Essential Reading
Anyone who knows my history might think it odd that I’d be excited to go to a Rush concert. “Aren’t you supposed to be the alternative dude?” is usually the question that comes with a quizzical expression.
Well, yes—but if it weren’t for Rush, I wouldn’t be writing this now. Let me explain.
Like many young nerdlings who were average (okay, below average) at sports and average (okay, WAY below average) with girls, I and my nerdling friends all gravitated towards Rush. I’m not sure why, but we did, fighting over the true meaning of “The Trees,” which instrumental was best (I liked the overture from 2112) and taking solace in the fact that if Geddy Lee could make money as a singer, there was hope for us all.
I was probably the biggest Rush fan in the group. My second concert ever was the Winnipeg stop on their Farewell to Kings tour in 1977.
As the guy with the most part-time jobs—I had three—I had the most disposable income, most of which was spent on buying records. By the time we reached grade 10, I was the acknowledged music geek among us. And since I lived directly across from the high school, everyone used to come over to my place to eat rather than sit in the soulless lunch room. We’d listen to the radio, occasionally play ping-pong and always check out any new record purchases I had made.
One Monday in early 1980 was especially interesting. Over the weekend, I had purchased a copy of Permanent Waves and everyone wanted to hear it. I solemnly cracked open the shrink wrap and put on side 1, track 1. For the first time, I heard “The Spirit of Radio.”
As everyone else thoughtfully munched on their brown bag lunches, I poured over the lyrics and liner notes. As a major Neil Peart fan—I was learning to play the drums because of him—I loved his way with words and imagery. By the time the song was over, I had reached the little dedication at the end of the lyrics: “Inspired by ‘The Spirit of Radio’ in Toronto, alive and well (so far).”
What did this mean? A clue was the album’s catalogue number: ANC 1-1021.
Finding out the truth became something of a minor obsession. Within a few weeks I had learned that “The Spirit of Radio” was the slogan used by a tiny, underpowered FM radio station that was not, in fact, located in Toronto, but in the neighbouring city of Brampton. Unlike the big stations in the city, it played the weird stuff—punk, new wave, imports from England. Over the previous three years, it had become a cult sensation and the musical cognoscenti of the region went to great lengths to tune in CFNY’s week signal. It’s frequency? It was just in the catalogue number: 102.1.
When I discovered this, I had already been thinking about trying to get a job in radio. I remember thinking to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool to work there some day?”
A weird kismet played out and six-and-a-half years later, I was standing at the receptionist’s desk in Brampton, asking to see my new boss. I had travelled half a continent and taken pay cut of 25% and a workload increase of 20% just to be there. It was 12 noon, October 3, 1986. And I’ve never really left. I even met my wife there. We’ve been together for 23 years and our 20th anniversary is coming up this summer.
How different life would be had I not tried to figure out the meaning of that odd note in the tiny font in the liner notes.
Postscript: Rush presented the station with an official platinum music award once Permanent Waves sold more than a million copies. For years, it hung in a place of pride in the hallway. Then, during a move, it was deemed surplus. Knowing how intertwined my career was with that album and that song was, they gave it to me. It now hangs in my home studio.
A few thoughts about last night’s concert:
The show opens with a brilliant parody film starring Geddy, Alex and Neil playing characters in a diner in Willowdale. Who knew they were such good actors? The skit segues seamlessly into the band appearing to play “The Spirit of Radio.”
Seeing Rush in the old days was a slightly different experience. The PA systems were much, much larger. Back then, you needed massive Heil bass bins with long horns, each twice the size of a refrigerator and powered by arrays of Crown amplifiers. On top were stacks and stacks of midrange speakers and towers of tweeters. Not anymore. The bass bins used at last night’s show were slightly larger than what you’d find in the back the Honda Civic that wakes up me up every Sunday morning around 3am.
Way back when, Alex and Geddy were surrounded by racks of keyboards and pedals and effects racks. Not so much these days. Geddy still has a couple of keyboards in front of him (including what looked like an old Moog), but with advances in technology, the giant Oberheims and acres of Moog bass pedals are gone. Same with Alex; his (visible) gear has been reduced by 90%. Everything can be programmed and triggered by computer or any one of a dozen MIDI devices. This gave Geddy and Alex the kind of onstage mobility they could never have in 1978. It also (theoretically) cuts down on making mistakes.
If you’re a fan, you must—MUST—get the new Rush doc, Beyond the Lighted Stage, by the Global Metal guys. Brilliant.
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13 Comments
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Long live Rush. Geddy got me in to playing bass. Their music has calmed me down when I was angry, cheered me up when I was sad, and just kept a great mood going many times in the past.
I can’t wait to see them this saturday.
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great story, glad you shared. jw
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great story, glad you shared. jw
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This is a nice little piece of Alan Cross/Canadian music/radio history, Alan. Thanks for sharing it with us.
You definitely made the right move. I cannot imagine you staying where you were/being at The Curve.
Congratulations to you and M.E. on your upcoming 20th anniversary.
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Amazing story Alan.
I can say that seeing RUSH at The Aud in my hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo in S/W Ontario at 14 years old was why I got into the music business and why I have been promoting rock concerts for 23 years.
The first time I saw RUSH I knew it was something very special. The whole concert experience was very foreign and new to me at that age as you can imagine. But honestly, I wanted to see what was “behind the curtains” so to speak. I wanted to find out where all the crazy gear came from and how the stuff was actually hung from the rafters. I wanted to kow who all the dude’s with the long hair, wearing black t-shirts and weilding flashlights as they scuried across the stage, were up too.
I had the opportunity to tell this story to Geddy Lee backstage at the ACC in Toronto at the Foo Fightes show when Alex and Geddy did a tune with Taylor Hawkins on drums.
Life altering events like this have been my key motivation to wake up and go to work day in and day out.
eGp -
My first Rush show was last night and I loved it! Been a fan for about 7 years. Its funny that you mention the change in the amount of gear they had on stage. That afternoon I watched the DVD from the “Show of Hands” tour. Geddy’s gear was massive on that stage during that era so I really noticed the difference last night. They extra mobility is definitely a plus and it showed last night. Geddy was rocking out HUGE, incredible energy.
That’s a great tale you have there Allan.
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Right on Alan!
Rush was my first Rock band love too, starting in ’78/’79 listening to Hemispheres thinking ‘hey is that in 7/4 time?’ In 1980 I listened to Spirit of Radio over and over, getting goose bumps. [a high "GB Factor" as Alex would say] More than 30 years later I still get goose bumps from this, and many of their songs, and from reading your posting today!
Long live Rock, long live Rush.
Nerd On!
DW -
RUSH is the first band I ever went nuts over and the main reason I wanted to be in a band. The Ongoing History of New Music was/is a huge part of my musical education. Thank god for both!
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I was (sadly) a fan of rap. Then, I got a copy of Presto. Everything changed. Rush, you could say, saved me from a musical life of the fresh prince and vanilla ice. Thanks guys!
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A great story, Alan. thanks for sharing.
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That’s a ridiculously cool story.
How funny that something so menial as a cryptic little catalog number could transform your entire life, and influence thousands of others as a result.
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Thank you Alan for the great story. I really enjoyed that.
And also thank you for the strong recommendation to purchase Beyond the Lighted Stage – I was actually holding it my hands just a few days ago and thought maybe it was some cheap low budget documentary and therefore didn’t purchase it. I’m going back and getting it now and I already know I will enjoy it over and over again. -
Bought it! Me & my Better-Half watched it and it was VERY good.
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