Rush

Bob and Doug McKenzie (Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas) were two characters on the “Great White North,” a featured segment on the early ’80s weekly late-night comedy SCTV. The “typical Canadians” guzzled beer, feasted on back bacon and argued. The ultimate put down line was “Take off.”

Bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer John Rutsey formed Rush in ’69 as a Hard Rock covers band (Cream, Hendrix, Led Zep, etc.). Four years later, they recorded their first album and shopped it around. No one was interested so they started their own label, Moon Records.

A copy of the album was sent to legendary Cleveland Rock station WMMS. Donna Halper, a staff DJ, brought the group to the attention of Mercury Records, who re-released the “Rush” album. Along the way, Rutsey left for health reasons and was replaced by Neil Peart.

Rush records with science fiction/fantasy lyrics (courtesy of Peart) did all right but nothing spectacular.

The following year, ’81, Rush released “Moving Pictures” with the instrumental “YYZ” and the group’s signature song “Tom Sawyer.” ’82 (the same year “Take Off” scored) saw the release of “Signals” and Rush’s most popular single “New World Man.”

Rush continued to produce successful albums through the remainder of the ’80s (“Grace Under Pressure,” “Power Windows” and “Hold Your Fire”). They also released “live” albums sometimes augmenting their sound with keyboards.

At the end of the decade Rush left Mercury for Atlantic.

Their first release for their new label was “Presto” which had a more straight-ahead, less Progressive Rock, approach. “Roll The Bones,” with the rhythmic title track, was next. The “Counterparts” set had keyboards by John Webster and string arrangements. It was not one of their stronger efforts.

After taking three years off Rush returned in ’96 with “Test For Echo.” The album momentarily tied them with KISS as the group with the most U.S. gold records. The live “Different Stages” appeared in ’98. The ’02 studio effort “Vapor Trails” was deemed passable by critics and didn’t fare any better with fans.

Recorded in November of ’02, “Rush In Rio” came out a year later.

Rush received their ninth Juno Award (the Canadian Grammys) when “Clockwork Angels” was named Rock Album of the Year.

“We’ve been saying for a long time, years, that this wasn’t a big deal. Turns out, it kind of is,” said Peart during the ’13 ceremony when Rush was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rush went on indefinite hiatus which took on a greater sense of permanence when Peart announced he was now a “retired drummer.” “Lately Olivia has been introducing me to new friends at school as ‘My dad—He’s a retired drummer’,” shared Peart. “True to say—funny to hear. And it does not pain me to realize that, like all athletes, there comes a time to … take yourself out of the game. “

The band remained optimistic about making new music (with Peart), but less certain on whether they’d ever tour again.

The speculation ended when Peart passed away due to an aggressive form of brain cancer, on January 7th, 2020, in Santa Monica, CA.  He had been diagnosed three and a half years earlier but kept the illness a closely guarded secret until shortly before his death.

Lifeson went on to launch the band Envy Of None while Lee, in ’23, published his autobiography, “My Effin’ Life” and hosted a four-episode series titled “Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?”

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