Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee on Rockline for Different Stages
Rockline, January 20, 1999
Bob Coburn: Well some bands stay away from releasing live albums, Rush has just given us another one. It's entitled Different Stages. Maybe Rush has no problems with live recordings since they play so well live. Let's find out more as Rockline welcomes Rush bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee. Hi Geddy, how are you tonight?
Geddy: Hey Bob. How are you doing?
BC: I'm doing great; and also one of the greatest guitarists in rock, Alex Lifeson. Welcome to Rockline Alex.
Alex Lifeson: Hi Bob.
BC: Nice to have you guys back again and be speaking with you. You guys do seem to embrace live albums and there's a pattern that's emerged this seems like it after every fourth album a live album comes out. A lot of bands have a problem with this but you don't. Why do you embrace live recordings?
Geddy: I don't know if we embrace them or they embrace us and shake us up, but, we seem to have (breakup noise at this point) and the only test of that really is to listen back to how you've performed over the last few years and the process of that is so all-encompassing and time consuming that the natural end result of that work seems to justify putting on vinyl and making it some sort of historical marker. So, I think that's how these things evolve and why we keep going back to them.
BC: And of course as a listener and a fan of the band this is such a great 3 CD set because one of the CD's comes from February 20 1978 so you really get a contrast as to how you sounded 20 years ago and how you sound recently. Now, you recorded 100 shows and Alex one of the ironies is that most of the recent stuff came from 1 show.
Alex: Yea, most of it came from a show we did in Chicago but I think the approach with this one is rather than marking that 3 or 4 year period or 3 or 4 record period it's you know we're looking back on 20 years of touring and playing live. And you know when you do a lot of shows and you have uh a lot of shows to pick from where you can be quite selective about what you get it's great to be able to have one show where the flow is there, the band's on, everybody's playing well, you feel really comfortable and that doesn't happen very often in a tour.
BC: Now Geddy that show in Chicago; did you know when you walked offstage that that was the one right there or did it kind of creep up on you later?
Geddy: No, I didn't realize because you know from the stage point of view that venue is a little difficult, the sound is a little bit boomy on stage but from listening to it from the crowd point of view that boominess translates into a very warm and vibrant sound so I was really surprised that every time I would put up a different city in comparison to Chicago I'd always lean back to Chicago because it had a particular kind of feeling to it, it just had this event-like quality to it that reminded me a little bit of the Hammersmith tapes. There was a kind of a special thing about those tapes as well, so the two seemed to marry very well.
BC: Any doctoring done on this one? I know the first live album there was almost too much, it became almost sterile. What was the process with this one?
Geddy: Well, the first live album we did absolutely no doctoring "All The World's A Stage" and it was the next live album that we got a bit, we kind of overreacted to it and tidied things up a little too much. The purpose of this album - the last two albums we haven't done very much - the purpose of this album was to record many shows and with the hope that you could find those individual performances and you don't have to play with the tapes too much. Invariably (breakup noise here) guitar string breaks, a guitar gets out of tune, the vocal mike craps out, there's a bad note from somebody, so those are the kinds of things you go in for a minute and you might repair that moment, but generally the attitude that we took with this album was to leave it as intact as we could.
BC: We have great songs to play tonight, there's so much to choose from. We have Geddy Lee, we have Alex Lifeson, you can call and talk to them it's toll free 1-800-344-ROCK it's Rockline, this will be the second single from Different Stages one of the all time great Rush songs, Closer To The Heart...
[Closer To The Heart plays]
BC: Closer To The Heart from Different Stages. Rush on Rockline Geddy and Alex are joining us tonight to take your calls in the studios of Q107 in Toronto if you'd like to speak with the guys just call toll free 1-800-344-ROCK. Rockline is brought to you by Sears DieHard
(commercial)
BC: A bit of 'Where's My Thing' there, if you'd like one of our Rockline calendars just send a postcard with your name address and the station you are listening to Rockline on and mail it to 99 Rockline Calendar PO Box 4383 Hollywood, California 90078. I'm Bob Coburn, I'm with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush. It's an evening with Rush, first call this evening from Los Angeles, it's Michael, Michael you're on Rockline with Rush.
Caller: Yea, hi Geddy, hi Alex, how are you doing tonight?
Alex: Good how are you?
Caller: Great, doing great. My first question to you is um what do you feel you have left to accomplish in the world of music?
Geddy: Well, that's a pretty big question. I don't know, I think that we've always had the attitude that there's always some area of either performance, writing or production that you can improve. By no means do most artists consider themselves finished their evolution, and I think that we would, you know, like many others just consider ourselves just to be continuing along a particular road and trying to better ourselves. As for a finite goal to definitely say what is ahead in terms of musical development I think it's very difficult to answer.
BC: Michael, thanks for being on the air tonight.We're going to take as many calls as possible tonight. It's Drew's turn in Portsmouth New Hampshire. You're on Rockline with Rush, Drew.
Caller: Yea, how are you doing? I just wanted to say that I love the new album.
Geddy: Thank you.
Caller: No problem. I've been hearing some rumours online and I was just curious that I heard the next possible studio recording could be coming possibly January 1, 2000, and maybe if there's any kind of confirmation to this or anything like that?
Alex: There are no plans to go into the studio right now or to tour right now in view of everything that's happened with Neil's family in the past while. We're just in a bit of a state of limbo until we get a sense of Neil getting grounded again and finding his direction in his life. For now we're just kind of waiting and we'll see what happens.
BC: Oh, but the rumours abound so we're happy to set the record straight on Rockline for you tonight. That's the current situation, Drew, thanks for being on. We're moving to Dayton Ohio to speak with Lance, Lance you're on Rockline with Rush.
Caller: Good evening gentlemen, how are you doing?
Geddy: Pretty good, how are you?
Caller: Wonderful, wonderful, great to be speaking with you. I wanted to know; Rush music has been categorized many different ways from pop to metal to progressive, and I wanted to know about how you felt about the other progressive metal bands that are around such as Dream Peter, Faith Warning, Merillion and ones like that?
Geddy: Well, for myself I'm not 100% familiar with a lot of those different bands that you mentioned. I've heard some bits of their music so I don't think I'm in a position to pass judgement on them but I'm happy to see anybody working in the area of progressive rock because there are not many of us left out there.
BC: Alex, anything that's caught your ear as of late?
Alex: My comb.
(laughing all around)
Alex: No, not really actually, the last little while I haven't listened to very much at all.
Geddy: I mean there's lots of great music out there in one way or another is progressive. I think that some of the music that Radiohead is making is very progressive, I think there's a lot of experimenting that's going on with various forms of trip hop and more synthesized music that's doing some interesting bass and drums work and, so there's a whole creative element coming out of different areas, I think is influential, but in terms of that specific genre which the caller asked about, I'm not really in a position to pass judgement.
BC: We do thank Lance for being on the air tonight, and we're going to play another song from Different Stages by Rush. Inspiration comes from a lot of places, sometimes even the radio, The Spirit of Radio on Rockline.
[The Spirit of Radio plays]
BC: It's Rush on Rockline, Different Stages the name of the live album. I almost clapped there, The Spirit of Radio, we have Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee with us tonight, I'm Bob Coburn, your number is toll free 1-800-344-ROCK and Drew from Minneapolis is on Rockline with Rush. Hi Drew.
Drew - Hey, how's it going?
Alex: Hi Drew.
Drew - Hey, what's up. Hey, I got a question for Geddy man. Uh, Geddy, World Series 98, who were you voting for, the Yanks or the Padres?
Geddy: 98? Who was I voting for? Well, I was rooting for the Padres I have to confess.
BC: Underdog?
Geddy: Well, I have a friend who played on the team so I was rooting for him. BC: You've got a lot of friends -
Geddy: I was not objective -
BC: You've got a lot of friends -
Geddy: Yea, I've been fortunate, I've met some really good people in the game and some of them, who have remained friends for quite a few years now so I root for my friends when they're there.
BC: Who on the Padres did you become friends with?
Geddy: The pitcher, Mark Langston who I met when he first used to, he, got traded to Montreal many years ago and I met him there and we've just stayed in contact over the years. He's a great rock fan and he had Alex and I down to Anaheim Stadium a couple of times to shag fly balls and do batting practice and stuff and he's been pretty kind to us and he's come to a lot of our shows. We stay in touch.
BC: One of the 15 or so times I've see you live, one night at the LA Forum he was there, Mark Langston was backstage. He's a good guy, a very nice guy and a pretty good pitcher too. Drew, thank you for being on the air, we'll head to Greenville South Carolina to speak with Robert, Robert you're on Rockline with Rush.
Robert - Hi Rush, hi Bob.
(all) - Hey Robert.
Caller: I have two questions I'm gonna break them up here, I'm actually in Coral Springs Florida but that's all right. What did you guys use as the intro music in the 70's show on the third disc? That's the first question.
Geddy: Oh, yea, what was that song? I'm trying to remember now -
Alex: to the Peasants
Geddy: That's a good question, you know, at the time we were using, for a while we were using a classical piece of music by Senseans called Dance Macabre but I don't think it was for that show. It was actually an old Moody Blues song that was an orchestrated song that we used to open one of those shows. Sorry, I can't remember exactly but it was one of those two things.
BC: Robert, question number 2.
Caller: If you guys were to score a soundtrack, either of you, what kind of movie would you do?
Geddy: That's a good question.
Alex: Pornos would be fun.
BC: It's probably a lot of guitarists in the background there.
Alex: Yea, you know there's a lot of music in those -
BC: (laughs) they're not real big on dialogue are they, and I'm sure 'stretch out' was a Freudian slip, we'll let you slide on that one Alex. Geddy, what about you (laughing)?
Geddy: I think we'd be open to most things, I think that Alex and I might have a lot of different kinds of music in us and I think we could be pretty flexible in that area if we ever got it together to commit to doing one of those.
Alex: It would be fun to do something like that, to have a visual to work to, instead of using your brain.
BC: It is different -
Alex: Use someone else's brain -
BC: Use someone else's brain, yea, play to this, there you go. Greg is patiently waiting in Chicago, Illinois so let's take his call. Of course, a lot of the CD comes from a show in Chicago, Greg you're on Rockline with Rush.
Caller: Hey guys -
Geddy: Hey -
Caller: A couple of questions, man, first of all, comment, thank you for using my Chicago show on your album. I was there, I loved it, it was great. Thank you.
Geddy: Well, thank you.
Caller: My question basically has to do with a lot of your videos. There's a lot of stuff that you guys claim that is, you say there's nothing in the vaults but yet I have videos from Fly By Night, Anthem and Xanadu and Circumstances, so my question is, if I have that stuff, why isn't that stuff out, and with the dawn of DVD, put all that stuff on the DVD, all your old stuff, and you guys could make a fortune selling it to fans like me.
BC: (laughing)
Geddy: That's a damn good idea -
Alex: WOW!
Geddy: Thank you for bringing that up, I'm writing that down -
Alex: Can we do lunch tomorrow?
Geddy: Have you ever managed a rock band before?
BC: (laughing) The new PR person for Rush, Greg from Chicago, ladies and gentleman, all right. Is there a video forthcoming from some of these shows? You've got to have a ton of stuff lying around and people do want a full-concert video of Rush.
Geddy: We do actually have some things, we don't have a ton of things but we've got half a ton of things -
BC: ...half a ton of things...
Geddy: We have a show that we shot on the last tour from Toronto, and one of those songs was recently made into a excerpt video form that we had a little bit of fun with too, did a little time travelling through this video so it's actually released, I don't know, who plays it in the states but up here in Canada it's on our music station but uh in the future there are some plans to put a DVD together actually combining live footage and some historical footage and so your caller from Chicago is right on the case.
BC: Well, release it, we want it, OK? With the invention of satellite dishes that are small and fixed on satellite, we get MuchMusic down here in the states, we get it all down here, we've entered the next millennium already. Coming soon we have a Rockline remembers plus everyone who gets on the air tonight receives a copy of the latest by Rush Different Stages live courtesy this week of our best friends at Atlantic Records, more in a moment on Rockline.
(commercial)
BC: Welcome back to Rockline, I'm Bob Coburn, what a treat tonight, we have Geddy and Alex from Rush on the show and you can call them and talk to them from anywhere in the US or Canada at 1-800-344-ROCK, let's play a song from Different Stages, this is Dreamline on Rockline.
[Dreamline plays]
BC: On the run and on the air with Rush, I'm Bob Coburn with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush my guests tonight and our next call is from New York is Heidi, Heidi welcome to the show.
Caller: Hi.
Geddy and Alex: Hi
Caller: Hi, I just wanted to say that you guys are great and I wanted to ask you what the most enjoyable part of the musical process is for you now and has it changed since the beginning?
Alex: Yea, I think that the most enjoyable, that's tough, being in the studio is really a lot of fun. It's, it's just fun. We laugh an awful lot, we have a really good time and you're doing what you want to do and creating music is a wonderful thing, and it's very exciting to see something start from just a smidgen of an idea in your head and make it all the way to a finished piece of music on an album. But at the same time playing live and getting the buzz of the audience and just being up there playing your instrument and everything working together is also extremely satisfying.
BC: Playing live -
Alex: It's tough to pick one, really -
BC: Playing live has got to break up the boredom of being on the road too, I mean, that's why you're out there -
Geddy: That's the ONLY reason -
BC: Yea, the only reason. Has it changed much over the years, over the past 20, 25 years for you guys?
Geddy: It has, actually, and strangely this last tour we did was I think my favourite tour that I've ever done -
Alex: Yea, same here -
Geddy: We had the show to ourselves, we had such a long period of time to play, almost 3 hours and the fact that we were getting on-stage earlier meant we were so, we were a lot fresher and more psyched for the show and it seemed for some reason, I don't think I took one show for granted on that tour, it was really an enjoyable experience. I can't make that same claim for all tours in the past.
BC: For me too, I enjoyed seeing Rush play for about 3 hours without an opening act, I just thought it was so much better that way. Heidi, thanks for being on, we're going to move to Chicago once again and it's Jesse on the line, Jesse you're on Rockline with Rush.
Caller: Hi Geddy how's it going?
Geddy and Alex: Good.
Caller: Reason I was calling, I heard a while back a rumour that you guys had starred in Sesame Street as special guests, I was calling to see if there was any truth about that.
Geddy: No, sadly, they never asked us, we haven't been on Sesame Street, much to my young child's dismay.
BC: Would you do that if someone approached you?
Geddy: Oh, probably.
BC: Because, I'll tell you, on this show, that's going to happen. REM made an appearance, they were recently on Rockline and they made an appearance.
Geddy: How could you turn Sesame Street down? That would border on criminal.
BC: (laughing) That's right, that's punishable by jail sentences in some provinces and states, I think. Jesse, thanks. The guys are located in Toronto tonight at Q107 and we have a call from Toronto, it's Allen on Rockline, welcome to the show Allen.
Caller: Hey guys, how are you doing?
Geddy: Good, how are you?
Caller: Good, how do you like the weather here at home? (all laughing) Not too good, eh?
Geddy: It's very white (all laughing again)
Caller: Listen, my question for you, a couple of years ago there was a Rush tribute album released on a small label featuring players like Steve Morse, Stu Hammond and Billy Sheehan and it caused a bit of a controversy particularly at home here in Canada and I'm just wondering, a) have you heard it, and b) what are your feelings about tribute albums in general?
Geddy: That's a good question. Number 1, there was a lot of confusion about that tribute album, that we had tried to stop it which was really not the case at all. When that project was first brought to our attention, it was mentioned that this record label was releasing an album and the only thing we knew about it at the time was that this record label seemed to be in the business of releasing tribute albums. So, we simply asked for some verification whether this was a real tribute album or whether someone was trying to exploit our fans by throwing some Rush songs on an album. And that was really all that whole thing was about, and I really regret that it got blown out of proportion by many different people, and in the end I think it probably must have hurt feelings of band members and musicians that played on the album. So that's something that I regret and really was not our purpose to cast aspersions on that effort, it was really a great honour for anyone to do a tribute and it wasn't a bias against tribute albums because Neil spent quite a long time, effort and energy doing 2 volumes of a Buddy Rich tribute album, so it was just an unfortunate miscommunication, and something that we regret.
BC: Once again, a chance for Rockline to set the record straight. Talk about two great drummers, Buddy Rich and Neil Peart, that's astounding. D either of you, Alex or Geddy, have a favourite cover Rush song that anyone has done, anything that stands out and you go, 'They did a good job on that'?
Geddy: There was a band called Catherine Wheel that did a pretty interesting version of Spirit of Radio -
BC: I remember hearing that, yea
Geddy: Yea, it was pretty cool.
Alex: Yea, it was.
BC: Well, everyone gets their 15 minute of fame and if you haven't had your chance in the limelight, here it is now, on Rockline
[Limelight plays]
(commercial plays)
BC: And welcome back to Rockline, can you remember what year in rock and roll these three events, occurred. Ozzy Osbourne was on tour with Randy Rose, Bruce Springsteen released his Nebraska album and New World Man, the song you just heard, was on the Signals album, and was released in the same year. Now, we have Eileen on the line in New York City, Eileen can you tell me was it 1982, 1983 or 1984?
Caller: Guessing, 84?
BC: 84, I'm sorry, that's wrong and you miss out on the multi-million dollar winning lottery ticket we were going to give you if you had the correct answer but you get to ask Rush a question anyway, what's your question for Geddy and Alex?
Caller: First of all, this is a dream come true, and we're all rooting for Neil here. This question is for both of you. What is the quintessential Rush song and why?
Geddy: Ooooo, you guys ask hard questions. Quintessential Rush song, well, I suppose conventional wisdom would point to Tom Sawyer, probably because it has inside of it all the things we like to do, it's got melody it's got a hard edge to it, it's got a bit of an unusual structure to it, and it's got a way cool bass part in the middle -
Alex: And great guitar playing -
BC: And that would be Geddy on bass and Alex on guitar, thank you very much.
AL: Yeah!
BC: Wow, that's amazing. Alex, do you have a different take on that or do you say Tom Sawyer as well?
Alex: You know what? It's tough, there are so many songs we've written but I would have to agree with Geddy, I think probably Tom Sawyer is the one that has a bit of all those things.
BC: Well, the answer to the Rockline Remembers is 1982, and the song we have for you is Tom Sawyer on Rockline.
[Tom Sawyer plays]
BC: Tom Sawyer by Rush live from Different Stages on Rockline I'm Bob Coburn, it's an evening with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee from Rush, our number is toll free 1-800-344-ROCK that's 1-800-344-7625. The number that Girogio called from Thunder Bay Ontario, hi Giorgio you're on Rockline with Rush.
Girogio - Yes, Rush has played music in three different decades. Do you feel you can make more great music to fit whatever the millennium brings without sacrificing creativity or the quality of your great songwriting?
Geddy: Well, that's a good question, I hope so, that's the reason we continue to make music, we, music writing for us is a very natural process, it's not a contrived or overly-preconceived thing where we get together to write, we really don't know what's going to come out of it, and it's really a kind of a time capsule and kind of a sign of the times as what we're going through as musicians and people, so you have to cross your fingers a little bit that those fires are still burning. But I have no reason to believe that wouldn't be the case the next time we get together to write something. I'd just like to add, I'd like to say hi to Thunder Bay, it's been a long time since we've been up there.
BC: Yeah, there you go, Thunder Bay, the home of Paul Schaeffer of the Letterman show, and the home of a lot of other good people too. You know, it's funny how we're so number-oriented. I mean it's really just the changing of a number, it's just such a special number, it's just 2000, it's just something very magical about that. Giorgio, thanks for the call, we'll talk to Theresa in Los Angeles, she wants to talk with Geddy and Alex from Rush. Theresa, you're on Rockline.
Caller: Hello Alex, hello Geddy. Thank you so much for all the great years of music and lyrics.
Geddy and Alex: Thank you.
Caller: My question is, on Roll the Bones, Where's My Thing, underneath it says Part 4 Gangster of Boats, where does that come from?
Alex: Part 4 of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy -
BC: Yea, part 4 of the trilogy, (laughing)
Geddy: It's a very strange trilogy that has 4 parts -
Alex: The Gangster of Boats comes from a union of two fine minds (laughing all around). Where did the Gangster of Boats come from? I think the Gangter of Boats, just, it was one of those things that popped out one day.
Geddy: Yes, it's like a theme to an imaginary western kind of, it's an invention of dementia.
BC: Plus you can't beat those trilogies, those triumvirates with 4 parts. You can beat those things with 4 parts in them. You never know what you're gonna get in life, sometimes you just gotta Roll the Bones...
[Roll the Bones plays]
BC: We are here, it's Roll the Bones, Rush on Rockline, Different Stages the new live CD, 2 recently recorded live CD's and one from 1978, just a great comparison of how the band sounded back then and more recently. We'll continue with Geddy and Alex, your number is 1-800-344-7625
(commercial)
BC: Rockline returns with Rush, I'm Bob Coburn with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. Somebody called and we're not going to put the call on the air but I'm going to ask the question anyway. Who does the vocal rap in Roll the Bones?
Geddy: (in heavy accent) Wouldn't you like to know?
BC: You still haven't disclosed that, since 1991 that's still a secret?
Geddy: Well who do you think it is?
BC: I think it's you, Geddy, with some processing on your voice.
Geddy: You're right.
BC: Hey! Sonofagun. Ten points Let's go to New York, talk to Tom in New York, Tom you're on Rockline
Tom - Actually, New Jersey...
BC: Tea, but you're listening to a New York Station, welcome to the show.
Tom - Thanks, a quick question, it's actually for Alex. During, in the videotape for Show of Hands, during Spirit of Radio, you're hanging out back by the drum kit with Neil and you say something to him and you're kind of like waving him off and he's like laughing and shaking his head 'no no' and you're going 'c'mon c'mon'. Do you know what that's all about?
Alex: Yes, he owed me $20 and I wanted it right away (all laughing)
BC: Twenty dollars or a nice bottle of burgundy, either one, yeah.
Alex: Actually, I don't really remember what was going on at that time, but there are a lot of times in the show where we just kind of bump into each other and we goof around and try to make the other guy laugh and make a mistake hopefully. And it happens, too, yea...
BC: Yea, I bet it does...
Geddy: Sometimes without laughing.
BC: That's why most of this live CD comes from Chicago out of a hundred shows because there's a lot of laughing going on. Tom thanks for your call from New Jersey, we have Bill on the line from Fort Wayne Indiana area, hi Bill.
Caller: Hi guys, I feel like I've reached enlightenment just by getting through to you. I have two quick comments. I used to steal my brother's Rush albums twenty years ago and listen to them behind my mom's back and now -
Geddy: Good for you
Caller: Yea, Statler Brothers if that means anything to you, I led a sheltered life.
BC: Bill, we're on a timetable here -
Caller: Yea, I'm sorry
BC: It's cool, it's cool
Caller: I'll just get right into the questions then. I've got a series of live Rush bootlegs from Signals tour, Grace Under Pressure, I was wondering, first question, how do you feel about these Rush bootlegs that are out there, because I really like a lot of them.
BC: OK, first question.
Geddy: OK, that's a tough question because I can't blame a fan for wanting a bootleg. At the same time, I spend a year and a half trying to make a live record as perfect and sonically as I could, just to find out that all those songs are already out there on some bootleg that was recorded with one microphone with the guy standing in the middle of the venue, so I have mixed feelings about it. You know, I was a fan and can't say I had a big bootleg collection but I did have one or two of them so I would say I'm kind of torn about the whole idea.
BC: And people will bootleg anything, we found out that last week's Rockline with Boston is now available on CD as a bootleg, so there you go. And your second question Bill -
Caller: Don't get me wrong, I own the rest of your stuff that you recorded in the studio -
Geddy: Actually, you know, that's a very good point because I don't think there's a fan, a lot of people say 'It takes away from record sales' but I think you made the best point because the fact is that any fan who buys a bootleg is still going to buy your record. So, who is it harming? That's the other side of the coin.
BC: OK, quickly Bill, number 2
Caller: My question is, you did all of 2112 on your last tour. Are there any plans to do perhaps Hemispheres or the Fountain of Lamneth on the next tour?
BC: Oh, a true fan.
Geddy: Well, that would be ambitious, but at the moment we don't have any tour plans to I'm not even going to speculate on that
Alex: But it sure was fun to do 2112.
BC: Oh, man it sounded so good, I've never heard it played so well. Let's talk with Joey in Los Angeles, we'll try to get as many calls in as possible, Joey, you're on Rockline with Rush.
Caller: Good evening.
BC: Whatcha got, Joey?
Caller: My question is, you guys are obviously the most innovative and creative rock writers musically and lyrically, but if you had to do a cover song, what would you cover and why?
Geddy: Wow, that's a toughie.
Alex: Yeah
Geddy: I haven't got the foggiest idea.
BC: Do you ever horse around in the studio and play other people's music?
Geddy: Sometimes.
Alex: Yea -
Geddy: I usually end up playing Who songs -
Alex: I have a tape at home where we played a lot of different styles of music on this particular tape (laughing) and we were ad-libbing lyrics, and maybe one day, Bob, I'll play it for you
BC: Yea, well, you know, I'll be there for it.
Alex: Then you can see if it's the kind of thing you'd want to hear on radio.
BC: OK, that pretty well answers that. You know, it's funny because Ray Daniels is your manager, he also manages Van Halen and I got to watch them do sound check, they did about 5 Who songs in a row and just warming up and I said to Eddie, 'You should play that during the show' and he said, 'We're not paying the royalties for it'. Thank you Joey for your call, the next song we're going to play for you now, Fly By Night, is from the third CD of this 3 CD set the Hammersmith Odeon tour London 1978 I believe it was the Farewell to Kings tour as a matter of fact, this is Fly By Night on Rockline
[Fly By Night plays]
BC: From the Hammersmith Odeon concert, that goes into In The Mood, we want to get some calls on the air so we're going to take a call from Ty in Vancouver British Columbia. Hi Ty.
Caller: Hello.
Alex and Geddy: Hi Ty.
BC: You're on Rockline, Ty.
Caller: Hey, uh, I was just, I've been a fan of you guys since I was actually, at the risk of dating you, I'd hate to give my age, but I was wondering if you could expand or give some thoughts on what you thought might be your fan's addiction to your type of music, or at least your music in particular.
BC: Any idea what the magnetism is, you guys?
Alex: Well, I guess that Rush has always been a little bit outside, it's never been a part of the mainstream, there's always been a cult-ish kind of appeal to the band, you know I think that as a fan you feel closer to a band when it's not the darling of everybody. There's a more special relationship that way. You feel a more direct kind of -
Geddy: Yea, like it's your discovery
Alex: Exactly.
Geddy: Also, I think that there's a level of musicianship, there's a priority of musicianship that has always appealed to young musicians and I thing that that has remained so and I think it's kept young musicians interested in listening to what we're doing. At the same time, I think that some of Neil's lyrics have reached people, have spoken to people in different periods of their lives and thats another thing that kind of endears a fan to what you do. It's that the subject when you're speaking about seems close to you, you can relate to that for whatever period of your life it is.
BC: I certainly can relate to what you said, were it not for 20 million fans Rush would be a cult band, but it's a little more massive then that. I'm gonna ask you something and we only have about 90 seconds to discuss this, 90 seconds to 2 minutes but, and this is a long, long topic, but those of us in the states have self-examined ourselves, our government, our president, the situation that's going on so much and one of the things that we often hear in the states is that the rest of the world is laughing at us right now. What do you feel, since you're a little more neutral, being in Canada, and not being citizens of the US, what do you think, just in a couple of seconds, minute or so, about the situation in America with the President?
Geddy: Well, it's a difficult thing to deal with. We don't have any leaders in this country that are interesting enough to have those kind of situations (all laughing). But having said that, you can see both sides of the issue. You have a leader of a country who has obviously been misleading, at the same time you have a very biased and partisan battle going on that seems to be taking up too much of the governments time so from our perspective in Canada I think that, and it's easy to say not being involved in it, it seems much to do about little.
BC: You know, from our perspective as Americans, we really wish that Margaret and Pierre Trudeau were still in power in Canada so we could look up north above the border and say, "See? See up there too?" (all laughing).
Geddy: It happens to everybody
BC: Well, I tell you -
Geddy: Well, almost everybody -
BC: Well, I'll tell you, Clinton put on a show last night, he brought out Rosa Parks who started the civil rights movement, a pilot from Desert Fox, Sammy Sosa, I mean he really laid it out last night on the State of the Union thing. The Sammy Sosa thing was amazing, I wondered how he was going to work that into the flow of conversation and he did by mentioning the hurricane in the Dominican and saying he's a hero in two countries, and in Canada that makes three, so I was just wondering what your take was on that because we have just over-analyzed and beaten this thing to death and I just wish it would go away. We're going to go away only momentarily and we'll return with Geddy and Alex from Rush in just a second on Rockline.
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BC: And we are back, I want to thank everyone for listening and for calling tonight, also thanks to Bruce Henne at the Rock Radio network, the staff at Q107 in Toronto, I've been up there in the studios, great great people and a terrific radio station, Pat, Jeff, David, Bruce, John, Daryll and Dave, also Kim Echland at Atlantic Records, Shelly Knott and Ray Daniels at SRO Management and to you Geddy and Alex, it was great to talk to both of you again, a terrific triple live CD, I wish you the best in the future and we'll have to crack open a nice bottle of bordeaux next time we get together.
Geddy and Alex: Thanks, Bob
Alex: Thank you very much Bob.
Geddy: It's great to be back on the show. It's a lot of fun.
BC: I'll see you next time, I'm BC and I'll be seeing you. Thanks for tuning in.