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The National Midnight Star, Number 85
Wednesday, 31 October 1990
Today's Topics:
Frequently Asked Questions List
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Dan Delany <ddelany@polyslo.calpoly.edu>
Subject: Frequently Asked Questions List
The RUSH Fans Digest Frequently Asked Questions List: Updated Oct. 30, 1990
This file contains questions that seem to crop up frequently in the Rush
Fans Digest. It will be posted on or around the first of each month. If
you received a copy of this file in email, other than as a part of a
Digest, it is probably because you asked one of these questions.
If you have any suggestions for additions to the list or corrections,
please send them to me at ddelany@polyslo.calpoly.edu and I'll add them in.
I'd appreciate it if people who submit questions submit anything they know
about possible answers, since I don't have all of the answers myself!
DISCLAIMER: The information in this file is accurate to the best of my
knowledge, but I'm not perfect. If you have an answer to one of these
questions that doesn't match the one given here that you can verify, let me
know, and I'll put it in!
Anyway, on to the questions...
What albums has the band released?
A more complete version of this discography is available for FTP at
vacs.uwp.wisc.edu. (131.210.1.1)
{according to datta@vacs.uwp.wisc.edu, at least. I haven't looked.}
Mercury 822-541-2 (1974) Rush
Mercury 822-542-2 (1975) Fly By Night
Mercury 822-543-2 (1975) Caress Of Steel
Mercury 822-545-2 (1976) 2112
Mercury 822-552-2 (1976) All The World's A Stage
Mercury 822-546-2 (1977) A Farewell To Kings
Mercury 822-547-2 (1978) Hemispheres
Mercury 822-548-2 (1980) Permanent Waves
Mercury 800-048-2 (1981) Moving Pictures
Mercury 822-551-2 (1981) Exit...Stage Left
Mercury 810-002-2 (1982) Signals
Mercury 818-476-2 (1984) Grace Under Pressure
Mercury 826-098-2 (1985) Power Windows
Mercury 832-464-2 (1987) Hold Your Fire
Mercury 836-346-2 (1989) A Show Of Hands
Atlantic 7 82040-2 (1989) Presto
Additionally, several collections are available: {sorry - no catalog
numbers, as I don't have these.}
Archives (includes _Rush_,_Fly By Night_, and _Caress Of Steel_)
Chronicles (1990) - includes stuff from every album, including the
tracks that are missing from the CD versions of
Exit...Stage Left & All The World's A Stage
_RUSH_ Through Time
_Everything Your Listeners Ever Wanted To Hear By Rush But You Were
Afraid To Play_ - this collection was targeted at radio stations.
Are any videotapes of the band available?
Polygram Music Video 60285 (1981) Exit...Stage Left
PMV 60607 (1986) Grace Under Pressure Tour
(includes the video for _The Big Money_)
PMV 0741 760-3 (1989) A Show Of Hands
(The laserdisc version includes _Lock And Key_, which
isn't on the videotape version.)
PMV 60466 (1985) Through The Camera Eye (video compilation)
includes: Vital Signs
Tom Sawyer [live, from Exit...Stage Left]
Subdivisions
Countdown
Distant Early Warning
Afterimage
The Enemy Within
The Body Electric
Are these tapes available on laserdisc?
Yes. All 4 of them are.
What songs has the band made videos for?
A Farewell To Kings
Closer To The Heart
Xanadu
Circumstances
The Trees
Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer [live, from ESL]
Limelight
Limelight [live, from ESL]
Vital Signs
Subdivisions
Countdown
Distant Early Warning
Afterimage
The Enemy Within
The Body Electric
The Big Money
Mystic Rhythms
Marathon [live, from ASoH]
Time Stand Still
Lock And Key
Show Don't Tell
The Pass
Superconductor
Can anyone list everything else that the members of Rush have ever appeared
on?
This is not a complete list. Please send me your additions!
Bob & Doug MacKenzie: _Take Off_ (Geddy)
_Modern Drummer_ Sound Supplement, May, 1987: Pieces Of Eight (Neil)
Max Webster: _Battlescar_ (Geddy, Alex, & Neil)
Jeff Berlin: _Champions_ (Neil)
Platinum Blonde: _Alien Shores_ (Alex)
{I'm not sure about that title.}
Northern Lights: _Tears Are Not Enough_ (Geddy)
_Guitar Player_ soundpage, ?1988: "Canadian Guitar Summit"
Rik Emmet (he organized the whole thing),Leonna Boyd, Alex
Larry Gowan: _Lost Brotherhood_ (Alex)
_Smoke On The Water_ - benefit for Armenian earthquake victims (Alex)
In the January 1986 issue of _Modern Drummer_ magazine, while discussing
his appearance on the Jeff Berlin album, Neil says that he "...did a
similar thing with a musician named Ken Ramm in Toronto. That record
was released in Canada."
What was the first single released by the band?
The A side was a cover of a Buddy Holly song called "Not Fade Away."
The B side was a Lee/Rutsey song called "You Can't Fight It."
These songs are not on any Rush albums.
I just bought the CD of <Exit...Stage Left | All The World's A Stage> and
it's missing a track! Is a complete version of this CD available?
No. But if you absolutely have to have everything on CD, the 2 missing
tracks are on _Chronicles_.
What is Battlescar/Max Webster, who plays on it, what is the label/catalogue
number for the Universal Juveniles CD? Where can I write to get it?
Max Webster is a Canadian band that used to open for Rush. Battlescar
is a song from their _Universal Juveniles_ CD that was done as a duet
of the 2 bands.
Max Webster - Universal Juveniles 1980
Mercury SRM-1-3855 [6337 144]
Distributed by Polygram Distribution, Inc.
Polygram
810 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
Write: Anthem Records
Oak Manor P.O. 1000
Oak Ridges, Ontario
Canada LOG1PO
(could be LOG1P0)
One more note: "Battlescar" has a subscript: "recorded live July 28th,
1980 Phase One Studios -Toronto-".
Have any books been written about the band?
Rush-Visions:The Official Biography (c) 1988
By Bill Banasiewicz (The B-Man)
ISBN: 0-7119-1162-2 94 pages
From: Omnibus Press
Distributor: Music Sales Corporation
24 East 22nd Street
New York, NY 10010
Success Under Pressure (c) 1984
By Steve Gett
ISBN: 0-89524-230-3 48 pages
From: Cherry Lane Books
110 Midland Avenue
Port Chester, NY 10573
Rush (c)1982
By Brian Harrigan
ISBN: 0-86001-934-9 80 pages
The Putnam Publishing Group
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Does anybody have the lyrics to <song>?
The lyricserver at lyrics%umass.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu probably does.
Send a message containing the word HELP to that address for
information. The lyricserver responds erratically, but please look
there first before posting the request to the Digest.
The following message appeared in the Digest on Thu Oct 4, 1990.
{ begin quoted text }
The Lyrics server is down for now because of legal problems(maybe
copyright). If the server resumes, I will be certain to post to the
Digest ASAP.
Jonathan C. Schon
JCS130@PSUVM
{ end quoted text }
Can anybody tell me how to get the Rush Sun background graphics?
The place they are located is waterloo (sorry, don't know the complete
Internet (name) address), with numeric Internet address of:
129.97.129.72
Here's what you do: (When in doubt, ask your friendly sysadmin!)
1) "ftp 129.97.129.72"
2) login with userid "anonymous", password <your userid>
3) once logged in successfully, change to to the /incoming dir
( "cd /incoming" )
4) the pictures are in the following files - just use the normal "get"
to download them to your machine.
- rush.rast.info: This is the first file to get; it contains
information on how to deal with the other files.
- rush.rast.rush: Album cover from first album, _RUSH_
- rush.rast.2112: Album cover from _2112_
- rush.rast.aftk: Album cover from _A Farewell To Kings_
- rush.rast.fbn: Album cover form _Fly By Night_
- rush.rast.hemi: Album cover from _Hemispheres_
- rush.rast.boyz1: Picture of the three of 'em (Recent)
- rush.rast.boyz2: Picture of Geddy & Alex (Recent)
- rush.rast.boyz3: Picture of all three (Recent)
Once you've downloaded them, follow the directions in the file
"rush.rast.info" to display them on your workstation.
If you need to get a copy of the program "xloadimage", there is a
compressed tar file on the waterloo server, in the same directory
as the pictures. To get it to a working state, first download it
(using binary transfer) to your local machine. Then uncompress it,
and un-tar it by using the command: "tar xf xloadimage.tar" This
will un-tar all the files into the current directory. After that,
it's just a matter of 'make'ing the file to get the executable. The
README file is very informative - read it!
Somebody posted <item> in the Digest. I missed it - could somebody
please send me a copy?
To request back issues of the Digest, send mail to:
htodd@gmuvax2.gmu.edu
When you send your request, include the Digest number, or she will not
be able to honor your request (because of the implementation, the date
will do little good).
To quote Helen:
{ begin quoted text }
Your request must have the following information:
1: Whether or not you want Rush backissues or Tull backissues.
(this is IMPORTANT - a request for issue 23 gives me no clue as to
what you really want)
2: Which issue numbers you want. Or, in the case of the tull history,
which parts.
3: An internet address (hopefully yours :) if at all humanly possible.
Failing that, a bitnet address would be nice. Please, only use uucp
as a last resort.
HOWEVER!! Please include an address at the end of your post - some
mail headers are no fun to try and decipher.
Okay.
Turnaround time:
I have stored the digests (both rush and tull) to tape. All
of them. The only ones I have on my account are from the
past week. Once a week, I store the new ones to tape and
answer the requests. In theory, at least. I am still in
the process of working some bugs out, and, adding an excess
of programs due to that, things have not been going well.
I'll get to your request. Honest. Don't send it again, as
it just makes things more confusing.
# of issues wanted:
Due to an excessive number of people wanting issues 1-7x
and other such quantities, this is how it's going to work
(for now, at least). All large requests will be sent in
groups of ten issues. I can't just mail user < * because
it does horrible things to the mail queue, and I don't
currently have the time to type the command for each issue
issue. One of these days i'll write scripts to do it, but
until then, you'll have to bear with me.
Turnaround of more than a week :
I'm probably having problems mailing to your
site. Don't worry, I'll get them to you.
{ end of quoted text }
What issue of the Digest is <item> in?
This list isn't complete, and it probably contains errors. Let me
know, so I can fix them!
Item Issue
---- -----
Neil's reaction to the Digest 5
Analysis of "The Pass" 21
Neil's editorial on Satanism 28
A Nice Morning Drive 34
Signals tour book 40
Power Windows tour book 40
Grace Under Pressure tour book 42
Permanent Waves tour book 48
1978 Article/Story on Rush 59
Alex interview 62
"Kubla Khan" 64
Modern Drummer interview with Neil 68
HYF tour book 69
Rockline interview 72
Peart Q & A 74
Rockline interview 76
Definition of "peart" 80
Chronicles essay 81
I've heard about the "Rush Backstage Club." What is it, and how do I
join?
It's an outfit that sells Rush souvenirs (t-shirts, posters, etc) and
occasionally releases a newsletter. (I'm not a member, so I don't
really know. Could a member send me some details?) To join the
backstage club, just send $11.95 ($9 to join plus $2.95 shipping and
handling) to:
Rush Backstage Club
1055 E. Tropicana Avenue, #580
Las Vegas, Nevada 89119
Membership obligation is to purchase 1 item of merchandise each to
stay on the mailing list. Also, they will answer any inquiries if you
include a self addressed stamped envelope. For those international
people, pay in U.S. money (NO CASH!!!) and include postage coupons with
information requests.
What are the birthdays of the band members?
Geddy Lee July 29,1953
Neil Peart September 12, 1952
Alex Lifeson August 27, 1953
What are the real names of the band members?
Geddy Lee Gary Lee Leibovitz
Neil Peart Neil Peart
Alex Lifeson Alex Zinovinojivic
How is "Peart" pronounced?
It rhymes with "near."
What does "YYZ" mean?
YYZ is the transponder code for Toronto International Airport. Every
airport is assigned a unique 3 letter code, and that code is always
being transmitted so that pilots can easily tell where they are. These
codes are also written on your luggage tags when you fly.
What does (for Mongo) after "Anagram" on the PRESTO album mean?
It's a joke from the movie _Blazing Saddles_, referring to the
"Candygram for Mongo" scene, according to Geddy on Rockline 12/4/89.
What is happening during the "censored" section of the Show Of Hands
video?
"That's kind of a joke, but it doesn't seem like many people are
getting that joke. Actually, Alex, at certain parts of that song,
would just start rambling into the microphone -- all kinds of various
nonsense, and it actually never got recorded anywhere. So no one had
any idea, including him, what he had actually said. But we loved the
shot of him just ranting into this microphone, so we decided we would
put up this bogus 'radioactive' warning about the fact that we had
'censored' what he had said, and we thought we did it in kind of an
obvious way -- it looked like it was phony, because we put the
radioactivity symbols right on the screen, but nobody seems to be
getting that." -- Geddy Lee, in the 12/4/89 Rockline interview
In the _A Show Of Hands_ video, does Geddy really say "Catch a Fish?"
Yes, he does. Nobody knows why.
What songs make up the "Fear" trilogy?
The "Fear" trilogy consists of:
Part 1: The Enemy Within (Grace Under Pressure)
Part 2: The Weapon (Signals)
Part 3: Witch Hunt (Moving Pictures)
Has this trilogy ever been performed live?
Yes. It's on the _Grace Under Pressure Tour_ video.
Why do the songs appear in reverse order?
"It's really kind of strange how it turned out, and it's not meant to be
as mysterious and clever as it looks. It was more accidental. At the
time of _Moving Pictures_, I had actually sketched out each of the three
songs in my notebook and talked to the other guys about them and what I
was going to go for, but the easiest one for me to clarify in my mind
and in words was 'Witch Hunt,' because it was the simplest concept to
deal with, and then 'The Weapon' came next because my thinking led up to
that point, but in fact a couple snatches of lyrics and even both of the
verses for 'The Enemy Within' were written as long ago as that, and all
of the titles and everything were fixed on, and what I wanted to write
about, but 'The Enemy Within' was the most difficult one to deal with,
so it ended up being the last one done, so they happened to go in the
order 3-2-1." -- Neil Peart, in an interview on KGB 101 FM, San
Diego: 10/2/84
Where does the name 'Rocinante' come from?
It was the name of Steinbeck's motor home in _Travels With Charlie_.
It was also the name of Don Quixote's horse.
I read that "Xanadu" was based on a famous poem. Does anybody have a copy?
The poem is "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Your local
library probably has a copy.
Where did the story of _2112_ come from?
2112 is _very_ loosely based on _Anthem_, by Ayn Rand. Much of
Neil's early work was influenced by Rand.
Who is Count Floyd?
He was a character on the Canadian TV show SCTV. {similar to "WKRP
in Cincinatti", but a TV station.} The Count Floyd character had a
show that featured really bad movies. {movies so bad that even
Elvira wouldn't show them. :-) }
Who is Pye Dubois?
Pye Dubois was the lyricist for Max Webster. "Tom Sawyer" began life
as a Max Webster song called "Louis The Warrior," but Pye gave the
lyrics to Neil after "Battlescar" was recorded. Pye also helped
Neil write "Force Ten."
Who is T.C. Broonsie?
Terry Brown.
Who was Absalom?
He was King David's favorite son, who rebelled against his father,
and was killed by Joab, according to my trusty Websters. There is
also a Faulkner novel called _Absalom, Absalom!_
To quote Neil:
"Before I ever knew who or what Absalom was, I always loved the sound
of it. I had thought perhaps it was an ancient prayer or somthing.
There is a book by William Faulkner called _Absalom, Absalom_, which,
again, I loved the sound of. I wanted to put it in the song, as a play
on words with "absolute" and "obsolete", but I thought I'd better find
out for sure what it meant. So I called my wife and asked her to look
it up in the encyclopedia. When I learned the real story, and its
Biblical roots, I decided that it was still appropriate, as it was the
ultimate expression of compassion, which is what the song was really
about. "Absalom, Absalom. My son, my son. Would God I had died for
thee." (Now don't anyone go reading any religion into that!)"
Who is the writer in "Losing It" about?
Neil discusses this song in _Modern Drummer_ magazine, in the April 1984
issue. The writer represents Ernest Hemingway. The dancer "...drew
a bit from that film with Shirley MacLaine called _The Turning
Point_..."
In "By-Tor And The Snow Dog" By-Tor is the bad guy, but he's a hero in "The
Necromancer." What happened?
When asked about this on Rockline, Geddy said something along the lines
of, "He saw the light." Neil once commented, "I guess he's like
all of us - sometimes good, and sometimes he's bad!"
Is that crackling noise about 10-20 seconds into "Distant Early Warning" on
the _Grace Under Pressure_ CD supposed to be there, or is my copy
defective?
It's supposed to be there. There is a rumbling at that point on the
_A Show Of Hands_ CD and on the _Grace Under Pressure Tour_ video,
but people without subwoofers may be unable to detect it.
Near the end of "The Camera Eye," there are some mumblings that I can't
quite make out. Does anybody know for sure what is being said?
No. {The first time I posted this FAQL, I received no fewer than 8
emails from people who claimed to know exactly what is being said
there. Unfortunately, none of them agreed with each other, so I'm
only going to change this answer if somebody can come up with proof
that they are right, such as an interview or magazine article.}
Who says <phrase> in <song>?
Alex says "That's nice" at the end of "Chain Lightning".
Neil says "Subdivisions" in the song of the same name,
even though Alex is shown in the video and does it live.
The deep voice at the beginning of "Cygnus X-1" is none other than
Terry Brown.
Neil does the "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation - We have
assumed control" bit at the end of "2112".
Neil does the narrative during "The Necromancer".
Where is "Lotus-Land?"
"Lotus land as it appears in 'Free Will' is simply a metaphor for an
idealized background, a 'land of milk and honey'. It is sometimes
also used as a pejorative name for Los Angeles, though that was not
in my mind when I wrote it." -- Neil Peart
What does "La Villa Strangiato" mean?
'Weird City'
What is Tai Shan about?
Tai' Shan (from Hold Your Fire) is the name of an actual "holy mountain"
in China. The mythical (?) emperor Huang Ti had so much power that he
was able to summmon all the spirits of the world to him on top of
Tai' Shan to proclaim his power.
Legend has it that if you climb to the top of this mountain and
"raise your hands to heaven," you _will_ live to be at least 100
years old. Neil wrote these lyrics while sitting at the top of
the mountain.
What building is on the cover of _Moving Pictures_?
The building pictured is the old Parliament building in downtown
Toronto. It is several blocks south of the Toronto Planetarium
surrounded by a park. There is a multilane road that splits into two
multilane roads to run around both sides of it and joins up again on
the south side. The entrance on the cover is on the south of the
building.
Why was the headline on the newspaper on the cover of _Permanent Waves_
blocked out?
"There are always the inevitable last minute crises, such as the Chicago
Daily Tribune being still so embarrassed about their 'Dewey defeats Truman'
error of more than thirty years ago, that they actually refused to let us
use it on the cover!" -- Neil Peart, in the _Permanent Waves_ tourbook
To clarify this: When Truman ran against Dewey for President, Truman
lost in most of the states with early returns. So, it looked like
Dewey was going to win. The Tribune released an early morning paper
the next day with a 'Dewey defeats Truman' headline.
How many Rush symbols are there in the _Hold Your Fire_ inside photo?
the fire hydrant from "Signals"
the TV from "Power Windows"
the clock indicating 9:12 (21:12 military time)
the number 15 on the main building...in the "Hold Your Fire"
tour book, they mentioned that this was their 15th album to
date.
the juggler is clearly holding his fire.
at the very far left, underneath the chains is a trunk with
the logo from their first album. This was spotted on a 12
inch picture disk from the album. It cannot be seen in many
other versions of the picture.
The Chinese neon sign above the restaurant reads "Tai-Shan".
A friend told me that the car is a Mercury, but I don't know this
for sure.
What is the Omega Concern?
As Alex realized that he had to play acoustic guitar for some Rush tunes
and then quickly switch to his electric (Closer to the Heart, etc.), he
crafted a stand (actually an attachment to a Tama Titan cymbal stand)
that holds his acoustic in an adjustable playing position.
He soon began to sell this as a product (1st to Music Emporium) under the
company label "The Omega Concern." Apparently, Alex's "company" also made
Geddy a light-up lyric stand and Neil got a newspaper/book holder so he
could read while he eats breakfast.
##############################################################################
Please send me your suggestions for additions or corrections.
"All the world's a stage | ddelany@polyslo.calpoly.edu
And all the men and women merely players: | Daniel Alan Delany
They have their exits and their entrances; -- Wm. Shakespeare (1564-1616)
And one man in his time plays many parts." _As You Like It_ II,vii,39
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