The Prog Rock band I would like to feature again is Rush. They are a Canadian Prog rock band and their drummer and lyricist Neil Peart passed away last year.
I have read his excellent travelogue, motorbike travelling memoir "Ghost Rider". In it he often mentions his "mental jukebox". A phrase I often use on here. The book also mentions his personal tragedies. It's an excellent read,
I have liked Rush for over forty years and I have been lucky enough to have seen them twice, once at Birmingham NEC and once at Sheffield Arena. We missed twenty minutes of their Sheffield concert because we decided to have another pint in the pub across the road because we thought the support band was playing.🤣
Any road. The track I have chose today is "Spirit of the radio". It takes me back to the days when people tape recorded the top forty and played it on a cassette recorder walking to and from school. Back in the days when my designer bag was made of plastic and said Kwik Save on it. Happy days. Not really.
I digress. But do you remember when you get so excited when you heard the first bars of a catchy song and you would either tape it or rush (Rush) to town to get the single? This is one of those songs that I couldn't stop playing.
It's about FM radio becoming too commercialised . There's even a bit of a Reggae experiment in the middle of the song. Ironically it's probably their most commercial single.
The lyrics are poetic and display Neil Pearts literary and drumming genius. He's been compared to the jazz drummer Buddy Rich. I feel honoured and privileged to have seen the three piece band from Toronto: Rush.
Enjoy.
I certainly do recall the all-consuming passion I had for newly discovered music when I was 14 to 20 years old. I could never get that same feeling back now that I am approaching my death. I knew I shouldn't have smoked those sunflower seeds!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean YP. A time when you just had to have that single and you played it over and over again. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOh, is it Friday already?
ReplyDeleteI remember tring to tape my favourite songs from the radio onto cassettes, but the DJs always spoke over part of it, probably to ruin the recordings 😉
I'm not that boring am I JayCee? I remember knowing someone who used to buy a record,tape it and take it back to the big record shop in Manchester and exchange it for another record. There was always a different person on the counter and no one ever noticed. Thanks JayCee.
ReplyDeleteNo, never boring! I just seem to have lost track of the days 😳
DeleteThanks. I know what you mean about losing track of the days. They are all the same.
ReplyDeleteYou've just made me remember a club I used to go to in the early 80's, I knew it as The Naval Club. It was a live music club and they always had a band on a Saturday night, but the bands would only play a set of a certain length. To keep us entertained they would have a DJ play for and he always played Rush "Spirit of the Radio" to kick off. Happy days.
ReplyDeleteMaria-Elaine
The Naval Club sounds a great live music club Maria-Elaine. The DJ had good music taste😊. It's funny what you remember isn't it? I remember going in a Rock pub and"Whiskey In The Jar" by Thin Lizzy was always playing on the jukebox. Happy days. Thanks.
ReplyDelete