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Subject: 12/16/92 - The National Midnight Star #583
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The National Midnight Star, Number 583
Wednesday, 16 December 1992
Today's Topics:
Wordplay: the great underrated thread
Re: Postcards from Neil
All the great drummers
Sir Gawain? Excuse me?
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
drums and drummers
stakeout at ged's house :-(
NMS in Red Lenses
"Living in the Limelight"
NMS Shirts are here!
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From: jeremy@brick.purchase.edu (Jeremy Goldberg Consultant)
Subject: Wordplay: the great underrated thread
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 16:30:39 EST
A thousand thank-you's to Rus for another clever post. Some day I will
find the time and energy to e-mail this witty sod personally. Be warned, Rus.
I, too have seen the Terminator 2 trailer with THe Body Electric playing in the
background. But I saw it on -- get this -- MTV. I was, needless to say, sur-
prised. This was during the time T2 was up for some award or other. It was
the most obvious (sic) mention of Rush I had seen in a long time. What is it
with these Arnold Schwartzenegger Sci-fi movies utilising Rush songs, anyway?
As for misspellings: I've seen some bad ones in my time. By far the funniest
(never mind the incomprehensible ones) was on a homemade tape of Alex and
Geddy being interviewed on Much Music, where Alex is listed (in someone's
handwriting on the back) as 'Alex Lightson'. I took this to be a phonetic
mishap, thinking, 'Hmm... Alex LIGHT-son. An honest mistake.' But a Rush-fan
friend of mine from upstate (New York) saw it and said, 'Hey! Alex Lights-On!'
I know this is a longshot --- But someone mentioned a recording of one of the
U.K. shows, and that person (sorry, can't remember specific name) made great
claims about Geddy's bass being very pronouced in many songs, particularly
Limelight, I recall. Well, I have Over The Europe, and my only complaint
about it is that the bass is a bit weak on the recording. Would this person
e-mail me about that boot, please? I'd appreciate it greatly. I think it was
the same person as above, but someone asked for the Xanadu solo in tab. I
believe there's a copy at syrinx.umd.edu, the ftp site. If it's not there
or you can't get to it, I'll e-mail it to you.
Well, that's the news for now. I'm outta here.
-----
by J.G., or Mr. Ged Lee
(Jeremy Goldberg)
-----
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Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 17:42:46 -0600 (CST)
From: MuffinHead <smills@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Subject: Re: Postcards from Neil
I, too, sent Neil a letter (c/o Modern Drummer) and got a reply. I
probably sent it in the early part of '87. The postcard is postmarked 6 NOV
87, Providence, RI (Vacation? On tour? Weird mail routing?). Mine was
hand-written as opposed to typed. Perhaps Neil's volume of mail is growing
to the point that he gets writer's cramp. I seriously doubt he dictates his
replies to a secretary. Only people like Rikki Rockett would do that. (Not
that he deserves any fan mail.)
Muff
___________________________________________________________________________
smills@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu -=<*>=- MuffinHed@aol.com
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From: Chris Schiller <chris@cdc.hp.com>
Subject: All the great drummers
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 17:28:25 PST
I will not try to rank Neil in comparison to other drummers, I think
other people have covered the futility of this.
What amazes me is the number of drummers on the list who claim they
can play most or all of what Neil plays. Yes, I know that most of it
is not all that difficult. But the precision and complexity of
the playing is astounding. Are the drummers saying they can hit the
licks as smoothly and precisely? I will give you Tom Sawyer and Limelight,
but what about Distant Early Warning, La Villa Strangiato, and what I
consider the crown: Digital Man? If they can really play these, not just
keep up and fake it, but really play these, why are they tapping at
a keyboard? We either have an ego problem, or a serious overabundance
of drumming talent.
Chris Schiller
chris@cdc.hp.com
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Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 19:02:59 -0800 (PST)
From: The Analog Kid <strega@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Sir Gawain? Excuse me?
> I heard someone on here mention a while ago that they had
> a copy of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Anyone
> out there have this? A decent copy? It would be really
> interesting to hear what those guys would consider not
> good enough...
Look, guys. THIS DOES NOT EXIST! It was completely dropped and was NOT
RECORDED. It was only an IDEA for on Permanent Waves. Here's the text
from B-man's "Visions":
"Preparing to meet a new decade on their own terms was not always easy for
the group. Some ideas had to be jettisoned. Neil had been working on
another long story. It was based on the ancient Arthurian legend of 'Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight'. One rendering in verse is one of the oldest
pieces of English literature around. Its author is unknown. Most of the
other new material had a modern sensibility, and after much consideration,
Neil realised that the concept would seem out of place in the current
gameplan. It was dropped." (p.43)
You won't be finding a copy of this anywhere in ANY condition or
format. Whoever says they have any copy at all of this is a liar or really
messed up. Read: it was a concept for a song - there probably weren't any
lyrics, and there most certainly was no music written for it. If there
were any original musical ideas for it, I think they ended up in Natural
Science, or so I've heard.
Well, like everyone else on this list, I picked up Dream Theater's "Images
and Words". I have no idea why Rush fans are turned on to this, as it
bears no resemblance to Rush, but it seems to be good nonetheless. After
a few listens, it really shines.
***************************************************************************
[][][] [] [] [][][] [] Randall Haskin strega@u.washington.edu
[] [] [] [] [] "Yeah....it goes to 4th."
[] [] [] [][][] [][][] - Alex Lifeson, talking about the
[] [] [] [] [] [] Gangster of Boats Trilogy
[] [][][] [][][] [] [] CAN YOU SPARE A DOLLAR SO I CAN BUY A BOOT?
***************************************************************************
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Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 23:37:16 EST
From: john leary <leary@remus.rutgers.edu>
Subject: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Hershel Gelman writes:
"I heard someone on here mention a while ago that they had a copy of 'Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight.' "
Okay, I must have missed that post, but if someone DOES have a copy, could
you pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease e-mail me or something, because the amount of
interest I would have in that recording could only be exceeded by the annual
interest on the US foreign debt...
John Leary
leary@remus.rutgers.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 00:41 EST
From: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TYKETTO? <FMOORE@vax.clarku.edu>
Subject: drums and drummers
To the _LONG_ list of posts on this subject, I add my 2 cents.
Having been playing for 5 years now, I have listened to a lot off
different styles by a lot of different drummers (pardon the pun.) I can say
drums are a rythym instrument, and their purpose is to give feeling to a song.
With the philosophy being, go with what works.
A lot has been said about people like Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones)
and Lars Ulrich (Metallica). Watts drumming in RS is "minimalist" if you
define minimalist to mean light tapping and complex rythyms, but this type of
playing works in setting, and doesn't need to be more insertive into the
music. For a laugh, try picturing the drummer of Slayer playing for the
Stones, who have been very impressed with the fact that Watts has kept his kit
to only what he needs, and does NOT have a 30 piece monster kit.
On the flip side of that, Lars in a interview with Modern Drummer (a
few months ago) said that when he first started playing drums Neil was it for
drumming, and everyone else was worthless to listen to. However, after
playing for a good long time (ie after the ...And Justice For All... tour) he
started listening to drummers who didn't always fill, or play 16th notes in
four four. A specific name he mentioned was Phil Rudd, the original drummer
for AC/DC. Lars said patience is a good thing for a drummer to have, a know.
Old AC/DC albums weren't filled with amazing drum solos or 4 measure fills,
but they were solid drumming lines, that were simple, but held the song
together. He then stated that he incorporated lot of those ideas into
recording Metallica. So if you can, listen to the styles of drumming on
>...And Justice For All..., tracks like Blackened an One. Then compare that to
Wherever I May Roam, and Sad But True on Metallica.
Please, if you disagree email me, not the NMS. Ciao
Frank.
P.S. Anyone know if Rush ever cut a Christmas track, (and Take Off
doesn't count)?
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 11:51:43 EST
From: Doug White <dwhite@dsys.ncsl.nist.gov>
Subject: stakeout at ged's house :-(
the short story submitted by Joe Borgia in the last NMS about a friend
videotaping Geddy mow his lawn hopefully isn't typical of Rush fanatics.
If the one line in the story is true - "Geddy keeps looking at the camera
suspiciously" then I wonder if it happens often.
As it turns out, I live a few houses down from Fred Gwynne (Car 54, Munsters
fame). I've never met him, seen him twice in the 5 years we've lived there,
and it's very easy to pick out the wackos who drive by hoping to see
"herman Munster". Actually, I'd guess that a third of the immediate
neighborhood doesn't know he's there.
Any way, I guess my point is, I hope that fans don't bother him too much.
I thought the story of Alex & Neil working on a Chevy Nova was pretty
good, but I can't picture Neil running in panic down the street! As long
as the neighbors don't call the Mounties, and G, A & N don't move into
fortress-houses, everything's cool so far.
(down from the soapbox again) doug
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Cygnus X-1 <raa58389@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: NMS in Red Lenses
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 12:36:30 CST
Hello, all! What is the National Midnight Star that's mentioned in Red
Lenses? Also, who says "It's true!" in that song? Thanks! Bye!
-Ryan
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
raa58389@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
raa58389@sumter.cso.uiuc.edu (NeXTmail)
To all students: Good luck with finals!
----------------------------------------------------------
From: lhilbe46@uther.Calvin.EDU (Lance Hilbelink)
Subject: "Living in the Limelight"
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 15:07:17 EST
Hi.
I found a really cool (I think) article about the RTB tour in the trade
magazine _Lighting Dimensions_ called "Living in the Limelight." It's not as
long as one of their normal tour reviews, but it still contains some
interesting information about lighting and stage setup that is really cool
(there's also a neat photograph of the stage "in action").
Anyway, I was kinda wondering if it would be worth my while to transcribe this
article for the NMS. It is only a page long. If you are interested in seeing
this, please email me privately, and I'll check on the emotional feedback after
the Christmas break. If there are not enough affirmatives, maybe private email
would be an option for transmitting the information.
We'll see.
Thanks in advance. :)
Lance M. Hilbelink
Go Brewers!
Packers! Packers! Pack, pack, pack!
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 18:04:17 -0500
From: meg (******* Meg *******)
Subject: NMS Shirts are here!
The shirts are *finally* in! We're going to pick them up tomorrow,
and should be able to start mailing them out by Friday. I'm sorry for
all the delays, and I thank everyone for being patient. If you've sent
me a check and I haven't replied that I've gotten it, wait a week
and if I haven't sent you a message by then, please let me know. I'm
in Hawaii for Xmas so it'll take a few days for the letters to get here.
For those of you wanting info on the shirts, send me e-mail.
-Meg
meg@syrinx.umd.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
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Copyright The Rush Fans Mailing List, 1992.
Editor, The National Midnight Star
(Rush Fans Mailing List)
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 583
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