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Subject: 02/15/91 - The National Midnight Star #172
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The National Midnight Star, Number 172
Friday, 15 February 1991
Today's Topics:
Administrivia
(none)
Redd Kross and other Monsters
Women, Guts, Science
ADD/DDD Rush
Neil and Cycling?
Carl Stalling, Producers & some other stuff
RE: geddy on metal shop
The Pass (yet again!!!!)
Re: 02/14/91 - The National Midnight Star #171
Keyboards & Guitars
Kim Mitchell
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From: Editor, The National Midnight Star <rush-mgr>
Subject: Administrivia
First of all, I'd like to welcome all you new members to the list -
it's growing my leaps and bounds. We're now perilously close to
the 700 mark; within a dozen! Also, I'd like to say 'Hi' to those
of you who joined from alt.sex - apparently the snafu is turning out
to be beneficial.
We're still finding things wrong (and fixing them) with the new
system software. If you notice anything odd WRT the mailings, drop
me a line at the administrative address.
The 'images' subdirectory (anon. ftp) will soon be updated with a few
new pictures. These are from a new contributor, and are digitized from
some of the band's videos. Stay tuned to the CONTENTS file for more info.
Lastly, because of the inadvertent posting of the NMS in alt.sex and
some of the resulting mail I've received, I've modified the tail of the
digest to add some quasi-legal lingo. It's sad to think I have to do this
to help insure it goes only where I want, but that's the way of the world,
I guess.
That's all for now, on with the show.
rush-mgr
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Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 11:00:38 PST
From: donehoo@olivee.ATC.Olivetti.Com (Doyle W. Donehoo)
I heard this rumor that Rush is holding off their LP
for a Christmas release, and to insure a particular
producer (hopefully Rupert Hine). Personally, I don't care
who produces as long as it's not Peter (Vanilla Mix) Collins.
I also hope the Boyz have shaken off their "back to basics"
kick, though I wouldn't mind if they explored more along the
lines of "Available Light", and cut loose Peart more as in
previous (before PRESTO) recent LPs.
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From: ccameron@sdcc13.UCSD.EDU (The Excellent Guy)
Subject: Redd Kross and other Monsters
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 13:02:09 PST
First of all, why do we let the comment of an obscure 'modern rock'
(ugh, I _hate_ that term) group get us all riled up? I've heard
Redd Kross, and, believe me, they're not that impressive. Imagine
Jane's Addiction on acid. Let them say whatever they want about
Rush. Either way, nobody's going to buy their records, because
they're not that good.
Second, all this discussion about 'Monsters' is interesting, but I
think people are reading more into it than there really is. I don't
think Rick Moranis or anyone was inspired by 'Strangiato' or
anything; the 'Monsters' tune is really pretty common and you'll
probably hear it again and again, on TV and in the movies. Let's
just say Alex first heard it on cartoons as a child, and identified
it with monsters, and let's leave it at that. Otherwise, we could
be reading an infinite amount of posts saying, 'I heard the Monsters
tune on an episode of 'The Brady Bunch'! I heard it in a 1950's
horror movie! etc...'
Third, I was wondering as to why people thought Rush has never made
it into the mainstream of rock music, why they don't get the airtime
we all know they deserve. Is it because of Geddy's high voice, or
because the songs are, for the most part, impossible to dance to, or
what? Just curious...
later
Chris Cameron
The Excellent Guy
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Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 16:06:29 EST
From: gordon@Stars.Reston.Unisys.COM
Subject: Women, Guts, Science
Hello,
Kerry wrote:
--| 1) "Natural Science" : The line "Science, like Nature, must
--| also be tamed..." always bothered me. WHY must Nature be tamed for
--| it's preservation? What does "taming Science" entail? I just don't
--| know....
Note that it's "with a view *toward* its preservation", not
"for" its preservation. I think volumes could be written about the
meaning and implications of this stanza, but I'll spare you (this
time :). We "tame nature" to create our comfortable, civilized
life style, but the price is that we may destroy that which we
intend to merely tame. Science is a tool humans use to tame
nature, but the tools have the potential to become unwieldy and
dangerous. For example, nuclear power, rocket engines, and genetic
engineering all have tremendous beneficial possibilities for
mankind, i.e., cheap energy, space exploration, and cures for
diseases. However, at the same time they possess the potential for
enormous destruction when not used "with a view toward its [our]
preservation", e.g., atomic bombs, ICBMs, and chemical weapons, so
we must tame Science as we tame Nature. Therefore, as Peart says:
"Science, like nature
Must also be tamed
With a view toward its preservation.
Given the same
State of integrity,
It will surely serve us well."
--| 4) Who said that on the last tour some "Bunnies" came out to
--| give the boys a drink and some bowels? This is truly weird.....
^^^^^^
Whoah! Surely this is a typo! ('b' := 't') Weird? I'd say
that's some real kinkiness there! Oh no, I can see the tabloid
headlines now:
SATANIC ROCK BAND IS FED HUMAN ENTRAILS ON STAGE BY HALF-NAKED WOMEN!
[ Love it, Del! :rush-mgr ]
(Film at 11.)
(Here's one more look...)
(And here's a different angle...)
(And here's the slo-mo...)
(To buy the video, call this number, operators are standing by...)
Art as expression
|>, |_| _|` |-|
/\ /\ /\ 1-0-0-1-0-0-1, S.O.S. 1-0-0-1-0-0-1, in distress.
/ \ /\/ \ /\/ \ /-------------------------------------------------------
\/ \/ \/ Del Gordon gordon@stars.reston.unisys.com |><-
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Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 17:00:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Gregory James Legowski <gl11+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: ADD/DDD Rush
To the people who say they have DDD copies of Moving Pictures:
Moving Pictures - ADD
Signals - ADD
Grace Under Pressure - AAD (!)
Power Windows (and everything since but A Show of Hands) - DDD
At least that's what my discs are marked as. Anyone know why GUP is AAD
and the discs BEFORE it are ADD?
Greg Legowski | gl11+@andrew.cmu.edu | Whatever it was, I didn't do it...
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 20:15 EDT
From: IDBST@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: Neil and Cycling?
I was listening to an interview with the band broadcast on a local
radio station, and something was said to the extent of "Neil is an avid
cyclist, and will often go and ride up huge mountains." Did anyone else
hear this, and does anyone else know about Neil's cycling background?
[ Neil is an avid cyclist, and has cycled (if I'm not mistaken) across
Eastern Europe, and also in China (or was that just touring and mountain
climbing?) :rush-mgr ]
Also, when the band plays live, how many pre-recorded tracks are
they using to play some of the songs, like "Lock and Key"? It sounds as
though Alex has two guitar parts, but I _know_ he can only play one at a
time. Anyone in the know regarding this?
Thanks in advance.
Ian D. Bjorhovde idbst@vms.cis.pitt.edu
University of Pittsburgh
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 20:25:54 EST
From: ROBERT_SIMMON@mts.rpi.edu
Subject: Carl Stalling, Producers & some other stuff
Just checked out that Carl Stalling disc and sure 'nuff there was a little bit
of La Villa ... embedded in it. Pretty cool. It's on the Warner Bros. label
(obviously enough) if anyone's wondering.
Would anyone like to see (hear?) Steve Lillywhite produce a Rush album?
Apparently, he's one of the producers (along with (boo, hiss) Rupert Hine) that
either "felt he wasn't the right man for the job" or had "other commitments"
when he bagged doing production for P/G. Mr. Lillywhite has produced
both U2 and Peter Gabriel albums and I think he'd be awesome.
My copy of Moving Pictures on CD says "digitally mastered" on it -
which means the record company made a digital master of the music before
pressing the CD - inherently obvious, right? That would make it AAD, not ADD.
I bought mine in '86 so it might've been remixed - but I doubt it.
Unfortunately, I'd have to admit that Rush has occasionally bashed other bands.
I think Geddy said (in "Heavy Metal Masters"(?)) Rush "didn't just play the
same old shit album after album." It was probably in reference to the Who,
although this is all pretty sketchy memories from quite awhile ago.
One more question - did anybody else notice that the bass line to INXS'
"Suicide Blonde" sounds suspiciously like a simplified version of that in
"Scars" (presto) ?
Rush Openers:
P/G - Helix, Landover MD
Power Windows - Steve Morse, Landover MD
Power Windows - nobody (and they didn't add a second set, either) Baltimore MD
Presto - Mr. Big (I liked the drill on the guitar but that's about it) Baltimore MD
Musicians on NMS - I play trombone!(God's Instrument)
(oops, I lied - yet another question) Can a translation be provided of what
Geddy says at the end of "Red Lenses" (P/G)? I thought it sounded like
"everybody can suck my dick," but I hope not.
"I see red
(not blue)
(not yellow)
(not green)
(not checkers)
P/G tour Landover MD - the coinciding light show was pretty neat too.
-rob simmon
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 21:57:05 -0500
From: atd@po.CWRU.Edu (Aron T. Drake)
Subject: RE: geddy on metal shop
HI Gang,
Well this is my first posting so here goes:
Someone asked if anybody knew anything about the "Fly by Night" alblum, and
yes I have heard a story (hopefully true). Well the boys were going to do
a gig in Cleveland (YES Cleveland) and they were driving down from Toronto.
Well, somehow they took the wrong exit and ended up in Minessota or something
like that.
They had to fly back to make the gig. They took a very late plane back to
Cleveland with all there equipment. After they landed, they taxied in and
taxing out was a Delta "Fly by Night" express. Hence the name of the album.
Now I have to say this is what I have heard, so if I'm wrong please don't
beat on me too much. A good friend of mine who live in the Toledo area(I'm in
Cleveland right now) heard this story somewhere just told it to me a few days
ago so I'd pass it along.
Oh one other thing, there's a really good Rush cover band calle "Free
Will" from Toronto. They are VERY good. If you get a chance go and see them
(the drummer can keep up well and the vocalist/bassist even kinda sounds
like Geddy)
GO!!
Take off, eh
Aron Drake
###]
--
I think, therefore I am.....Confused!
"Well if we took the bones out,
it wouldn't be crunchy now would it?"--Monty Python
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 17:32:24 hst
From: Hinano Akaka <bigtuna!hinano@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
Subject: The Pass (yet again!!!!)
Good Morning Rushans! --
Well, Mike, you're not alone -- Grace Under Pressure is one of my
favourite albums, as well (it's tied with Moving Pictures).
In reference to The Pass -- I've read all the arguments, etc., but I
just can't agree that Christ is meant as a noun. As trivial as this
may sound, it had occurred to me that no one has looked into the
structure of the song itself along with the content. First for the
content:
Neil has mentioned himself that the song is about suicide (as
we all know). In the Rush Profiled! CD, he mentions that he wrote to a
lot of people at universities, etc. about the subject of suicide -- but
I think he was looking at a specific side of suicide. He said that the
choice of someone to commit suicide is theirs and it's their choice to
make, but he was offended by people who commit suicide _for the sake of
being a martyr_. From the way he said it, and I realize this is
subjective, it sounded like he understood why people commit suidice,
but he couldn't understand why people commit suicide, again, _for the
sake of being a martyr_. There is a difference between committing
suicide from ultimate depression, terminal illness (i.e., Alzheimer's
disease -- though that could be interpreted as being a martyr, but that
is not the reason why terminally ill patients commit suicide), etc. and
suicide to 'save face'. His own allusion to that type of mentality was
the Japanese samurai -- commiting suicide for honor, and that whole
bit. He was offended by that type of mentality and mentioned that he
couldn't relate to it at all. And so he wanted to demythologize it, to
emphasize that that was a tragedy and not something to be hemmed and
hawed over and respected. Hence, the song.
I can't see any evidence, either in the song or Neil's mention
of it, that would point to an allusion to Christ. Although Neil is a
master of words, I don't think he would put more than one
'interpretation' (I realize that's a bad word to use) in this
particular song. He did a lot of research (in the tradition of
Manhattan Project) for the song, and he feels strongly about the
subject, so I think he'd be pretty straightforward on this one. This
is rather reminiscent of the term "Lotus Land" he used in Freewill.
It's another term for L.A., but he did not intend for it to mean L.A.
in the song, so that's just one example of an "unintended-double-
entendre".
Obviously, the only way to fully understand the song from
Neil's view (which is what we're all arguing over) is to either discuss
it with him, or look at all the notes, rough-drafts, letters, etc. he's
written about the song. With that in mind, one can then take a look at
the structure of the song. We don't know how many revisions or
rough-drafts the song went through. He may have had something like
"For Pete's sake -- what have you done?" or whatever. When recording,
it may have been discovered that what Neil had written down wouldn't
fit into the song, structure-wise, and so he may have had to revise
it. Or he chose "Christ" intentionally in the beginning. Aside from
fitting into the song structure, it has an impact. Think of how wimpy
it would sound if it was "Geez -- what have you done?" or "Ah man --
what have you done?" The word (not necessarily the name) has an impact
-- it has a sharp sound and gets attention and has the ability to
shock, which was the effect Neil was after -- the shock of discovering
someone who has just commited suicide. Along with the music ending
suddenly at that point creates an even more poignant effect. Neil has
mentioned that he must choose the words carefully because he's only got
so much room to use them. Using "Christ" as an interjection at that
point seems to have been the only way to create the effect he wanted,
etc.
I know that some people are going to disagree with either the
subject and/or arguing about what Neil thinks, and that's fine. I've
got no qualms about that; we're all entitled to our opinions. What I'm
trying to do is to try and understand where Neil is coming from. Along
with my own interpretation of the song, Neil's view makes it even more
interesting. I mean, if we can't argue over opinions and
interpretations, this would be a pretty boring digest!
And as I've mentioned before, the song-structure angle may be a
bit weak, but we are looking at a song, and songs have certain
limitations and we should be keeping that in mind (IMHO).
Along that note, I'd like to ask everyone (humbly, humbly!), please,
guys and gals, be nice to everyone else! Sheesh! Argue all you want,
please, but don't attack your fellow Rushans! I'd like to think we
have Academic Freedom on this Digest (I mean most of us are in/at
universities). Maybe everyone's anxious about the War and a whole
bunch of other stuff, but we're supposed to be on the "same side" (or
am I being just a little too idealistic?). This isn't aimed at anyone
in particular, but I'm noticing that the posts are getting a little
more 'edgy'. So, take 'em easy, you guys!!
Puanani Akaka WORQ: "Handle with Kid Gloves, Handle with Kid
Gloves"
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 00:14:26 EST
From: mike <H97SI@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Re: 02/14/91 - The National Midnight Star #171
cheryl,
i guess i should reiterate what i meant to say...no one person voted for
p/g as their top, best, favorite, numero uno album(a 20 point-er), but it is
mine ...UNTIL LATER...
mike
p.s. would you be my valentine? *****
* * * * * **
* * * * * *
* mike **
* -n- *
* cheryl *
* *
* * *
*** * *
* * ** *
*
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Keyboards & Guitars
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 02:18:39 EST
From: mjkobb@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Hiya,
A question on Rush's keyboards. On the Show of Hands video, Geddy is
playing four keyboards, all with the names covered with tape. As far as I can
tell, he's got a Yamaha KX-series on top on his left, a Roland (D50?) top
front, an analog on the bottom, in the front, and some other keyboard on the
bottom left. It's the analog I'm most interested in. It's got two rows of
knobs on the left side of the panel, a display in the center and what looks
like a keypad on the right. What is it? I'd also like to know what the one
on the bottom left is. Also, anybody know if they're still using Emu
Emulators for their samplers?
Finally, a friend of mine (guitarist), was wondering what kind of guitar
Alex uses for lead on Show of Hands. (It looked like he's still using the
same one for Presto).
Thanks,
--Mike
----------------------------------------------------------
From: wolf@xensoft.xenitec.on.ca (Dave Wolf)
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 1991 00:22:57 EST
Subject: Kim Mitchell
I realize this isn't a Rush topic, but there seems to be a lot of interest in
Kim Mitchell's music here lately, and besides, my opinion *was* called for.
> Any other Canadians care to voice opinions? Robyn? Ron? Dave Wolf? Mark
> Dykeman? Martin? Back me up here.... ^^^^ ^^^^
So, IMHO ....
All the Max Webster/Kim Mitchell albums are excellent. I grew up listening to
Max (and Rush) and I can't think of one song I don't like. It's hard to pick
the best album, but I would say "Universal Juveniles" or "A Million Vacations"
rank as my favorites. As far as Kim's solo stuff goes, his first EP was great
and it just got better from there. Songs like "Diary for Rock 'n' Roll Men",
"That's a Man", "Lager and Ale", "That's the Hold" and "City Girl" are all
Canadian rock and roll classics.
I feel sorry for everyone in the U.S. who can't find these albums, you are
really missing out on some great music.
I saw Kim last summer on the "I Am a Wild Party" tour and he put on a super
show. I hear he's doing some local touring now and I'll be at every show I
possibly can. I also heard he's working on a new album, ready for a summertime
release. I can't wait!
Kinda makes you glad to be Canadian.
Dave Wolf
wolf@xensoft.xenitec.on.ca
----------------------------------------------------------
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Copyright The National Midnight Star, 1991.
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Editor, The National Midnight Star
(Rush Fans Mailing List)
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 172
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