me arguments about certain bands that were never the same etc. Or even post the classic argument about David Lee Roth Van Halen split. These discussions are fine with friends, but after I got passed thinking about Boston, I wondered if there is a parallel between changing lineups in bands and my personal life.  

In our lives we have lineup changes, but this is with friends and coworkers. I look at my life five years ago, ten years ago or even just a year ago, and people have come and gone. Social media has helped (both work and professional) but then there is that theoretical limit. The Dunbar Number which states, you really can only really maintain only one hundred and fifty contacts at one time. So that means in your band, well maybe your orchestra as that is a lot of people, does have lineup changes. Whether it is work contacts, personal contacts or a combination of both, there is movement. It may not be the members swapping in and out like Asia, but it does happen. 

People compliment my connections at work, and I work hard to stay connected with so many people. When I mentor someone, I teach them how to build a contact spreadsheet, but it is not the list that matters, it is reaching out to the people often that is. Just saying hi to someone and checking in on them keeps the network stronger. I note to always preface if it is a work contact with “Not important” or “this is just a check in.” There are always those who I lost touch with, and in many cases I am good with that.  

When I started to write I realized I focused too much on the people who left my band. They could have left by choice, by circumstance or just accident, but my focus was on the loss. I made a conscious choice not to see Queen with Adam Lambert as Freddy was just so amazing that no one could replace him, yet I had no problem seeing four different lineups of Yes. All the reasons I make for not seeing Queen are just excuses, and I am missing experiences. In my personal life some people who I let go of that I wish I did not. But unlike Queen where I can buy a ticket for the next show, it is not that easy.  

I know it will be a challenge; I should focus on the people that are around. I remembered the quote from then Coach Dick Vermil when Trent Greene got injured and the St Louis Rams were going to have to play with Kurt Warner. “”We will rally around Kurt Warner, and we will play good football.”  It seemed to work out, they went on to win the Super Bowl. Years ago, when we had a mass exodus in the area I was in the MD got a few of us in his room he asked a question “What are we going to do?” My reaction was “We are going to reallocate the work with people we have and move forward.” This seems so easy in a professional setting, but not as easy in a personal setting. 

Hearing a Boston song during my work out my mind bounced around linking lineups to life it was a chuck full day. I am still wondering if what I can take out of this will help me going forward, but it does put many things that have been bothering me in perspective.  

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain; I do not take advertising and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. The fundraising site had to be restarted and NYP Hospital made changes to their donation sites. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket, my intention is to keep it free.  You are welcome to comment, but note it is moderated and all spam will be removed. 

This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.  AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them.