The National Midnight Star #168

Errors-To: rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu Reply-To: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Sender: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Precedence: bulk From: rush@syrinx.umd.edu To: rush_mailing_list Subject: 02/07/91 - The National Midnight Star #168
** ____ __ ___ ____ ___ ___ ** ** / /_/ /_ /\ / /__/ / / / / /\ / /__/ / ** ** / / / /__ / \/ / / / / /__/ / \/ / / /___ ** ** ** ** __ ___ ____ ** ** /\ /\ / / \ /\ / / / _ /__/ / ** ** / \/ \ / /___/ / \/ / /___/ / / / ** ** ** ** ____ ____ ___ ___ ** ** /__ / /__/ /__/ ** ** ____/ / / / / \ ** The National Midnight Star, Number 168 Thursday, 7 February 1991 Today's Topics: Rush opening ascts The French Open and Hold Your Fire The Pass tour, tour! RUSH guest jam? Opening acts and the mysterious letter "D" Anticipating new Rush albums Frivolity Aimee Mann and Rush and pre-concert meetings. Concertgoers unite By Pass and the Road Hog Rush on MFSL Gold CDs (oooooohhhhhh!) Album Poll Results! ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 13:09:44 EST From: herrera@tegra.com Subject: Rush opening ascts I saw Rush at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, MA in 1978; I think it was the "Farewell to Kings" tour. The opening act was The Babys. I wished I'd showed up late...... ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 13:19:20 -0500 From: dchao@ecn.purdue.edu (David H Chao) Subject: The French Open and Hold Your Fire I wasn't aware that Geddy and Alex were big tennis fans. I found it pretty cool that my favorite group (well, 2/3 of it) happens to like my favorite sport. However, in regards to the French Open they saw during the HYF recording, I believe that Chang won it in 1989, Wilander won it in 1988... but I am not sure who won in 1987. I'll probably go look it up, but in case I forget, does anybody know who did win the French in 1987? Whoever won, the boyz must have had a good time to acknowledge Stade Roland Garros in the album. (I wonder what the head of Garros would have thought? Maybe he/she's a Rush fan? :-) -Dave Need some chaos? That's our specialty. Chaotic Enterprises, Inc. dchao@en.ecn.purdue.edu ---------------------------------------------------------- From: Kenneth Mark Maxham <max@owlnet.rice.edu> Subject: The Pass Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 13:10:02 CST I wonder how many people realize that when Neal writes in The Pass: Someone set a bad example, made surrender seem alright the act of a noble warrior who lost the will to fight. Christ, what have you done? that the word "Christ" is a noun and not an interjection. | Mark Maxham | No, his mind is not for rent, to any god or government | | max@rice.edu | ... he knows changes aren't permanent. But change is. | ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 09:57:17 hst From: Hinano Akaka <bigtuna!hinano@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> Subject: tour, tour! On the subject of going to concerts in groups on their next tour: MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY! (hey, anyone from Hawaii wanna fly up? I've done it before and I'll do it again...!!!) Puanani Akaka Let's do it! ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 15:42 EST From: V073NQA6@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: RUSH guest jam? I've posted to the local bulletin board and haven't gotten any response on t this subject. So here with my first post, I'll try. Last semester, I caught a tune on the radio that was no Rush track that I know, yet there was Geddy's voice and I'm not sure of the rest of the band. Definitely in the song there was enough going on, for them to have been there. I read a post on a board at about the same time that RUSH had jammed with this band on their album. Problem here is, I don't remember the group's name. It was pretty obscure to me. I'd like to pick up a copy next time I'm up in Toronto. I have a feeling that the band was from up North. [ I traded mail with Elvin, and we've ruled out the Gowan album w/Alex, and anything Geddy's done/doing w/Voivod. He said it was new last fall, so this rules out "Battlescar" w/Max Webster. Any other ideas? :rush-mgr ] -elvin c. ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 15:08:57 -0800 From: David Conley <dmc@u.washington.edu> Subject: Opening acts and the mysterious letter "D" Patrick M. Ryan <pat@iris1.gsfc.nasa.gov> writes: >helix - grace under pressure; capital centre, largo, md > (they apparently were supposed to have > a band called zebra open but they canceled ^^^^^ > at the last minute) WoW! That would have been a grrrreat show! Two super power trios on the same bill. Too bad it never came to pass. (yep, I really dig Zebra) On the subject of opening bands, .38 Special opened some of the shows out west on the Permanent Waves tour. And if you really want to go back a long way, I believe Rush opened for Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Uriah Heep in 1974 on their first tour! >I always assumed it was quite obvious that "Brought to you by the >letter D" had to do with the fact that the CD is DDD - as in digital >recording, mixing, and mastering. Maybe I was wrong to assume this but >I think this is a good explaination. >well, good assumption, but you forget the fact that >"Brought to you by the letter D", etc, was on the _ALBUMS_ long before >CDs were around.... I think the Sesame Street explanation is the correct >one... plus, to my knowledge, Rush CDs prior to Power Windows were in >AAD; HYF, Power Windows, and Presto are in DDD, while ASOH is in ADD... Maybe, but HYF was the first Rush production that was designed specifically for the CD format. Neil comments on this in an interview I heard (maybe on the Profiled! CD). They planned the album for around 50 minutes and knew that it would be done as DDD. You will recall that the big switcheroo to CD's from LP's occurred about 1987, when HYF came out. Anyway, the idea that "brought to you by the letter D" = DDD sounds good to me. Maybe Neil will answer this question via the Backstage Club (eh, Hinano !). BTW, has anyone gotten any current newsletter from the Backstage Club?? I'm a member in good standing and I haven't heard anything from them since Presto was released. Cheers, David ----- David Conley "The Digital Anatomist" dmc@milton.u.washington.edu University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 16:12:43 PST From: Mark Lent <lent@stat.washington.edu> Subject: Anticipating new Rush albums I don't work at a record store, but from what I've seen, Rush albums tend to be bought heavily during the first day that record stores receive the new shipments. I know that I call the local stores over and over checking up on it and it is usually the case that the things get postponed for different reasons. Anyway, I have never felt this severe anxiety to get an album so fast with any other group. Many of my friends feel the need to get the new material on the first day as well. The record stores know this, I think, and put a sale price on them only after a week or two has passed. How aggravating! My purpose in even mentioning this stuff is related to how much people feel about the albums as they listen to it more. How many of us thought _Signals_ was a bad album, but after a while of listening to it, we fell in love with it. This may be a result of how much anxiety we have: something along the lines of "_Moving Pictures_ was so awesome, I can't wait to hear their next album." Consistently for me the albums get better the more I listen. I have come to acknowledge the fact that at first I may not think it is a very good album compared to the others but that in time (maybe 10 or 20 listens) it is up there with all the rest. Yes, I will buy the next Rush CD the first day it arrives in Seattle, and so will many others. Does Billboard keep any stats on first day sales? I'm sure Rush has the top spot hands down. Mark Lent "This is called 'Anthem'" - The Gedman ---------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Frivolity Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 11:54:50 CST From: David Sandberg <dts@quad.sialis.com> So why isn't our beloved "National Midnight Star" brought to us by a letter yet? Maybe one of rush-mgr's real initials? Or just 'N' (for Net)? [ We'll see. Depends on how zany I'm feeling on any given day... :rush-mgr ] -- \\ David Sandberg \ Geddy: "People aren't idiots. \\ // dts@quad.sialis.com / Well... some people are idiots, // \\ uunet!umn-cs!sialis!quad!dts \ but _I'm_ not an idiot!" \\ ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 1991 17:12:35 PST From: "Ray (DJ) DeGennaro II" <degennar@aludra.usc.edu> Subject: Aimee Mann and Rush and pre-concert meetings. Real quick question (actually two) and a statement. During the HFY tour, when Aimee's line was sung, a picture of her drifted across the video screen and the image "lip-synched" (I've been waiting to use that term in a non derogatory fashion.) to the recording. However, on the Presto tour, the screen went completely blank. I saw the show in LA, did this happen elsewhere? And if so, any ideas why? Meetings before the concerts sounds like a great idea. Somebody in LA remember this when the boyz come to town. I'm assuming they'll be there during the school year. YAORQ: "The suburbs have no charms to sooth the restless dreams of youth." - verified by personal experience. | Where do the old men go, | "Dog City" | | When their song stops playing on the radio? | - Crack the Sky | | How does the young man know, \__________________________| | When his dream is over and he's lost his soul ... to Dog City? | ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 21:45 EST From: "Derek D. Lichter [Cinderella Man]" <DEREK%ALBNYVMS.BITNET@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU> Subject: Concertgoers unite Well, I think having a net/list concert group is a great idea, and not unreasonable at all, considering the amount of people now reading this. As long as we organize it in advance, we can probably do really well getting tickets for large groups. At any rate, I'd be happy to organize a Northeast/lower New England group, I guess composed of New York, upper Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania people -- basically all who are within a two-hour driving limit. We could get the list together, and once we find out the tour dates, work out multiple concert trips that suit our schedules. This is way ahead of us, of course, but when the time is right it could work out really well. E-mail is faster and more reliable than most other methods of communication... [ Count me in; I've got friends in Philly. We might consider driving a ways if it's a Saturday show. :rush-mgr ] (Oh, yeah... since my girlfriend lives in Maryland, I'd be interested in the "Capital Region sphere" as well. :-) D.C., Baltimore, even Philly -- any excuse to visit my gf!) I guess that'll do, except for the obligatory RQ: "genetic blends/with uncertain ends/on a fortune hunt that's far too fleet" Derek L. ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 22:43 EST Subject: By Pass and the Road Hog From: "Charles <S3SIJDP@SAE.TOWSON.EDU>" <S3SIJDP@SAE.TOWSON.EDU> Yes, the Rush Mgr got it right. I was merely trying to make a joke. I apologize if my humor was a bit too subtle. (Sorry Ron.) I also hope that I didn't create a false sense of euphoria in 650 people's hearts with the possibility of unreleased songs. But anyway, carry on, carry on. ORQ- "He and she are in the house but there's only me at home." Well. Actually, he is home too. -Charles Grogan ---------------------------------------------------------- From: rlr@bbt.com (rader) Subject: Rush on MFSL Gold CDs (oooooohhhhhh!) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 91 10:38:28 EST With all due respect to the Patster, do we really care whether or not MFSL releases a gold Rush CD? This gold CD is an audiophile marketing gimmick, and nothing more. If you really want to pay $25 for a Rush CD, go right ahead, but don't expect much more. Unless you also dab green ink or Armor All on your CDs! Unless, of course, MFSL remastered one of the analog early albums. Then it might be worth it. Personally, I think Mercury or Polygram or whoever should remaster the old disks to modern digital standards. That's the only real advantage to the MFSL disks. -- ron rader, jr rlr@bbt.com OR ...!mcnc!bbt!rlr = Opinions are my own and do | | i gotta six-pack & nothing to do... = not necessarily reflect those | | i gotta six-pack & i don't need you = of BroadBand Tech. (SO THERE!) *** Punk ain't no religious cult, punk means thinking for yourself - DKs *** ---------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Album Poll Results! Date: Thu, 7 Feb 91 8:03:08 PST From: Doug Grumann <dougg@hpptc16.rose.hp.com> Thanks to all you Rush fans who sent me your 10 favorite albums for my poll. Response was terrific.. I received about 90 replies! Many of you have quite eclectic tastes in music. I was surprised at the sheer number of different albums nominated.. 460 in all! That averages out to be over 5 unique albums per person! Yow! Rather than listing every single album nominated, I'll email the results file to anybody who asks for it. Send requests to dougg@hpptc16.hp.com. To score the nominations, I chose a point scheme. When an album was somebody's first place choice, I gave it 20 points. 19 points went to people's second place choice, 18 for third, and so on, down to 11 points for 10th place votes. Nominations that were "in no particular order" all got 16 points each. This way, two people voting an album for 10th place scored roughly equal to one person voting an album their 1st place choice. It makes sense to me, anyways. Now for the album list. The "points" column is the total score for that album. The "#votes" column is the number of people who voted for that album. The "times #1" column is the number of people who voted that album as their #1 choice. Rank Group: Album points #votes times #1 ---- -------------------------------- ------ ------ -------- 1 Rush: Moving Pictures 527 28 13 2 Pink Floyd: The Wall 345 20 3 3 Led Zeppelin: IV 267 16 0 4 Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon 220 13 5 5 Boston: Boston 214 14 0 6 Queensryche: Operation: Mindcrime 202 12 3 7 Marillion: Misplaced Childhood 187 11 3 8 The Beatles: Abbey Road 162 9 2 9 Rush: 2112 159 9 3 10 Yes: 90125 153 10 1 11 Rush: Hemispheres 130 7 3 12 Van Halen: Van Halen I 127 8 0 13 Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hts Clb Band 126 8 1 14 Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here 117 7 0 15 Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti 116 7 1 16 Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 103 6 2 17 Led Zeppelin: II 103 6 1 18 U2: War 95 6 2 19 Rush: Power Windows 93 5 3 20 Rush: Permanent Waves 90 5 1 21 Metallica: Master of Puppets 89 5 1 22 The Who: Who's Next 88 6 0 23 Rush: Signals 87 5 1 24 King Crimson: Discipline 85 5 2 25 Kansas: Point of Know Return 83 5 0 26 Triumph: Allied Forces 81 6 0 27 Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced? 79 5 0 27 Yes: Close to the Edge 79 5 0 29 Joe Satriani: Surfing with the Alien 78 5 0 29 Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy 78 5 0 31 Yes: Fragile 77 5 0 32 Peter Gabriel: III (face melting) 76 5 0 33 Rush: A Farewell to Kings 75 4 2 34 Metallica: And Justice For All 72 5 0 35 Peter Gabriel: So 69 5 0 36 Metallica: Ride the Lightning 69 4 0 37 The Eagles: Hotel California 66 4 0 38 Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans 64 4 0 39 Rush: Hold Your Fire 61 4 0 40 U2: The Unforgettable Fire 58 4 1 41 Fleetwood Mac: Rumours 57 4 0 41 Led Zeppelin: I 57 4 0 43 The Police: Synchronicity 56 4 0 44 Rush: Exit.. Stage Left 56 3 2 45 Asia: Asia 54 4 0 46 Def Leppard: Hysteria 53 4 0 47 Pink Floyd: Animals 50 3 1 48 Kansas: Leftoverture 50 3 0 48 King Crimson: In the Court of the Crm King 50 3 0 48 Pink Floyd: The Final Cut 50 3 0 51 AC/DC: Back in Black 49 4 0 52 Aerosmith: Permanent Vacation 49 3 0 52 Black Sabbath: Paranoid 49 3 0 54 Steely Dan: Aja 48 4 0 55 Talking Heads: Remain in Light 48 3 0 56 Jethro Tull: Heavy Horses 47 3 0 56 Queen: A Night at the Opera 47 3 0 56 Yes: The Yes Album 47 3 0 59 ELP: Brain Salad Surgery 46 3 0 59 Paul Simon: Graceland 46 3 0 61 Cream: Wheels of Fire 45 3 0 62 Peter Gabriel: Security (IV) 44 3 0 62 Yngwie Malmsteen: Rising Force 44 3 0 64 Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath 43 3 0 64 Supertramp: Crime of the Century 43 3 0 64 Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever 43 3 0 67 Journey: Greatest Hits 42 3 0 67 Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed 42 3 0 67 Pink Floyd: The Delicate Sound of Thunder 42 3 0 67 Styx: Paradise Theater 42 3 0 71 Saga: Worlds Apart 41 3 0 72 Rush: Presto 40 2 2 73 Marillion: Clutching at Straws 39 2 1 73 Stevie Ray Vaughan: Texas Flood 39 2 1 75 Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, & Howe: ABWH 37 2 0 75 The Who: Quadrophenia 37 2 0 77 Genesis: Trick of the Tail 36 2 1 78 Aerosmith: Rocks 36 2 0 79 Derek&theDominos: Layla&Othr Asst Lv Songs 35 2 1 80 Deep Purple: In Rock 35 2 0 80 Genesis: Seconds Out 35 2 0 80 King Crimson: Beat 35 2 0 80 Pink Floyd: Meddle 35 2 0 80 Roger Waters: The Pros & Cons of Hitchhkng 35 2 0 80 Sting: Nothing Like the Sun 35 2 0 86 Blue Oyster Cult: Secret Treaties 34 2 1 86 King Crimson: Starless and Bible Black 34 2 1 88 10,000 Maniacs: In My Tribe 34 2 0 88 Genesis: Abacab 34 2 0 88 The Police: Ghosts in the Machine 34 2 0 88 Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers 34 2 0 88 Rush: Grace Under Pressure 34 2 0 88 Simon & Garfunkel: Concert In Central Park 34 2 0 88 The Who: Tommy 34 2 0 95 Dream Theatre: When Dream and Day Unite 33 2 1 95 Iron Maiden: Killers 33 2 1 95 Prince: Sign 'o The Times 33 2 1 95 Yes: Drama 33 2 1 99 Chicago: Greatest Hits Volume I 33 2 0 99 Chick Corea Elektrik Band: Inside Out 33 2 0 99 Dire Straits: Love Over Gold 33 2 0 99 ELP: Emerson Lake & Palmer 33 2 0 99 Genesis: Foxtrot 33 2 0 99 Jethro Tull: Minstrel in the Gallery 33 2 0 99 King Crimson: Red 33 2 0 106 Blue Oyster Cult: Imaginos 32 2 0 106 Judas Priest: Stained Class 32 2 0 106 Kate Bush: The Whole Story 32 2 0 109 Steve Vai: Flexable 31 2 1 110 The Doors: The Doors 31 2 0 110 Genesis: Selling England By the Pound 31 2 0 110 Kazumi Watanabe: Mobo Club 31 2 0 110 Stevie Ray Vaughan: Couldn't Stand Weather 31 2 0 Since some groups had several albums which received votes, this final list ranks the groups themselves according to the total scores of all albums nominated. The "#albums" column shows how many albums by that group were nominated, and the "#votes" column shows how many votes total were received for all albums by that group. Rank Group points #albums #votes ---- ---------------- ------ ------- ------ 1 Rush (who else?) 1394 13 77 2 Pink Floyd 879 8 52 3 Led Zeppelin 670 7 41 4 Yes 470 7 30 5 Genesis 368 11 22 6 The Beatles 324 4 19 7 Marillion 279 6 17 8 King Crimson 251 6 15 9 Metallica 230 3 14 10 Queensryche 221 2 13 11 Peter Gabriel 214 5 15 12 Boston 214 1 14 13 Jethro Tull 210 9 14 14 Kansas 190 5 12 15 Van Halen 181 5 12 16 The Who 175 4 11 17 U2 167 3 11 18 Aerosmith 158 6 10 19 The Police 146 4 10 20 Black Sabbath 139 5 9 21 Styx 111 5 8 22 Dire Straits 109 6 7 23 Triumph 108 3 8 24 The Eagles 98 3 6 25 Judas Priest 95 5 6 26 Blue Oyster Cult 95 4 6 27 Queen 95 4 6 28 Iron Maiden 93 4 6 29 Talking Heads 92 3 6 30 Joe Satriani 92 2 6 31 Def Leppard 90 3 7 ...and anybody who wants to know more can request the full tabulation from me at dougg@hpptc16.hp.com ----------------------------------------------------------
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