RIP Christine McVie

That's about all I have to say tonight. 

October 2022 Song of the Day

 It was little more of a normal month for me October, finally being home from the hospital and the rehab.

For new readers, this blog entry refers to the monthly Song of the Day list on the Sputnik Music website. Each month, one User hosts the list and names a theme. Everyone then recommends songs in line with this theme, and people rate the various song recommendations. The list of October songs can be found at Sputnik Music Song of the Day October 2022.

1. The theme of the month was to pick a song that would be good as part of a horror film soundtrack.

2. Participation for the month was pretty good, although I actually got to make three different recommendations. The first of these was Gerard McMann's "Cry Little Sister" which actually was the main theme song from the soundtrack of the 1980s horror flick the lost boys The Lost Boys. The second was a track by 1970s folk/prog rockers Strawbs, "Witchwood". The third was "Alison Gross", from 1960s folk rockers Steeleye Span. Gerard McMann - Cry Little Sister; Strawbs - Witchwood; Steeleye Span - Alison Gross.

3. I didn't have a great month listening wise. The average rating I gave was only 2.73 out of 5. My highest rated song was "The Serpent" by Myrkur. Myrkur - The Serpent.

4. However, the highest rated song by the group in general was "Vitamin C' by the 1970s German experimental band Can. Can - Vitamin C.

And that's that.

Alrighty then - hope to see you all next month.

My Favorite Artists, Part 16: About Rush

Unfortunately, I think this is going to be the last post in the My Favorite Artists series, at least the last solo entry. I'll try to do an abbreviated list to at least address the other 14 artists and bands.

Rush released their first album, an eponymous one, in 1974. However, it wasn't until their seventh release, 1980's Permanent Waves, that I really took notice of them. The track that first drew my attention was "The Spirit of Radio". I didn't know what to make of them at first - I was used to high-voiced rock vocalists like Robert Plant, Steven Tyler and Peppi Marchello, but Geddy Lee was like one of those guys on helium. Before long, I decided I liked it, though.

The next year, they released what I still consider to be the ultimate Rush LP, Moving Pictures. This one contained a number of their greatest hits, including "Tom Sawyer" (probably their most popular song), "Red Barchetta", and my personal favorite, "Limelight". At this point, I clearly knew I liked this band. They rocked like a mutha*****, and they obviously knew how to write a song. I didn't actually add them to the My Favorite Artists list until the end of the decade, though, with the release of 1989's Presto and 1991's Roll the Bones.  This is kind of ironic, as many Rush fans consider these two the band's weaker albums (as assessment I don't entirely disagree with - although there's a lot I enjoy about them, these are two LPs that haven't aged as well as many of their others). But nevertheless, they were just enough to make me say, "Yes, this band deserves to be called one of my favorite artists.

But why Rush, and not, for example, Led Zeppelin? I certainly love a lot of Zeppelin songs, maybe even more than I do of Rush's. I think it's a combination of Rush's musical acumen and something else, some hard-to-define quality that makes me identify with them. Because as formidable as they are, Rush is also kind of nerdy. Zeppelin was one of the most popular bands in the world. They had gorgeous groupies at their beck and call every night. With Rush (as with my beloved Good Rats), this was not the case. Rush was a trio of geeky guys. One look at Geddy Lee's long nose and stringy hair or Neil Peart's reading list told you these weren't guys who were bowling over the ladies. (Dude based his epic "2112" on Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead!) 

I've also always found Rush admirable, especially when they decided to risk their career after 1975's Caress of Steel to expressly go against the record label's demand for more singles to create an LP like 1976's 2112. They bet it all on themselves, and in the end, they won big time.

So yeah, there's something both heroic and likable about these guys. I also loved that Geddy would do a joke song like "Take Off" with the fictional hosts of SCTV's The Great White North show, Bob and Doug McKenzie. And I was intrigued and touched by Peart's reaction to the tragic deaths of first his daughter and then his wife - he basically took to his motorcycle and just drove his way through the various stages of his grief, as detailed in his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. That the band was able to come back after this and make three subsequent (and substantial) LPs and an EP was eminently admirable to me.

And no, it certainly didn't hurt that all three members were masters of their various instruments and could write the hell out of a song. Some of my favorites, other than the ones I've already listed, include "Free Will", "Subdivisions", "Red Sector A", "Time Stand Still" and "Fly By Night".

Although Lee and Lifeson declared that Rush was finished after Neil Peart's passing from brain cancer in 2020, this past summer, the duo reunited at the South Park 25th Anniversary Concert (with Matt Stone of South Park on drums). And they immediately stated that they'd like to play together again, although it will never be Rush without Peart.

This gladdened my heart. I hope they follow through.