Errors-To: rush@syrinx.umd.edu
Reply-To: rush@syrinx.umd.edu
Sender: rush@syrinx.umd.edu
Precedence: bulk
From: rush@syrinx.umd.edu
To: rush-list-all
Subject: RUSH Fans Digest of 09/17/90 (#51)
RUSH Fans Digest, Number 51
Monday, 17 September 1990
Today's Topics:
lyrics to Battlescar
Hold Your Fire symbolism, rush-mgr
Platinum sales..
Chronicles Question
Beamsville
Rush Archives: Album Artwork
Rush Archives: Caress of Steel Press Kit
Rush Archives: Discography
Gold vs. Platinum
Rush Archives: Equipment List
Rush Archives: Next Time + Notes
Rush and TV
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 14:43:54 EDT
From: Robyn Landers <rblanders@watmath.waterloo.edu>
Subject: lyrics to Battlescar
Here are the lyrics to the Max Webster song "Battlescar". Urging
along with the Websters are Rush, for a "live in the studio" recording.
Pye Dubois is the lyricist for Max Webster/Kim Mitchell.
(My previous band did this song. It was a blast to play.)
Battlescar -without permission
[Kim:]
Been in jail for a thousand years
Found a fist in an empty field
Only quarters for meals
[Kim & Geddy:]
Feel the way I feel
Bust the busters, screw the feeders, make the healers
Feel the way I feel
[Geddy:]
Tried to understand the white man's fears
Make 'em bend, but they wouldn't yield
Uncle Sam's time is only a greased wheel
[Kim & Geddy:]
Feel the way I feel
Bust the busters, screw the feeders, make the healers
Feel the way I feel
I said bust the busters, screw the feeders, make the healers
Feel the way I feel
[guitar duets]
Yeah!
[more guitar duets]
[more "Feel the way I feel" back & forth between Geddy & Kim, with
"Bust the busters, screw the feeders, make the healers" repeated
by background singers]
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 12:23:03 -0700
From: Douglas V. Simpkinson <douglips@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Hold Your Fire symbolism, rush-mgr
In the 14 sep. digest, Shane Faulkner writes:
Has anyone found any Rush symbols on the 'Hold Your Fire' inside
picture?? (besides the obvious ones like the fire hydrant). I
noticed the clock shows 9:12, and since it's dark out, this would
be written as 21:12 in military time...
Not exactly a Rush symbol, but the restaurant in the picture has one
letter burned out - making it RES AURANT. According to a friend with
catholic school education, this is "They hear things" in Latin. Hmmm..
Of course there's the TV's in the apartment for Power Windows, but I
can't remember any others off hand - time to go home and dig it out!
In appreciation of rush-mgr:
This guy does a lot for us, with little to no reward. I for one,
plan to buy him a beer if I'm ever in Baltimore. Thanks, rush-mgr!
I also wish you the best of luck with your ankle.
[ Aww, shucks, thanks. *blush* :rush-mgr ]
Doug (douglips@ocf.berkeley.edu)
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Platinum sales..
From: MGOODWIN@maine.maine.edu (J. Michael Goodwin)
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 15:51:27 EDT
I was surprised to hear that RUSH had received platinum level sales
for some of their albums (BTW, are the totals derived from cumulative
sales of cd's, lp's, and cassettes?). If anyone can provide more specific
info on sales volume, I'd be very interested.
Upon joining the list, I was embarrassed to find out how little I know
about RUSH. I think I was the only person in my graduating high school
class that liked RUSH at all. I used a quote from "limelight" in my
yearbook. I'm learning so much from this list, as I admit that I'd
lost contact with the group since 1982. Great reading here guys, keep
up the good work.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 15:30:59 -0500
From: Scott Coleman <khan@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Chronicles Question
Hello, all you Rushians(*) out there.
I'm new to this list, so please bear with me if this has already been
discussed. Rumor had it that Rush fought to prevent the release of
Chronicles. As someone already mentioned, the album is purely a marketing
move on the part of Rush's old record company, and hardly involved the band
at all. Many were planning to support Rush's apparent wish by boycotting
this album. The appearance of Show Don't Tell on the album casts some doubt
upon this, however. Some (our own Crackpot among them) theorize that Rush
has settled their differences with Mercury/Polygram, resulting in a song from
their new album appearing in the collection despite the fact that it was
released originally on Atlantic. Does anyone have the straight scoop on
the Rush vs. Mercury feud, and the final resolution of this conflict? Why
did Rush dump Mercury records, after over a dozen albums? Why does Show Don't
Tell appear on a Mercury album now, after Rush has signed on with a
different record company?
Thanks,
Kubla Khan
(*) Rushian is an adjective I coined which describes things "of or pertaining
to the group Rush." It can also be used as a noun, as I did in the opening
sentence of this message.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 13:37:15 PDT
From: ronklein@math.berkeley.edu
Subject: Beamsville
In reply to an item yesterday, Beamsville is a small town/suburb or whatever
of St. Catherines, Ontario, which is about an hour's drive from Toronto.
I've been out of it the last few months; what's Rush up to these days?
A Torontonian stranded in California,
Ron Kleiner
"What a nice contented world"
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 14:06:49 -0700
From: Elisabeth Perrin <livia@blake.u.washington.edu>
Subject: Rush Archives: Album Artwork
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)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 14:08:59 -0700
From: Elisabeth Perrin <livia@blake.u.washington.edu>
Subject: Rush Archives: Caress of Steel Press Kit
[ From: Ted Ives (really Chris Michael) <tedi@apple.com> ]
CARESS OF STEEL
PRESS KIT 1975
Within the past six months, Rush has become the paramount new group
to emerge in Canada. It's last single 'Fly By Night', was top 10 in
the North country and the album of the same name has been charted over
six months and is still in the top 30. The group's first two albums have
sold a combined total of 80,000 on Canada; equivalent to 800,000 U.S.
sales.
But the States have not been far behind. ln fact, they were the first
to recognize Rush's talents. Since the release of the group's debut
album 'Rush' in August of last year, the band has spent much of it's
time touring the U.S. extensively.
Rush is Geddy Lee, bass guitar and lead vocals; Alex Lifeson, guitar;
and Neil Peart drums; all contribute their songwriting talents. Geddy
and Alex formed the group six years ago in Toronto with another drummer.
The three did the obligatory gigs in high schools in the area for a
couple of years, turning pro after highschool graduation.
The band moved on to clubs and bars for two grueling years, building
a loyal following. Early in 1973, the group decided it was time to rec-
ord an album. Following a gig that ended at midnight, Rush trudged to
Eastern Sound in Toronto and eight hours later most of the LP was done.
But the band felt the sound of some of the performances weren't quite
right so a few months later the group went to Toronto sound to re-record
and remix the songs. Three days later the album was done.
Rather than shop around for a label the band and it's managers, Ray
Daniels and Vic Wilson set up Moon Records and released the LP them-
selves in early 1974.
A couple of months later, WMMS-FM in Cleveland got a copy of the album,
played it and the phones went wild. Record stores in the city started
selling the Canadian Pressing. The trio's management went to American
Talent International (one of the U.S.'s largest booking agencies) which
signed Rush on the spot and sent a copy of the LP to Mercury Records,
Twenty four hours later Rush was signed to Mercury and the LP was rel-
eased in August. Mercury's distributor in Canada, Polydor, Ltd., assumed
Canadian distribution.
At this point Neil Peart joined the band as drummer just six day's
before a four month U.S. tour. He immediately fitted in and audiences
in St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and other cities soon saw the
power of Rush.
In January of this year the group recorded 'Fly By Night' which Sol-
idified the U.S. market but broke them wide open in Canada, enabling
Rush to win a Juno award (the Canadian Grammy) as most promising new
group of 1974. Following a four month U.S. tour (with Aerosmith and Kiss)
the band returned to Canada for it's first headlining tour. It climaxed
on June 25th at Toronto's Massey Hall. The show was a sellout, with
hundreds turned away.
ln mid July, the group returned to the recording studio to cut 'Caress
Of Steel', the new album. It is stamped with Rush's signature: hard
rock in it's finest form and a quality of lyrics not seen in most music
of this genre. Most of the lyrics on 'Caress Of Steel' were written by
Neil. Within the past year Canadian rock bands have been making their
marks in America. Rush is no exception, they're just better at it.
*************************************************************
PERSONAL-MANAGEMENT: BOOKING AGENCY:
Ray Daniels & Vic Wilson American Talent Int.
SRO productions, Ltd. 888 - 7th Avenue
201-55 Glencameron Road New York, N. Y. 10019
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada M3T2P1 Phone: 212/977-2300
Phone: 416/881-3212
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 14:14:18 -0700
From: Elisabeth Perrin <livia@blake.u.washington.edu>
Subject: Rush Archives: Discography
Rush UK Singles and Albums Discography
Catalog Release
Number Format Titles Date Label
===========================================================================
RUSH7 7"EP Closer to the Heart/Bastille Day/ Jan 1978 Mercury
Temples of Syrinx
RUSH12 12" Same as RUSH7 + Anthem Jan 1978 Mercury
RADIO7 7" Spirit of Radio/The Trees Feb 1980 Mercury
RADIO12 12" Same as RADIO7 + Working Man Feb 1980 Mercury
VITAL7 7" Vital Signs/In the Mood Mar 1981 Mercury
VITAL12 12" Same as VITAL7 + A Passage to Bangkok/ Mar 1981 Mercury
Circumstances
EXIT7 7" Tom Sawyer (Live)/A Passage to Bangkok Oct 1981 Mercury
(Live)
EXIT12 12" Same as 7" + Red Barchetta (Live) Oct 1981 Mercury
RUSH1 7" Closer to the Heart (Live)/The Trees Dec 1981 Mercury
(Live)
RUSH8 7" New World Man/Vital Signs (Live) Aug 1982 Mercury
RUSH812 12" Same as RUSH8 + Freewill Aug 1982 Mercury
RUSH9 7" Subdivisions/Red Barchetta Oct 1982 Mercury
RUSHP9 7" Picture Disc Edition of RUSH9 Oct 1982 Mercury
RUSH912 12" Same as RUSH9 + Jacob's Ladder Oct 1982 Mercury
RUSH10 7" Countdown/New World Man Apr 1983 Mercury
RUSHP10 7" Picture Disc Edition of RUSH10 Apr 1983 Mercuy
RUSH1012 12" New World Man/Spirit of Radio/Excerpts Apr 1983 Mercury
from Interview/Countdown
RUSH11 7" The Body Electric/The Analog Kid May 1984 Vertigo
RUSH1110 10" Same as RUSH11, in Red Vinyl, plus May 1984 Vertigo
Distant Early Warning
RUSH1112 12" Same as RUSH1110 May 1984 Vertigo
RUSH12 7" The Big Money/Territories Oct 1985 Vertigo
RUSH1212 12" Same as RUSH12 + Red Sector A (Live) Oct 1985 Vertigo
RUSHD12 7" Doublepack; The Big Money/Territories/ Oct 1985 Vertigo
Closer to the Heart/Spirit of Radio
RUSHG12 7" Gatefold Sleeve; Big Money/Middletown Oct 1985 Vertigo
Dreams
===========================================================================
9100 011 LP Rush (Reissued on Price in June, 1983) Feb 1975 Mercury
9100 013 LP Fly by Night (Reissued on Price in Apr 1975 Mercury
June, 1983)
9100 039 LP 2112 (Reissued on Price in Jan, 1985) Jun 1976 Mercury
9100 018 LP Caress of Steel (Reissued on Price in Mar 1977 Mercury
June, 1983)
6672 015 2LP All the World's a Stage Mar 1977 Mercury
9100 042 LP A Farewell to Kings Sep 1977 Mercury
6641 799 3LP Rush Archives May 1978 Mercury
9100 059 LP Hemispheres Nov 1978 Mercury
9100 071 LP Permanent Waves Jan 1980 Mercury
6337 160 LP Moving Pictures Feb 1981 Mercury
6619 053 2LP Exit ... Stage Left Oct 1981 Mercury
6337 243 LP Signals Sep 1982 Mercury
VERH 12 LP Grace Under Pressure Apr 1984 Vertigo
VERH 31 LP Power Windows Nov 1985 Vertigo
LP Hold Your Fire Dec 1987 Mercury
2LP A Show of Hands Mar 1989 Mercury
LP Presto Jan 1990 Atlantic
2LP Chronicles Sep 1990 Mercury
Rush UK Singles and Albums Discography
(oops..)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 13:33:11 -0700
From: mikea@cadence.com (Mike Abeyta)
Subject: Gold vs. Platinum
I think Gold means that an album generated $1 million in sales, and
Platinum means it sold 1 million copies.
Mike Abeyta mikea@cadence.com
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 14:25:01 -0700
From: Elisabeth Perrin <livia@blake.u.washington.edu>
Subject: Rush Archives: Equipment List
>From _Musician_ magazine, April, 1990, reprinted without permission.
(issue # 138)
**************************** Presto-Digitators ****************************
"I was making a list yesterday of what I'd have to carry equipment-wise
if we didn't have sampling," says Neil Peart. "Actually, I'd love to do a
composite picture of what my drum kit would look like if I had all the
instruments for real: marimbas, thousands of African drums, Count Basie's
big band and a symphony orchestra."
Instead, what Peart has are eight 3.5" floppy disks, which he feeds into
Akai samplers, using either d-drums (fed into a Yamaha MIDI interface) or a
miramba-based Kat MIDI controller. These electronic drums comprise just
part of his wrap-around kit; he also is loaded with Tama acoustics,
including "two 24" bass drums; 6", 8" and 10" closed concert toms; 12",
13", 15", and 16" closed tom-toms; 6" and 8" open concert toms on the rear
kit - because the rear is a kind of satellite with all the electronics."
To facilitate the acoustic/electric setup, Peart's kit rotates during
the show; consequently, Peart has a snare and high-hats set on each side,
with an 18" bass drum anchoring the d-drums. "The little concert toms go
with that," he adds. Like all the other cymbals (except for a couple Wu Hen
genuine China cymbals), the high-hats are by Zildjian. His snare selection
is a little more eclectic, with more than a half-dozen sitting on the floor
of the band's rehearsal studio. His favorites, however, are a 20-year-old
5.25" Slingerland and a Solid Percussion piccolo.
Peart pounds all this with Promark 747s, played butt-end out, and his
heads are mostly Remo, though he hates getting too specific. "I change on
whim, basically," he explains. "All of those things I don't think are that
important, and I think a lot of young drummers put too much importance on
it, so a lot of times I try to downplay it." He likes Shark foot pedals,
and his hardware is a melange of Pearl, Tama, Ludwig, and Premier
equipment, "just whatever happens to have the right series of angles and
positionings."
Alex Lifeson is a man of many guitars, but the ones he's most likely to
pick up are Strat-style models made by Signature. "The guitars are built in
Canada and they're assembled here in Toronto," he says with native pride.
"I still use the first guitar that they made, that I got from them as a
test guitar; it's my number one guitar." It has neck-through construction
and contour tops; the pickups are by Evans, a Vancouver-based company.
Lifeson prefers the active single-coil models, though he's "fooling around
with an active humbucker in the back position just to get a little fatness
and depth."
He also uses a Fender Telecaster, a Stratocaster and something called a
Hentor, "which is basically a Strat that I've modified, put a Bill Lawrence
L-500 humbucking pickup in the back position, and changed the neck." His
strings are Dean Markleys - .009, .011, .014, .028, .038, .048 - and most
of his guitars are outfitted with Floyd Rose tremolos. For acoustic live
work, he relies on an Ovation Adamas, from the 1985 limited series, and in
the studio chooses between a Gibson Dove, a Washburn and a Gibson J-55 with
Nashville tuning.
Because he can't double-track in concert, Lifeson compensates by running
his guitars through three separate amp systems. System number one feeds a
Guy Cooper CPL 2000 preamp into a Series 400 Mega-Boogie II power amp
driving two Twin 12 Celestion GK cabinets. His second system runs a Bryston
2V onto two other Twin 12 cabinets. He runs this system out of a Roland
G-16 multi-effect processor. "What I do is I switch that in in certain
songs where I want to beef up the song, or want to get more of a doubled
effect." System number three "runs a tap off the main system of mono
effects and straight sound, plus taking a direct output from a second
CPL2000 preamp for a clean sound."
Effects? Lifeson has two t.c. electronics 2290s, a t.c. electronics 1210
chorus and a Roland DEP-5 "primarily for reverb settings and effects." His
effects are all digital, controlled by a Yamaha MIDI controller and a
Bradshaw switching system. His also considering a new DOD multiprocessor,
but "I'm trying to keep it down to within the five-processor range; I've
found that going over five is asking for problems."
Geddy Lee's taste in basses has gone through several cycles, including
a Rickenbacker, a Fender Jazz and a Steinberger before arriving at his
current instrument of choice, a Wal. "They're amazing-sounding basses.
They're very well made, made with a lot of love." And though he confesses,
"I'm not a funky guy," his strings are Rotosound Funkmasters.
Most of what we hear on record or in concert comes directly off Lee's
bass, but for his own comfort he carries a stage rig including BGW power
amps, Ashly preamp and cabinets loaded with 15" speakers of indeterminant
origin. "I've used the same amp gear for so long," he moans. "I had to do
my equipment list for the tour and I just couldn't bear repeating all
that gear for like the tenth year in a row. It's all the same, just some
big amps, you know?" Apart from a power-boost, he pretty much leaves the
business of sound processing to the soundman.
On the keyboard front, Lee says, "on this coming tour, I'm depending
quite heavily on brand-new Roland S-770 samplers. They're not out yet;
they're a prototype we've been testing here, and they're really quite
amazing. I'll also use a Korg M1, a Sequential Circuits Prophet VS and
Roland D-50s, and I use Korg MIDI foot pedals quite a lot."
Finally, Lee sings through an AKG C-414 mike in the studio, while for
live work he simply uses what is put in front of him. "Whatever the sound
guy thinks is his favorite of the month."
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 14:33:57 -0700
From: Elisabeth Perrin <livia@blake.u.washington.edu>
Subject: Rush Archives: Next Time + Notes
The next couple of files on my queue are interviews, the smallest of which is
13k, going on up to over 50k! As per the rush-mgr's request, I'll be sending
these files directly to the administrative address, so that he can send these
out in a way that won't swamp everybody. The files are:
Group Interview (done in San Diego during the PRESTO tour)
Lifeson Interviews 1 & 2 (taken from magazines in 88 and 89)
Peart Interview (Modern Drummer 89, a huge file)
Rockline Interview (PRESTO tour)
It was pointed out to me that there is at least one line missing from my
version of the PRESTO tourbook. It's in the first paragraph, after Neil
mentions "those French guys..." The line is missing in my copies on disk,
so I can't help you out with it. I probably chopped the line out while
paging through the digest in which it was originally posted.
--Mike Owen
ORQ: "As grey taces of dawn tinge the eastern sky, three travelers..."
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 90 13:52:41 EST
From: Snow Dog <spotter@eve.wright.edu>
Subject: Rush airplay, and how about rec.music.rush
Ok... After I bitched on here about Dayton not playing any Rush, somebody
went and told the stations. In the past week I have been deluged with Rush
songs (finally!!!!!). The other day, I woke up to Closer to the Heart, and
then, for the first week of school we've had the radio stations playing live
from here. Both stations played four or six Rush in a row on their days. I
woke up to them again yesterday, and today. And when I went into the
Rat(hskeller), someone had Presto on the Jukebox (CD) player.
Thanks whoever told everyone to play Rush this past week. It really got the
year off well......
Here's an interesting idea for everyone. What would you all think of a news-
group devoted specifically to Rush? I think by the size of the digest, we've
proven that it is more than good enough to warrent a newsgroup. And, it would
make Our Great Digest Manager's (tm) job much easier.
Questions... Answers.... Comments.... Thoughts.... Opinions???
ORQ:"Dedicated with thanks to astrnauts Young &Crippen and all the people at
NASA for their inspiration and cooperation."
Anagram (for Mongo)
Anagram@desire.wright.edu spotter@eve.wright.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 90 07:21:52 PDT
From: Class Account <e122-ab%polonius.Berkeley.EDU@berkeley.edu>
Subject: Rush and TV
Hello all!
Here's a little interesting fact for those who live in the Bay Area
and have reception to channels 2 or 31. Whenever a Giants baseball
game is broadcast on these channels, try to watch the top of the second
inning. The reason why is that at the end of every inning, the announcers
show the score and music starts playing to lead into a commercial. Well
at the end of the top of the second, we are left with the score and the
opening to The Analog Kid! I really haven't heard many Rush songs on TV
that networks or such use in their programs. In fact the only ones I have
heard are during sporting events. One time I heard YYZ played as background
music for football highlights. Another, New World Man was played during
a car race. Has anyone else heard Rush on TV? It's just one of those
things that seem so improbable that it just grabs you at that moment!
Until later...
Bill Barry
(e122-ab@bard.berkeley.edu)
----------------------------------------------------------
To submit material to the Rush mailing list, send mail to:
rush@syrinx.umd.edu
For administrative matters (additions, deletions & changes), send
mail to:
rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu
The contents of the Rush Fans Digest are solely the opinions and comments
of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
the management.
List Management
********************************
End of RUSH Fans Digest
********************************