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Subject: RUSH Fans Digest of 08/08/90 (#26)
RUSH Fans Digest, Number 26
Wednesday, 8 August 1990
Today's Topics:
RUSH Backstage Club
Re: RUSH Fans Digest of 08/07/90 (#25)
Re: RUSH Fans Digest of 08/07/90 (#25)
(none)
FEAR
Neil Peart and religion
Cygnus X-1
Re: Album Cover Art
... to be found within a song.
Album Cover Art and Liner Note Fun!
Hentor the Barbarian, Major Ian Grandy
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Subject: RUSH Backstage Club
Date: Tue, 07 Aug 90 10:49:37 EDT
From: David Arnold <davida@umd5.UMD.EDU>
In Digest # 25, Ron Chrisley writes:
>What's the latest scoop on the Backstage Club? A friend and I joined back
>in 1982 as "lifetime members". We received some mailings for few months,
>but then nothing. Is it anything more than a merchandizing outlet now?
I believe their attitude (posted a while ago by another list member) is
that if you don't order anything for a year, they place you in the inactive
file. Apparently it's a very small organization (only a couple of people),
and the mailing list is kept by hand. After a year or so with no orders,
your index card gets shifted from one box to another.
Which reminds me - I've recently moved, and seem to have lost my last
mailing from the RBC. Could somebody who got the last mailing (Presto,
as far as I know) drop me a line? I'd like to get a copy of the latest
mailing from them.
For those not familiar with the club, it's interesting to join not only
for the opportunity to purchase paraphenalia from current and previous
tours, but to get information directly from "the horse's mouth" (Neil).
He writes a short blurb for each one, and answers questions that people
have sent in. It's a great way to get the dirt on RUSH, although some
of the answers are a bit unbelievable; his answer to the discrepency of
the lyrics to "Freewill" (he denies knowing of any discrepency), and his
answer to the question of any non-album tracks having been released (he
says all their songs are on their albums). Other than that, he often
clarifies questions on the lyrics & the bands motivations for songs, etc.
He's quite flippant with the answers...
David Arnold Keywords: Rush, Neville Brothers, Squeeze, Crack the Sky,
Peter Gabriel, ELP, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd,
Inet: davida@umd5.umd.edu Talking Heads, Arc Of Ones (RIP), Stones, BOC,
UUCP: uunet!umd5.umd.edu!davida King Crimson, Police, Grass Roots, Hollies
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Date: Tue, 7 Aug 90 13:29 EDT
From: "Derek D. Lichter [MacLover]" <DEREK%ALBNYVMS.BITNET@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU>
Subject: Re: RUSH Fans Digest of 08/07/90 (#25)
When I got the first four albums on CD and discovered them without the lyric
sheets, I got so steamed -- especially about `2112' -- that I promptly got the
lyrics from the UMass server, downloaded 'em into mah Mac, dumped 'em into a
DTP program and laser printed them. I formatted them so that with a little
scissor-use you can slip them directly into the CD case; and although I didn't
bother, if you wanted to take up less space you could copy them to both sides
of a page. If anyone would like the Mac PostScript file, I can mail it to
them, with or without the prepend information necessary for mainframe laser
printers (I used a DEC LPS-40). The lyrics are formatted so that the "story"
narrative, that which is not sung, is printed in italics to separate it from
the rest. I think it looks decent (as a disclaimer it certainly isn't my best
work!) :-) but certainly it can't match the inside cover of the original LP.
I'll probably get around to doing Caress of Steel someday...
Derek L.
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Date: 7 Aug 90 13:09 -0500
Subject: Re: RUSH Fans Digest of 08/07/90 (#25)
From: yackob@eeserv.ee.umanitoba.ca!
>X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.0.4 1/31/90)
In response to...
>
RUSH Fans Digest, Number 25
> Tuesday, 7 August 1990
> From: zawada@ei.ecn.purdue.edu (Paul J Zawada)
> Subject: Bruford v. Peart
>
> If you think Bruford can't possibly show any resemblance to Peart
> in playing style based on the fact that he is more of a Jazz musician,
> I would ask you to listen to Jeff Berlin's first solo album, _Champion_.
> Neil plays on two songs. It shows that Neil can play with Jazz artists
> as well as he can play with Rock artists... I don't feel the type
> of music you play heavily influences your style... BTW, Jeff Berlin
> is a bass-player friend of the Boyz... He's done a lot of work with Bill
> Bruford... He Blows Geddy away on bass...
> Paul J Zawada | zawada@ei.ecn.purdue.edu
> Purdue University | _ .... . ... .__. .. ._. .. _
I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Berlin a few weeks ago,
right after he gave a musician's seminar in town. Yes, he is a much
better player than Geddy Lee. No, he is not in the least arrogant
or egotistical about this, and is in fact one of the most humble
musicians I've met. In his columns in Guitar Player he was forever
extolling the talents of Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Rocco Prestia,
Stanley Clarke, etc... His "seminar" was in fact the most amazing
concert I've ever seen/heard, and I can't begin to describe it
adequately. BTW, Frank Zappa had a nasty thing to say about Berlin
in his "Real Frank Zappa Book", but I didn't read that until this
weekend, and I doubt I would have had the nerve to ask Berlin for his
version of the story.
>
> From: Hinano Akaka <bigtuna!hinano@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
> Subject: Liner notes and other stuff
>
> MUSICAL PREFERENCES: Alex is into, I believe, everything! Geddy once
> remarked that Alex's music collection was quite varied--including
> selections from Martha and the Muffins! Frankly, I've never heard of
> them before, but a friend of mine says they're a punk group. Anybody
> know different?
They were (are?) NOT punk - more like new wave, whatever that
was. They had a big AM hit with "Echo Beach", later became M+M (short
for Mark and Martha, or Martha and Mark), and had a minor hit with
"Black Station White Station" or something like that. They're from
Toronto and may still be playing. They hit their peak in the early
1980's.
--
Kerry Yackoboski <yackob@eeserv.ee.umanitoba.ca>
The Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Laboratory in the Cellar
U of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 90 11:20:57 PDT
From: "Doyle W. Donehoo" <donehoo%olivee.atc.olivetti.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
G. Lee v. Jeff Berlin
Someone stated J. Berlin blows G. Lee Away. Harumph...
I have been a bass player forever, and have studied the
above as well as Squire and others obvious or otherwise.
Technique-wise, Berlin DOES blow Lee away. However, after
listening to Berlin 5 minutes or so, he gets very boring.
He suffers from diarrhea of the fingers in a major way.
G. Lee is a lot more interesting to listen too, even though
he has gotten too gimmicky lately, (and simple while singing),
and had been alot tighter with Peart in previous LPs. And
more creative.
Peart v. Bruford
They are VERY similar in their creative approach. Bruford
can do more with a minimal set than anyone I have listened
too. Peart is more creative, inventive, and productive,
but relies more on an intricate kit. To see what Bruford
is capable of, listen to Fragile, Bruford (the first with
J. Berlin), or the first UK. Peart remains my favorite.
Peart v. God
It is very dangerous, irresponsible even, to extrapolate
what or who a person is or what they believe in from a
creative effort. You can creatively explore the mind of
a mass murderer in a sympathetic way, but that does not
mean you condone mass murder. If someone states "I believe
in A, B, and C", then you have a case to base a discussion.
But to evaluate a creative work, and then extrapolate that
the author believes "A,B, and C", and say so publicly is
a dangerous game to play. Even if you may be right. Many
of the (pious) conclusions I have seen here are vastly
different from what I interpreted them to be. Who is to
say with such conviction who is right?
-DWD
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Date: Tue, 7 Aug 90 15:07:15 EDT
From: nash%husc8@harvard.harvard.edu (John Nash)
Subject: FEAR
To the poster who asked why "Fear" was written "backwards": it wasn't.
Neil wrote the entire trilogy as a unit. The band had musical ideas that
fit "Witch Hunt" well when they recorded MP, so that was the first one
recorded. Similarly, "The Weapon" and "The Enemy Within" were recorded
when the music suited the lyrics. On the p/g tour, they finally played
all three songs together, in order.
"The valiant Spaceman Spiff is led by -->jn
his captors to a secret dungeon to be John Nash '91
debriefed. Little do they realize that nash@husc8.harvard.edu
our hero doesn't WEAR briefs!" (to his friends)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 90 13:42:59 PDT
From: spike@d31mf0.Stanford.EDU (John T. Fourkas)
Subject: Neil Peart and religion
I don't believe that Neil Peart is antireligious, as some have
suggested lately. Nor do I believe, for that matter, that songs such as
Freewill, Witch Hunt, and The Pass are antireligious. What I DO believe is
that Neil is anti-zealot and pro-self. He has always been a strong believer
in the power of the self, insofar as he doesn't believe in being blindly
led about or in fatalism (which I think is what Freewill is trying to point
out; he believes that one should not blame misfortunes on things over
which one exerts no control, but rather should take charge of one's own life.
That the song implies that he doesn't personally care to think that his life
has been planned out for him is certainly not antireligious, per se.) That
the lyric sheet for The Pass reads "Christ," and not "Christ!" may or may
not mean anything even if it was intended to be written this way (lyric sheets
often do not match the lyrics which are actually sung, and there's no telling
in any given case where the blame for this belongs. Take Freewill, for
instance. Is it "have" or "haven't" made a choice? It completely changes the
meaning of the song....). I would hazard to guess that Neil probably has as
much disdain for the zealously anti-religious as he does for the zealously
religious. Witch Hunt, after all, is really a complaint against those who
clothe themselves in religion in order to acheive their own ends, much like
those who have recently been draping themselves in flags.
______________________________________________________
John Fourkas spike@d31mf0.stanford.edu
Stanford University
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 90 14:13:04 -0700
From: Andy Bates <ambates@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Cygnus X-1
I've always wondered: what is the "Rocinante" from Cygnus X-1? I know it's
the name of the ship, but where does the name itself come from?
And how does it continue with Hemispheres?
Andy. (Just got A Farewell to Kings on CD, and loving it!)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 90 15:49:58 PDT
From: redrockr@eb5ts2.EBay.Sun.COM (he shoots he scores)
Subject: Re: Album Cover Art
In spite of the recent RUSH-flame-fest occurring in the various net
newsgroups, it's GREAT to see the increased volume of the digest these days!!
Todd Day asked the questions concerning the various album artworks and
their meaning/symbolism. I'd like to share the following (reprinted w/o
permission):
MOVING PICTURES
Neil Peart: "When Hugh Syme was developing the multitude of puns for the
cover, he wanted the guys 'moving pictures' to have some 'moving pictures' to
be moving past the people who were 'moved' by the 'pictures'--- get it? So he
asked us to think of some ideas for these pictures. The 'man decending to
hell' is actually a woman--- Joan of Arc-- being burned at the stake (as per
'Witch Hunt') and the card-playing dogs are there because it was a funny,
silly idea--- one of the most cliche'd pictures we could think of-- a
different kind of 'moving picture'." (Taken from "Twenty-Five Questions: An
Interview with Neil Peart by You")
SIGNALS
Geddy Lee: "When we were talking about Signals, Hugh (Syme) had this concept
of taking the idea down to a basic human level--- territorial or even sexual.
So that's how the design with the dog and the fire hydrant came about. The
little map on the back features make-believe subdivisions, with a lot of silly
names and places. The red dots represent all the fire hydrants and basically
the whole thing maps out a series of territories". (Excerpt from "Rush/
Success Under Pressure")
GRACE UNDER PRESSURE
Neil Peart: "This is another one of those things that is much simpler than it
appears. The background imagery simply mirrors the P/G symbol; grace UNDER
pressure in a physical sense. Abstract, but simple. The head represents the
onlooker perhaps, or an 'everyman' symbol facing the world, and perhaps a hint
of character in 'The Body Electric'. That's about it really." (Borrowed from
"The News" by Neil Peart)
--
Ray Sato
redrockr@eb5ts2.EBay.Sun.COM
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
"Ten bucks is ten bucks, eh?"
-- Geddy Lee
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 7 Aug 90 19:50:08 PDT (Tuesday)
Subject: ... to be found within a song.
From: "Brad_Armstrong.WBST129"@Xerox.COM
Del Gordon says:
> Have you ever noticed how your speakers
> bottom out with a short woofer blast just after the shuttle launches
> and the words "the air is shattered by that awful sound"
and asks if this is his speakers. Maybe, either that or some other
component in his system. Your speakers should never do that, unless you
have the amplification set too high for your system (this is often too fun
to avoid ;) ). The best way to fix it depends on your system and your
goals. Also, my comments on Countdown are in one of the last few digests
(in short, it's great!). His idea for a Rush based 'cookie' program is
appealing as well.
David Conley wrote:
> ... perhaps Geddy contributed some lyrics on Fly by Night...
> was it Best I Can???
I think so, but I can't remember off the top of my head, I'll have to check
those liner notes when I bring them in to copy them. Also, I used to be a
cross-country runner, but, alas am not as familiar with Marathon as I
should be as it is on one of the albums I have not listened to all that
often. Most/all Rush songs get me going.
Robyn Landers suggested visiting Danforth and Pape. If I had known it was
there I'd have a picture of me by the intersection sign, but that'll have
to wait 'till next trip. Also, Robyn comments about video not being a good
way to judge a song. I agree with that wholeheartedly, but that particular
video makes a good adjunct to a great song. As far as MTV, well... its one
long ad for Warner Bros., just like VH1, the 'comedy' channel, HBO and
Cinemax. Warner owns all of them, and Nickelodeon too. But wait there's
more. That's just Warner-Amex Sattelite Communications. Guess how many
*big* record companies, other than Warner, they own? Ever heard of a
little label called Geffen? How 'bout Electra/Asylum? There's more where
they came from. One more small thing ... Warner/Time wasn't a merger, it
was a snack for Warner if you ask me. Don't forget Warner Bros. studios,
and friends. Oh well, I guess you hit a gusher with that one... but they
did hit critcal mass (owning 51% of the industry) years ago.
Evan Hunt wrote:
> and I mostly don't like Ayn Rand. The now nearly 20-year-old connection
> between the two of them is no longer a justification for searching
> Rand's work for clues about the vagaries of Peart's. And in a song
> about free will and self determination, and _not_ about capitalism,
> I doubt if Neil would've gone out of his way to insert a dollar-sign
> reference.
1990 minus 1978 equals 20 years? Oh? Also, if you will recall from Atlas
Shrugged, references to 'Who is John Galt?' and the $ symbol weren't meant
to be believed or understood by those who were unworthy. :)
He also quotes me out of context, regarding Second Nature. That should be
a self-explanatory statement. I do appreciate most of his well written
comments, though.
Hinano Akaka comments about the radio messages at the end of Countdown.
Well, I've deciphered much of it, but can't answer the specific inquiry.
What I want to know is where the got the last transmission: "and we enjoyed
the music, Bob, thank you". I'll go write it all down tonight, and see
what I come up with.
Later, he asks if Martha and the Muffins are punk. I wouldn't call them
punk at all, it would be like calling The Waitresses punk. By the way, the
album of theirs to get is Danseparc (a play on words on dense-pack, a
'defense' strategy for nuclear war... the cover is a park made in the
pattern of a missle field).
Can someone mail me the current address for the Rush Backstage Club (To my
net address, not the digest, please!)?
Enough is too much...
Electronic communication, making your life better;
Magician.
----
Brad Armstrong Lion.Wbst129@Xerox.COM
Xerox MB Lab, Webster, NY W: (716) 422-9688
... everybody got to elevate from the norm. - N. Peart
>None of these opinions has anything to do with anyone but me.<
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Adrian N Ogden <ano@csres.cs.reading.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 90 10:11:43 BST
Subject: Album Cover Art and Liner Note Fun!
>>Presto (1989): Cover is obvious (although, I can't help but think of
>>"Between the Wheels" :-). Inside, we have the rock, paper, scissors
>>game. Opening further, we have Alex, Neil, and Geddy. Any parallels
>>between the items in the game and the guys in the band?
I thought there was. The closed fist (stone) I interpreted as being the
way you hold a drumstick, the two fingers (scissors) as being used to
pick the strings of a bass, and the open hand (paper) as being used to
fret chords on a guitar neck. The stone/paper/scissors reference passed
me by for ages!
My only other thought was that it might be a reference to (and might have
been better suited to) "A Show Of Hands"...
>>Permanent Waves (1980):
>> Homework for you... what is the
>>signifigance of her dress being up plus what is on the newspaper?
> The headline originally read, "Dewey Defeats Truman". The newspaper
>was, in fact, a copy of the paper with that infamous headline. The headline
>was removed from all American editions of the album other than the first
>printing for copyright infringement reasons, and it is similarly illegible
>on the CD version. However, a quite legible version of the cover can be found
>in the "Rush Complete" songbook,
The unedited version can also be found on the Permanent waves tour program.
The idea behind Permanent Waves was that critics were making a big thing
about the 'new wave' of music. If Rush didn't fit in with that 'new wave'
image, they were automatically unfasionable. Since they'd never tried to
be fasionable, Rush thought the press were missing the point. Geddy said
something like "It's all music to me. The water doesn't come and go, the
waves do." The 'Dewey Defeats Truman' headline was Rush's comment on how
perceptive the music press were.
Incidently, the write-up by Neil in that program mentions another topic
which has been aired recently: "A special mention must be given at this
point to Daisy, Mr xxxxx's cocker spaniel. She was with us the whole time,
and her state-of-the-art sleeping and runing around were an inspiration
to us all!" From the evidence in this tour program I can safely say that
the dalmation on the cover of Signals is *not* Daisy. (Sorry, I can't
remember who xxxxx is!)
<< Adrian Ogden _ . _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ . . ano@uk.ac.rdg.cs.csres >>
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 90 01:16:34 hst
From: Hinano Akaka <bigtuna!hinano@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
Subject: Hentor the Barbarian, Major Ian Grandy
ROCK GROUPS AND SATANISM: Albercrombie--thanx for the note! I
probably should have taken into account the feelings of others...but,
hey, an opinion's an opinion and, as always, I didn't mean to offend.
Frankly, I'd probably have been flogged in a great many places! I was
just agreeing wholeheartedly with Neil about the fact that "radicals"
are terrified of goodness knows what, and so they feel they must
destroy what they're afraid of--however, I'm not agreeing with Neil
because _Neil_ said it, I'm agreeing because I've observed the same
thing. I mean, let's face it, it's human nature. We're naturally
afraid of what we do not understand (like computers which keep messing
up postings...!). Damn, I'm sorry, I don't mean to preach or anything,
but I wanted to give you all a "reasoning" behind my statement--I
figure I owe you at least that much (in case I _did_ offend someone).
Oh,h*ll, on to the good stuff!
HENTOR THE BARBARIAN: Well I found the story and realized I had the
whole thing completely bassackwards. In the immortal words of King
Lerxt about the Hentor guitar:
"Basically, it's a Strat with humbuckers on it. It's named
after the nickname we had for Peter Henderson. We called him 'The
Mighty Hentor'! The neck of the guitar came from a company in Ottawa
that has since gone out of business. There's no name on it, so I got
out some lettraset and slapped down 'Hentor' on the headstock. I get
mail about it all the time...'Where can I get a Hentor?' The answer
is, you _can't_." Anyway, that's the story behind Hentor the
Barbarian.
ROAD CREWS: since a part of this digest is/was going into the
direction of roadies--does anyone know what happened to Major Ian
Grandy? He was one of their first raodies (no, correct that, he was,
along with Liam Birt, the first roadie) and his last job was, I
believe, concert security. then he vanishes--no mention of his leaving
in the liner notes--nothing. I think he was last mentioned on MP.
Just curious and BORED out of my mind...
Anyway, always remember: "May Rush Be with You" Puanani Akaka
----------------------------------------------------------
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